It’s kicking off in all directions today but keep an eye on the English Football Association proposals to introduce a series of changes to lower league football. One option on the table is for Premier and Championship sides’ “B teams” to compete in a new structure with League Two and Conference teams.
The FA are eyeing an opportunity to allow the best young English talent, often cosseted in the youth squads of top Premier League teams with little chance of first team action, to be exposed to competitive games. The proposal includes a geographical split of northern and southern teams.
While the FA Premier League is bust by any known measure, the Football League is in an even worse financial state. Average income in the lower leagues is remarkably high but the steep pyramid-model, which has clubs chasing huge increases in revenue in the Premier League, leads to excessive over-spend.
With these proposed changes on the table the Scottish FA could do worse than discuss their own game’s future with their English counterparts. Well run Scottish clubs are hamstrung by their better-funded neighbours cherry-picking their best players for a relative pittance. Scottish Premiership clubs regularly cannot compete financially for players in England’s fourth tier.
It’s surely time to federate the top Scottish league with the English league structure.
Information slipping out of Switzerland this morning that Manchester City and Paris St Germain are each facing a fine of circa £50m for breaching Financial Fair Play rules is encouraging – if Uefa are able to deliver on the deal.
When you consider financially punishing an entity which owns the oil wealth of a sovereign nation the figure needs to be a big one. £50m just about hits the mark.
Apparently the Great Sevco Shakedown began this morning when the club’s first every goal scorer, Andy Little, was released. The news is harsh on the player but the club needs to learn the lesson – income needs to match expenditure.
Imran Ahmed’s court hearing today against Rangers International comes exactly three years after liquidation expert, Craig Whyte, was triumphantly welcomed into Ibrox, an ominous anniversary, for some.
Issue 20 of CQN Magazine, CQLisboN is out and enjoying great reviews. Click here to read for FREE.
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leftclicktic
….and we know who the alligators are!
JJ
Celtic remain 5th best ranked British club but drop out of the top 30
In the latest statistics released by IFFHS Celtic have retained their position as the 5th best ranked club in Britain but have seen themselves drop out of the top thirty for the first time this year in the rankings for the best club side in the world.
The statistics released by IFFHS are made up via a points system in which clubs pick up points for wins or draws in their domestic and continental competitions. The number of points available is judged on how competitive the competitions are that each club has to play in. Celtic won the SPL recently which has contributed to their total points tally. The SPL isn’t ranked as high as the Premier League and that will always hold Celtic back somewhat in these rankings.
Celtic’s 33rd ranking still means they are the 5th best ranked team in Britain behind Chelsea (9th), Arsenal (13th), Tottenham (17th) and Manchester City (26th). They still remain ahead of Premier League champions Manchester United but they are slowly catching up to the SPL club and are now only two places behind in 35th position.
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MORE EVIDENCE OF JUST HOW INCOMPETENT LENNON IS! IF ONLY WE HAD A NEW MANAGER – JUST IMAGINE HOW IT WOULD TRANSFORM NOT JUST THE SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP, BUT SCOTTISH FOOTBALL IN GENERAL – SKY SPORTS WOULD BE BEATING THE DOOR DOWN TO OFFER A NEW TV DEAL!
Timbhoy2 said
“dire ,boring you name it ,garbage.”
Timbhoy2 is a Celtic supporter?
The MSSM is ineffective?
Hmmmm……
JJ
HAPPY HOOPY BIRTHDAY to the Leg-ia-end ZBYSZEK!!!!!
Anyway, back to the important issue of Eurovision.
I happened to catch two minutes (honest) of the qualifying round last night and was rewarded with a look at the stunning Russian entry.
Bearing all the hallmarks of having been created and choreographed by the Master of All Arts, oul Vlad Putin himself, it consisted of two Russian twin girls, who began their song with each other’s pony tails entangled, tying them together, before, in a stunning Buck’s Fizz moment, they disentangled themselves from each other and proceeded to duet separately for the remainder of the song.
As a metaphor for the Civil War in their homeland territories, it could not be bettered.
Strangely, the Danish audience saw fit to greet it with boos, Philistines that they are
Why would the “bigwigs” at the club “force” players on Lenny then allow him not to play them, might just be me but that seems mair than daft??
B/Tim- he’ll be back on here for the ole fenetre d’ete.
You can’t keep a good man down.
SFTB- it’s not the return of Sapphic poptastic Soviet popettes TaTu?
starry
Who said force ?
He is given players to coach, he doesn’t see them as good enough, they leave, end of >}
HH
BT….
You could have an input into the scouting with all the “school trips” you make….
HH
SFTB
That was never `a metaphor for the Civil War in their homeland territories,`.
It was quite obviously a reflection of intertwined good and evil spinning free from the iron gripped axis of co-habitation to pursue their individual, voracious desires.
Mind you, I didn`t see any of the programme so I could be wrong.
JJ
The manager decides the formations and tactics of his team,if he is not allowed to make his signings ,within his budget IMO he should walk,after all if the team is not successful he will lose his job.
BMCUW… on washing up/ironing duties again…??
Neil Lennon getting it today.
Dearie me. The guy lost a spne of the side last season. We may have underachieved in the domestic cups but lets be brutally honest about this. The players on the pitch who played against Morton and Aberdeen should have been good enough to beat both of those sides. They didn’t. They let the manager down. It’s interesting that most of them haven’t featured much since the Morton game. The likes of Pukki, Boerritger and Balde have been bit part players since that game. Morton shipped 10 goals to Hamilton at the weekend. Celtic with a team full of internationalists couldn’t score in 120 minutes of football and our big summer signings were hopeless. Neil Lennon was let down by them that night. He learned a lot about some of those players in that defeat. It is no surprise to me that some of our new signings haven’t featured much since. There doesn’t appear to be much future for some of them.
Getting to the Cl group stages and getting some results is the big achievement for Celtic. We may struggle some years but as long as Neil Lennon does that and wins the league he is doing a good job.
Get behind the manager!
LB
DESERTBHOY
Worse than that tomorrow and Friday-the dreaded stripping of the varnish!
Truly a dreadful chore.
Btw,I don’t iron things-if I did,I would start wi my face and work down!!
DBBIA
Neither Tatu nor Pussy Riot (strangely) were involved in the production of this number. The girls seemed to be genuine identical twins.
JJ
A typical Stalinist revisionist Interpretation of the metaphor :-)
Dersertbhoy
Hammy tim not me…. o))
dersert is a new place that the ole us of a have made up…
On the news there,scientists have discovered a new fossil,of a long-nosed dinosaur,and named it Pinocchio Rex.
King Liar?
Begs an obvious question about digging down Ibrox way….
Zbyszek.
Many happy returns on your birthday
SFTB- Jedwardova?
I can’t wait.
I expect wee Eck is headin’ off to Copenhagen for the big night. Mrs wee Eck will already have her bag stuffed with flags [ but probably not the U.J] ready to cheer on the winner.
to mere mortals like ourselves Eurovision is just one glorious night, but MrJohnnyClash and ole Dick Byrne live in that world 52/7.
Many happy returns to Zbyszek and Dharma Bam.
Had a fantastic evening last night in The Three Judges in Partick.
Drink flowing,Craic overflowing,topics of discussion diving off on tangents.
I think we set the world to rights.
Grateful thanks to my companions for the evening.
And to Scotrail….
Oh,and to my Mum,for letting me out!
click A wee preview to tide DBBIA over
timbhoy2:lets be honest who in there right mind would come back and play in the S P L .at the minute the football is dire ,boring you name it ,garbage.
===============
Garbage sums your post up. Celtic playing some great stuff these days and a new lease of life at other clubs shining through as the realisation that Armageddon was a total myth becomes clear.
In your own time, timbhoy, you will see this. The question is, how slow are you?
SFTB
They’ve got my vote!
‘mind more competitive times….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_zSZZIkmTQ
Dontbrattbakkinanger
11:10 on 7 May, 2014
SFTB- it’s not the return of Sapphic poptastic Soviet popettes TaTu?
——————————————————————————
Ole Sappho is always getting it tight. According to her poems at least. The Victorians had her as more of a Miss Jean Brodie than a Helen Degeneres. Anyways – there’s no way she was on Fantasy Island with that wee plane-spotter guy. She lived on Lesbos – that’s what turned her. Apparently.
IfYouKnowYourClassicalHistoryCSC
I’d be more than happy if Neil Lennon stayed for another 5 years.
I think he could achieve big things in Europe – he is a man manager and is still learning tactically, but learning fast. He talks very well and has calmed down the tantrums on the sidelines, not that it really bothered me.
Continuity is important as well and those who would have him replaced should be very careful what they wish for.
Neil Lennon brought us back from the dark days under Tony Mowbray to being a Champions League club again and he knows what it takes to compete at that level. Some people have short memories.
Lets stick with him.
Some of the alternatives don’t bear thinking about.
HH
People are entrenched in their views re the players coming in as to who signs them, excuses are made up in their heads, he should walk etc.
It disny happen like that these days, most managers-coaches are grateful they have a job, and in Lenny’s case, a dream job, they work with the tools they are given, and if they fail, they move on to the next job they can get.
Managers don’t resign………………..
The so called biggest teams in the world, the Barca’s, Real’s, managers-coaches are given players to manage-coach, this is the path Celtic are heading down, you either have to accept it, or your head will explode >}
HH
Natknow
Brilliant!!!:-)
Hervé Villechaize csc
Marrakesh Express
10:31 on 7 May, 2014
‘I’d like to know the total attendance figures for Scottish football each season Sevco have been in the lower leagues.’
######
2013-14
http://www.espnfc.com/stats/attendance/_/league/sco.1/scottish-premiership?cc=5739
Similar details available for preceding seasons.
TRADITIONALIST88
I’ve got to say that Saturday’s match was as good as I’ve seen for a long time.
Anywhere.
Had that been between two EPL teams,SKY would be using it all summer long to advertise their product.
Baaaaaangggg booosh bosssssschhhhhh
Ole BT head explodes….. o))
Duff players are nothing to do with Lenny. Blame the wimmin…
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/07/helena-costa-clermont-foot-manager
And for the record.
I don’t want Lenny to leave, I hope he stays for many years.
HH
BT
>}}}
HH