We keep hearing this 'mantra' being spouted by the Rangers fans and most journalists/pundits. But is it true? SPL Champions: Celtic League Cup winners: Kilmarnock Scottish Cup winners: Hibs/Hearts Who says Scottish football needs Rangers?
I know it's kind if been done to death, but if the other teams get more of a chance of winning something, then they'll surely generate more interest and income for their clubs. Basically, if all the lazy ****ers who manage to make it to Hampden any time their team makes a final turned up more often, then these clubs would be in a better position. A distinct lack of Rangers would help with this.
Aye - people will turn out to watch a product that is piss poor at the moment and that will decline rapidly without the sponsorship, TV money, gate receipts etc.
Not sure this "proves" anything as such but this season will be the first since 1989-90 when two of the major 3 competitions in scottish football will be won by a team other than Celtic or Rangers. Since then, between us, we've won 51 of the 63 trophies on offer (not including this season). This can only be a good thing for scottish football as a whole, surely?
Sponsorship? Maybe. TV money? Maybe. Gate receipts? Not so sure. The point I was making is that if the other teams were more likely to have a chance to reach a final or get a European place then that would maybe generate more interest for the smaller teams. The SPL product has needed to improve for years. A lack of one of the big two might stimulate that improvement. It's a proper mibbees aye, mibbees naw, but if Rangers go to the wall it'd be interesting to see what happens. Myths one way or the other would definitely be debunked.
Almost as an aside more than a counter... ...who's looking forward to the final now there's been enough time to digest Celtic not being there? I am. I reckon it's going to be a cracking game - Hearts will be favourites but Hibs have got history to right and it would mean more to their fans. It could be the best final anyone's seen in years (of course, it could be the United-St Mirren borefest again) and no-one will be obsessively claiming ****e they wouldn't otherwise believe because of the teams involved. Best of all, Rangers will still win **** all. Mon the hibees (hopefully win by a point blank handball penalty)
I'm looking forward to it as well, and I'm kinda wanting Hibs to win just because they've not won it since 490BC. I'm half thinking of trying to score some free tickets for it too.
Absolutely Bib. I think we've become conditioned that any big Scottish football event has to have Celtic or Rangers involved. It could be a great game, it could be ****e; but the fact that it is different and an Edinburgh derby will generate a load of interest that you wouldn't get if the usual suspects were turning up.
My in-laws are Jambos - I'm expecting my father-in-law to lay on a barbecue at the very least. If Hearts win, my missus and her family will be well chuffed. If Hibs win, I'll get it right up them Either way, I reckon it'll be a good game - got ET and penalties potential. One note of caution, Glasgow will be swarming with the victims of multiple needle use for a day - if you get your hole on the 19th, double-bag it chaps
Without Rangers the wee clubs could be challenging for more cups, do people think this will make the fans of the wee teams turn out in numbers if they're winning more? The evidence to suggest this won't happen was at Rugby Park last week. Kilmarnock, fresh from just winning the League Cup, their fans couldn't fill ONE stand, just ONE stand. Celtic got 3 stands and the Killie fans still couldn't fill the one stand they had. Anyone who thinks the wee teams fans are suddenly going to start turning up are just kidding themselves on. I'm not saying the SPL will be a better place with or without Rangers, there's plenty of opinions on that one. But lets not kid ourselves into believing that these teams are suddenly going to be well supported due to Rangers not being here
The difference being that Killie fans probably did not want to watch Celtic celebrate winning the league. How many Killie fans turned up to watch Rangers do the same thing last season? About the same number.
To be fair, I know a Killie season ticket holder and she gave up her seat cos she didn't want to turn up to what was effectively a Celtic title party - she didn't go to the Rangers game last year, either. If Killie were challenging for something, they'll turn up. A lot of my mates "support" St Mirren (the inverted commas are a bit cruel, on reflection) - but they've been to about two games in the last ten years - if they got to a final or were challenging for the European spots, I reckon they'd go.
They hadn't just won the League Cup last season. Also, were Killie fans just assuming Celtic would win? I'd have thought they'd have wanted to go along in the hope of beating Celtic again. People are telling us that these teams will become well supported if success comes their way, if this isn't evidence of that being bullshit then I don't know what is
There was an article written by an Aberdeen supporter a while back which looked at figures during times when the OF weren't dominant and when only one OF team was dominant and, if he was right, it showed that crowds went up when teams had a increased chance at winning silverware or qualifying for Europe. Someone posted a link to it on here but I can't remember who it was.
I think everyone assumed Celtic would get a draw at least as that's all that we needed. Did you think Killie would win? I think most fans are realistic and knew it was going to be a party, If I was a Killie fan I would not have bothered either, after all it was on TV and they can turn off the TV, that's much easier than walking out of the ground with a half a game still to play.
I didn't think Killie would win the cup final but they did, anything can happen. I didn't think Hearts would win yesterday either but they did. I'm not talking about a full house here, I'm talking about one stand. I don't know the exact number of Killie fans that were at Hampden but I'd hazard a guess that if just half of them, maybe even less than half, had turned up at Rugby park then they'd have filled that one stand. Thats the point, these fans turn up to cup semis and cup finals but won't go to a normal league game, it's always been that way and I doubt it'll change. Lets face it, they'll never be challenging for the league, not while at least one old firm team is still around so they'll continue to stay away from meaningless league games, apart from the diehards of course but the wee teams don't have enough of them
The reason Killie fans didn't turn up was because of the "disgusting" behaviour of Celtic fans apparently - you can ask them on the Killie board for more details
