itsnomarooned Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 49 minutes ago, EIEIO said: I meant it's more the international team I have little interest in though I include watching Rangers and Celtic on TV and listening to the sycophantic pundits on sportsound. Obviously a strong more competitive league set up with a pyramid structure is what we should be striving for. Fair enough, and I wasn't trying to level criticism or anything. I go to most Scotland home games (and have travelled) and firmly believe that a strong National Team is important too, in theory the domestic and international games should feed and grow from each other. In truth I've become pretty inured towards Celtic in as much as they win everything and there seems little we can do about it, Rangers can **** off though. I think a league without the two of them would be interesting but not necessarily a success. I don't have an issue with dominance which will happen in pretty much every league, but it's the level of absolute dominance that's the issue in Scotland, and of course the social and cultural baggage that we also have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Daddy Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 2 minutes ago, itsnomarooned said: Fair enough, and I wasn't trying to level criticism or anything. I go to most Scotland home games (and have travelled) and firmly believe that a strong National Team is important too, in theory the domestic and international games should feed and grow from each other. In truth I've become pretty inured towards Celtic in as much as they win everything and there seems little we can do about it, Rangers can **** off though. I think a league without the two of them would be interesting but not necessarily a success. I don't have an issue with dominance which will happen in pretty much every league, but it's the level of absolute dominance that's the issue in Scotland, and of course the social and cultural baggage that we also have. It's not just the dominance... it's the fact that it's NOT a level playing field, even before a ball is kicked each season. For example: distribution of TV rights, the fixture card is 'doctored' to suit both ares cheeks each season to give them an even split of homes games (the rest of us can GTF), the officials!?... don't get me started.... As someone pointed out earlier on in the thread, until the 'smaller' teams stop giving in to the OF ££ handouts (ie. large sections of their grounds at home games)... nothing will change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EIEIO Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, itsnomarooned said: Fair enough, and I wasn't trying to level criticism or anything. I go to most Scotland home games (and have travelled) and firmly believe that a strong National Team is important too, in theory the domestic and international games should feed and grow from each other. In truth I've become pretty inured towards Celtic in as much as they win everything and there seems little we can do about it, Rangers can **** off though. I think a league without the two of them would be interesting but not necessarily a success. I don't have an issue with dominance which will happen in pretty much every league, but it's the level of absolute dominance that's the issue in Scotland, and of course the social and cultural baggage that we also have. Dont think a league without them would be better, sadly. If they moved to an English or European League they would still dominate media coverage perhaps more of them would have a wee team in Scotland, better to have them from that point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTT Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 8 hours ago, vegas-voss said: The SFA will think everything is great cause both Rangers and Celtic are doing all right in Europe Which is precisely part of the problem. Any strategy needs to be built around fundamental change in league structure. There needs to be a deliberate effort to build up the Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeens of the league to actually compete. We need as many strong clubs in the league as possible. If we could grow to 30k and sustain it then it would absolutely be genuine competition for the OF. Moving the SFA out of Glasgow forces them to acknowledge the rest of the country. The culture in Hampden must be rank rotten and I'm not just talking about the suits. The cleaners will be OF fans, the catering staff will be OF fans. Everyone that works in Hampden is an OF fan. How can they be aware of the rest of the country when literally everyone in the building supports one of two clubs? Its utterly ridiculous. We need to cut ourselves down to 2 professional leagues. 20 and 18 teams. Play each other twice a season. Plenty of opportunity to blood youth and get some great away games. Its much less repetitive and will increase fan engagement. In the championship to maximise stability have a 2/3 year block on demotion then move to 1 up 1 down. and have some sort of juniors play off. Something along those lines with it being televised. Could even be a 16 team league to improve the spread of prize money. I've never got why we've not introduced some sort of community shield where the winners of the Scottish cup play the league winners. Silverware's silverware and could be a nice spectacle before the season starts and gives a televised game. Sponsorship too. Easy money no? The decision needs to be made by one person. This faux democracy in the league is farcical and holding the game back. We're running a commercial body, not a government. Democracy is unnecessary as a means to implement decisions. To discuss and debate? 100%. But change is being held up by rigged voting systems and self interest. Change needs to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidoug Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 On a related theme, there's a headline on BBC Sport Scotland site today, "Can Celtic or rangers end Glasgow city hegemony". The article goes on to say that hibs ladies are the only side which has really challenged them for years. Didn't qualify for being in the headline though. Nothing ever changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeartsInMyBlood Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 13 hours ago, wavydavy said: They can't even try and help Steve Clarke prepare for one of the National Teams most important games versus Israel. They have cancelled their fixture card andvtaken theirvteam to the North of England to prepare. We do absolutely nothing other than not having a Sunday fixture before this game which is on Tuesday. It is really hard to imagine that they care for any football outside of pandering to the old firm. It's worse than that WaveyDavey...its not 'they can't' - it's 'they WONT' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hashimoto Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 (edited) Whats wrong with Scottish fitbaw...everything!......Celtic and Rangers players fast tracked into the national team to put numbers on the gate. Hampden, a dump in the most inaccessable part of Glasgow. STV (SCOTTISH television) showing England internationals. Jobs for the bhoys at the SFA. Overpriced tickets for matches. The national team has become a joke, tours arranged to the other side of the planet when the domestic season hasn't even finished! I gave up on watching Scotland years ago.....It's a long time gone since we trekked across France in 98. Like some posters on here it's Hearts only for me now, The rest can do one. Edited February 22, 2020 by Hashimoto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue Daddy Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 14 hours ago, OTT said: Which is precisely part of the problem. Any strategy needs to be built around fundamental change in league structure. There needs to be a deliberate effort to build up the Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeens of the league to actually compete. We need as many strong clubs in the league as possible. If we could grow to 30k and sustain it then it would absolutely be genuine competition for the OF. Moving the SFA out of Glasgow forces them to acknowledge the rest of the country. The culture in Hampden must be rank rotten and I'm not just talking about the suits. The cleaners will be OF fans, the catering staff will be OF fans. Everyone that works in Hampden is an OF fan. How can they be aware of the rest of the country when literally everyone in the building supports one of two clubs? Its utterly ridiculous. We need to cut ourselves down to 2 professional leagues. 20 and 18 teams. Play each other twice a season. Plenty of opportunity to blood youth and get some great away games. Its much less repetitive and will increase fan engagement. In the championship to maximise stability have a 2/3 year block on demotion then move to 1 up 1 down. and have some sort of juniors play off. Something along those lines with it being televised. Could even be a 16 team league to improve the spread of prize money. I've never got why we've not introduced some sort of community shield where the winners of the Scottish cup play the league winners. Silverware's silverware and could be a nice spectacle before the season starts and gives a televised game. Sponsorship too. Easy money no? The decision needs to be made by one person. This faux democracy in the league is farcical and holding the game back. We're running a commercial body, not a government. Democracy is unnecessary as a means to implement decisions. To discuss and debate? 100%. But change is being held up by rigged voting systems and self interest. Change needs to come. 👍 Good post. Can't disagree with any of this.... the thing is, if there was greater competition in our league, it would also benefit the OF... it would make them 'better' and more prepared for European competition. Unfortunately, they and their fans think it's their God given right to win EVERYTHING! ...and the media, SFA et al bend over backwards to make this so! It's so blatant it's embarrassing Changing our ridiculous league set up would be a good start... Scotland could easily change to a 2 league system. Unfortunately, clubs outside us, Hibs and Aberdeen 'rely' on the 4 big gates from the arse cheeks every season and would be shit scared to lose out on the revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Slim Stylee Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 On 21/02/2020 at 09:12, Brick Tamland said: how on earth did Malky McKay get a high level job despite being punted for being a racist from his last club? That and Wombleheid getting a board seat made me go “I’m done with this shower of shite” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusk_Till_Dawn Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, Big Slim Stylee said: That and Wombleheid getting a board seat made me go “I’m done with this shower of shite” Wombleheid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusk_Till_Dawn Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 16 minutes ago, Rogue Daddy said: 👍 Good post. Can't disagree with any of this.... the thing is, if there was greater competition in our league, it would also benefit the OF... it would make them 'better' and more prepared for European competition. Unfortunately, they and their fans think it's their God given right to win EVERYTHING! ...and the media, SFA et al bend over backwards to make this so! It's so blatant it's embarrassing Changing our ridiculous league set up would be a good start... Scotland could easily change to a 2 league system. Unfortunately, clubs outside us, Hibs and Aberdeen 'rely' on the 4 big gates from the arse cheeks every season and would be shit scared to lose out on the revenue. One thing we all have to accept is that the Old Firm will invariably be the dominant clubs in Scotland. Their size dwarfs everyone else. But the massive helping hand they get from the world’s shittest FA is a disgrace. The only reason the SFA get away with it is because the wider world has no interest in Scottish football so pays no attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spellczech Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said: One thing we all have to accept is that the Old Firm will invariably be the dominant clubs in Scotland. Their size dwarfs everyone else. But the massive helping hand they get from the world’s shittest FA is a disgrace. The only reason the SFA get away with it is because the wider world has no interest in Scottish football so pays no attention. I recently had a conversation with a guy from Dunfermline who is a big Rangers fan, asking how he could ignore all the unsavoury stuff (which he doesn't subscribe to, at least openly) to support a team from the other side of the country. TBF he said that it isn't hard when Hearts and Hibs have similar, if lesser elements of the same types...That is the crux of the matter, whilst we have our own element of trash, it is easy for the OF to say, and believe, it is not just their problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avhudtheteeshirt Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I think the immigration laws being brought in could well help Scotland, as most clubs will toil to bring in foreigners with a minimum wage capped at £25,000! It also will be interesting to see how the skills set adds up for getting into the country??? It will be interesting to see the effect!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTT Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I wonder if there is some sort of marketing exercise clubs could do to try and encourage more locals to follow their local team? I know folk are free to follow whoever they like but if more folk in Edinburgh followed Hearts and Hibs it would help massively. Seeing (for example) a Leith Celtic supporters club is embarrassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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