Spare some pity for Inside Left who has once again done his back in. Last time it was a tricky pair of socks, this time out it was a particularly belligerent spoon that would not go into the dishwasher. As every aspiring goalkeeper knows, it’s all in the angles.
Anyway, one visit to the chiropractor later we’re at least able to move again with some discomfort, but sitting down for long periods (or even short periods) is not easy; hence the sporadic posts this week.
Just as well there’s not much happening really in the world of Scottish football. Pretty much the only noteworthy thing was that Celtic lost again in Europe. They’re still mathematically in with a chance of getting through to the next stages but only with the help of some truly bizarre set of results. We’re writing this in the morning, a few hours before the Motherwell game tonight against AS Nancy, but assuming that doesn’t go well either, Scotland’s interest in Europe will go from five teams down to one in the space of just one round of games.
And it all started so well. In the Intertoto, we had Hibernian flying the flag. Rangers, runners-up last year in the Uefa Cup had a seemingly easy tie in the first round of the Champions League Qualifiers, Queen of the South, runners-up in the Scottish Cup faced Danish opposition in their Uefa Cup qualifying game. Motherwell didn’t have to qualify, instead they found themselves playing a French side in their first round game. Lastly, Celtic, our countries champions took pride of place in a competition, the forerunner of which they where the first British side to win.
But a few weeks later, we’ve lost two thirds of our entrants to mediocre, mid table teams from competitions most of us have never heard of. IF Elfsborg where struggling near the foot of the table when they played Hibs. Their 4-0 aggregate victory, admittedly against a team that had not played a competitive game, was a surprise to many – Hibs was considered to be the stronger team. Elfsborg where themselves knocked out in the next round to a team of Irish part-timers from Dublin. Queen of the South lost to FC Nordsjælland, a team at that time without a win in the league and struggling near the bottom. The Doonhamers 4-2 aggregate defeat was probably expected – it was their first venture on European soil and in fairness they acquitted themselves quite well. Many wise words have been written about Rangers’ performance against FB Kaunas so we wont dwell on that.
All of which leaves Motherwell and Celtic. Motherwell have an easier task that Celtic in progressing to the next round. One goal down to AS Nancy Lorraine, a team lying in 14th place in their league, Motherwell must fancy their chances tonight. A good comeback win last week against St. Mirren proved that the team can fight and score,precisely the sort of attitude they’ll need to score the two goals they need.
Celtic face a tougher challenge. With games against Manchester United still to come (incidentally, a team they beat at Parkhead a few years back in the same competition), Celtic need to pull the finger out of the proverbial if their hopes of progression to the last 16 are to be realised. But even Gordon Strachan is doubtful of that happening. Is it clever psychology or just harsh realism?
Knowing Strachan, it is probably a bit of both. Scottish European football has not had a fantastic time of it lately. Rangers’ performance last year to reach the Uefa Cup final, and Celtic’s defeat in the same competitions final in 2003 against Porto aside, our record in Europe has been one of regularly turning up, but failing to deliver.
Aberdeen, winners of European silverware qualified for Europe for the first time in 5 years last season and managed to progress through to the last 32 thanks to a lucky set of results elsewhere, but heavy defeats in away games to Atletico Madrid and Panathinaikos as well as that mauling in Munich ended that campaign. Dundee United’s return to European action after an absence of eight years ended in defeat to a Finish team in the qualifiers, as did Gretna, Hearts, Hibs and Kilmarnock a few years back.
At Inside Left we’re passionate supporters of our teams, leagues and nation, but our domestic game is approaching crisis point. Effectively a two-team ‘Premier’ league, a lower league structure from which you cannot be relegated and which does not wish to entertain the concept of expansion or consolidation, a catalogue of refereeing incompetence (and it’s only week 9), falling attendances and a style of game that has not evolved since the mid-70’s (compared to the English league, whose style of play has changed dramatically since the influx of foreign players into the league, Scottish football is, and remains, kick ‘n rush).
Our point is this: if we are to compete in Europe as we did in 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and if we are to make our leagues stronger and return to the heyday when Scottish teams where feared in Europe, what do we have to change? Do we bring in the 6+5 rule to promote home-grown talent through the ranks? Do we reduce the number of teams in the league? Or do we just shrug and shoulders and tell ourselves this is as good as it’s ever going to get?
Discuss.
Related posts:
- Scotland’s Road to Spain ‘82 (Part II)
- Scotland’s Road To España ‘82 (part I)
- The end of the road for Livingston FC?
- Dundee in Europe
- Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!
Tags: Opinion
Blimey, heavy stuff there, mate…
I’d have to guess several factors are to the fore here. Firstly, I think fooball in the more remote parts of Europe and the world at large has caught up with those countries that led the way back in the 1970s and 80s.
That in itself has been brought about by players moving more freely from country to country because of the way football has become big business in this day and age.
Obviously there’s much more to it than that, but that’s two key factors to be going on with in my opinion.
My guess is that while Scotland and its clubs have room for improvement, they’re still good enough to beat many opponents – just fewer than before for the above reasons.
I just wonder whether the expansion of the UEFA Cup and European Championships will provide a mechanism by which Scottish teams can up their game in future.
With a population of around 7 million people in Scotland(figure may be wrong, but I’m far too lazy to check) we cannot expect a huge resource of footballing talent. Count out that (for arguements sake) half are women, and around 2/3rds of the remainder are too young or too old to play professional football, that leaves us with roughly 1.16million men and boys of professional age, and its doubtful that a large figure will be of a good standard.
This is my claim as to why we have yet to win the World Cup(we’re always cheated), and the strict guidelines on foreign imports on the league (I’m not terribly assured of this, but there is something about not being able to play in the league without an EU passport or being a naturalized UK citizen, or something) means that the standard of players coming in from abroad is likely to be low.
Because of these two factors, and the limited comptetition of the SPL, few of the bigger continental players will come this far north anyway.
This is an uninformed opinion, so I may be wrong on many points, but my basic point is, we dont have the talent pool at home, nor do we have the attraction of the Premiership in England. Without some drastic changes to rulings, we are unlikely to see huge improvements in the Scottish game as a whole.