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General Adnan's Football 17/18


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30 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

In theory, sure, but the Rangers board are a bit of a shambolic bunch. Hence the volatile nature of the managers job in recent years. I gave up on it years ago, but I hope for Scottish footballs sake Gerrard has some super powers and can help bring some of that much vaunted stability to a football club.

It's a bit depressing that Scottish football getting back to the same long-term situation it was last in in 2012 would be considered progress, and quite reasonably. I don't know what it would take to get the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs mounting serious challenges on at least a semi-regular basis any more, aside from the usual answer of "money mark prepared to take a hit for a few seasons".

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51 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Worth every penny. He's been outstanding in the Championship both times, injuries permitting. He'll score goals for fun up there. He was going to Italy, Fiorentina probably last summer before the achilles injury, so I'd be surprised if he's not wanted out there. VIlla want him too.

Yeah I've heard a few clubs want him but he will be 28 at the start of next season and apart from the Championship play offs he has not actually won a club trophy (although he has won the Copa America). I still feel if the club is willing to pay the salary with a heavy chance of trophies and European football then there is an extra attraction.

@Carbomb With regards to a heavy challenge, the last time that happened was Hearts in 2006 and many of their players just left at the end of the season. Unless someone is willing to stay and fund them in the long term it will not happen. If someone did fund them then I would expect they would pull out after a few years and leave that club in shits creak.

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4 minutes ago, westlondonmist said:

With regards to a heavy challenge, the last time that happened was Hearts in 2006 and many of their players just left at the end of the season. Unless someone is willing to stay and fund them in the long term it will not happen. If someone did fund them then I would expect they would pull out after a few years and leave that club in shits creak.

Yeah, it certainly seems that way. Weren't Hearts in trouble financially recently anyway? It's a big shame - I've always liked Hearts, because they always seemed to be the usual ones to give the Old Firm headaches. Plus they've got a cool name, and so does their ground. 

I also wanted Aberdeen to do well, given that it's an extra testament to just how good Fergie was. A pity they couldn't maintain the level he brought them up to, but from what various fans on here and in other places have told me, it's not surprising, given nature of things in the SPL and SFL.

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15 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

Yeah, it certainly seems that way. Weren't Hearts in trouble financially recently anyway? It's a big shame - I've always liked Hearts, because they always seemed to be the usual ones to give the Old Firm headaches. Plus they've got a cool name, and so does their ground. 

I also wanted Aberdeen to do well, given that it's an extra testament to just how good Fergie was. A pity they couldn't maintain the level he brought them up to, but from what various fans on here and in other places have told me, it's not surprising, given nature of things in the SPL and SFL.

Yeah Hearts were in administration 2013-14 and they relegated that season but destroyed the Championship straight away. I would say both Edinburgh clubs give the Old Firm headaches, but the name is great, named after a pub apparently Heart of Midlothian Quadrille Assembly Club.

I think you will see other clubs winning cups again in Scotland soon enough, Motherwell (a team who have troubled Celtic this season) could win it this year and Celtic can't dominate like it is forever.

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You're essentially relying on Celtic to have something go quite wrong, @Carbomb. Maybe a lot of terrible injuries etc. I guess you can say it's promising the league was a lot closer this year, but Celtic are currently 10 points clear of Aberdeen and Aberdeen may finish below the points they got last season, so no idea if it's the league getting better or Celtic getting slightly worse or complacent.

The Celtic board should be commended, though. They've spent what hey've had to, and while fans and some previous managers have wanted more, they realise there is simply no need, seeing how stable they are. Westlondonmist's point about them maybe upping the budget a little with Gerrard about is something to look out for, but it's going to take Gerrard a number of years and some brilliant scouting for him to sort out this Rangers squad - one of the more depressing aspects of watching a modern Old Firm is seeing the hoof it playmamers Rangers have in their team; 5-0 etc.

Even the way they went about reformatting the leagues turned into a shambles. The original plan and the almost widely accepted best plan of having two big leagues was quickly abandoned and we instead got last weeks dinner with some fresh ketchup.

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There's no point in Celtic spending that much money. Unless they are able to invest the sort of money that would make them challengers in Europe, and it doesn't look as though they are, they would be spending big money for no reason.

Nobody is near them in Scotland and considering the continuous hilarious shambles that The Rangers are, they're not going to be challenging anytime soon. 

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28 minutes ago, ColinBollocks said:

You're essentially relying on Celtic to have something go quite wrong, @Carbomb. Maybe a lot of terrible injuries etc. I guess you can say it's promising the league was a lot closer this year, but Celtic are currently 10 points clear of Aberdeen and Aberdeen may finish below the points they got last season, so no idea if it's the league getting better or Celtic getting slightly worse or complacent.

The Celtic board should be commended, though. They've spent what hey've had to, and while fans and some previous managers have wanted more, they realise there is simply no need, seeing how stable they are. Westlondonmist's point about them maybe upping the budget a little with Gerrard about is something to look out for, but it's going to take Gerrard a number of years and some brilliant scouting for him to sort out this Rangers squad - one of the more depressing aspects of watching a modern Old Firm is seeing the hoof it playmamers Rangers have in their team; 5-0 etc.

Even the way they went about reformatting the leagues turned into a shambles. The original plan and the almost widely accepted best plan of having two big leagues was quickly abandoned and we instead got last weeks dinner with some fresh ketchup.

I don't know enough about the finer intricacies, but is it really too much to hope for that progress could come about by everyone else getting better, and not a race to the bottom? Even more depressing if true.

As to the reformat, I've always thought two big leagues instead of four small ones would've been better, but what are the actual, material benefits from that? Genuine question. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that lower league teams would have more money, as there would only be two financial increments, instead of four.

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I actually think the way Scotland's football is that 2 leagues would go wrong. Many of the teams in the 2nd tier are fucking tiny and would just walk out and get thumped week after week. Bottom of the 2nd tier managed a draw at best, how would they have coped against any of the SP teams? You could maybe have a 3rd tier with 20 teams or bring up a few teams and have and 2nd and 3rd tier with 17-18 teams.

@ColinBollocks I think with Celtic this season it has been a mixture of complacency in some areas and injuries in others. The season started with the team being unable to field 2 centre backs and at points playing Rogic or Forrest up front as a loan striker.  

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1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

I don't know enough about the finer intricacies, but is it really too much to hope for that progress could come about by everyone else getting better, and not a race to the bottom? Even more depressing if true.

Miracles can happen with someone investing soundly and Celtic suddenly getting dragged down to everyone else's level, but Celtic are just too stable and run better than everyone else, and while we rightly mock him they have a very good manager too. The big boost is their constant stream of Champions League money - like playing Football Manager with the In-Game Editor, as Gus brilliantly put it. As discussed, Celtic aren't even going mad with their yearly spend to maintain standards because they're just too far in front. Say if Gerrard gets Rangers in good shape, or Hibs' youth progresses under the helm of Lennon, then Celtic will more than likely just spend their way back to being comfortable again - everyone is just so far away. I'd never say it's impossible (hey, Leicester), but you're relying on so much to go right and wrong for it to happen.

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As to the reformat, I've always thought two big leagues instead of four small ones would've been better, but what are the actual, material benefits from that? Genuine question. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that lower league teams would have more money, as there would only be two financial increments, instead of four.

It's 100% down to money. Obviously the aim is television fees over time, but also the massive bonus of having Rangers and Celtic (and even Aberdeen/Hearts) turning up to bolster your gate - for smaller teams in Scotland a few of those games a season would be huge. They were also talking about doing an expanded play-off system (with the hope it boosts crowds and viewership), with talk of some convoluted system where after 2 rounds of games the leagues would split into two, as a way to "reduce meaningless mid-table games" with the top half battling for the title and the bottom half fighting against relegation (IIRC). 

As an overall point, westlondonmist has a point, in that considering the population of Scotland and how the population spreads out, we simply have too many teams, but I hope (and others that thought the 2-tier was a no-brainer) that over time the league may slowly improve with more money. Plus, for a lot of fans of local teams, they may get pumped 5-1, but they'd love to see Rangers and Celtic at least twice a season.

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Given how there is a large number of Liverpool fans who like Celtic and vice versa, $tevie Me going to the club they hate the most must be conflicting.  It's a bit like when Rafa joined Chelsea, there was a wonderful RAWK moment when someone said "I couldn't process it so I went for a walk and realised it was like an ex girlfriend having a new boyfriend.  I have to accept it and move on with my life"

I do hope for more of the same.

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Stevie is just Cosplaying as Souness.

I think he'll be rotten. He is so typically English in his approach from the bits I've heard from him over the years. I'm paraphrasing but he likened Joe Cole to Messi when we signed him. Even his gung go save the day playing style makes me think he hasn't got the brain for it. For me his best ever spell for us was when Rafa turned him in to a second forward and he had his most productive seasons whilst Xabi and Mascherano ran midfield. I always felt like he hated that role either behind Torres or roaming around up there.

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Just watching a stream of the Spurs/West Brom match thats been broadcast by the English speaking BeIn Sports channel. But was thinking, where is this channel actually broadcast? The obvious though was it was the US, but it's presented by everyones fave misogynistic duo Keys and Gray(when I would have thought they would have had an American presenter) and all the ads are voiced with English accents....

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4 minutes ago, Cod Eye said:

Just watching a stream of the Spurs/West Brom match thats been broadcast by the English speaking BeIn Sports channel. But was thinking, where is this channel actually broadcast? The obvious though was it was the US, but it's presented by everyones fave misogynistic duo Keys and Gray(when I would have thought they would have had an American presenter) and all the ads are voiced with English accents....

It’s broadcast from Doha in Qatar 

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Cheers for that lads. Makes sense with the Expat population that live out there now.It's a decent show too, what with all the goals as they go in from the other games too. It's arguably a better product than we get with Sky/BT, although I understand that those two are hamstrung by the Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout that is required by law.

Changing tact slightly, I really hope West Brom give big Darren Moore the job on a full time basis. He's a cracking bloke(I used to speak to him regular when he played at Oakwell), is brimming with passion for the job and looks like he knows what he is doing(judging by the results e is getting on the pitch)...

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