the premier league is built upon false funds in many ways. that is why i am delighted that my own club, who needed the initial sky money to survive is now setting itself up to be self-efficient without the need for the sky money. that is going to be key for many clubs because it will all collapse at some point, though i think its still some way off. the reason sky invest so much into english football is because it is exciting and there is quality on show in the vast majority of matches. this is also why the scottish league gets paid peanuts - because sky viewers are only interested in four games a season. the premier league is right up there with the best leagues even though i don't personally think it contains the most quality - i would argue it contains more exciting games over a season than any other league though and excitement sells. no matter what you say, there is a big chance celtic will struggle without rangers but not because of the tv money - it'll be because fans get bored and attendances drop further still - and they have been in steady decline anyway.
Steady decline!!!last week we got over 50000 against Inverness , yes in the o'neill days we got 60000 every week but Britain as a country has changed a lot in last 10 years , We average just under 50000 playing pub teams imagine if we were allowed to play real teams
And that sums up perfectly the context the EPL/SPL debate is about. Celtic and Rangers are the stand out teams in a very average league. Just because they stand out in the SPL doesn't mean they would automatically stand out in the EPL. With the added finance then probably over time but not straight away
so you've lost 10,000 people. that is a decline... economics might be the reason but it is still a decline! you won't be able to play 'real' teams as you call them. with rangers in the state they are in you can take away the only other 'real' team in your league from your list of opponents. you play in the scottish league and you will continue to do so. the guy at the top of scottish football, neil 'doomcaster' doncaster used to be our CEO and trust me when i say, scottish football is in serious, serious trouble with that man in charge! what the league needs is to try and think of new ways of improving it from top to bottom but you've no chance with that tosser running the joint. its either that or move on and create/join some kind of european league
We're in a horrible position because of the sky tv money has done with the epl , children in Scotland now walk around with their favourite English team shirt on , Celtic and Rangers can encourage kids to go , big crowds , keeps the kids interested but fans of Aberdeen , Dundee u and Hearts empty grounds the kids now prefer to watch football on the telly . You English laugh at our game but over the years we have produced some fantastic players , whatever you say the Scottish league remains one of the most passionate leagues in the world , remember we're a nation of 5 million , 1 in every 500 will go to football compared to 1 in a 1000 in England
harry, you are right that sky are as much to blame for the slow death of scottish football as anything else. however, rangers and celtic have always taken the kids away from supporting their local teams in other areas of scotland - this is effectively the same thing happening now to rangers and celtic except with english teams instead. the problem in scotland is that other than rangers and celtic there is nobody who can compete. in england there are enough populated areas to guarantee that teams can compete to a decent level, with or without financial backing. you only need to check out some of the crowds that league two and the conference get to show that football is still very much thriving lower down the food chain in england. most people still support their local teams although many are still drawn to the big teams - that will never change - people are often attracted by glory, but in scotland its rangers or celtic - thats all there is. if i had my way i'd decrease the teams in scotland to 32 overall, have just two divisions and increase the size of the scottish premier league to 16, allowing just two fixtures per season (30 game season, like portugal). rangers and celtic would absolutely hate this - but then so would all the other teams who thrive on their six guaranteed games against the big two. by increasing the number of teams however you will see the gap between the top two and the rest decrease as rangers and celtic gain so many points against the bottom teams at the moment. you could argue that there will be even weaker teams in the league but it wouldn't take too long for this to straighten out and the league become more competitive. it won't happen because all the owners will think about is their loss in revenue from rangers-celtic matches but i believe it would work given a fair few years after an initial imbalance. it would make the league more competitive but probably wouldn't get the money from sky because there are less old firm matches! but it would make the league more exciting. from your point of view that could be deemed a good thing or a bad thing, i don't know...
Martin, Crofts, Morison, Jackson, Rudd, Steer, Whitbread, Hoolahan are just eight of the eight internationalists we keep up our smart arses init.
Superman better watch out,, you've come out with better ideas to fix Scottish football in the last 5 mins,than the idiots that run it , have done in the last 5 years
harry, they would never use my idea because of greed - pure and simple. long term it would work best but short term, owners are only interested in making the most money out of the old firm and the old firm are only interested in getting one over one another. it needs a whole new radical outlook and you won't get that from neil doncaster. you'll get problems and then more problems...
It depends how you define the English league - as outside the Premier League the TV money is pretty minimal - except for parachute payments. As for the rest of your point.... there'd be no need for tinkers.
I only started because that one **** called the SPL a "farce"....of course it's a farce. The Old Firm are a farce. But they're our ****ing farce. I hate Rangers but not more than I hate the self-important English fans farting on about the Premier League then smelling it in smugly.
Never seen soo many chips on soo many shoulders, roll on Scottish independance. Build the bloody wall again and stick your north sea oil where the sun don't shine, it'll soon run out. We've got 350 MILLION barrells of the stuff just off the Falklands. We'll repatriate all the bloody Jock MPS too !!!!!!! rant over
