Scottish football

[Patched Tube]

https://www.football365.com/news/scottish-fitba-the-premier-leagues-smaller-better-cousin

An interesting article that makes the case for why you should be watching Scottish football.  Now I am not going to come here as some sort of evangelist for Scottish football; outside of the usual suspects (Celtic and Ranger) I can probably name one other club (Hearts).  The fact is that here in the states its just not available.  Now that's sad for the simple reason that if I wander into a bar I'll watch 3rd division Mexican soccer if there is a game on.  Scottish football?  Sure!

I was struck by this particular sentence:

"Most of us just want to see two evenly-matched, fully-committed sides battling it out at whatever level they play."

I wish this was true but I fear that it is not.  I think there are a lot of viewers who are fans of certain teams and perhaps certain leagues more than they are a fan of the game.  Now at the risk of opening up another can of worms I'll make a comparison.  I'm a fan of cycling and I enjoy watching the big teams with the big stars hooking and jabbing in the big races in (mostly) Europe.  However I also am a fan of women's cycling.  The fact is that it is a very high quality product and the racing is very often as satisfying as the big men's teams.  The women's road race in the Olympics is often a highlight of the games for me because it is often one of the few times (outside the Worlds and a few marquee events) when the sport gets serious coverage.  

I am the first to admit that on some levels sports is just unwatchable.  The idea the high school football is sometimes televised in the states is mind boggling to me; the best HS team in the country is pretty bad; how could it be otherwise?  I have never and never will watch the Little League world series: its simply ridiculous.  But AAA baseball? It's not the majors but it's a quality game.

As is, I'm sure, Scottish football.  Which is a way of saying I agree with the author here.  If it's good and you style yourself a fan of the game you probably should be watching, at least a bit.  This of course goes for any other sport you consider yourself a fan of.  

[AMIW]

some of the games are on that crappy Bleacher Report Live streaming service, the TV rights belong to the Spanish language channel GolTV

[WhereLoveRuled]

A lot of solid rivalries and good football in the Scottish league. In addition to the Old Firm there's the Edinburgh Derby (Hearts/Hibs) and the New Firm. (Aberdeen/Dundee) Don't we have a member who's a big Aberdeen fan? MagicRat maybe. I'm sure he can enlighten us further.

[MagicRatAFC]

25 minutes ago, WhereLoveRuled said:

A lot of solid rivalries and good football in the Scottish league. In addition to the Old Firm there's the Edinburgh Derby (Hearts/Hibs) and the New Firm. (Aberdeen/Dundee) Don't we have a member who's a big Aberdeen fan? MagicRat maybe. I'm sure he can enlighten us further.

Right.....firstly, take that "new firm" shite and shove it gently up your rectum.

 

I will explain why in a much more fulsome and sweary rant later.

[janeymarywendy]

24 minutes ago, MagicRatAFC said:

Right.....firstly, take that "new firm" shite and shove it gently up your rectum.

 

I will explain why in a much more fulsome and sweary rant later.

Uh-oh. 

[Jimmy James]

44 minutes ago, MagicRatAFC said:

Right.....firstly, take that "new firm" shite and shove it gently up your rectum.

 

I will explain why in a much more fulsome and sweary rant later.

Can't wait! What a dick! 

[newcastle roy]

I watched  ( BT sport) Motherwell v Rangers at the weekend 3-3 a crackin' game.

Most games are very watchable tbh, very committed players  

[newcastle roy]

47 minutes ago, MagicRatAFC said:

Right.....firstly, take that "new firm" shite and shove it gently up your rectum.

 

I will explain why in a much more fulsome and sweary rant later.

 

1 minute ago, Jimmy James said:

Can't wait! What a dick! 

This is Scottish humour JJ

When a Scotsman swears at you, it normally means he likes you.

When a Scottish women swears at you it definitely means she likes you  

[Jimmy James]

3 minutes ago, newcastle roy said:

I watched  ( BT sport) Motherwell v Rangers at the weekend 3-3 a crackin' game.

Most games are very watchable tbh, very committed players  

But is it better than German Football I get on Fox every weekend? 

Unless Bayren v Dortmond I can't watch. Or am i just spoiled with the EPL? 

[Jimmy James]

2 minutes ago, newcastle roy said:

 

This is Scottish humour JJ

When a Scotsman swears at you, it normally means he likes you.

When a Scottish women swears at you it definitely means she likes you  

I can dig it, but his fucker gets under my skin. 

But the beauty of it all, he can't see it unless one of you quote me! 

[janeymarywendy]

3 minutes ago, Jimmy James said:

Or am i just spoiled with the EPL? 

Uh-oh! 

[newcastle roy]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy James said:

But is it better than German Football I get on Fox every weekend? 

Unless Bayren v Dortmond I can't watch. Or am i just spoiled with the EPL? 

No, German football is much better than Scottish by a long way. Yes, you are spoiled as you watch the Premier League, coz it's the best of course.

But German football is very good and the atmospheres at their games leaves the PL standing, they have a price limit normally around £25 per game  and also safe standing..much better than the PL  and it's prawn sarnie, no singing lot if I'm honest. 

[Jimmy James]

6 minutes ago, newcastle roy said:

But German football is very good and the atmospheres at their games

I agree with matches at Dortmond and we get a lot of those matches as "The American" plays on that club. 

But to be truthful, and i have posted about this before, the match between Man City and Celtic at Celtic Park in the Champions League a few years back was unbelievable atmosphere.  

[MagicRatAFC]

2 hours ago, WhereLoveRuled said:

A lot of solid rivalries and good football in the Scottish league. In addition to the Old Firm there's the Edinburgh Derby (Hearts/Hibs) and the New Firm. (Aberdeen/Dundee) Don't we have a member who's a big Aberdeen fan? MagicRat maybe. I'm sure he can enlighten us further.

Right....to elaborate.

Yes, I'm an Aberdeen fan. I was going to say "long suffering" but that's not really true, very few fans can say they've been inside a stadium and watched their team beat Real Madrid in a European final.........and no-one can say it since me and 18000 compadres did it on a rainy Swedish night 35 years ago.

 

But I digress, the reason for my detestation of the term "new firm" is thus (oh and it's Dundee United rather than Dundee).

 

Scottish football has historically been dominated by the two big Glasgow clubs, up until Rangers died in 2012.

There's a complex socialogical relationship between those organisations but that's another long and complex story.

 

Now this cosy hegemony was disrupted for one brief, shining moment when Aberdeen, managed by one Alex Ferguson,  dominated Scottish football 79-80 until the latter part of the decade.

 

During this time Dundee United were punching well above their weight.

 

Managed by Jim MacLean, the bastard love child of Pol Pot and Helenio Herrera, for a small club they achieved amazing things.

 

Most importantly they were as loved by the Glasgow media as Aberdeen were hated.

Why? Because they always shat it in the big games against the cheeks.

Aberdeen did not.....and we weren't very nice about it.

We went in with a cynical arrogance that Fergie's learned from Bob Paisley's Liverpool in 1980.

But United .....not so much.

So, while we dominated, United punched above their weight......with a pretty negative footballing style.

But the Glasgow media tried to dilute Aberdeen's dominance by creating a duopoly that, in truth, didn't exist.

 

So they coined this execrable term "the new firm".

 

On a personal level, I hate Dundee United......for a variety of reasons beyond what I've already touched on 

[MagicRatAFC]

1 hour ago, newcastle roy said:

 

This is Scottish humour JJ

When a Scotsman swears at you, it normally means he likes you.

When a Scottish women swears at you it definitely means she likes you  

Woah.........Jimmy Swaggert's got a strop on today. 

[WhereLoveRuled]

Thanks for the background Magic. Scotland is on my bucket list to visit - I'd love to take in a match if I do.

[Patched Tube]

2 hours ago, Jimmy James said:

But is it better than German Football I get on Fox every weekend? 

Unless Bayren v Dortmond I can't watch. Or am i just spoiled with the EPL? 

I like German football just fine and I watch a bit of it. Same thing with La Liga.   For whatever reason I've never warmed to the Italian game  (though that might have something to do with the fact you can never be sure if the match is fixed or not) but I will watch it.  

If the quality of play and player is good I'm not opposed to watching anything really.  Even if I don't know the team/players you can look at what each side appears to be trying to do and learn something.  Occasionally there is some South American league play on in the local establishments and I can have a enjoyable time comparing and contrasting the style with teams I know better.  I will admit if its a lopsided game with teams I don't know that's a bit tedious.  

[Jimmy James]

1 hour ago, MagicRatAFC said:

Woah.........Jimmy Swaggert's got a strop on today. 

Can Aberdeen win one more Championship! Praise the Lord. 

[dr winston oboogie]

3 hours ago, newcastle roy said:

I watched  ( BT sport) Motherwell v Rangers at the weekend 3-3 a crackin' game.

Most games are very watchable tbh, very committed players  

Roy, the Motherwell v Sevco game at the weekend was probably the most entertaining game on TV this season so far.

[newcastle roy]

1 minute ago, dr winston oboogie said:

Roy, the Motherwell v Sevco game at the weekend was probably the most entertaining game on TV this season so far.

Dunno about that but it was certainly the most entertaining 1st half. 

[dr winston oboogie]

4 minutes ago, newcastle roy said:

Dunno about that but it was certainly the most entertaining 1st half. 

Nah the added time at 90 mins was far and away the BEST, priceless in fact.

[newcastle roy]

20 minutes ago, dr winston oboogie said:

Nah the added time at 90 mins was far and away the BEST, priceless in fact.

Arrh.... Damn !

I nearly got a sensible conversation out of you 

[MagicRatAFC]

I'll wager the end of the Airdrie v Raith game was a tad more exciting, as much as I was delighted with 'Well's equaliser.

 

Airdrie 3-1 up.....4 minutes to go, Raith down to 10 men.

 

Final score 4-3 Raith.

[MacBruce]

I've supported Hibernian since I was 6 years old when my dad took me and my brother to Easter Road for the first time in 1971. Had a season ticket since 1986. I love my club. It's been part of the fabric of my life and always will be. I also happen to love Scottish Football. For a nation of 5 Million people I would argue, as someone who actually watches the game in Scotland every week, that the football we have up here is of a decent standard in comparison with other similar sized nations in northern Europe.

The game in Scotland has been dominated almost forever by the "big two" in Glasgow. Two utterly vile institutions who have became as big as they are by exploiting the "religious" sectarian divide in Scotland particularly the west of Scotland. Ironically the shite they perpetuate in their songs and such like...the shite that actually is the lifeblood of these two so called football clubs...has nothing to do with religion. My club was founded by poor catholic irish immigrants in Edinburgh's old town in 1875 and we are rightly proud of our origins and our history but thankfully we are now a club which is diverse and welcoming to everyone.

The game in Scotland is often ridiculed by people who very rarely watch Scottish football and have little or no knowledge of it. I talk here mainly of English football pundits and the media south of the border. There is some great football played up here, and some crap. Just like every other country.

[WhereLoveRuled]

21 minutes ago, MacBruce said:

I've supported Hibernian since I was 6 years old when my dad took me and my brother to Easter Road for the first time in 1971. Had a season ticket since 1986. I love my club. It's been part of the fabric of my life and always will be. I also happen to love Scottish Football. For a nation of 5 Million people I would argue, as someone who actually watches the game in Scotland every week, that the football we have up here is of a decent standard in comparison with other similar sized nations in northern Europe.

The game in Scotland has been dominated almost forever by the "big two" in Glasgow. Two utterly vile institutions who have became as big as they are by exploiting the "religious" sectarian divide in Scotland particularly the west of Scotland. Ironically the shite they perpetuate in their songs and such like...the shite that actually is the lifeblood of these two so called football clubs...has nothing to do with religion. My club was founded by poor catholic irish immigrants in Edinburgh's old town in 1875 and we are rightly proud of our origins and our history but thankfully we are now a club which is diverse and welcoming to everyone.

The game in Scotland is often ridiculed by people who very rarely watch Scottish football and have little or no knowledge of it. I talk here mainly of English football pundits and the media south of the border. There is some great football played up here, and some crap. Just like every other country.

Thanks for the perspective.

From the limited knowledge I have, it's been my impression that the Edinburgh derby has never been tainted much by the sectarian stuff like the Old Firm (and others like the Merseyside Derby) have. To its credit, I think.