Look at the SFA annual report and the summary of outgoing president, George Peat, and you can be forgiven for thinking everything in the garden is very rosy. We made more money, that will go on rising, and the national team are said to be "playing better" (?). Change is "mibbees .." on the cards. The future could be bright. Unfortunately... that is the HYPE .. not the reality. The national team`s performance.. and that of clubs in Europe ... is the only real guide to our current status ... and these show persistent DECLINE. Scottish clubs have had a terrific record, at one point a remarkable 7th in the overall standings... to which no other small country comes close. But this is in the PAST.... based on the baby boom post - WWII and the fact that UEFA didn`t start until 1954. Today, there are more countries, more modernised, which SFA are not. And despite two big clubs doing their bit, the future for a badly organised country in the 21st century is ZERO. How did we do in 11-12 against our forecast BAD YEAR ? Well, it was a really bad one, with just 12 games (2 wins, 5 draws, 5 defeats, for 11, against 19) very similar to our national team performances (see Scotland Stats), with the regular low points, until CELTIC got a temporary repreive: SCOTTISH CLUBS IN EUROPE - 10 YEARLY Season end 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 ----------------------------------------------------- Played 18 24 28 12 39 22 16 22 32 25 ------------------------------------------------------ Rangers 4 10 6 2 19 10 10 8 8 2 Celtic 8 4 10 6 10 8 2 6 16 15 Motherwell 0 6 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dundee Un 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Hibernian 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Aberdeen 0 0 2 0 8 0 0 0 0 4 Falkirk 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hearts 4 0 2 0 0 2 0 6 4 0 Gretna 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Q. of South 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dunfermline 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 Dundee 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Livingston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 The 2011-12 mis-adventure means we could drop 9 games ... where we had 10 wins in season 01-02 ... and the prospect of another bad year next time, or the year after, which will do immense damage to our UEFA club ranking, in the same way our FIFA ranking has dropped us to pot 4. That, of course, means even earlier starts in Europe and more `difficult` ties to reach any reasonable level unless the major club owners invest in quality players ... or SFA and Scottish Government accept that major change is needed to produce them. Also going down, of course, is the number of clubs who play in Europe over the decade. This time we lost Kilmarnock, next season, Livingston, then Dundee, with the reality that only TEN clubs have played in the past five seasons and that total likely to go down ... and down. This is, generally, called DECLINE .... or DECAY .... and means we are less able to compete in future. Last 10 CLUB SEASONS CLUB P (games) W D L F A Celtic 85 32 20 33 102-100 Rangers 79 22 32 25 82 - 81 Hearts 18 6 5 7 17- 25 Motherwell 14 5 1 8 19- 16 Aberdeen 12 2 7 5 11- 23 Dundee Un 6 1 3 2 6 - 7 Dundee 4 2 0 2 7 - 3 Livingston 4 1 2 1 7 - 9 Dunfermline 4 1 0 1 1 - 2 Hibernian 4 0 1 3 3 - 11 Gretna 2 1 1 0 3 - 7 Falkirk 2 1 0 1 1 - 2 Q of South 2 0 0 2 2 - 4 With the loss of a good season for Rangers (01-02), the balance over ten seasons for the Old Firm is much more even ... almost the same number of ties, similar goal differences. Despite the competitive results, however, Celtic got those extra 6 games to forge ahead again .. but it still emphasises where Scotland stands in the greater scheme of things.... SUMMARY of SEASONS 03-12 BREAKING THE MOLD There have been lots of moans about the `Old Firm` lot in modern financial times, as well as nonsense talk in the media about them going south or into an `Atlantic` league. These are fantasies.... as long as the leading clubs and SFA do not knuckle down to the problem. They must campaign among UEFA members for a solution... Our solution to uneven national competition and finance is to introduce REGIONAL MARKETS at UEFA level. Using the CL and EL as bait, these would be effectively `Superleagues` for five or six countries.... probably 12 in all.... which clubs would have to go through to qualify for UEFA competitions. Our `market` would be a BRITISH ISLES LEAGUE, based on the English system and numbering around 118 teams, regionalised at current League Two level for access from English regions and the other four countries, Wales, R Ireland, N Ireland and Scotland. This would put roughly TEN SPL sides in the system and equal financially in terms of competition and media distributions. An alternative to that would be to allow smaller countries, outside of the big ten ... Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, France, England, Italy, Spain, Holland and Turkey ... to form `International` leagues, as has been suggested with the `Atlantic` concept. Again, these require much lobbying and negotiation within UEFA ... rather than domestic headlines and chest-beating in Scotland. You can go off at as many tangents as you like, but the bottom line is that there are only TWO OPTIONS..... one, inside UEFA and FIFA.... or, outside UEFA and FIFA... and in every case, the `Old Firm, or `Scotland`, need many partners. Outside UEFA, there could be a small chance of Atlantic League, since the `peripheral` countries of Britain and Scandinavia don`t take that much cash from UEFA club or national competition .. but that could be on a substantial increase with central marketting. Inside UEFA, the only possibility is a solution for the whole of Europe ... as we have suggested. And since it doesn`t harm the national teams which Michel Platini has recently pledged to defend, it could easily have his support... a crucial step. There are still minor games in the big club calendars whichs could provide the opening to expand slightly to lessen any impact of outsiders moving into the `English` leagues, plus UEFA competitions could be expanded with big clubs dropping out of lesser competitions. CL and EL groups might then be SIX clubs, ten games, continuing expansion of TV revenue as a further incentive. No matter which way you cut it, there are few alternative options which could be supported Europe-wide, the only alternative to which is a breakaway` system, which must be viewed as an absolute last resort. Remember also that so-called `national` policy is dictated by an SFA which depends on UEFA for any kind of recognition, since it is a totally undemocratic and unrepresentative body, and that is primarily in support of the dominant `Old Firm`programme. What if we move on from this state of national football paralysis, perhaps, to a system more suited to the bulk of football clubs ? If Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, Hearts, etc REFUSE to INVEST in quality and domestic production, what on earth is the point in `loading` our competitive game towards their efforts ? It is clear that we now need a much WIDER football enterprise .... CLUB RECORD 2002 - 2004 2003 - 04 (32 games) |
2011 - 12 (18 Games ) 2010 - 11 (24 games) Europa League - rd of 16Rangers 0-1 PSV PSV 0-0 Rangers Europa League - rd of 48 Sporting Lisbao 2-2 Rangers Diouf, Edu Rangers 1-1 Sporting CP Whittaker Champions Lge - groups 2006 - 07 (22 games) |
