Scottish Football 21-22

Chripper

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Oh great, the old "The SPL would turn into the League of Ireland if the Old Firm departed" chestnut. Typical arrogance from the Old Firm gaze.

Let's see if we can debunk that myth, shall we?

From a transfer market point of view, the ten teams (if you take out the Old Firm) have a combined worth of £94 03m. Whereas, the combined value of the ten teams in the league of Ireland is £16.3m.

That's quite the gulf in player quality. The transfer value of players in the SPL is almost six times more than their League of Ireland counterparts.

Now we'll look at the total stadium capacity, taking out the Old Firm:

SPL: 137,044

LoI: 52,790

So, as far as total stadium capacity, it's not even remotely close.

Plus, you have to factor in the entertainment value of the SPL if the Old Firm departed to Outer Mongolia or wherever. It would be more open and teams would have an actual chance of winning titles, so, the fans who stopped attending matches, as they got bored of the duopoly, would almost certainly return. Meaning that teams would generate more matchday revenue as well as selling more merchandise and season tickets.

As far as the TV rights:

SPL - £30m
Danish Superliga - £46m
Swedish Allsvenkan - £48m
Poland Eckstralasa - £49m
Greece Superliga - £50m
Norway Eliteserien - £61.7m

As for the Leagud of Ireland, I couldn't even find any source detailing any TV deals for the LoI.

Last time I looked, the aforementioned nations don't have the Hlasgow "giants". Therefore, I doubt very much that losing the Old Firm would lessen the stock of the SPL. If anything, it would be even better product, as it would be more competitive.

Since the Old Firm wouldn't have direct access to the seven SFA funded Performances Schools anymore, the next generation of talented kids would exclusively come through the ranks of the other ten SPL clubs. Thus, either generating sell-on funds by selling the kids or they would sign them up to professional contracts and enhancing the quality of the SPL product en mass.

I doubt very much that the League of Ireland have a dedicated youth set up that's comparable to the Performances Schools.

If the Old Firm departed, the other ten clubs would receive higher SPL prize money. As it stands, a 3rd place finish receives £2,06m. 2nd receives £2.4m and 1st receives £3.35m. So, going through the league, each club would gain an increase in prize money.

If the Old Firm departs for parts unknown, Scottish football would flourish. Fans would return. Teams would get full houses. The Old Firm couldn't hover up the future Leon King's and Alex Lowry's, so those players would come through the ranks of the other teams.

If the Old Firm left, Scottish football wouldn't just survive, it would flourish.

And just as another diss to the Old Firm. Looking at things from an international view, in the 22 squad that Steve Clarke chose to play (and beat) Denmark. There was only 4 current Old Firm players in the 22 man squad. Do you know how many of those 22 players started their careers at the Old Firm? And bear in mind, I'm not counting Billy Gilmour for Rangers. If I did that then I might as count Andy Robertson for Celtic and McLean for Rangers, etc.

A total number of three Scotland players were produced by the Old Firm: Tierney, McGregor and Ralston.

Wherever, 14 players came from the other ten teams: Gordon, Souttar, O'Donnell, Robertson, McGinn, Christie, Clark, McKenna, Porteous, Turnbull, Armstrong, McLean, Ferguson and Nisbet.

On that subject, for the past 30 years the Old Firm have produced nothing Scottish from their youth system. The only notable exceptions are: Barry Ferguson, Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor, Callum Patterson. That's it. Before that? Gerry Creaney, David Hagen, Gary McSwegan. Who? Exactly.

For all the resourcesand riches of the Old Firm, they could have went all Ajax and ploughed millions into their youth academies. They could have dotted professionally run Performances Schools all over Scotland and produced their own superstars, selling the off for hundreds of millions.

The Old Firm does absolutely zilch for Scotland. Their purpose is solely to come together to drain Scottish football, by way of pandering to bigotry and ignorance that have already been discussed, in order to dominate Scottish football.

And I'm not exactly sure you're being so disparaging towards the League of Ireland. If the Old Firm did leave Scotlandoethey'd probably be playing there. English football doesn't want their baggage.
 

Champ

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Another fantastic performance by Jota so far for Celtic,
He really is a good player.
Seems quite natural playing off the right hand side, some brilliant touches and great awareness/runs on the box.
 

Glorio

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Another fantastic performance by Jota so far for Celtic,
He really is a good player.
Seems quite natural playing off the right hand side, some brilliant touches and great awareness/runs on the box.
I don't watch Celtic a lot, but the few times I watched, that Kyogo fella has been brilliant. I think he'll adapt to the EPL quite easily too.
 

Champ

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I don't watch Celtic a lot, but the few times I watched, that Kyogo fella has been brilliant. I think he'll adapt to the EPL quite easily too.
Yeah, he's a talent also.
 

galwayfa

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Works his socks off too. Not quite as hard as maeda though who genuinely never stops moving.
Maeda doesn't score enough goals though, I think a centre forward should be scoring but whenever anyone talks about him, they always say great work rate
 

MayosNoun

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It’s a league I don’t watch often but there’s a few players who can be picked up for a bargain.

Bassey the clear standout and only 22. Done it domestically and against Dortmund, Leipzig and Frankfurt. A monster and force of nature at cb or lb. Some clubs down here will frown upon going to the Scottish League but forget about Robertson and Van Dijk.

Kyogo looks a real find and has shown up in Europe too. Quick, presses like mad and decent in front of goal.

Giakomakis. Maybe a left field pick but ridiculous goalscoring record in Eredivisie in a team relegated and averaged a goal every 81 minutes for Celtic. Big strong striker with good finishing.
 

lefty_jakobz

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It’s a league I don’t watch often but there’s a few players who can be picked up for a bargain.

Bassey the clear standout and only 22. Done it domestically and against Dortmund, Leipzig and Frankfurt. A monster and force of nature at cb or lb. Some clubs down here will frown upon going to the Scottish League but forget about Robertson and Van Dijk.

Kyogo looks a real find and has shown up in Europe too. Quick, presses like mad and decent in front of goal.

Giakomakis. Maybe a left field pick but ridiculous goalscoring record in Eredivisie in a team relegated and averaged a goal every 81 minutes for Celtic. Big strong striker with good finishing.
Theres real value for money in the league.

Seeing performances Rangers put in against good European teams just shows the quality in those players.

Bassey Kent Tavernier Morelos Kamara all good players at Rangers, Kyogo Oreilly at Celtic, Arron Hickey great wee full back at Bologna. Relative bargains, not one of them would cost anymore than 25m
 

Pink Moon

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It’s a league I don’t watch often but there’s a few players who can be picked up for a bargain.

Bassey the clear standout and only 22. Done it domestically and against Dortmund, Leipzig and Frankfurt. A monster and force of nature at cb or lb. Some clubs down here will frown upon going to the Scottish League but forget about Robertson and Van Dijk.

Kyogo looks a real find and has shown up in Europe too. Quick, presses like mad and decent in front of goal.

Giakomakis. Maybe a left field pick but ridiculous goalscoring record in Eredivisie in a team relegated and averaged a goal every 81 minutes for Celtic. Big strong striker with good finishing.
Then there's the likes of Tierney and Wanyama.

James McCarthy and James McArthur were mainstays in the Palace midfield for years despite coming through up here at Hamilton (a club with about 20 fans).

Hell, even Pukki has been a relative success in England and he was pretty crap up here.
 

Chripper

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It’s a league I don’t watch often but there’s a few players who can be picked up for a bargain.

Bassey the clear standout and only 22. Done it domestically and against Dortmund, Leipzig and Frankfurt. A monster and force of nature at cb or lb. Some clubs down here will frown upon going to the Scottish League but forget about Robertson and Van Dijk.

Kyogo looks a real find and has shown up in Europe too. Quick, presses like mad and decent in front of goal.

Giakomakis. Maybe a left field pick but ridiculous goalscoring record in Eredivisie in a team relegated and averaged a goal every 81 minutes for Celtic. Big strong striker with good finishing.
Oh. There's bargains to be had.

In recent years, Scottish kids have joined Liverpool, Bologna, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, etc. Plus there's a lot of ready-made players plying their trade in the SPL that could cut it in the EPL.

As a league, it's nothing more that a grazing field that toughened up players. But that's not an insult. It's honest and raw. That's one thing I miss about English football.

You're right, Scottish football is frowned upon. But I think our reputation is getting better. Seems like every week scouts from Italy and Gernany are attending SPL matches, in order to snare a bargain.

I mean, it sounds unbelievable that Andrew Robertson cost £2.9m.
 

SilentWitness

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I don’t really understand the SPL table or why they do it the way they do. It reads odd that Livingston finish in 7th with 49 points and Dundee United finish in 4th with 48 points.
 

MayosNoun

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I don’t really understand the SPL table or why they do it the way they do. It reads odd that Livingston finish in 7th with 49 points and Dundee United finish in 4th with 48 points.
I may be wrong but I think it becomes two separate leagues after the 33 game split.
 

GoonerBear

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I may be wrong but I think it becomes two separate leagues after the 33 game split.
You are right. League splits in 2 after 33 games, after each team has played each other 3 times, into top 6 and bottom 6. They then play the rest of the teams in that section once. So Dundee Utd will play harder games than Livingston after the split. So yeah teams in the bottom section can amass more points than the top section.

Another weird anomaly, is that this means that on some occasions, fixtures might have to be manipulated which results in 1 team playing another 3 times at home and only once away over the course of the season.
 

MayosNoun

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I quite like the idea to be honest. It keeps the league competitive.

The Belgian League split is on another level though and more difficult to understand.
 

Gio

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Yeah I don't mind it. The final day before the split was one of the best of the season as there were 5 points separating 4th from 10th. And the teams qualifying for the top 6 changed hands several times across the afternoon, when Ross County's 86th minute penalty away to Aberdeen and Motherwell's 90th minute equaliser against Livingston both proved decisive. It was also refreshing to see more established clubs struggle while smaller, better run ones made it into the top half.

You need something at stake and our split is fairly straightforward to understand.
 

MC89

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Harry Kewell to join Ange’s backroom team,

Cameron Carter Vickers signs a 4 year deal with the champions.
 

MC89

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Heads up,

Ange Postecoglou, we never stop, sky sports in 5 mins, don’t really know what it it but I’ll give it a go.
 

MayosNoun

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Rangers look absolutely dreadful.

Has John Soutter been signed as a replacement for Bassey? He’s having one of the worst performances you’re ever going to see.
 

68cob

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Rangers look absolutely dreadful.
Has John Soutter been signed as a replacement for Bassey? He’s having one of the worst performances you’re ever going to see.
Could do with a 2022/23 thread for Scottish Football?
 

lefty_jakobz

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Rangers look absolutely dreadful.

Has John Soutter been signed as a replacement for Bassey? He’s having one of the worst performances you’re ever going to see.
Plastic pitch is a great leveller for Livi against the other teams.

Plastic pitches in the professional game should not be happening such is the risk for injuries.
 

MayosNoun

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Plastic pitch is a great leveller for Livi against the other teams.

Plastic pitches in the professional game should not be happening such is the risk for injuries.
I agree and their low block must be a nightmare to play against.

2-1 to Rangers now. Tavernier is a machine isn’t he? Rangers much better since taking John Soutter off. This guy they have from Bayern looks a player.
 

lefty_jakobz

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I agree and their low block must be a nightmare to play against.

2-1 to Rangers now. Tavernier is a machine isn’t he? Rangers much better since taking John Soutter off. This guy they have from Bayern looks a player.
Yeah he looked really good the Bayern player. Im surprised no one came in for Tavernier this window, hit double figures again last season in goals and also was he not the highest or second highest scorer in the Europa? All that from a full back.
 

MayosNoun

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Yeah he looked really good the Bayern player. Im surprised no one came in for Tavernier this window, hit double figures again last season in goals and also was he not the highest or second highest scorer in the Europa? All that from a full back.
I just checked and he was the top scorer in the Europa League. Highest goals from a right back in world football and highest assists. His age has went against him in regards to a big move.
 

Rayman96

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Yeah he looked really good the Bayern player. Im surprised no one came in for Tavernier this window, hit double figures again last season in goals and also was he not the highest or second highest scorer in the Europa? All that from a full back.
Yes . Thank goodness the scouts have been reading the Celtic fan forums. They could have probably got him reasonably cheap and Rangers would have sold unfortunately. His EL stats last year were just insane. Great free kick today. Got us out of jail
 

MayosNoun

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There’s rivalry and then there is absolute vile.

 

Blackwidow

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I agree and their low block must be a nightmare to play against.

2-1 to Rangers now. Tavernier is a machine isn’t he? Rangers much better since taking John Soutter off. This guy they have from Bayern looks a player.
Tillman scored the decisive 3:0 today. That loanee from Bayern has trained with the first team for around 2 years. Not being able to get in an offense with Mane, Müller, Musiala, Gnabry, Coman and Sane does not tell that you are bad...
 

SportingCP96

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Tillman scored the decisive 3:0 today. That loanee from Bayern has trained with the first team for around 2 years. Not being able to get in an offense with Mane, Müller, Musiala, Gnabry, Coman and Sane does not tell that you are bad...
I just don’t get it, Celtic and Rangers at home are just different gravy.I knew rangers were going to win after the 1st leg.
 

lefty_jakobz

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I just don’t get it, Celtic and Rangers at home are just different gravy.I knew rangers were going to win after the 1st leg.
Last seasons humbling of Dortmund away was GVB first away win in European competition. Think its just a mental issue with Gio winning away from home. At home his record is quite impressive.