Celtic: Future British league set-up remains ambition

[BrahimHemdani 1]

Timmy starts chanting "Besiktas" at the Fener fans and they respond with "Glasgow Rangers!"

 

 

https://twitter.com/yarisaha/status/649654561024704512

 

I am very sorry to have to tell you that a large section of our travelling fans are no better.

 

In Bursa I was appalled and alarmed to hear Rangers fans taunting the Bursaspor fans with shouts of Besiktas just 2 days after 3 Bursa fans were stabbed in Istanbul on Bursa's return to that stadium after seven and a half years.

 

http://www.todayszaman.com/sports_besiktas-and-bursaspor-fans-make-mockery-of-peace-pleas_228928.html

Edited October 2, 2015 by BrahimHemdani

[der Berliner 3,290]

That sort of "banter" is sadly rather common these days, methinks.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

That sort of "banter" is sadly rather common these days, methinks.

 

I don't regard taunting opposing fans who have had three people stabbed at the weekend as "banter".

[Scott7 5,243]

I think dB was being ironic.

[compo 6,223]

Anybody think the old firm could hold their own in the English set up , I think both would struggle

[pete 2,499]

Anybody think the old firm could hold their own in the English set up , I think both would struggle

 

using today's teams we would struggle but we would be able to put a better team out with the money resources we would get. it Is a bit like liking apples to pears.

Very few of these players would be playing if we were in the premiership if any at all. The only player I think may have a chance is Waghorn but not as a striker, Tav cannot defend good enough to play there.

Edited October 5, 2015 by pete

[der Berliner 3,290]

using today's teams we would struggle but we would be able to put a better team out with the money resources we would get. it Is a bit like liking apples to pears.

Very few of these players would be playing if we were in the premiership if any at all. The only player I think may have a chance is Waghorn but not as a striker, Tav cannot defend good enough to play there.

 

Wonder whether we could utilize Tav even better in right midfield, IF we had a decent enough right fullback?

[calscot 0]

I used to think that with the greater TV money from the EP we'd be at the top due to bigger crowds, a bigger brand, and intangible stuff like more passionate support, who are not content with mid-table which drives a winning mentality.

 

However, not only is the size of crowd becoming less and less relevant with regards to income in that league, we don't have the mentality in Scotland to pay the prices of the top Premiership clubs who charge two to four times as much as us for tickets when you look at Man U and Arsenal, who also fill bigger grounds. Our brand has also diminished compared to the top English clubs due to our backwater existence in the last decade or more - we used to be a far bigger club and famous name than the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, but no more.

 

So we'd still struggle to compete financially with pretty much the richest 10 clubs down there, especially at first. You also just have to look at the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland, who fill large stadiums for what can happen despite huge support and EP TV money. Geographically they are the nearest examples to us, although I'm not sure they have the same winning mentality considering they've both spent many long periods in the second tier. Newcastle are also handicapped by a certain owner.

 

However, there have been positives for lesser clubs coming into the EP such as Swansea and Crystal Palace. I think they don't have the depth of finances to challenge consistently, but it shows what can be done. We should be able to convert a decent couple of seasons into something more long term - compared to them anyway.

 

Even looking at the table now you have other surprises with the likes of Leicester, Watford and Norwich. And although Bournemouth are only 15th, that's not bad for them - and a place above Chelsea on goal difference. Stoke are a team I always thought of as not top flight but they seem to have been around the mid-table for ages. Southampton have also had an amazing renaissance.

 

But the long term hegemony led by Man U and Arsenal is pretty secure, with Man City being the new money subsidised inductees, and Chelsea also joining them by generally punching above their weight due to the Russian subsidy. Liverpool are the ones that can't quite hang on to that top status, with Aston Villa are now struggling with keeping their old "best of the rest" position, and Spurs and Everton taking over to vie for that spot.

 

I think there is two occasions we could possibly have wangled a place in the "English" leagues, the first was after we beat Leeds when they were forming the Premier League and the second is when we were booted out the SPL and should have tried to join the Conference and worked our way up there.

 

Our journey through the diminishing Scottish leagues has now done untold damage to ours and also the other club's appeal, and the gap is too huge and the stakes too high for the English/Welsh clubs to be benevolent towards us.

 

The whole Scottish game has been castrated by its own hubris.

[Gribz 743]

Agreed on all that Calscot. Like you say the likes of Stoke are now established and have probably taken the place of Charlton who used to be a comfortable mid table Premier league side under Curbishley. You only have to look at the Championship in England to see the amount of Mid size to Large clubs who have all played top flight football for a number of years. Blackburn (ex winners although 20 years ago now is scary), Forest, Derby, Sheff Wed, Leeds, Charlton, Middlesboro, Fulham, Bolton to name a few all hovering in the league for years now, and Rangers and Celtic certainly have bigger fan base and stadia than these teams. Its a shame this is probably who we would be competitive with at the moment and I still say a proposal for a 2 tier Premier League is our best chance of entering the English leagues. Where the Arsenal's Man Utds would have wanted us and found us attractive 20 years ago these Championship sides would find us appealing now.

 

The other route down south has to be arguing the case than Swansea, Cardiff and Newport ply their trade in England so why are Scottish teams not allowed.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Gribz

[Bluedell 5,356]

There's zero chance of this happening in the foreseeable future.

 

The turkeys at the bottom of the EPL are not going to vote for a Christmas in the Championship to accommodate us, particularly given that there are 2 too many teams in the League at the moment; and the teams at the top simply don't need us in terms of money and certainly wouldn't want the potential competition. Bear in mind Celtic would be 2nd or 3rd in terms of attendance and we would be 3rd or 4th. So other things like TV money being equal we should be challenging the current top 4. If you were a team like Liverpool would you really want us trying to muscle in above you, I very much doubt it.

 

Agreed. There's no incentive for the English clubs to let us in.

 

Sky may have been able to encourage such a move in the 90s but that time is well in the past and with BT now in the picture and other broadcasters keen to take their place there is nobody with the influence to get it done.

 

It's a total non-starter, unfortunately, as I'd love to see it.