Erm, because Man United think he isn't good enough for them? Basically this guy is overrating both Kayal and the SPL.
Gosh, the lad is still wet behind the Southampton ears and he's already Clyney..! That's impressive..!
What are they gonna call the prize for winning the SPL now? It used to be the Better Than The Other Glasgow Team trophy, but now what? The Celtic Trophy?
You're on a wee mission to descry and belittle the Scottish Leagues, aren't you, Dan..? I must admit, I think they should settle into a level as befitting the players, teams and support that cover the the whole of Scotland, but will it happen. I think it's an exciting time for Scottish Football. But will the Edinburgh likes of Hearts or Hibernian take advantage..? Interesting, but not phenomenal.
I love Scotland and the Scottish, but the way Scottish fans tend to see themselves so highly despite such little merit winds me up. It's a terrible league with only one respectable team, formerly two. Don't get me wrong, Celtic are a huge club, bigger than ours, but if you gave me the choice between playing in the Premier League or the SPL, I'd not consider SPL for a second.
I too, love Scotland, it's a gorgeous place. And I have an old Lanarkshire mate of mine [Ken] who I really must get in touch with, again. Honestly, I don't view most of the Scottish supporters as seeing themselves as anything but what they are, though there will always be a few. As far as competition goes, yes it's an awful league because far too much money has gone in the direction of the Glasgow clubs, over the years. And yes, Celtic are a bigger club than Southampton FC, but for how long..? Surely, there will come a time that, if they are not content to be part of a Big Two [with Rangers re-establishing themselves] they will feel the need to break away from the Scottish Leagues. Now is the time where this this is probably going to come to a pressure point. Football wise, interesting times are about us.
That crossed my mind earlier... how long will a club with Celtic's history, tradition and fanbase fancy being part of a league with no competition? It's either, do something about it (something being making a huge push to be allowed into the English leagues) or wait for players and fans to get bored of no competition and slowly fade into obscurity. That, or hope Rangers get back sooner rather than later, or one of the other clubs makes the step up, which is unlikely. Either way, right this second, I just don't see the appeal of Scottish football, or playing for Celtic, other than a couple of games in Europe.
Scottish fans generally are painfully aware of the limitations of the Scottish leagues. A couple of points to ponder though - how many other countries in Europe with similar populations have significantly better leagues than Scotland ? - help me out. It could be argued that Scottish football had been over-achieving for years. Another point is money, whether it comes from TV or from sugar-daddies - it is minimal. Celtic are the only club which can afford any transfer fee - the rest are all dabbling free transfers, and bringing youngsters through (which will be a benefit in the long term). Saints after all may be in a similar predicament as our fishy friends if Markus, bless him, hadn`t showed up in the nick of time.
Depends what you mean by "better". Countries with similar populations (around 5 million) like Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia and Uruguay may not have any teams as "big" as Celtic or Rangers but they surely all have more competitive leagues. Perhaps this is why they are all better than Scotland on the international stage as well. I've just learnt that Uruguay has a population of only 3.2m, which makes them the most impressive footballing country in my eyes! That's bloody impressive.
