What happened...?

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Blinkin' flip, Roger - I was gob-smacked when I heard the score from Ibrox tonight, but when I had a look at the stats, it just beggars belief. Rangers' Boyd grabs a quick hat-trick mid way through the first half. United pull one back, then Rangers lose a player to a red card. Fightback on the way, you'd think. So how come Rangers ten men then went on to score another FOUR goals against United's eleven with no further reply? What the... ? 

[Malc]

Craig Moore is leaving Brisbane Roar (doesn't like the new coach) and the word is that he's headed for St Johnstone. Maybe United could put in a bid?

[Roger Kettle]

Sadly, Tarks, this didn't come as a huge surprise. Although United have picked up some decent results this year, they really haven't played that well. What depresses me more than anything is the state of Scottish football. The Old Firm are broke, are incapable of beating even the poorest of European opposition and, between them, only boast a couple of players who could cut it in England. And yet Rangers have just stuck 11 goals past the third and fourth best teams in Scotland in their last two games. A recent SPL game was watched by less than 2,000. Teams will go to the wall in the near future and the whole situation is desperately sad.

[Mince]

Sadly, Tarks, this didn't come as a huge surprise. Although United have picked up some decent results this year, they really haven't played that well. What depresses me more than anything is the state of Scottish football. The Old Firm are broke, are incapable of beating even the poorest of European opposition and, between them, only boast a couple of players who could cut it in England. And yet Rangers have just stuck 11 goals past the third and fourth best teams in Scotland in their last two games. A recent SPL game was watched by less than 2,000. Teams will go to the wall in the near future and the whole situation is desperately sad.

Now I know how Roger feels when I talk about computers.

[Roger Kettle]

You really, really don't.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Yes, it is indeed sad, Roger, and I'd hate to see any club go to the wall. There will always be a market for good football, but the increase of easy accessibility to it via our TV screens is bound to have a knock-on effect on the smaller clubs, struggling to break even. I'm not sure what the 'cure' would be, but improving conditions and the 'live' experience for fans in order to tempt them away from the comfort of their own living rooms has to be about more than comfortable stadia and good facilities/entertainment either side of the whistle. The game itself needs to be played well, and perhaps even adapted to encourage more goals and attacking play.

It appears that this is happening to a large degree down here in England, with remarkably few goalless games these days, and last Saturday was the first time for a long time that the studio pundits were complaining about a lack of goals (there were still more than many a weekend I can remember not that long ago), thanks mainly to a very good day for goal-keepers, and not a drop in standards. I'm not sure how this compares with the Scottish game, which I don't follow as closely as I used to, although lack of goals was certainly not part of the problem last night (I watched the highlights on the BBC website - it didn't make it look any better for the Arabs)!

[Malc]

I'm typing this either side of the Bells, as midnight is nearly upon us here in Oz. It's tremendously sad for me to hear this about Scottish football, as I am still very attached to it.
I attended a seminar held by the Glasgow Celtic coaching staff here this year when Celtic toured in the pre season, and I asked one of their guys if he ever thought Celtic and Rangers would ever transfer to the Barclays Premier League (EPL)?
 He said 'no, the English teams would never vote for it'. I think he's a little premature (or the question was). The EPL is only slightly less of a procession than the SPL, and totally dependent on which owner has the biggest pockets. Chelsea were perennial nobodies until Abramovich turned up, and Manchester City seem to have had a lease of life because of yet another billionaire's cash, but it's still a three-team league. Ferguson's great achievement has been to have done all that he has whilst continually bringing players through the Man U youth setup, something that hasn't been done anywhere else in the EPL.
The SPL is not served well by having Celtic and Rangers constantly leading the league and cup competitions with their foreign legions. It's not even a battle of billionaires, as many clubs are actually trading whilst effectively broke. How can that happen? Well, the old adage goes 'if you owe the bank two thousand it's your problem, if you owe them two million it's THEIR problem'.

I firmly believe that the Scottish League should split from aping the EPL and should switch to being a summer game, or at least try to miss the worst ravages of winter. The better fields and conditions would promote better coaching, and the big clubs could spend winter months overseas.
In short, the Scottish game has to re-invent itself. Yes, the loss of Rangers and Celtic would hit gate receipts to some extent, but the Old Firm have to go, for the good of their own futures as well as the good of Scottish football.
Celtic and Rangers (and also Dundee Utd and Aberdeen in the days of Ferguson and McLean) were the teams that up-and-coming Scots used to aim for prior to them being spotted by the English Div 1 teams. Don't underestimate the pulling power that a Scottish Premier League or Scottish FA Cup medal has when scouts come sniffing round. Those gongs are often clarion calls to scouts sniffing around for new talent. Fewer and fewer Scots players are winning those now, fewer Scots playing high pressure games at the highest level, including in Europe, so fewer Scots with big match, white-knuckle ride experience, often the precursor to them getting called up for international duty. This is the log jam that Celtic and Rangers are creating in the development of home grown talent.
OK, we've had the bells, I've been round to my Scottish neighbours, waving the Saltire and wishing them a Happy Hogmanay, now I wish you all one in a few hours time. Happy Hogmanay!!!