Leaderboard

LOL. Unbeaten in the league domestically, took penalties to beat us in the SC, last minute goal in our only defeat domestically..... and his "433 has been rumbled" - away compo, lol

Any formation is only ever going to be as effective as the players you select or have available. Being without one of our best defensive midfielders for so long hasn't helped and at times has definitely hindered.

But what a ball in, just like Tavs freekick against sellic a few year back.

Actually, on the money bubble point, this might prove important if true - https://www.ft.com/content/80c79e49-3f9b-4ca9-866c-9f39f38683c1?shareType=nongift "BT has opened talks with a number of potential investors as it considers a sale of its sports broadcasting operation, looking to focus on its core broadband and telephony business and blow the whistle on the content business."

From what I can see the Dutch/Belgian league is replacing their national leagues and is viewed by Uefa as a domestic league. The winners of it will then go into the Champion's League, runners up into Europa and so on. I don't know how promotion and relegation work. There are currently talks between the Irish League and the League Of Ireland over a combined North and Republic domestic league now too. In any combined league it probably won't be difficult to point out the clubs who'll be more successful. Ajax, Feyonoord and Anderlecht are simply bigger clubs from bigger cities than Ghent, Willem or Alkmaar and enjoy the advantages that brings. In theory, with equal resources, you'd expect Rangers to be competitive in any domestic league after a couple of seasons. Our support and club structure and culture should allow us to be competitive. Famous last words of course. Personally I think combined domestic leagues is inevitable, it's just a matter of how long it'll be before they happen. The only other question is which version we join. I would prefer if the Scottish league could improve and we didn't move too, but it just seems the momentum isn't in that direction. That said if the money bubble in football bursts, and while it's unlikely it does seem like a ceiling might have been reached, then maybe there's a big reset coming for all clubs.

City moved up the park and stopped PSG playing, it was impressive tactics from Pep. But prior to the first goal I was saying to myself City need a striker to win this competition as they were just moving the ball around side to side looking to break down PSG - then bang its 1-1 - what do I know! As good as City were second half there was a hint of luck about De Bruyne goal, its a cross that had some curve at the last bounce. The Europa tonight Im going for two home wins. Man Utd 2-0 Roma Villarreal 2-1 Arsenal

What I worry about with proposals to coalesce different national leagues or to create new multinational leagues is that, while you might create a more financially viable league system, there's a risk (if not a likelihood) that a few clubs will still dominate both the trophies and the money. If you look at leagues around the world, some vastly rich, others less so, there are few if any that spread their riches further than the top 3 or 4 clubs. It seems to be an inevitability that success breeds more success and only a very few clubs can prosper and become distilled from the crowd. You could argue that Rangers would be one of those top clubs but in something like an Atlantic League most clubs would think the same thing about themselves. And there wouldn't necessarily be income from UEFA competitions to compensate for "domestic" failure - you might argue Rangers wouldn't be this far along our recovery road without UEFA income over Gerrard's first two seasons. I can see a danger that if Rangers was not routinely one of the top clubs in an Atlantic League then we could end up being permanently and severely diminished - the reverse of what's being sought. I'm not against a "midweek league" of some description, where we compete against foreign opposition, but I think we need to keep our roots firmly planted in the Scottish game, whatever we might think about it. The objective should be an international league competition to supplement the domestic game - effectively what the CL was intended to deliver before it was hijacked by the rich leagues and created monster clubs that consume everything.

I was referring to the 15 year period I mentioned in a previous post with this, Celtic’s problems seem to have extended the period of the old firm not finishing top two for another few years. I didn’t realise the extent of the Bosman ruling, thanks.

Strangely I think it's more likely than us joining any English league is. Currently UEFA is opposed to combined leagues but that opposition seems to be softening. Suggestions of a combined Dutch/Belgian league and a 'Balkans' league haven't been shot down by Uefa, indeed they've signalled their tacit support. What that will mean for an Atlantic League is anyone's guess. The Dutch/Belgian league is slated to begin in 2025, whether they'd invite us or some Scandinavian sides into it is a possibility. The reason I can't see us going into an English league is I don't think there's any appetite among English clubs to have us in their league. Whereas Dutch and Belgian clubs might well look at us and see a decent support, similar quality and the potential to open up UK broadcast contracts and sponsors who otherwise might not be too interested in it. As I've said elsewhere in this thread what fans want never features highly on decision makers agenda.