Great Adrian Durham article

[Bluedell 5,679]

Celtic think they are so big that they had a divine right to get to the Scottish Cup final... they need taking down a peg or two

 

A 30-year-old Scouser released by Shrewsbury and Tranmere in recent years was the hero of Scottish football at the weekend. Full back David Raven stabbed home the winner to take Inverness Caledonian Thistle to the Scottish Cup final.

 

You can only be pleased for him – he must have thought his career glory had been and gone when he made a few appearances in the Liverpool first team as a youngster (he played in the infamous 1-0 defeat for Rafa Benitez's Reds at Burnley in 2005 – Djimi Traore's silky back-heeled own goal deciding the game). It's a fantastic moment for Raven, good luck to him in the final.

 

But what can we deduce about the state of Scottish football from the two Hampden Park semi-finals last weekend?

 

Well with Scotland's top club, Celtic, taking the decision to embarrass themselves publicly by writing to the SFA crying about a penalty they weren't awarded against Inverness, you can see there are problems.

 

I interviewed goal hero Raven and he seemed upset by Celtic's actions: 'For a club that size to write to the SFA is a bit much, it's definitely taken the gloss off it a little bit for me. I'm surprised a club like Celtic have done that – it's a bit of an error of judgment for me. I don't know what they're hoping to get out of it,' he told me.

 

Well done Celtic, your extreme arrogance managed to spoil the highlight of an honest pro's career. You should be ashamed of themselves.

 

Celtic think they are so gigantic they have a divine right to get to the final. Apparently only they can make themselves the victims of bad decisions from officials. Celtic are like the brat of a child, over-indulged by parents, and scoffing too many sweets and not sharing any with the other kids because of some superiority complex which isn't backed up by what's actually going on. And the mismanagement of the Scottish game has left it imbalanced and unattractive.

 

Whichever way you look at it, Scottish football, like an unsafe, stinking high rise on the wrong side of Glasgow, needs wiping out and starting again.

 

Firstly, Celtic need bringing down a peg or two. There is nothing to suggest they are bigger than the game of football, yet they act like they are lords and masters of all around them. Celtic didn't get a penalty – so what? Inverness should have had one when sub keeper Lukasz Zaluska bulldozed into the back of an opponent. As bad losers go, Celtic are just about the worst of the lot.

 

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths complained: 'We were robbed.' The whole of football is laughing in his face! Imagine how Rangers fans felt when the authorities banished their club to the brink of non-league football. Now that's being robbed.

 

None of this reflects well on Scottish football.

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3048361/Celtic-think-big-divine-right-Scottish-Cup-final.html#ixzz3XvqxAMTm

[MoodyBlue 0]

He's spot on !!!

 

How refreshing !

[Rousseau 10,812]

You missed out second half of the article in which he makes some good points about the future of Scottish football: extending the league, spreading the money less thinly etc.

 

To be fair, it's nothing we haven't seen for ourselves. We need someone at the top to take a stand.

 

They have a right to be upset at the decision, but the referee's missed it, so there is nothing to be done about it. To cry "Conspiracy!", "Cheat!" -- and even mentioning "Sporting integrity" is taking the mickey considering the Legia Warsaw affair -- is just taking it too far.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

You missed out second half of the article in which he makes some good points about the future of Scottish football: extending the league, spreading the money less thinly etc.

 

To be fair, it's nothing we haven't seen for ourselves. We need someone at the top to take a stand.

 

They have a right to be upset at the decision, but the referee's missed it, so there is nothing to be done about it. To cry "Conspiracy!", "Cheat!" -- and even mentioning "Sporting integrity" is taking the mickey considering the Legia Warsaw affair -- is just taking it too far.

That's exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. The old firm need to get as much of the money as possible, or else we are left with no good teams, as is the case now. Is there any league in the world with decent teams where the money is all spread fairly? No, the best teams always get the biggest share by a mile.

 

The old firm attract 90% of the interest in Scottish football so it is absolute madness for the diddy teams to get a significant share of that when they bring absolutely nothing to the table. Clubs should get what they deserve and tiny clubs with a few hundred supporters deserve nothing. We are only the size we are because we earned it.

[Bluedell 5,679]

To be fair, it's nothing we haven't seen for ourselves. We need someone at the top to take a stand.

Yeah, but it is unusual that a national broadcaster takes the time out to highlight the nastiness that emanates from the eye sore in the east end of Glasgow.

[26th of foot 6,114]

Ra Sellik's Chief Executive, Peter Lawwell has assuaged fellow Yahoos' demands on clarification, a letter is already on it's way to Durham's Editor. Big Peter states, "in three days, the club has issued three letters, to the SFA reference the Scottish Cup semi-final, the SPFL for last night's under 20s game, and now Adrian Durham". Lawwell is anxious to remind the support that there are still 23 unused letters in the alphabet, and if necessary the Russian alphabet has 56 letters.

[ian1964 10,761]

You missed out second half of the article in which he makes some good points about the future of Scottish football: extending the league, spreading the money less thinly etc.

 

To be fair, it's nothing we haven't seen for ourselves. We need someone at the top to take a stand.

 

They have a right to be upset at the decision, but the referee's missed it, so there is nothing to be done about it. To cry "Conspiracy!", "Cheat!" -- and even mentioning "Sporting integrity" is taking the mickey considering the Legia Warsaw affair -- is just taking it too far.

 

 

 

 

Celtic captain Scott Brown appeals to referee Steve McLean - the club have since written to the SFA

 

Next the game north of the border must do more to attract supporters to matches. For Saturday's game between Hibs and Falkirk there were 30,000 empty seats, while nearly 25,000 were missing for Sunday's tie.

 

Two showpiece games at the country's national stadium should be getting close to sell-out crowds.

 

The two biggest clubs in the country – Celtic and Rangers - regularly have loads of empty seats at home games. Where is the passion for football in Scotland? Has it disappeared completely? Was it the curling craze that did it? Have Rhona Martin and all curlers since the Olympic gold medallist hit her peak become the new heroes rather than iron bruisers like Scott Brown?

 

What about on the pitch: take a look at the three Inverness scorers on Sunday: Raven I've told you about; Greg Tansey I first saw when he was a teenager at Stockport and I was impressed. His career since then has levelled out. He's a good technician, but having been allowed to leave Stevenage last year when they were bottom of League One you'd have to question his all-round ability.

 

And Edward Ofere scored a cracker at Hampden, finding the net for the second successive weekend. But this is a 29-year-old Nigerian striker who has yet to play a competitive international game and has had a Nomadic footballing existence thumbing his way around the minor European leagues so far.

 

It's a great moment for these players and for Inverness, but let's not confuse that with anything remotely resembling high quality football.

 

These are journeymen who have worked hard to earn their big day out. James Dunne was a cup winner in Scotland with St Johnstone last season, this year he's been picking up yellow cards in the bottom half of League Two with Portsmouth.

 

The standard of Scottish football has continued to fall and the game needs to be overhauled

 

Inverness manager John Hughes, sacked by Hartlepool after relegation to League Two less than two years ago, has moulded these players into a side that sits third in the Scottish Premiership table, and favourites to win the Scottish Cup final. In some ways you have to be impressed, and the Caley fans are loving it right now of course.

 

But the standard is not high, and that's not healthy for Scottish football.

 

With the quality on the pitch lacking, it's no surprise the fans can't be bothered to pay and watch. You sign English League Two players and you'll get League Two crowds.

 

What's needed is a total restructuring: a bigger top division in Scotland for a start. That would ensure the biggest clubs have the best chance of staying there, and it would mean the clubs play each other only twice a season in the league – familiarity has bred boredom with a smaller Scottish Premiership.

 

Beyond the top flight, establish only one division with strict criteria for stadia and salary capping. That way clubs are less likely to suffer financial crisis, but standards are maintained, and the focus is on quality in those top two divisions, rather than the current situation where resources spread far too thinly over four leagues.

 

Somehow a fairer distribution of wealth is needed in Scotland. Pumping all the money into Celtic hasn't led to any success in Europe – in fact Celtic have got worse. So spread the money more evenly, generate competition, and maybe that way Scotland can become strong again.

 

It's not all bad - Falkirk's matchwinner on Saturday Craig Sibbald looks like a decent footballer, yet he can't get in the Scotland Under 21 squad. There are some promising young Scottish players around right now, no doubt about that.

 

But overall Scottish football is in a bad way right now. It's in need of major surgery. Celtic's pathetic letter should fire the SFA into action.

[Bluedell 5,679]

Celtic's pathetic letter should fire the SFA into action.

Yes, they should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

[der Berliner 3,803]

What are the bets on some Yahoo-minded journo whipping up an article saying that it is time for the Hooped Horrors to leave these shores ... obviously for sporting and sporting integrity reasons? You see, this country is too small and far to biased for a team with that great a potential in the game of association football.

[RANGERRAB 3,731]

Yes, they should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

 

I genuinely wonder what response we'll get from Rhegan's SFA over this. They surely can't do nothing can they?

The inference that they were somehow cheated needs to be addressed by the SFA. Cheated by whom? We've already been down this road with them & had a referees strike. It's imperative action is taken by the SFA to prevent that happening again.

Edited April 21, 2015 by RANGERRAB