Scots teams in Europe

[bauhaus]

What has happened to our nations teams. Hibs out, Utd out, Mothers out, Celts demolished.

Rangers our only team left in Europe, and with the Champ league draw they must be favourits to finish bottom of their league.

Why have our teams gone backwards so much, when it comes to competing in european compititions

[Yngwie]

I know I shouldn't be surprised by Celtic's latest humiliation, but losing 4-0 to Utrecht is incredible. And with one of the goals from a guy called Maguire who is eligible to play for Ireland.

[kencar]

I see Lennon is planning on shoring up his leaky defence by signing Stokes from Hibs

How many strikers do they need?

Edited August 26, 2010 by kencar

[starchief]

I see Lennon is planning on shoring up his leaky defence by signing Stokes from Hibs

How many strikers do they need?

Just one. They've not got any currently. Watched the game. Samaras and Fortune were poor substitutes for goalscorers. Can't believe Fortune is the subject of a multi-million pound switch. Both Forrest and Maloney were completely anonymous. Juarez was probably their best attacker and he was at right-back!

Can't believe Lennon goes in with an attack-minded team after leading 2-0. How about defending and making it difficult for them? Sure, both Motherwell and Dundee United went out but they have zero money to spend. Celtic could buy the Utrecht team. They've not even got 'competitive league' syndrome to blame. Holland's is in almost as poor a state as ours.

Cillian Sheridan and Anthony Stokes would score as many as Fortune, Murphy and Samaras for a fraction of the fee. And look at the defenders too! Hooijveld, Rogne, Majstorovis, O'Dea, Loovens and Thompson. How much wasted money?

[Caley Stan]

I'm gutted tonight, having genuinely wished and believed that all 3 teams could go through. I watched the 1st leg of the Motherwell game and both legs of of the United tie. All were fiercely competitive games which showed relatively small Scottish teams punching above their weight. The biggest problem in Scottish football is that we think we're better than we have any right to be. We have a glorious European past but have done very little in Europe for 20 years. We are a small country who do just about as well as we can in European football. I'm amazed that that we haven't accepted it yet.

[starchief]

But is that the case with the Old Firm? Shouldn't they be doing better? Both have been out against teams in recent years where they could buy every player. Spending millions and crashing out to paupers shows something far more seriously wrong here. Lennon is certainly partly to blame but not all. Scottish teams have also gone out to the likes of Icelandic clubs with such stars as David Winnie and Baldur Bett as their best players. Dundee United losing narrowly to AEK Athens is no shame but when another team is stuffed with postmen and Stirling Albion rejects, then something's up.

For me, it's Renegade's favourite nitpick - the kick'n'rush philosophy. We don't have to play that way, yet we do.

[TSTtiger]

I'm gutted tonight, having genuinely wished and believed that all 3 teams could go through. I watched the 1st leg of the Motherwell game and both legs of of the United tie. All were fiercely competitive games which showed relatively small Scottish teams punching above their weight. The biggest problem in Scottish football is that we think we're better than we have any right to be. We have a glorious European past but have done very little in Europe for 20 years. We are a small country who do just about as well as we can in European football. I'm amazed that that we haven't accepted it yet.

I dont accept that.Plenty other so called smaller nations can produce good players and good teams capable of having an impact in europe.

Ofcourse its always going to be difficult nowadays to compete with the mega rich clubs who can hand pick the worlds best players but the problem is we just aren't producing even a fraction of the quality players we should and size has nothing to do with it.

Our games set-up is poor at every level, under-funded and presided over by idiots who are more interested in what they can take from football than what they can give. Throw in the joke school physical education, booze culture and the embarrassment to call Scottish that is the old firm and here we are.

I laughed after the World Cup when i heard the president of one of the African nations was withdrawing the country from international competition until they sorted themselves out. He's probably onto something.

[+DoofersDad]

Whilst the old firm have the money to buy up the best players from the rest of Scotland and attract good players from elsewhere, their problem is that they don't play against quality week in and week out. The failures of other Scottish teams demonstrates what the level of Scottish domestic football is and it is this level that the old firm have to play against. For the rest of the teams in the league the matches against the old firm are like cup finals and the pace of the game is usually fast and furious. That is what they are used to playing against and they simply cannot adapt to playing against sides which have a bit more composure to their game and generally higher skill levels throughout the team.

From time to time they will have a decent run in Europe or another team may briefly shine like Aberdeen and Dundee Utd have but that will be the exeption rather than the rule. I do agree that the old firm have the potential to do better but I think they would have to join the English Premier league before they could hope to compete competitively in Europe (if they could qualify)

Perhaps next year ICT will show them all how its done.

[old caley girl]

Dunno if we'd do any better but at least we'd get a trip abroad!

[kilda]

Whilst the old firm have the money to buy up the best players from the rest of Scotland and attract good players from elsewhere, their problem is that they don't play against quality week in and week out. The failures of other Scottish teams demonstrates what the level of Scottish domestic football is and it is this level that the old firm have to play against. For the rest of the teams in the league the matches against the old firm are like cup finals and the pace of the game is usually fast and furious. That is what they are used to playing against and they simply cannot adapt to playing against sides which have a bit more composure to their game and generally higher skill levels throughout the team.

From time to time they will have a decent run in Europe or another team may briefly shine like Aberdeen and Dundee Utd have but that will be the exeption rather than the rule. I do agree that the old firm have the potential to do better but I think they would have to join the English Premier league before they could hope to compete competitively in Europe (if they could qualify)

Perhaps next year ICT will show them all how its done.

Couldn't agree more. They simply reflect the falling standards in the SPL. If you play against weaker opposition all the time you simply can't improve. Still, they have largely only got themselves to blame, they buy up all the promising talent in Scotland and then leave it sitting on the bench or in the second team depriving them of the chance to play regularly and improve.

Methinks that its about time for a reorganisation of the SPL and a limit on squad sizes to spread the talent around and create a stronger league.