SPL.

[alsagerstokie]

Is there honestly any point to this. I know you cud say the same about Ligue 1 Serie A and Bundesliga but atleast there is some quality.

Ive just put BBC Sport Website up to see Celtic have won 5-1.

Waiting for people to say Gerrard is doing somthing at Rangers. Yes hes not doing bad.

However Celtic will once again win another title. Lennon must love winning every week. Take out Rangers and the rest are League One standard. (No offemce to league one).

Must have to put Celtic on TV every week id imagine. Im not anti Celtic i just think the league is a farce.

[somersetstokie]

Have they awarded Celtic the trophy yet?

[alsagerstokie]

Aug 2, 2020 20:30:06 GMT somersetstokie said:

Have they awarded Celtic the trophy yet?

May aswell

[Vadiation_Ribe]

It's a shame, as Hearts looked like they had the potential to join Rangers and Celtic at the top not too many years ago.

[alsagerstokie]

Aug 2, 2020 20:38:43 GMT Vadiation_Ribe said:

It's a shame, as Hearts looked like they had the potential to join Rangers and Celtic at the top not too many years ago.

They wont tho and never will. Aberdeen threatened a couple of seasons ago i think came to nothing. Honestly dont see Rangers troubling Celtic too much. Its diffrent imo to like Juv Dominating Serie A because there is quialty im Italy still. Cletic are probably top end Championship quality. So the rest just play lower league standard. Suppose its just one of them that will never change.

[walrus]

Rangers’ relegation was in hindsight really bad for Scottish football.

I know there have been some proposals recently of combining their four small leagues into three or even two leagues of more teams with a view to revitalising Scottish football. But surely that would only make for even more of a romp to the title for Celtic as they’d regularly be going up against even weaker opposition.

[Deleted]

Rangers have out spent Celtic of late but not going to happen. Rangers' season will be hoping to win a Cup and beating Celtic once or twice.


It doesn't take great management skill to finish second with Rangers.Would be serious failure to finish lower


Celtic are a huge club and nothing to compete with there

[Vadiation_Ribe]

Aug 2, 2020 21:06:16 GMT jesusmcmuffin said:

Rangers have out spent Celtic of late but not going to happen. Rangers' season will be hoping to win a Cup and beating Celtic once or twice.


It doesn't take great management skill to finish second with Rangers.Would be serious failure to finish lower


Celtic are a huge club and nothing to compete with there

And it's even more damning that huge clubs like Celtic rarely get anywhere in Europe. The Champions League ruined that. The league champions of each country would make for a much better competition if it wasn't only down to money.

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2020 21:18:08 GMT Vadiation_Ribe said:

Aug 2, 2020 21:06:16 GMT jesusmcmuffin said:

Rangers have out spent Celtic of late but not going to happen. Rangers' season will be hoping to win a Cup and beating Celtic once or twice.


It doesn't take great management skill to finish second with Rangers.Would be serious failure to finish lower


Celtic are a huge club and nothing to compete with there

And it's even more damning that huge clubs like Celtic rarely get anywhere in Europe. The Champions League ruined that. The league champions of each country would make for a much better competition if it wasn't only down to money.

I guess when you're playing poor quality every week it makes it even more difficult. they've had their moments in Europe of late but attracting players and competing with top European sides is virtually impossible.

[Vadiation_Ribe]

Aug 2, 2020 22:36:34 GMT jesusmcmuffin said:

Aug 2, 2020 21:18:08 GMT Vadiation_Ribe said:

And it's even more damning that huge clubs like Celtic rarely get anywhere in Europe. The Champions League ruined that. The league champions of each country would make for a much better competition if it wasn't only down to money.

I guess when you're playing poor quality every week it makes it even more difficult. they've had their moments in Europe of late but attracting players and competing with top European sides is virtually impossible.

Definitely. There will always be some exceptions, but I think in most walks of life you have to play the best to be the best. Andy Murray could have been world number 1 for years if it wasn't for Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. But without those three players, Murray probably wouldn't be as good a player. There's a good argument that they're the top four male tennis players of all time.

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2020 15:23:50 GMT Vadiation_Ribe said:

Aug 2, 2020 22:36:34 GMT jesusmcmuffin said:

I guess when you're playing poor quality every week it makes it even more difficult. they've had their moments in Europe of late but attracting players and competing with top European sides is virtually impossible.

Definitely. There will always be some exceptions, but I think in most walks of life you have to play the best to be the best. Andy Murray could have been world number 1 for years if it wasn't for Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. But without those three players, Murray probably wouldn't be as good a player. There's a good argument that they're the top four male tennis players of all time.

I don't follow tennis but has Buster Mottram retired?

[Vadiation_Ribe]

Aug 3, 2020 15:26:13 GMT jesusmcmuffin said:

Aug 3, 2020 15:23:50 GMT Vadiation_Ribe said:

Definitely. There will always be some exceptions, but I think in most walks of life you have to play the best to be the best. Andy Murray could have been world number 1 for years if it wasn't for Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. But without those three players, Murray probably wouldn't be as good a player. There's a good argument that they're the top four male tennis players of all time.

I don't follow tennis but has Buster Mottram retired?

Coincidentally, he's playing Fred Perry this week.

[somersetstokie]

There's also hopes of a mixed doubles team up with Annabel Croft.

[Deleted]

Good to see the stars are still on the scene

[thevoid]

There's only one thing more soulless than watching Celtic sticking five past Ecclefechan Thistle (or whichever sacrificial lamb rocks up at Parkhead next). And that's watching Celtic sticking five past Ecclefechan Thistle in an empty stadium.
Still, it did beat watching repeats of Horrible Tenants on Channel 5. Just.

[nott1]

Time to put them in League 2 and let then find their own level.

[datguy]

Ross County's manager looks more like David de Gea than David de Gea does himself.

[lowlands]

Never understood why Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham play in English Football Leagues and yet Rangers, Aberdeen and to a degree Hearts dont???

Celtic the horrible club that it is can play in the Irish League as their fans are so pro Irish sing Irish songs fly the Irish Flag and are anti British etc

I think that is only fair as we have Welsh teams in our league which is not a bad thing and neither would it be bad having Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts in the English league

[crowey]

..... this is apparently where we are fishing

[thevoid]

Aug 4, 2020 11:57:00 GMT lowlands said:

Never understood why Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham play in English Football Leagues and yet Rangers, Aberdeen and to a degree Hearts dont???

Celtic the horrible club that it is can play in the Irish League as their fans are so pro Irish sing Irish songs fly the Irish Flag and are anti British etc

I think that is only fair as we have Welsh teams in our league which is not a bad thing and neither would it be bad having Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts in the English league

Better still, why not have a Celtic League like they had in rugby (before the Italians joined)?

[spitthedog]

Aug 4, 2020 11:57:00 GMT lowlands said:

Never understood why Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham play in English Football Leagues and yet Rangers, Aberdeen and to a degree Hearts dont???

Celtic the horrible club that it is can play in the Irish League as their fans are so pro Irish sing Irish songs fly the Irish Flag and are anti British etc

I think that is only fair as we have Welsh teams in our league which is not a bad thing and neither would it be bad having Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts in the English league

It is often cited in articles that these clubs entered the English League because there were no Welsh Leagues in existence at the time
www.goal.com/en-gb/news/explained-why-welsh-teams-play-in-the-english-premier-league/5ch7uidrrtr41a9rcl7ov7ten

This is not factually correct. There was a South Wales League from 1891. Cardiff were formed 1899.

It seems though the South Wales League was very disorganised, for example, they had a rule that whichever team had the most points at the end of April won the League regardless of how many games had been played.
The League was wound up in 1894 and replaced with a Cup competition, though there were several attempts to get it going again. It was not until 1913 when the Glamorgan League started that there was any organised football in Wales.
In short, when Cardiff formed there was no real competitive League for them to enter and they therefore applied for membership of the English League system through the Southern League.

Hope that helps!

[spiderpuss]

Aug 4, 2020 11:23:54 GMT nott1 said:

Time to put them in League 2 and let then find their own level.

The attendances for anything other than the big two are no more than National league levels. They'd feel intimidated if you did that.

[GreaterGlasgowstokie]

There is a lot of snobbery here.

I watch a lot of spl and there isn't much difference. In fact stoke under Rowett or Jones would have struggled near the bottom of the SPL.

Stoke under O'Neill I would say have stepped up a level but despite spending much more than the old firm in recent years, both Celtic and Rangers are better than us

[GreaterGlasgowstokie]

Aug 4, 2020 13:07:37 GMT spiderpuss said:

Aug 4, 2020 11:23:54 GMT nott1 said:

Time to put them in League 2 and let then find their own level.

The attendances for anything other than the big two are no more than National league levels. They'd feel intimidated if you did that.

Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs all get decent attendances.

My team Dundee United are a 10-12k average attendance when they are on the up.

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2020 11:57:00 GMT lowlands said:

Never understood why Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham play in English Football Leagues and yet Rangers, Aberdeen and to a degree Hearts dont???

Celtic the horrible club that it is can play in the Irish League as their fans are so pro Irish sing Irish songs fly the Irish Flag and are anti British etc

I think that is only fair as we have Welsh teams in our league which is not a bad thing and neither would it be bad having Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts in the English league

Celtic is a Scottish club and play in the Scottish league . Odd that.  Many clubs in S America for instance have similar backgrounds and even Spain.


You've obviously never heard of Belfast Celtic either

[StokieMatt]

[noustie]

It was a bit more interesting when Rangers were out of the league because the diddies had more of a chance in the cups - Hearts, Hibs, ICT and St Johnstone all won the Scottish cup during then as Celtic seemed to struggle to keep any intensity given how easy they had it. Celtic were almost irrelevant as everyone knew they'd win the league so everyone else played for second and a decent(ish) European tie.

Now though, if you have a good season you get the chance to play the OF 8 times in a season plus 2 in the cup potentially so 20-25% of the season would be spent backs to the wall against teams with 10 times your resource. I'd go watch United but not spending £300+ on a season ticket to prop up the pretense of a league.

[Lakeland Potter]

Aug 2, 2020 20:28:48 GMT alsagerstokie said:

Is there honestly any point to this. I know you cud say the same about Ligue 1 Serie A and Bundesliga but atleast there is some quality.

Ive just put BBC Sport Website up to see Celtic have won 5-1.

Waiting for people to say Gerrard is doing somthing at Rangers. Yes hes not doing bad.

However Celtic will once again win another title. Lennon must love winning every week. Take out Rangers and the rest are League One standard. (No offemce to league one).

Must have to put Celtic on TV every week id imagine. Im not anti Celtic i just think the league is a farce.

Their top division is certainly very uncompetitive largely due to the 2 horse "Old Firm" race becoming a one horse race when Rangers were banished to the bottom of the League. I think there should have been a way to punish the Rangers owners for their offences without removing what little competition there was between the big two.

But to ask what the point is seems to miss the obvious point that virtually every country in the world has a significant number of people who want to watch local football teams play.

If I were Irish (Northern or Southern) or Scottish I'd be thinking perhaps there would be scope to have a Celtic League of 12 reasonably competitive clubs based in the 3 countries - or even 4 countries if Wales could be persuaded to join. Football below the Celtic League would have to be on a single country basis with 1 team from each country being promoted each year and replaced the bottom placed club from that country in the Celtic League.

Sits back and watches if anyone supports my idea!

[leicspotter]

Aug 4, 2020 15:10:18 GMT Lakeland Potter said:

Aug 2, 2020 20:28:48 GMT alsagerstokie said:

Is there honestly any point to this. I know you cud say the same about Ligue 1 Serie A and Bundesliga but atleast there is some quality.

Ive just put BBC Sport Website up to see Celtic have won 5-1.

Waiting for people to say Gerrard is doing somthing at Rangers. Yes hes not doing bad.

However Celtic will once again win another title. Lennon must love winning every week. Take out Rangers and the rest are League One standard. (No offemce to league one).

Must have to put Celtic on TV every week id imagine. Im not anti Celtic i just think the league is a farce.

Their top division is certainly very uncompetitive largely due to the 2 horse "Old Firm" race becoming a one horse race when Rangers were banished to the bottom of the League. I think there should have been a way to punish the Rangers owners for their offences without removing what little competition there was between the big two.

But to ask what the point is seems to miss the obvious point that virtually every country in the world has a significant number of people who want to watch local football teams play.

If I were Irish (Northern or Southern) or Scottish I'd be thinking perhaps there would be scope to have a Celtic League of 12 reasonably competitive clubs based in the 3 countries - or even 4 countries if Wales could be persuaded to join. Football below the Celtic League would have to be on a single country basis with 1 team from each country being promoted each year and replaced the bottom placed club from that country in the Celtic League.

Sits back and watches if anyone supports my idea!

John, I confess to knowing very little about the Irish leagues, either north or south, but wonder how many of the Irish clubs would be able to compete with the top 8/10 from the SPL. Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk...Population wise ROI and Scotland are not too dissimilar, but footballing history wise, at club level, they seem poles apart.

So a Celtic league might be very appealing to clubs in Ireland and maybe less so to the Scots, whilst we English would probably enjoy watching them try convince us it really was competitive.



If the Welsh joined in it would need to be Cardiff & Swansea to give the Old Firm any sort of competition

[Lakeland Potter]

Aug 4, 2020 18:02:16 GMT leicspotter said:

Aug 4, 2020 15:10:18 GMT Lakeland Potter said:

Their top division is certainly very uncompetitive largely due to the 2 horse "Old Firm" race becoming a one horse race when Rangers were banished to the bottom of the League. I think there should have been a way to punish the Rangers owners for their offences without removing what little competition there was between the big two.

But to ask what the point is seems to miss the obvious point that virtually every country in the world has a significant number of people who want to watch local football teams play.

If I were Irish (Northern or Southern) or Scottish I'd be thinking perhaps there would be scope to have a Celtic League of 12 reasonably competitive clubs based in the 3 countries - or even 4 countries if Wales could be persuaded to join. Football below the Celtic League would have to be on a single country basis with 1 team from each country being promoted each year and replaced the bottom placed club from that country in the Celtic League.

Sits back and watches if anyone supports my idea!

John, I confess to knowing very little about the Irish leagues, either north or south, but wonder how many of the Irish clubs would be able to compete with the top 8/10 from the SPL. Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk...Population wise ROI and Scotland are not too dissimilar, but footballing history wise, at club level, they seem poles apart.

So a Celtic league might be very appealing to clubs in Ireland and maybe less so to the Scots, whilst we English would probably enjoy watching them try convince us it really was competitive.



If the Welsh joined in it would need to be Cardiff & Swansea to give the Old Firm any sort of competition

I can hear the stirrings of unrest in Newport and Wrexham, already, at that comment!