toon_don

The St Mirren manager has a decent football philosophy, so whoever goes there will be in a team that tries to play. They're on a horrendous run of form at the moment though, so it might not be great for confidence.

Like all these big companies that screw the taxman, it might be deceitful and immoral, but apparently not illegal. Although the judgement does confirm that they broke the SPL contract rules, so theoretically could still have their titles taken off them. Not that that will happen.

I agree that you do get substandard players who look good up here because the quality of the league isn't great. Miller is one, Conor Sammon is another (what Derby saw in him to pay over a million I have no idea), as is Anthony Stokes. When you watch the SPL over a decent length of time though, you can spot the players who are genuine class acts, and I think Hooper fits into that category.

I'm a Londoner (sorry Stevie) and it used to be that away games in and around London were the only ones I could get to, so when we heard there were a few away tickets being sold on the door for that game me and a mate headed over straight away. We were up first in the queue, and just walked straight through the turnstiles without thinking. Turned out we were the only 2 people in the entire ground for about an hour and a half, as everyone else had sensibly bought their tickets and then headed back to the pubs. Ended up buying a couple of pasties just to hold for the warmth.

I've got a theory that a lot of the perception of the SPL is based on the TV coverage (I know that seems like stating the blindingly obvious, but hear me out). Televised SPL games are often played at ridiculous times in front of crap crowds (because it's on tv) and no atmosphere. This all makes the game seem much worse than it actually is. I was at a game between Aberdeen and Hearts a couple of seasons ago, and it was great. Aberdeen played quick, free flowing attacking football, and Hearts looked to hit them on the break at every opportunity. The standard of play from both sides was really good. My brother was watching it on Sky at home, and he thought it was a load of shite. It was a 12 noon Sunday kickoff, the stadium was less than half full, and the pitch looked like a Christmas pudding. I think that is a lot of the reason why people think the SPL is so rubbish. I'm not saying it's great mind, but it's not completely terrible either. I think most of Celtic's first team could comfortably play in the Premier League. I'd have Izaguire and Hooper at SJP in a shot. In 3 years of having a season ticket at Pittodrie, I've still never seen a game anything like as bad as Fulham v Newcastle under Allardyce at Craven Cottage. That wasn't just the worst football match, but possibly the worst thing I've ever witnessed in any medium.

I think it's because Darlington had been in the shit for so long that it stopped becoming news.

Fair point. I guess the lack of professionalism of the Spanish contingent makes them impossible to leave out.

If we count Smith as a striker when he signed, then his scoring record would put him in there surely? At least Owen and Boumsong had periods where they looked good. Smith managed to be competent when him and Butt went round hoofing people about in the first few months of the Championship season.

It was on the red/yellow borderline. Can understand why he sent him off to be honest.

David James makes a good point regarding that: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19918671 Chris Powell is also quietly doing a very good job at Charlton.

I honestly had no idea Xisco was still here.

Feel for him, he was a tremendous players. I really think that if they hadn't been made of glass, Woodgate and King would have been England's defensive partnership.

"STV understands the Scottish FA say newco Rangers must accept a 12-month signing ban or they won't give them membership" Wow, the SFA are playing hardball then. This could really screw them.

Despite the stuff about 5/6 clubs going under, I still think the joint favourites to go into administration as a result of the Rangers saga are Kilmarnock and...Rangers.

Also, if I was Liverpool I wouldn't be loaning anyone to a potential rival.

I agree about the squad depth, but it's more his wages I'm thinking about.

So would this mean Ba is definitely on the way? If not I can't see it.

Aberdeen are now the second most successful club in Scotland.

I wish. I'm just a layabout student. Had a season ticket at Pittodrie for the last 3 years as I thought it was a good way of getting to know the place better. That and it's at the end of my road. Which was you Indian of choice?

It's a tricky one. I've thought for a while that the best thing that could possibly happen to Scottish football would be if the Old Firm ceased to exist overnight, but to have only one of them makes it less clear. I'm not naive, I realise that TV contracts will be renegotiated, and sponsorship money will decrease. Belts will have to be tightened and there will probably a decrease in quality (although it's not like the standard could get significantly worse). I'm also aware that Celtic will win the league for the next few years, and a one-horse race looks bad from an outside point of view. On the flip side though, the argument that it will be total armageddon is clearly nonsense. The £16 million loss figure that the SPL have been shouting about is based on there being no TV deal at all, and virtually every sponsor pulling out. That's not going to happen and it's needless scaremongering to suggest it. The same goes for the argument that the SPL will be like the League of Ireland without them. Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United are several times bigger than every Irish team. The average attendance in the Scottish 1st Division is higher than the Irish Premier League, and more people went to Kilmarnock v Ayr United in the Scottish League Cup than went to the Irish Cup Final. It's a stupid comparison. Initially at least, I think there will be a surge in attendance from fans of the other clubs. Aberdeen recently got over the 9,000 mark for season ticket sales, which bearing in mind the average attendance at Pittodrie for the last 2 seasons was only just 9,000 (and the atrocious football and relegation battles the fans have endured for the last 3 years), is a real show of support of the club's stance. Dundee United have also announced strong season ticket sales since the SPL vote. No Rangers also offers the other clubs a greater chance of some tangible success. The cups are wide open now, as is European qualification. You could even make an argument that it makes a title challenge (stop laughing at the back) by a non-Old Firm club more possible. As it was, if you finished in the top 6 you'd have to play Rangers and Celtic 8 times over the course of a season, making it virtually impossible to get anywhere near them. Without Rangers, you don't need a side good enough to go toe-to-toe with Celtic to finish relatively close to them, you just need to assemble a team good enough to consistently beat the other 10 clubs. Again, I'm not stupid, I realise that this is unilkey, but it's not entirely outwith the realms of possibility. To be honest I don't know if it will be better or worse, but what I do know is that Rangers have lied, bullied and cheated on a grand scale, and have been so catastrophically mismanaged that the original club has gone out of business entirely. If rules have to be rewritten or ignored entirely for a club like that, just because of 'commercial pressures,' then we might as well all give up and go home. Oh, one final thing, I'm not Scottish, I've just been living here for the past 4 years.

They would have done, but they've all left. They have a squad of between 6 and 13 depending on which sources you believe.

"So yeah, you can either vote them into Div 1 or Div 3, but bear in mind if you choose the 3rd division we will just overrule you anyway." Staggering.

The corruption in Scottish football is simply breathtaking.

I'd like to see top 7 again. Sustained European qualification, even it is only the Europa league, is going to put us back on the map for potential signings. It's just nice going into a season again knowing we've got the firepower to score against anyone.

There is still that element to Hearts though, although it shows more as anti-Celtic than pro-Rangers. One of the guys I work with used to be an Ibrox season ticket holder, and he said Hearts away was the only fixture where Rangers fans would drink with home supporters without any problems. Not saying that's all Hearts fans though. The response from supporters at every club has been the same when it comes to the Rangers Newco.