Glenn Gibberish - probably the worst article I have read!

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Glenn-Gibbons-This-is-not.5118303.jp

 

:rofl:

 

Yes, how dare we have excitement, competition and the gruesome twosome being fallible!

[JamboSean]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Glenn-Gibbons-This-is-not.5118303.jp

 

:rofl:

 

Yes, how dare we have excitement, competition and the gruesome twosome being fallible!

 

Reads as a bitter Ger who knows very little about football.

 

The current Rangers and Hearts sides would be demolished by the teams of 97/98.

[Tazio]

I love the fact that amongst the terrible things that happened was Hibs being relegated. Why? They were pish and deserved to go down.

[Lt.Speirs]

You can almost hear the twang in his voice, just like that wee knob chick!

[Only a Game]

The article is indeed nonsense. In fact in terms of the league being competitive, if not hugely exciting 97/98 was one of the better years in living memory.

 

Hearts were right in that title race until we reached the cup final and took our eye off the bigger prize that might have been available. I think we lost to Motherwell at home and drew with a very poor Hibs team and that as it turned out, cost us the league. No one really remembers how close we were that season probably because we went on to win the cup.

 

08/09 has seen the two Old Firm teams equally fallible in their own right and compared to most other seasons in the last 40 years where usually one or both of them has been so far ahead that to call the league a "competition" has been laughable.

 

Unfortunately their fallibility this season has coincided with a collective lack of money/quality/ambition/belief on behalf of 2 or 3 clubs (ourselves included) any one of whom with just a little bit more money/quality/ambition/belief COULD have been champions this season.

 

In that respect , and also in terms of the entertainment and spectacle on offer, 08/09 has been a much much poorer season than 97/98

[Bruno]

Lower standard = greater competition.

 

Could any truely neutral journalist ever honestly say they'd prefer to see Rangers and Celtic walking away with all the trophies every season?

[buca junior]

The article is indeed nonsense. In fact in terms of the league being competitive, if not hugely exciting 97/98 was one of the better years in living memory.

 

Hearts were right in that title race until we reached the cup final and took our eye off the bigger prize that might have been available. I think we lost to Motherwell at home and drew with a very poor Hibs team and that as it turned out, cost us the league. No one really remembers how close we were that season probably because we went on to win the cup.

 

08/09 has seen the two Old Firm teams equally fallible in their own right and compared to most other seasons in the last 40 years where usually one or both of them has been so far ahead that to call the league a "competition" has been laughable.

 

Unfortunately their fallibility this season has coincided with a collective lack of money/quality/ambition/belief on behalf of 2 or 3 clubs (ourselves included) any one of whom with just a little bit more money/quality/ambition/belief COULD have been champions this season.

 

In that respect , and also in terms of the entertainment and spectacle on offer, 08/09 has been a much much poorer season than 97/98

 

 

I think after defeating Falkirk in the semi-final we either drew or lost to Motherwell, lost to Hibs and Rangers and drew with St Johnstone. As I was 12 at the time I do not remember the 'Well score and to be honest looking back now, did not fully appreciate how great a position we were in to winning the title. Thinking back to the joy on my fathers face when we won the Cup at Parkhead, I think the moment we reached the final, the priority either consciously or subconsciously was on the Scottish Cup for many of the older Hearts fans and maybe of Jim Jefferies et al.

 

To turn the focus back to the article in The Scotsman, all I can say is I am amazed. How you can can claim a season where a non Old Firm team wins the Cup and also defeats one of them in the final, the top three teams are split by 7 points, and a well established team(Hibs) are relegated is now defined as "Scottish Footballs worst season" actually reflects that the 2008-2009 season represents the worst year in Sports Journalsim in Scotland.

[Dave Ross]

For ****s sake. I buy The Scotsman because it's not anti Hearts. That is farcical though. Not the strongest Old Firm teams but to compare them with now is ludicrous. Do they want us to hand back that Scottish Cup? *****.

[shaun.lawson]

Embarrassing article. The frantic attempts to rewrite history and suggest this is just some run-of-the-mill season, as opposed to being the worst in Scotland's top flight that I can ever recall, are just ludicrous. Gibbons is a known Celtic fan, and I can only assume our success in finally getting the monkey off our backs that year hurt him somehow.

 

The irony is that if he really wants to compare this season to another, he should be zeroing in on 1996/7. Then, as now, both OF sides had deteriorated from the previous year - with the side generally in the ascendancy at the time, both on and off the pitch, able to hold off their rivals almost by default. Every time the chasing team closed in, they promptly blew it: the only difference is there's been a role reversal, and it's now Rangers doing the chasing.

 

Incidentally, regarding our title challenge: I've written this before I know - but I never, ever thought we were quite good enough. We leaked too many goals, didn't quite have the depth of squad needed, and our home form deteriorated badly from Christmas onwards. The draw with Motherwell and defeat at Hibs finally knocked us out of the race: but didn't 'cost us the title', because we weren't quite good enough to win it in the first place. Sensational campaign it was though, make no mistake about that!

[Dave Ross]

Embarrassing article. The frantic attempts to rewrite history and suggest this is just some run-of-the-mill season, as opposed to being the worst in Scotland's top flight that I can ever recall, are just ludicrous. Gibbons is a known Celtic fan, and I can only assume our success in finally getting the monkey off our backs that year hurt him somehow.

 

The irony is that if he really wants to compare this season to another, he should be zeroing in on 1996/7. Then, as now, both OF sides had deteriorated from the previous year - with the side generally in the ascendancy at the time, both on and off the pitch, able to hold off their rivals almost by default. Every time the chasing team closed in, they promptly blew it: the only difference is there's been a role reversal, and it's now Rangers doing the chasing.

 

Incidentally, regarding our title challenge: I've written this before I know - but I never, ever thought we were quite good enough. We leaked too many goals, didn't quite have the depth of squad needed, and our home form deteriorated badly from Christmas onwards. The draw with Motherwell and defeat at Hibs finally knocked us out of the race: but didn't 'cost us the title', because we weren't quite good enough to win it in the first place. Sensational campaign it was though, make no mistake about that!

 

For me if a certain, future spending, chairman had bought a midfielder it might have been different. We needed someone to replace Cameron and Fulton when they never played. Instead we had to rely on Makel (not a bad player but not a league winning one). That cost us. One of many mistakes Robinson made. One chance to make a financial gamble and he decided against it.

[Hearts Heritage]

1998-02-28 Rangers 2-2 Hearts L Premier 50046 McCann;Hamilton; [Jorg Albertz;Jorg Albertz;] link--->

1998-03-07 Hearts 4-1 Ayr United SC 15761 QF Ritchie;Flogel;Fulton;Hamilton; [ian [1] Ferguson;] link--->

1998-03-14 Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock L Premier 15338 McPherson; [John Henry;] link--->

1998-03-21 Dundee United 0-1 Hearts L Premier 10400 Hamilton; link--->

1998-03-28 Celtic 0-0 Hearts L Premier 49978 link--->

1998-04-04 Falkirk 1-3 Hearts SC 31587 SF Adam;Adam;McCann; [Kevin McAllister;] link--->

1998-04-08 Hearts 1-1 Motherwell L Premier 14737 McCann; [Thomas Coyne;] link--->

1998-04-11 Hibernian 2-1 Hearts L Premier 15530 Robertson; [barry Lavety;Kevin Harper;] link--->

1998-04-18 Hearts 1-1 St Johnstone L Premier 15034 McPherson; [Roderick John Grant;] link--->

1998-04-25 Hearts 0-3 Rangers L Premier 17415 [Gennaro Gattuso;Jorg Albertz;Gennaro Gattuso;] link--->

1998-05-02 Aberdeen 2-2 Hearts L Premier 12899 McCann;McPherson; [Eoin Jess;Michael Newell;] link--->

1998-05-09 Hearts 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic L Premier 13888 McPherson;Holmes; link--->

1998-05-16 Rangers 1-2 Hearts SC 48946 Final Cameron(1 pen);Adam; [Ally McCoist;] link--->

 

 

3 consecutive 1-1 draws at home after leading 1-0 in all 3. JJ's lack of substitutions cost us dear.

[Dave Ross]

1998-02-28 Rangers 2-2 Hearts L Premier 50046 McCann;Hamilton; [Jorg Albertz;Jorg Albertz;] link--->

1998-03-07 Hearts 4-1 Ayr United SC 15761 QF Ritchie;Flogel;Fulton;Hamilton; [ian [1] Ferguson;] link--->

1998-03-14 Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock L Premier 15338 McPherson; [John Henry;] link--->

1998-03-21 Dundee United 0-1 Hearts L Premier 10400 Hamilton; link--->

1998-03-28 Celtic 0-0 Hearts L Premier 49978 link--->

1998-04-04 Falkirk 1-3 Hearts SC 31587 SF Adam;Adam;McCann; [Kevin McAllister;] link--->

1998-04-08 Hearts 1-1 Motherwell L Premier 14737 McCann; [Thomas Coyne;] link--->

1998-04-11 Hibernian 2-1 Hearts L Premier 15530 Robertson; [barry Lavety;Kevin Harper;] link--->

1998-04-18 Hearts 1-1 St Johnstone L Premier 15034 McPherson; [Roderick John Grant;] link--->

1998-04-25 Hearts 0-3 Rangers L Premier 17415 [Gennaro Gattuso;Jorg Albertz;Gennaro Gattuso;] link--->

1998-05-02 Aberdeen 2-2 Hearts L Premier 12899 McCann;McPherson; [Eoin Jess;Michael Newell;] link--->

1998-05-09 Hearts 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic L Premier 13888 McPherson;Holmes; link--->

1998-05-16 Rangers 1-2 Hearts SC 48946 Final Cameron(1 pen);Adam; [Ally McCoist;] link--->

 

 

3 consecutive 1-1 draws at home after leading 1-0 in all 3. JJ's lack of substitutions cost us dear.

 

Think you might be being harsh Davie. The team was always going to have a slump. Who's to say the subs were good enough. As stated by myself previous he deserved the chance to bring in another established midfielder.

[jambo mark]

Think you might be being harsh Davie. The team was always going to have a slump. Who's to say the subs were good enough. As stated by myself previous he deserved the chance to bring in another established midfielder.

 

but what a season though!!

 

first time since 86/87 i think we had a genuine chance of winning the title

 

for all the people that say burley would have won it, i still dont think we would have. i think we'd have finished 2nd by a more comfortable margin, but cletic would still have pipped us

 

just my opinion likes . . .

[shaun.lawson]

For me if a certain, future spending, chairman had bought a midfielder it might have been different. We needed someone to replace Cameron and Fulton when they never played. Instead we had to rely on Makel (not a bad player but not a league winning one). That cost us. One of many mistakes Robinson made. One chance to make a financial gamble and he decided against it.

 

Given we lost ?2m that season anyway, you have understand why though. Celtic were promptly eliminated from the CL in the qualifiers by Croatia Zagreb - purely in financial terms, what might the gamble have delivered? Not much that I can see, and we could well have still come up just short (on goal difference, say; then what might have happened in the Cup Final?) in any case.

[Charlie-Brown]

The general SPL standard in 1997-98 was higher than it is now - I though 2004-05 was quite a poor standard with most of the teams impoverished whilst at the top an ageing Martin O'Neil team at Celtic narrowly losing the title to an Alex McLeish Rangers squad that would fall to 3rd place the following year.

[Charlie-Brown]

Walter Smith lost his job at the end of 1997-98 after a trophyless season finished by losing the league to Celtic on the last day and losing the Scottish Cup final to an underdog so there could yet be some parallels?

[Guess The Crowd]

1998-02-28 Rangers 2-2 Hearts L Premier 50046 McCann;Hamilton; [Jorg Albertz;Jorg Albertz;] link--->

1998-03-07 Hearts 4-1 Ayr United SC 15761 QF Ritchie;Flogel;Fulton;Hamilton; [ian [1] Ferguson;] link--->

1998-03-14 Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock L Premier 15338 McPherson; [John Henry;] link--->

1998-03-21 Dundee United 0-1 Hearts L Premier 10400 Hamilton; link--->

1998-03-28 Celtic 0-0 Hearts L Premier 49978 link--->

1998-04-04 Falkirk 1-3 Hearts SC 31587 SF Adam;Adam;McCann; [Kevin McAllister;] link--->

1998-04-08 Hearts 1-1 Motherwell L Premier 14737 McCann; [Thomas Coyne;] link--->

1998-04-11 Hibernian 2-1 Hearts L Premier 15530 Robertson; [barry Lavety;Kevin Harper;] link--->

1998-04-18 Hearts 1-1 St Johnstone L Premier 15034 McPherson; [Roderick John Grant;] link--->

1998-04-25 Hearts 0-3 Rangers L Premier 17415 [Gennaro Gattuso;Jorg Albertz;Gennaro Gattuso;] link--->

1998-05-02 Aberdeen 2-2 Hearts L Premier 12899 McCann;McPherson; [Eoin Jess;Michael Newell;] link--->

1998-05-09 Hearts 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic L Premier 13888 McPherson;Holmes; link--->

1998-05-16 Rangers 1-2 Hearts SC 48946 Final Cameron(1 pen);Adam; [Ally McCoist;] link--->

 

 

3 consecutive 1-1 draws at home after leading 1-0 in all 3. JJ's lack of substitutions cost us dear.

 

We were just discussing that sequence of games the other night. After the cup semi, there were 6 league games to go, 5 of which were in Edinburgh. I thought at the time we'd a great chance, so I'm not quite sure I agree with Shaun here. As an earlier poster said, because of the cup win, people forget what a great chance of the League we had that year.

 

Fantastic season, dreadful article.

[bigwull22]

For me if a certain, future spending, chairman had bought a midfielder it might have been different. We needed someone to replace Cameron and Fulton when they never played. Instead we had to rely on Makel (not a bad player but not a league winning one). That cost us. One of many mistakes Robinson made. One chance to make a financial gamble and he decided against it.

 

Exactly, spent ?75,000 instead of ?750,000 remember Larsson only cost?650,000 back then, remember saying we have blown it when we signed Makel, even if they'd lied about the fee it would have made us more confident, not the foirst time either, Mercer did the same in Joe Jordan's first season when we were flying. McCoist or Andy Cole anyone? Just when we have a chance of becoming a really big club, our chairmen hold us back.

[portobellojambo1]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport/Glenn-Gibbons-This-is-not.5118303.jp

 

:rofl:

 

Yes, how dare we have excitement, competition and the gruesome twosome being fallible!

 

 

When you compare it with this article, printed on 19 February, it makes you wonder if journalists ever re-read what they have previously written, or just make it up as they go along.

 

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/14692/Glenn-Gibbons-Season-of-damning.4995114.jp

[Charlie-Brown]

Exactly, spent ?75,000 instead of ?750,000 remember Larsson only cost?650,000 back then, remember saying we have blown it when we signed Makel, even if they'd lied about the fee it would have made us more confident, not the foirst time either, Mercer did the same in Joe Jordan's first season when we were flying. McCoist or Andy Cole anyone? Just when we have a chance of becoming a really big club, our chairmen hold us back.

 

How does spending money you don't have make you a big club? - it might or might not help to win a particular trophy but that is a gamble not a certainty - what is a certainty is that if football clubs spend money they don't have then they endure the pain of cost-cutting and having to sell or release their better player further down the line to balance the books.

[JAYEL]

" Even if there are spooky parallels to be found in the past, however, it does not make the pain of the present any more bearable "

 

 

For who ?

 

 

 

 

 

.

[bigwull22]

How does spending money you don't have make you a big club? - it might or might not help to win a particular trophy but that is a gamble not a certainty - what is a certainty is that if football clubs spend money they don't have then they endure the pain of cost-cutting and having to sell or release their better player further down the line to balance the books.

 

Speculate to accumulate, or are you happy bumping along with a top 6 finish, I'd take going for it winning the league 9 dodgy seasons then going for it again everytime. If you win the league the players suddenly become much more valuable don't they?

[Charlie-Brown]

Speculate to accumulate, or are you happy bumping along with a top 6 finish, I'd take going for it winning the league 9 dodgy seasons then going for it again everytime. If you win the league the players suddenly become much more valuable don't they?

 

Hearts speculated to accumulate in 1999-2001 and 2005-2007 all they accumulated was massive debts - most of the SPL speculated in the period 1999-2001 and forced their wage bill & debts higher than they could afford and have being paying the price ever since, umpteen English clubs have speculated to accumulate over the years but only Blackburn that I can think of ever reaped a reward whilst it lasted the rest have endured financial pain & administration & even relegation(s) in some cases ie Leeds, Leicester, Forest etc.

[bigwull22]

Hearts speculated to accumulate in 1999-2001 and 2005-2007 all they accumulated was massive debts - most of the SPL speculated in the period 1999-2001 and forced their wage bill & debts higher than they could afford and have being paying the price ever since, umpteen English clubs have speculated to accumulate over the years but only Blackburn that I can think of ever reaped a reward whilst it lasted the rest have endured financial pain & administration & even relegation(s) in some cases ie Leeds, Leicester, Forest etc.

 

Spend when your going for the league, not the season after, if you get off to a good start and are still there in January thats the time to go for it and sign 1 or 2 quality players to give the extra impetus needed for the run in, sell in the closed season if need be to balance the books, unless the league stages of the CL has been reached. Not that difficult really. Remember there are only 2 teams to beat in Scotland 1 for a shot at the CL unlike England

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Spend when your going for the league, not the season after, if you get off to a good start and are still there in January thats the time to go for it and sign 1 or 2 quality players to give the extra impetus needed for the run in, sell in the closed season if need be to balance the books, unless the league stages of the CL has been reached. Not that difficult really. Remember there are only 2 teams to beat in Scotland 1 for a shot at the CL unlike England

 

No one can say we didn't spend money in 2005-06.

[bigwull22]

No one can say we didn't spend money in 2005-06.

 

spent it on 11 players instead of 1 or 2 quality players tho, we also won the cup, and qualified for the CL, don't you remember?

[Benny Factor]

1998-02-28 Rangers 2-2 Hearts L Premier 50046 McCann;Hamilton; [Jorg Albertz;Jorg Albertz;] link--->

1998-03-07 Hearts 4-1 Ayr United SC 15761 QF Ritchie;Flogel;Fulton;Hamilton; [ian [1] Ferguson;] link--->

1998-03-14 Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock L Premier 15338 McPherson; [John Henry;] link--->

1998-03-21 Dundee United 0-1 Hearts L Premier 10400 Hamilton; link--->

1998-03-28 Celtic 0-0 Hearts L Premier 49978 link--->

1998-04-04 Falkirk 1-3 Hearts SC 31587 SF Adam;Adam;McCann; [Kevin McAllister;] link--->

1998-04-08 Hearts 1-1 Motherwell L Premier 14737 McCann; [Thomas Coyne;] link--->

1998-04-11 Hibernian 2-1 Hearts L Premier 15530 Robertson; [barry Lavety;Kevin Harper;] link--->

1998-04-18 Hearts 1-1 St Johnstone L Premier 15034 McPherson; [Roderick John Grant;] link--->

1998-04-25 Hearts 0-3 Rangers L Premier 17415 [Gennaro Gattuso;Jorg Albertz;Gennaro Gattuso;] link--->

1998-05-02 Aberdeen 2-2 Hearts L Premier 12899 McCann;McPherson; [Eoin Jess;Michael Newell;] link--->

1998-05-09 Hearts 2-0 Dunfermline Athletic L Premier 13888 McPherson;Holmes; link--->

1998-05-16 Rangers 1-2 Hearts SC 48946 Final Cameron(1 pen);Adam; [Ally McCoist;] link--->

 

 

3 consecutive 1-1 draws at home after leading 1-0 in all 3. JJ's lack of substitutions cost us dear.

 

The first game in that sequence knocked the stuffing out of us IMO... leading 2-1 at Ipox going into injury time, and then having a dodgy free-kick given against us from which Albertz scored.

[torino calcio]

I remember Jeffries saying after that he had wanted to sign at least one player during the second half of that season but Robinson wouldn't release the funds - he clearly had someone in mind though I don't think that it was ever revealed who this was.

 

The game that cocked it up for us was the Motherwell one - I remember that we were a goal up with 10 minutes to go and they equalised from an avoidable free kick that McPherson conceded. The problem was that at that time Rangers and Celtic were winning every week and you couldn't afford to draw and drop a couple of points.

For me if a certain, future spending, chairman had bought a midfielder it might have been different. We needed someone to replace Cameron and Fulton when they never played. Instead we had to rely on Makel (not a bad player but not a league winning one). That cost us. One of many mistakes Robinson made. One chance to make a financial gamble and he decided against it.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

We came damn close that season to a double.

 

Was it a Tommy Coyne goal for Motherwell at Tynecastle for a 1-1 draw that ****ed it up?

[HillmanHearts]

I know the thread has moved on a bit but I'm just up and I have to say I agree with the OP.

That's one of the worst articles written in the Scotsman in recent times.

For a change we actualy had other teams close to the Old Firm that year with one of them actualy winning a major. But this clown reckons that doesn't make it good competition it just makes the Old Firm worse than normal.

Are the others teams here just to prove how good or bad the Old Firm

are ?

Disrespectful, unperceptive and narrow-minded and exactly what's wrong with the media in this country !

 

Get the monkey nuts out for that excuse for a journalist.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

spent it on 11 players instead of 1 or 2 quality players tho, we also won the cup, and qualified for the CL, don't you remember?

 

Er, yes!

 

Not sure what your point is!

[bigwull22]

Er, yes!

 

Not sure what your point is!

 

Thought this was about 97/98 tho' when we didn't speculate, if we did then we would have won the league that year.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Simple fact is Hearts were fighting on two fronts as the season went on. We ran out of steam in the league in the last straight. Story is JJ asked Robinson to free up 500k with the words "I will win the league" (who knows if its true) - Robinson freed up the money for Lee Makel.

 

Its even more of a chance missed when both sides of the OF stumbled as well in the run in.

 

Great season though.

[Victorian]

WOW!!

 

that is breathtaking. one of the most ridiculous pieces of fact twisting nonsense i have ever had the misfortune to read.

 

you could almost call that officially, Johnson Press sanctioned trolling.

 

the way it's been described, it's as if hearts weren't involved in the title race at all... merely crept up on the OF teams late in the season. as we all know this is complete and utter bollox. hearts were right in the mix until the final quarter of games when we began to fall away.

 

it's mindnumbinging bizarre to compare this season to 97/98. in 97/98 we had a genuine 3 way competition for the title....

 

isn't that what scottish football could do with all the time?

 

truly embarrassing stuff.

[glaikit]

The funky Gibbons is an establishment apologist and Celtic follower from the Stein era. The Scotsman possibly sees him as a successor to John Rafferty, but they only get flatulence for their money. Here's an example from the same paper, talking about Barry Ferguson:

 

"The Rangers midfielder has never come close to greatness, except perhaps among those who throw the word around with the insouciance of verbal wastrels." Correct analysis IMO, but dire prose.

 

I had some correspondence with GG after the Andy Davis scandal and it wasn't edifying. Blinkered and defensive are the nicest things to say about it.

 

File under "diabolical defectatory detritus" (and watch out for GG nicking the words).

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Thought this was about 97/98 tho' when we didn't speculate, if we did then we would have won the league that year.

 

Ah, thought you were claiming we didn't speculate in 05-06.

 

As has been said, we lost ?2M in 97-98 so you can argue we speculated then as well.

[MacDonald Jardine]

You can't win in Scottish football.

Rangers and Celtic dominate and it's boring and predictable.

Other clubs take points off them and the standard has declined.

 

Last week's game for example could have been described as an exciting game in which rangers played well in the first half (apparently the best of the season) and Hearts came back.

But no we focus on the bad parts for each team as an example of how terrible it was.

[Victorian]

You can't win in Scottish football.

Rangers and Celtic dominate and it's boring and predictable.

Other clubs take points off them and the standard has declined.

 

Last week's game for example could have been described as an exciting game in which rangers played well in the first half (apparently the best of the season) and Hearts came back.

But no we focus on the bad parts for each team as an example of how terrible it was.

absolutely correct.

 

that is the nature of the beast. it looks to me as if there is still an ongoing self delusional sense of how good scottish football is or should be.

 

OF not quite so dominant??? must be a poor standard.

 

scottish football would be a far better entity if there was a closer competition between more than the usual two teams, regardless of the actual quality of the football. the standard could be very high but if it's just a case of going through the motions of the OF being 25 points ahead of the rest by february then what does that achieve?

 

give me a 3 or 4 team race for the title every time, even if the footbal isn't the best we have seen.

[JamboSean]

You can't win in Scottish football.

Rangers and Celtic dominate and it's boring and predictable.

Other clubs take points off them and the standard has declined.

 

Last week's game for example could have been described as an exciting game in which rangers played well in the first half (apparently the best of the season) and Hearts came back.

But no we focus on the bad parts for each team as an example of how terrible it was.

 

That's because the Scottish media have to pander to the uneducated masses who will not hear a bad word said about Glasgow's 2 'angelic' clubs.

 

If a non Old Firm team ever won the league again, no doubt it would go down as the poorest SPL season ever.

[Tazio]

You can't win in Scottish football.

Rangers and Celtic dominate and it's boring and predictable.

Other clubs take points off them and the standard has declined.

 

Last week's game for example could have been described as an exciting game in which rangers played well in the first half (apparently the best of the season) and Hearts came back.

But no we focus on the bad parts for each team as an example of how terrible it was.

 

Ah, the Golden Rule of sports writing in Scotland.

 

If you beat the old firm it is because they were poor. Never under any circumstance because the other team played well. It always has been and always will be the way it works.

[davieholt]

Ah, the Golden Rule of sports writing in Scotland.

 

If you beat the old firm it is because they were poor. Never under any circumstance because the other team played well. It always has been and always will be the way it works.

 

Generally true but, interestingly, the arabs got a good press for their draw with sellick last weekend. The concensus was that they played very well (which they did) and deserved it.

 

Why the same plaudits were denied to Hearts for their comeback against gers defeats me. For decades, the OF have ground out results that their performances didn't deserve and these are seen to be the inevitable result of innate superiority. When Hearts get such a result it is regarded in the press as a blip, just one of those days

[Victorian]

Generally true but, interestingly, the arabs got a good press for their draw with sellick last weekend. The concensus was that they played very well (which they did) and deserved it.

 

Why the same plaudits were denied to Hearts for their comeback against gers defeats me. For decades, the OF have ground out results that their performances didn't deserve and these are seen to be the inevitable result of innate superiority. When Hearts get such a result it is regarded in the press as a blip, just one of those days

also not one single word to the effect that it was our 3rd consecutive positive result versus an OF side.

 

maybe if it had been hamilton or st.mirren then the press may have found it within themselves to acknowledge what is quite a good achievement.

[Francis Albert]

Comment No. 11 on the article Scotsman site (which basically argues Hibs had to get out of the SPL that season because they were too good for it) surely has to be a parody by one of us of Hibee delusion.

 

As for the article, it is so lacking in logic as to be incomprehensible. The one clear argument is that he claims Scottish clubs fared worse in Europe, but the facts he quotes just show that with one notable exception in 97/98 they went out to clubs at least as strong as those they failed against this year. The exception of course is Rangers defeat to Kaunus, who are several classes below any of the 97/98 conquerors of Scottish clubs.

[davemclaren]

Gibbons must surely support the wee team?

[Mr Brightside]

If Scottish football was so poor in 97/98 how come we qualified for the World Cup??

 

For me the Hearts team of 97/98 was a great team, guys like Weir, Ritchie, Cameron, Naysmith and McCann all got Scotland caps at a future date and Weir even made the world cup squad.

[Seymour M Hersh]

So in essence Gubbins is saying if one or other of the infirm are not winning the league by 23-30 points the standard is dropping quicker than the Graf Zeppelin? What a fekking plum he is.

[stirlo]

I could not believe that article this morning. Gibbons assumes that because a non old-firm team came close to winning the league and won the cup - that it was a poor season.

 

I've always got the impression from reading Gibbons' articles that he's a celtic fan and that he is not keen on Hearts.