manc_don Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 .... if we can actually start putting 3 points on the board in our games. Completely, it is a huge IF at the moment. The unpredicatability of everything is really frustrating, but I guess in a twisted way its exciting Anyway, just watched the Huns highlights, hilarious stuff. I wish they panned onto the orc crowds, would have been comedy viewing. Just wish we could win there, I really thought this would be the season as well. Spose it still could be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajja Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 Completely, it is a huge IF at the moment. The unpredicatability of everything is really frustrating, but I guess in a twisted way its exciting Anyway, just watched the Huns highlights, hilarious stuff. I wish they panned onto the orc crowds, would have been comedy viewing. Just wish we could win there, I really thought this would be the season as well. Spose it still could be Last game of the season to stop them winning the title...its tradition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Couldn't be bothered to start a new thread, so found the most relevant thread on here. Interesting and well thought out post on MAD regarding the quality of our team/SPL courtesy of Stooge. A few things from my perspective. I dinna think the training facilities thing is that big a deal. I've told the story before of doing a coaching badge with Simmie and someone complaining about us having to use "the all weather surface", ie the car park. Simmie responded simply with, "Aye, well that's where we trained with Fergie. We did nae bad". Times have changed and I hope we get decent facilities in any new stadium but I dont think its a major issue. In terms of youth development I think its far more important to have the right staff than an expensive custom build complex with high running costs. I think we've tackled that. We got rid of dead wood and brought in some good guys who, if the u17/u19 Scotland squads are a decent benchmark, appear to be getting things right. Time will tell. As for challenging the OF, I just can't see how anyone realistically thinks this is possible at the moment. If we had an exceptional manager it might be possible. If we had an exceptional player, it might happen. We don't. This season Rangers spent £17,000,000 in the summer. That's them skint mind. Bougherra, Mendes, Edu, Davis, Miller, Velika and Lafferty. That was offset by the sale of Hutton and Cuellar but compared to our poxy 200-300k wheeling and dealing it is totally unrealistic to think we can compete. Our league, in financial terms, is like Aston Villa and Everton competing against Wycombe, Rochdale and Grimsby. Over the course of a season we can't compete. In the cups, we've bottled it and as a result it's time for change at the next appropriate opportunity, ie the summer. Our squad at the moment is really wafer thin. Worse than that, it's totally imbalanced and carrying too many passengers. We have no right back and no right mid. We have utility players like Young and Duff who aren't nearly as good as previous utility guys like Clark and McNaughton. We have far too many players that you just don't know what position they actually do play, at the top of their game, in Foster, Seve, Smith, Young and Duff. Even our good players have massive flaws in their games. Langfield canna kick, Miller canna score goals, Kerr canna shoot, Mulgrew canna defend. The core of our team is decent SPL. Langfield, Zander, Seve, Mulgrew, Aluko, Kerr, MacDonald and Miller would fit into any of our rivals teams. The rest are bottom end SPL, decent enough for the money they're on, in the main, but just bog standard, plainly average, lacking in any spark or creative flair. That is what the SPL is though. There isn't a single player in the league, except our own Sone, that anyone would pay to see. This is Scottish football. The options are like it or lump it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgowdon Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Always like the Stooge's posts... points out the sometimes grim reality of life in the SPL without getting all hot-heid and "we deserve better". I also wonder how folk think we could compete with the OF over a season. Then you look at Aston Villa in the EPL and their 18 point gap between them and the leaders down there. It happens in every league where there is an imbalance in money and power. Would any of our own "we deserve better" mob be expecting Villa to chase down their beloved Man United and Liverpool over the course of a season? Thought not. Easily your best ever post. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edinburghdon Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Two fantastic posts, which i have trouble finding a single thing i disagree with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Always like the Stooge's posts... points out the sometimes grim reality of life in the SPL without getting all hot-heid and "we deserve better". I also wonder how folk think we could compete with the OF over a season. Then you look at Aston Villa in the EPL and their 18 point gap between them and the leaders down there. It happens in every league where there is an imbalance in money and power. Would any of our own "we deserve better" mob be expecting Villa to chase down their beloved Man United and Liverpool over the course of a season? Thought not. Completely agree. At the end of the day, Villa have done extremely well to even be competing for this long. Its a shame that we can't compete, but I don't expect us to do so. We have a league of nearly half the size of say the EPL, they have 4 teams who compete for the title, the SPL have two. It kind of makes sense. We've not done terribly against the vermin in the league, but as stooge says, we don't have the money to have a vast squad like them, more of a flexible squad. As you quite rightly say, he points out the grim reality of the SPL, it is what it is. I'm not enjoying it at the moment, but its not just us that are horrendous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_min Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 This season Rangers spent £17,000,000 in the summer. That's them skint mind. Bougherra, Mendes, Edu, Davis, Miller, Velika and Lafferty. :lolabove: :lolabove: That lot is barely worth £7,000,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyBiscuit Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 All of the above is very true, my only gripe is that I don't think we're really close to closing the gap with the OF. The huns and tims are horrific. Absolutely awful to watch and they are undoubtedly regressing. I just wish we weren't regressing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 All of the above is very true, my only gripe is that I don't think we're really close to closing the gap with the OF. The huns and tims are horrific. Absolutely awful to watch and they are undoubtedly regressing. I just wish we weren't regressing too. This is also true, but I think its just a sign of the times, Scottish football in general is horrific to watch. I think it is clear if one team was even remotely consistent they would be challenging the OF no problem. But at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyBiscuit Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 This is also true, but I think its just a sign of the times, Scottish football in general is horrific to watch. I think it is clear if one team was even remotely consistent they would be challenging the OF no problem. But at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. The major fear for all of us has to be the possibility of Setanta going tits up. If we lose the TV deal with them the league will be in no position to be fussy in any future negotiations with Sky or the Beeb/STV and we'd likely see the further reduction of income which in turn will of course mean the product quality is likely to suffer. They should never have turned down Sky's last offer, the SPL over estimated it's worth and we're all paying the price for that now and will do for sometime to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgowdon Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 The major fear for all of us has to be the possibility of Setanta going tits up. If we lose the TV deal with them the league will be in no position to be fussy in any future negotiations with Sky or the Beeb/STV and we'd likely see the further reduction of income which in turn will of course mean the product quality is likely to suffer. They should never have turned down Sky's last offer, the SPL over estimated it's worth and we're all paying the price for that now and will do for sometime to come. Setanta is losing the EPL next season or the following season so we might see some of that cash coming our way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyBiscuit Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Setanta is losing the EPL next season or the following season so we might see some of that cash coming our way? I wouldn't be surprised to see Setanta go under though. If they're struggling just now, and lose the EPL for their UK coverage, they could easily lose a huge amount of their customer base. They'd then be in no position to increase the subscription price when all they have to sell is the SPL, Ligue 1 and one Bundesliga game per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgowdon Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I wouldn't be surprised to see Setanta go under though. If they're struggling just now, and lose the EPL for their UK coverage, they could easily lose a huge amount of their customer base. They'd then be in no position to increase the subscription price when all they have to sell is the SPL, Ligue 1 and one Bundesliga game per week. Think they still get the EPL for Ireland though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 The major fear for all of us has to be the possibility of Setanta going tits up. If we lose the TV deal with them the league will be in no position to be fussy in any future negotiations with Sky or the Beeb/STV and we'd likely see the further reduction of income which in turn will of course mean the product quality is likely to suffer. They should never have turned down Sky's last offer, the SPL over estimated it's worth and we're all paying the price for that now and will do for sometime to come. As much as I hated scumtanta, they have done good things for the SPL and the coverage isn't half bad. I agree that the SPL never should have turned down sky's offer, and they certainly got too big for their own boots. As GD says, Sultana are losing the EPL, so I would imagine that we would see them investing further in the SPL, unless the infirm move to another league But I do think the SPL/SPL clubs actually have to do something to market the league better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kowalski Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Setanta's SPL coverage is good, but the package is no use for Dons fans, as they only ever show home games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboisared Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Setanta's SPL coverage is good, but the package is no use for Dons fans, as they only ever show home games. Caley away, Hibs away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kowalski Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Caley away, Hibs away. In 2 years of coverage though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboisared Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 In 2 years of coverage though? Motherwell away. Hearts away. St Mirren away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kowalski Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Motherwell away. Hearts away. St Mirren away. Just testing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboisared Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Just testing! Should I give you a +1 or does Minj have to give permission first? Real fans etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizer Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Back to the SPl - hibs drawing with the buddies, good for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Setanta's SPL coverage is good, but the package is no use for Dons fans, as they only ever show home games. But if I remember correctly, we didn't exactly get good coverage under the Sky deal did we? Setanta do give the most comprehensive SPL coverage, much better than what Sky gave. I think it would be a big shame if they went under (apart from the fact it would probably fuck us over). Furthermore, if they did go under and don't get any premier league coverage, the profile of the SPL is severely dented in England. I remember the first few years of the deal where it was an absolute nightmare trying to find a pub with it. The number of games I missed because that really fucked me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizer Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Nicely change the subject away from some reasoned debate about the league, eh, Mizer? Unrealistic expectations, we deserve better, we have the club we deserve, etc, another JMG cliche, etc? Anyway - How is Hibs drawing good? We want St Mirren to win! We deserve better!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S ALL SHITE - I'M NEVER GOING BACK!!!!!!! St Mirren fucked that up right at the death of the first half. Lets hope they get it back. Shut it cripple! Hibs drawing at the end will mean a better chance for well to make the top 6 and a better chance for us to beat Utd to 4th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyBiscuit Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 But if I remember correctly, we didn't exactly get good coverage under the Sky deal did we? Setanta do give the most comprehensive SPL coverage, much better than what Sky gave. I think it would be a big shame if they went under (apart from the fact it would probably fuck us over). Furthermore, if they did go under and don't get any premier league coverage, the profile of the SPL is severely dented in England. I remember the first few years of the deal where it was an absolute nightmare trying to find a pub with it. The number of games I missed because that really fucked me off. I actually think we got much the same from Sky, remember matches with Hibs (a few times), Killie (a couple of times) and St Johnstone off the top of my head being covered by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I actually think we got much the same from Sky, remember matches with Hibs (a few times), Killie (a couple of times) and St Johnstone off the top of my head being covered by them. Didn't realise that, actually I remember a killie game being shown. And I know that hun game got covered when it was postponed 20 mins for people telling the huns what was what I guess I think i'm taking the league as the whole, because i'm sure they didn't show as many games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
️ Come on you Reds! ️
️ Come on you Reds! ️
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