http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25360333 Celtic are paying the price in Europe for Rangers' exit from Scotland's top flight, according to former Barcelona and Chelsea defender Albert Ferrer. The former Vitesse manager was reacting to Celtic's 6-1 Champions League hammering by Barcelona in Spain. "Because they compete in the Scottish league without Rangers lately, probably the level has dropped a little bit," Ferrer told BBC Scotland. âWill the investment be enough to compete with these four or five monsters? I don't think it's worth it to spend a big amount of money on playersâ "The domestic league is not at the level of Europe." Celtic eased to another title last season while Rangers, who suffered liquidation, were winning Division Three. Ferrer said that it was therefore difficult for Celtic to bridge the gap once they play in the Champions League. "When you go to Europe, there is a big step up and I think they're paying for that," said the Spaniard, who played more than 200 times for Barcelona from 1990 to 1998 before spending five seasons at Chelsea. "With the problems they caused Barcelona at Celtic Park, even beating them last season, you maybe expect a bit more in terms of opposition and intensity in challenges. "They defended and put two lines together, but they didn't really get into the fight in 50-50 balls, so it was more like a zone thing. "If you do that and Barcelona have a good day, they can score six or seven." However, Ferrer stressed that there were few teams who could have coped with Barcelona in the form they showed at the Nou Camp on Wednesday. "When Barcelona are on top form, as they were, it is almost impossible to beat them," he said. "Most of the top players were there. Iniesta and Messi were not there, but most of the best players were playing. "They put on a great performance in, with some of the things they were missing in the last few weeks. A few things came together - Barcelona playing a fantastic game and Celtic suffering from not doing enough with the ball when they had it and ending up running after the ball for 90 minutes, which is very demanding. "But again, it is probably not the best day to judge Celtic, going to Barcelona and losing 6-1, because many teams have done that." There have been calls for Celtic to spend more on players, but Ferrer thought it would be difficult for any Scottish club to challenge the top sides in Europe in the present climate. "I don't think many teams can compete with Barcelona financially - probably only three or four teams can compete with them - Man City, Real Madrid, Man Utd or Bayern Munich," he suggested. "If you spend a lot of money on players, what is the thinking on that? In the domestic league, you're normally going to win it anyway. "So, if you're spending money on big players, you are thinking more of competing in Europe. "Will the investment be enough to compete with these four or five monsters? I don't think so. "So I don't think it's worth it to spend a big amount of money on players because probably you can't get to the semi-finals while these teams are there with this amount of money to spend."
We have always been capable of getting pumped 6-1 with or without Rangers. We got the tactics all wrong and played ****e that's all it was nothing more.
We get pumped by teams in the SPL...we don't try because there is no Rangers We gub teams in the SPL...we need A Rangers because its too easy It's for other teams to step up and, to be fair to us, we have stepped down considerably to give them a hand
One of the best seasons we had was back in 2005 when we had 3 teams competing, with Hearts in it. A one team league is ****e - I don't particular miss Rangers, but of course I miss competition and even more so now since we won't have much more competitive games until CL qualification next July.
If the SPFL prize money was distributed more evenly/fairly. Celtic might get more competition. League position at end of Season 2012/13 % of 2012/13Net Commercial Revenues 1. 17.0% (was 17% last year) 2. 10.5% (was 15% last year) 3. 9.5% ( was 9.5% last year) 4. 9.0% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 5. 8.5% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 6. 8.0% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 7. 7.5% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 8. 7.0% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 9. 6.5% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 10. 6.0% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 11. 5.5% (up 0.5 % on last year ) 12. 5.0% (up 0.5 % on last year ) When Rangers were in the SPL the second place prize was 15%, now look at the difference between 1st & 2nd.
I personally can't wait to win the league(always the priority) and im starting to really hate the elitest CL. It's like trying to play with one leg tied up behind yer arse.
I was stating the point from a fans point of view, it was the **** of a club that proposed and voted to change it.
Shakter Dontesk spent 160 million and didn't make the last 16 , the champions league is like the epl , 90 % 0f the teams are just in it for the money and to make the numbers up . I've been on the Hull board arguing our case , them (rugby fans ) abusing our great club , I did a wee bit research on their crowds their highest average attendance in the 90's was 6000 and their lowest 3000 yet they seem to think their opinion is correct
OK it wasn't you personally. It could have been much better distributed, perhaps 75% distributed evenly and only the last 25% going on league position.
Yes. The non competitive argument is wholly down to Rangers ****ing up things for themselves and removing themselves from the competition
We had a stand alone policy with or without you. If Rangers could have avoided going bust you would have been crippled worse than Hearts and not troubled the top 6 for 5-6 years and certainly relegated from the top flight. We would still have sold our players because that is our model.
Sounds fine, BUT could anyone explain this to me....... Rangers 3. Eintracht 6 Eintracht 6 Rangers 1(pen) Rangers 0. Milan 4 Real Madrid 6 Rangers 0 Spurs 5 Rangers 2 And so on and so on...... What happened to the calls for competition then mwhahahahahahaha
And Rangers 0 Ajax 1 , Ajax 4 Rangers 1 and Rangers 0 Juventus 4 , Juventus 4 Rangers 0 , the great days of Laudrup and Gasgcoigne !!!!! The days they had a team for europe and a team for spl
Last season was fantastic in the Champions League . Neil got his tactics right in nearly every game . We had a great bunch of players all doing their very best to get a result . We kept the games tight and several players enhanced their reputations . This season it looked nearly like as if familiarity took over . Our players never seemed to get the same level of excitement and never had the same determination . We were more open than last year and never really got in to the competition . Two reasonable performances in the first two but that was that .
I blame the Green Brigade. The players couldn't concentrate on the game, waiting for the GB to make a complete **** of themselves with some psuedo-intellectual political banner banter. The players probably had a grand on a banner getting unfurled in the 22nd minute with Bet 365. ****ing Ray Winstone
yes without a doubt. the model is to buy unknown footballers and hope to sell them on for a huge profit. if rangers were in the league they may loosen the purse strings a bit to bring in some known names. i think they would also do this if a serious challenge in the spl came forward. the board care about champions league football. **** all else