Europe 2022/23

[Malcolm]

I have said this a few times here and it always causes a stooshie….  We are a diddy league now.  That’s the kind of humiliation that a minnow league gets.

[jcs]

Reality check for scottish football, celtic and rangers miles clear of the rest of scottish football n both the whipping boys of the champions league, i know everybody out with those 2 teams will be laughing but it really is a sad time for scottish football

[Hertsscot]

11 hours ago, Fairbairn said:

Should be a good game at Ibrox tonight.  We've surely got to be better than we were at Anfield (and Amsterdam) and if we can play like we did in the first half against Napoli we can maybe cause them some problems.  Liverpool are obviously a good team but they're not in form and have a few key players missing tonight so can definitely be got at.  I've a feeling it'll end in a Desmond but at this stage I'd just be happy with a goal!!

There's so much of your post that didn't work out! No way Gio can survive this, loved him as a player but there's no way back for him. Europa Cup final seems a long, long time ago now.

[Hertsscot]

3 minutes ago, jcs said:

Reality check for scottish football, celtic and rangers miles clear of the rest of scottish football n both the whipping boys of the champions league, i know everybody out with those 2 teams will be laughing but it really is a sad time for scottish football

It is indeed. Twenty years ago I'd expect Celtic or Rangers to give the top English clubs a game but we're light years behind now. For Rangers I do think that the team of six months ago would have been more competitive but the wheels have completely fallen off the bus, injuries, poor player recruitment, the poor mentality of some key players and poor management.

[Jersey Jim]

Kris Boyd on Sky rambling on about Mo Salah’s wages compared with Rangers players.

Oh the irony. 

[Malcolm]

7 minutes ago, jcs said:

Reality check for scottish football, celtic and rangers miles clear of the rest of scottish football n both the whipping boys of the champions league, i know everybody out with those 2 teams will be laughing but it really is a sad time for scottish football

completely.  We are a pub league now and it’s all down to money.  Football has globalised and tv money has destroyed our game.  
 

 

[vanderark14]

2 minutes ago, Jersey Jim said:

Kris Boyd on Sky rambling on about Mo Salah’s wages compared with Rangers players.

Oh the irony. 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Toepoke]

Biggest ever gubbing in a European game between teams from Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. 

[thplinth]

What was it, a 5 minute hat-trick?

[Malcolm]

4 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

It is indeed. Twenty years ago I'd expect Celtic or Rangers to give the top English clubs a game but we're light years behind now. For Rangers I do think that the team of six months ago would have been more competitive but the wheels have completely fallen off the bus, injuries, poor player recruitment, the poor mentality of some key players and poor management.

Bournemouth, wolves, that kind of level the old firm would give then a game.  The rest of the spl league 1/ league2 level, after that you are equivalent of national league.

[Toepoke]

2 minutes ago, thplinth said:

What was it, a 5 minute hat-trick?

6 minutes 12 seconds apparently. Fastest in Champions League history. 

 

[Clyde1998]

That was utterly brutal. First half, Rangers matched Liverpool, but Liverpool stepped up a gear, Rangers ran out of steam and I'm sure the injury to Goldson had a part to play as the defence seemed to disintegrate - the injuries at centre-back have probably been the biggest issue for Rangers this season: no Helander, no Souttar, Davies been injured for most of the start of the season, Goldson now injured, Sands being played out of position and King making his first serious steps into first team football on top of the sale of Bassey.

When you're dealing with players who are realistically English Championship level, perhaps bottom Premier League level at best, you're going to have issues in the Champions League - when you're left with a Championship level centre-back and a rookie centre-back against one of the best teams in the world it's a complete recipe for disaster. There's a tactical element to that as well, however. Even that side shouldn't be losing 7-1 to Liverpool - most English League One sides wouldn't lose 7-1 at home to Liverpool.

It feels like Rangers are have a weaker squad than last season, despite the additional revenue from reaching the group stages. If Rangers are in the group stages next season, they'll need a serious level of investment to be able to compete - £20m+.

As the years have gone by, the top talent has concentrated more and more at a smaller pool of top clubs due to the concentration of finances in football. Even clubs from Brazil and Argentina would struggle in the Champions League these days, despite being on par with the top European clubs a generation ago. That's the reality of football now.

[thplinth]

3 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

6 minutes 12 seconds apparently. Fastest in Champions League history. 

 

That is going to take some beating.

[ThistleWhistle]

3 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

completely.  We are a pub league now and it’s all down to money.  Football has globalised and tv money has destroyed our game.  
 

 

Too simple to blame money and tv as the issue - it's what's been done with it that's the issue. 

Club Bruges have pissed their qualifying group and the Belgians seemed to come up with mad schemes over the years to keep their league competitive.  The Spl on the other hand is a glorified, convoluted and increasingly pointless coin tossing competition.  

In a cost of living crisis fair play to anyone still propping up the Diddy teams by buying tickets to even allow the cheap facade of a competition to continue 

[Ally Bongo]

If you discount friendlies in the time of Jack the Ripper that was Rangers worst competitive home defeat in history

They have lost 6-0 at home to Dumbarton, Aberdeen and Real Madrid and prior to tonight those held the record

The 7-1 League Cup final defeat to Celtic was at Hampden

[ThistleWhistle]

16 minutes ago, Clyde1998 said:

That was utterly brutal. First half, Rangers matched Liverpool, but Liverpool stepped up a gear, Rangers ran out of steam and I'm sure the injury to Goldson had a part to play as the defence seemed to disintegrate - the injuries at centre-back have probably been the biggest issue for Rangers this season: no Helander, no Souttar, Davies been injured for most of the start of the season, Goldson now injured, Sands being played out of position and King making his first serious steps into first team football on top of the sale of Bassey.

When you're dealing with players who are realistically English Championship level, perhaps bottom Premier League level at best, you're going to have issues in the Champions League - when you're left with a Championship level centre-back and a rookie centre-back against one of the best teams in the world it's a complete recipe for disaster. There's a tactical element to that as well, however. Even that side shouldn't be losing 7-1 to Liverpool - most English League One sides wouldn't lose 7-1 at home to Liverpool.

It feels like Rangers are have a weaker squad than last season, despite the additional revenue from reaching the group stages. If Rangers are in the group stages next season, they'll need a serious level of investment to be able to compete - £20m+.

As the years have gone by, the top talent has concentrated more and more at a smaller pool of top clubs due to the concentration of finances in football. Even clubs from Brazil and Argentina would struggle in the Champions League these days, despite being on par with the top European clubs a generation ago. That's the reality of football now.

I'd prefer if they brought through some young players and bought the best talent locally as a balanced part of it like the Dutch, Portuguese, etc seem set up with so once in a while can sell a diamond (not Zander) for massive profits as it helps the league- trickle down economics doesnt risk competition taking over but somebody well managed may offer a semblance of a fight on an odd season rather than 30 years of romping it.

Spanking x million on talent willing to come to the SPL as it stands would just exacerbate the problem as the wrong kind will come.

Edited October 12, 2022 by ThistleWhistle

[thplinth]

It is funny seeing Rangers and Celtic utterly humiliated by their international peers like they humiliate their domestic peers. The total lack of competition domestically is why Rangers thought they could bring on a whale like Morelos shortly before getting pumped. They are fucking us but fucking themselves. 😀

[slasher]

What an absolute disaster of a night for the huns 🤣

1 minute ago, thplinth said:

It is funny seeing Rangers and Celtic utterly humiliated by their international peers like they humiliate their domestic peers. The total lack of competition domestically is why Rangers thought they could bring on a whale like Morelos shortly before getting pumped. They are fucking us but fucking themselves. 😀

I don’t feel humiliated at all. I also haven’t moaned about budgets. It’s all hand wringing as far as I’m concerned.

None of the numerous similarly afflicted  European countries have done anything to try and disrupt the cabal UEFA have created.

Likewise, the diddy clubs had the perfect opportunity to restructure Scottish football forever when the huns died in 2012. Instead they shat it and lacked the vision to change things.

So, suck it up and get on with it and try to do better. That’s what I expect my club to do 👍

[Diamond Scot]

Rangers are seeing the consequences of poor club / transfer management this season.

I said it at the time but the minute Rangers won the league they should have put the feelers out to move on Tav. All my Gers mates were saying yes but Tav is so good etc etc but his stock would never have been higher and they could have got 7-10 million for him. More importantly it would have created a pathway for Patterson who would now be 1st choice RB.

Likewise they had the opportunity to sell Barasic, Kamara, Kent and Moreles. All for good money. They decided to keep and only really Barasic is performing and maybe worth anything. Kamara has went from 10 to 2 million. Kent and Moreles will leave for free at end of the season.

[Toepoke]

Rangers not just embarrassed on the park...

 

 

[Kirk]

12 hours ago, Fairbairn said:

Should be a good game at Ibrox tonight.  We've surely got to be better than we were at Anfield (and Amsterdam) and if we can play like we did in the first half against Napoli we can maybe cause them some problems.  Liverpool are obviously a good team but they're not in form and have a few key players missing tonight so can definitely be got at.  I've a feeling it'll end in a Desmond but at this stage I'd just be happy with a goal!!

 

10 hours ago, Ally Bongo said:

I'm putting a couple of snarlers on Rangers tonight

I think this is their best chance of a victory in the group

The mix has to be more of a Scottish football style than the European possession tippy tappy though

These aged well

 

Rangers with a serious reality check tonight. Glad to see some of the horrible huns I went to school with being shut up.

Posting shite like "rangers are a different animal in europe" and "put up the flags of war" 

[slasher]

56 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

There's so much of your post that didn't work out! No way Gio can survive this, loved him as a player but there's no way back for him. Europa Cup final seems a long, long time ago now.

You can’t be serious surely? Overreacting maybe?

53 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:

It is indeed. Twenty years ago I'd expect Celtic or Rangers to give the top English clubs a game but we're light years behind now. For Rangers I do think that the team of six months ago would have been more competitive but the wheels have completely fallen off the bus, injuries, poor player recruitment, the poor mentality of some key players and poor management.

We drew with Man City home and away 6 years ago

[thplinth]

17 minutes ago, slasher said:

I don’t feel humiliated at all. I also haven’t moaned about budgets. It’s all hand wringing as far as I’m concerned.

Fair enough but I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about RFC and CFC the clubs

Being Europe's whipping boys is a humiliation (if that is what it ends up).

Certainly not what i recall growing up through the 80s.

This is sad case stuff v then which is sad case stuff v a previous age.

Edited October 12, 2022 by thplinth

[scotlad]

42 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

Biggest ever gubbing in a European game between teams from Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland. 

Holy fuck, that's bad. Considering the Welsh and Northern Irish leagues are, I think, part-time, that's bad.

31 minutes ago, ThistleWhistle said:

Too simple to blame money and tv as the issue - it's what's been done with it that's the issue. 

Club Bruges have pissed their qualifying group and the Belgians seemed to come up with mad schemes over the years to keep their league competitive.  The Spl on the other hand is a glorified, convoluted and increasingly pointless coin tossing competition.  

In a cost of living crisis fair play to anyone still propping up the Diddy teams by buying tickets to even allow the cheap facade of a competition to continue 

There's loads the SPFL could do to make things more interesting and competitive but the whole operation exists to massage the egos of two clubs. Anything that looks like it might disrupt their pissing contest, even just in the short term, they'll fight against - and win.

Nevermind the fact that a more competitive league will benefit them too, they want success NOW, but their definition of success is getting one over on the other one. That's it, that's the be all and end all.

They'll both go out and beat whichever diddy teams they're playing at the weekend and what's happened to them in Europe will immediately be forgotten about. Scottish domestic football is so parochial it's untrue.

[Clyde1998]

20 minutes ago, ThistleWhistle said:

I'd prefer if they brought through some young players and bought the best talent locally as a balanced part of it like the Dutch, Portuguese, etc seem set up with so once in a while can sell a diamond (not Zander) for massive profits as it helps the league- trickle down economics doesnt risk competition taking over but somebody well managed may offer a semblance of a fight on an odd season rather than 30 years of romping it.

Spanking x million on talent willing to come to the SPL as it stands would just exacerbate the problem as the wrong kind will come.

I think we're slowly seeing that from the smaller clubs in Scotland - I'm thinking Aberdeen (with Ferguson, Ramsay, McKenna), Hibs (with Doig), Hearts (with Hickey) and Dundee Utd (with Smith) all in recent seasons for £1m+. Of course that requires having players teams from biggest leagues want to buy, which seems to slowly be improving also. These sort of clubs do need to stop buying late-20s/early-30s players though, especially if they can bring through some young players instead.

There's no reason Celtic and Rangers can't become comparable to the top Portuguese or Dutch clubs through pursuing the bring through youth players model and/or buy young players cheap to sell for a profit model - you could argue Rangers have done this with the sales of Bassey and Patterson, although it's yet to be seen if that's the start of a trend. Leon King would be the one to watch on that front.