Footie Genius

The EPL restart makes Scottish Football the laughing stock of Europe

2020-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

As football fans we all gear up for the restart of the English Premier League on Wednesday. Remarkably football in the UK is getting back underway less than 1 month after the Scottish Premier League decided the best course of action was to cancel the league!

For years Scottish football has been in the gutter. It has been dwarfed by the high wages in England. Its teams have struggled to compete on the European stage against technical opposition. There have been refereeing strikes and an abundance of teams going into administration.

The question has to be asked - why cancel the league?

The above map taken from europeanleagues.com shows in green countries which are going to (or already have) continue their seasons. In red are the handful of countries which decided to cancel their seasons - either null and voiding the season, or in Scotlands case awarding a team the title, and relegating a team who could still have fought their way out of relegation.

Why the haste to cancel? The decision was made on the 18th of May - after the UK had passed its peak in virus cases (mid April). Testing facilities were ramping up, and other countries were starting to ease lockdown, and preparing to have teams playing football. In fact, the decision was taken two days after the German Bundesliga had restarted.

What will the long term ramifications be? For Hearts, they are relegated and may potentially take legal action. For Celtic, they have the indignity of being awarded a title and not being able to win it. You only have to look at Juventus as an example of a team who would not want to be awarded a title. If you think it is tough on Hearts, then look at Partick Thistle in the lower divisions - relegated when they are two points behind their nearest rival, and with a game in hand!

The decision to cancel so early now looks a terrible mistake. It could have been a revolution that Scottish football needed - fans being able to stream any game across the top tier as they watched the season end. This could have helped bring in income for many teams. Instead many fans will instead turn to the EPL instead - how many of those will start watching that league over the Scottish football when it finally does return?

Inept referees. Agricultural tackling. Small crowds. Plastic pitches. Diabolical governing was all the Scottish football needed.

January Transfer Deadline Day - A timeline of disastrous signings

2015-01-25T10:01:00.001-08:00

Transfer deadline day has become a big event - with many people throwing parties and creating drinking games based on which catchphrases Jim White will use. The latest Sky Sports Advert which aims to drum up excitement outlines the pitfalls associated with last minute transfers. The advert (link below) highlights key signings and the time they signed on (or slightly after) the deadline. Below I'll analyze those mentioned and workout if they have been a success or a failure:

20:34 Blind
Signing for £13.8m Daley Blind has made a slow start at Manchester United. Signed as a left back he has played mostly as defensive midfielder. He has suffered a bit through injury but has made a reasonable start to his United career, but Blind has been criticized for his constant side passing and patient play and is seen as one of the reasons United have been so slow in attack this year.

Verdict: Too early to tell

20:46 Suarez
Signing for Liverpool from Ajax in January 2011 Suarez had a roller-coaster career at Liverpool; scoring goals for fun and courting controversy every season! Regardless of the off field controversy, Suarez has to be seen as a success, one of the best players to play in the EPL and Liverpool made at least £40m profit from his sale to Barcelona.

Verdict: Good signing

Picture from Independent website.

22:16 Benteke
Signing for Villa from Genk Benteke has scored 31 goals in 68 games - a great return for Villa. While he has struggled this season and has had injury problems, at £7m Benteke has been a steal, and will no doubt move on to one of the top four clubs for a much larger fee banking Villa a good profit. He better start scoring soon though as Villa are struggling for goals!

Verdict: Good signing

22:19 Kranjcar
Returning again as a last minute loan deal to QPR Kranjar has struggled to get a game. He has taken a wage cut to rejoin QPR but realistically has to be seen as a failure this time round.

Verdict: Bad signing

22:26 Sessegnon
At £6m Sessegnon has been a decent signing for West Brom who maintain their mid-table status. In terms of transfer deadline day deals, they haven't overpaid for this player.

Verdict: Good signing

22:29 Ozil
Signing for Arsenal from Real Madrid for over £40m the Ozil signing made big headlines; unfortunately he hasn't lived up to it on the pitch. Despite a good start from the World Cup Winner, Ozil only scored 7 goals in 40 games and has only played 7 games this season (he has suffered from injuries). Ultimately he was signed with the view of taking Arsenal to the next level but they haven't managed that, and he has been heavily criticized for some poor performances in big games.

Verdict: Bad signing

Image from Daily Mail website

22:42 Dempsey
A fantastic player Fulham the American signed for Spurs for £6m in 2012 and only stayed at the club for a season before moving on to Seattle Sounders. Spurs to this day are still looking for a good striker!

Verdict: Bad signing

22:51 Lukaku
On a transfer deadline day loan deal to Everton Lukaku was a great success scoring 16 goals in 33 games. Surprisingly not given a chance at Chelsea Lukaku has now signed for Everton and is establishing himself as one of the best and most consistent strikers in the EPL.

Verdict: Good signing

22:56 Carroll
Signing for Liverpool for £35m on transfer deadline day Andy Carroll's move was disastrous, with only 6 goals in 2 years, ending in a loan deal and eventual permanent deal to West Ham.

Verdict: Bad Signing

Picture from thegaurdian.com

22:56 Torres
A legend at Liverpool Torres £50m deadline day transfer to Chelsea was a disaster where he struggled for confidence and goals. Bought to replace Drogba it's ironic Torres is no longer at the club and Drogba has returned!

Verdict: Bad signing

Picture from Sky Sports.

23:06 Fellaini
Reunited with Moyes at United, Fellaini has struggled to command a place in the starting line up and recreate his form at Everton. At £27m he was a panic buy and must be seen as a failure. Moyes has left United and Fellaini will no doubt follow.

Verdict: Bad signing

23:15 Arteta
A £10m signing from Everton Arteta has played over 100 games for Arsenal and has captained the team. Although Arsenal have struggled for trophies (apart from 1 FA Cup) Arteta has been a good squad player. His first team opportunities are now somewhat limited.

Verdict: Good signing

00:02 Robinho
Robinho's £33m move to Man City from Real Madrid. Making just 41 appearances for the club this has to been seen as a bad move. 14 goals in that period isn't a bad return but he moved on to Milan for £15m - a huge loss for City.

Verdict: Bad signing

Picture from the telegraph

00:34 Berbatov
Signing for Man Utd in 2008 Berbatov was a mercurial player for Utd but he won 2 Premier League titles, as well as a league cup. 56 goals in 150 games was an average of 1 in 3 which was a good return for the Bulgarian.

Verdict: Good signing

00:50 Ben Arfa
On 2nd September 2014 Ben Arfa signed for Hull on a season long loan deal. However, by December Hatem Ben Arfa had left the country and was released from his Newcastle contract. He only played 8 games for Hull! In those games, Steve Bruce labelled the Frenchman lazy.

Verdict: Bad Signing

01:06 Welbeck
Signing from rivals Manchester United, Welbeck joined Arsenal for a fee of £16m. He has netted only 4 goals in 16 games for the club and has been outshone by other signing Alexis Sanchez. With a goal ratio of only 1 in 4 it's unlikely Welbeck will be the answer for Arsene Wenger, with the team currently not even in there usual 4th place.

Verdict: Bad Signing

Picture from Daily Mail

01:30 Falcao
Radamel Falcao has scored goals for fun all his career, but his loan move to Manchester United has been troubled by injury and has seen him score only 3 goals and play only 13 times. With the injury concerns (he's played under 40 games in the last two years), it looks unlikely United will pay the reported £40m+ fee for the Columbian striker at the end of the year.

Verdict: Bad Signing

Picture from the Guardian.

Out of these 16 transfer deadline day transfers, I'd call at least ten of them bad signings. I guess at the end of the day, offloading certain players at the end of the transfer window can be as important as buying new ones. I'd love to hear who you think are the best and worst transfer deadline day deals so please contribute in the comments section.

Rangers: What does the future hold?

2012-07-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

Glasgow Rangers, the worlds most successful club, so what are they doing now in the third division of Scottish football?

The timeline for this demise starts officially on Feb 13th 2012, when the club officially went into administration. However, the road to destruction must have started far earlier, perhaps when buying Tore Andre Flo for 12million, almost double the previous Scottish transfer record. Or maybe it was buying players like Stensaas, Prodan, Maniero, Ostenstaad - all players who hardly kicked a ball for the team despite no doubt demanding a big wage from the club.

Maybe it was before then, when greats like Laudrup and Gascoigne were playing in the top tier of Scottish football when they could no doubt play at a higher level.

Who is to blame for the current situation?

The biggest culprit surely is Sir David Murray who in an attempt to make Rangers to dominate Europe, left them with unmanageable debts before selling the club to Craig Whyte for a pound - a man who's deals and movements leave a trail so mysterious that Sherlock Holmes could not solve it.

Should the players take the blame? A lot were brought in on big wages but never delivered on the European stage, despite domestic domination. Or what about the managers? Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat both had summers where £20million+ was spent. Unsustainable spending on this level meant subsequent managers such as McLeish an Le Guen were tightly hamstrung in the players they could afford to bring to the club, which ultimately left Rangers unable to compete amongst Europe's elite. At the end of the day it's the chairman who authorises what money can be spent.

All this goes without mentioning EBT's, a tax avoidance scheme which good accountants suggested to their clients they should avoid. The result of this, and alleged dual contract issues, is still to be seen. Again this all points back to Murray.

So what now? The club has gone from Murray to Whyte to Green in a series of sales which will no doubt be investigated. Who can the fans trust? Many fans still believe Whyte is involved, pulling the strings. What's more new faces such as Giovanni Di Stefano have expressed their interest in the club - a man who was part of Suddam Husseins Legal team. The clubs loyal fans still have no clarity in what will happen. Surely third division was not part of Charles Greens business plan, perhaps Administration again is likely, and what will the penalties of that be.

An uncertain future awaits this once great club which is now in it's lowest moment; surely over time they will return to the top of Scottish football, rejoin Europe's elite, or perhaps even join the EPL where a club of that stature can be allowed to grow and flourish.

Paul Scholes - Proof class is permanent

2012-01-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

It was unsurprising to see Manchester United struggling in the first half of the season after losing their play-maker to retirement at the end of last year. No player makes a club and United will need to replace their talisman, but as of yet they haven't and somewhat surprisingly they have gone back to Scholes to get a disappointing season (they are out of the Champions League before Christmas) back on track.

A lot of fun was poked at Sir Alex Ferguson for bringing back Scholes in a shock move just before the derby match against an impressive Manchester City team; however the media should look at the scoreline to see that he was right in doing so. Although Scholes, understandably rusty gifted City a goal, he had the desired effect on the overall team which led to United winning. Another rusty performance against Bolton yesterday again seen United win the game 3 - 0, with Scholes scoring the opening goal.

As he returns to full fitness, I can only see Scholes improving and improving, and I can also see him playing next year again. After all, he is younger than Ryan Giggs who is still playing. Additionally, in his "quarterback" role he simply needs to stand in and around the centre circle and dictate play. This season United have a young team of runners - Nani, Valencia, Wellbeck, Rooney, Young - to name only a few who can more than make up for his ageing legs. Additionally, he doesn't need to play full games, or even every game. But if United are struggling then he can come off the bench and dictate the game, set the tempo, switch the ball. Scholes has class - probably the best midfielder that the EPL has ever seen, and after 6 months out he strolled right back into the Manchester United team. This alone is proof that class is permanent. I always thought that Zidane retired too early, and seeing Scholes return has only re-iterated that feeling. After all Zidane bowed out after a World Cup Final, the biggest stage of all. He could have made another one.

Scholes has in the past been praised by another player who shares his unique ability to dictate a game - Barcelona's own version of Scholes - Xavi. Of Scholes he said to the Daily Mail:

"In the last 15 to 20 years the best central midfielder that I have seen — the most complete — is Scholes. I have spoken with Xabi Alonso about this many times. Scholes is a spectacular player who has everything. He can play the final pass, he can score, he is strong, he never gets knocked off the ball and he doesn't give possession away. If he had been Spanish then maybe he would have been valued more."

The only thing that Paul Scholes is criticised about is his inability to tackle correctly - Scholes has 120+ bookings and ten sending off's to his name. However, a lot of these tackles are professional fouls, something every experienced midfielder is willing to do for his team.

I remember hating Scholes as I grew up; as a young boy I seen him destroy Scotland (scoring twice) at Hampden for England:

However after seeing him many times since then, consistently performing against the best teams in the world, I have grown to admire him as a player. His latest successful return was no surprise to me and shows that class is permanent.

Footballing clichés: A quick guide

2012-01-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Before I start writing posts, I thought I best introduce some of the great football clichés that I will no doubt fall into the trap of using. Here's some of my favourites:

The team looks strong on paper: Has a team ever looked strong on paper? With the exception of Porto's Hulk I don't think I've ever seen a team or player that looks strong on paper.

There are no easy games in international football: This is the excuse that you roll out if your country has only beaten San Marino 1 - 0.

He's ran his socks off: Yes if this ever was the case then I'd accept it, but I have never seen it. Most players nowadays actually wear their socks in a stupid position above their knees - e.g. Thierry Henry.

They are setting out their stall early on: This basically means they have started the game, there is no other meaning.

This free-kick is in Beckham's range: As talented as Beckham is, I don't need to know every time there is a free kick in the oppositions half that it is in Beckham's range. Even worse when this is applied to players without the same talent, e.g. Charlie Mulgrew at Celtic!

This game needs a goal: Means the game has been boring. Although a goal would bring a moment to remember, it's not going to turn it into the greatest game ever.

It's been a game of two halves: Who would have thought it, aren't they all?

He's got a good touch for a big man: Usually said when speaking of Peter Crouch. Imagine a professional footballer who happens to be tall being able to control a ball or pass it 5 yards, unbelievable!

He's given 110% today: Usually said when a player is substituted off with 5 mins to go. Where to start with this one! Not only is it not possible, the context is usually that the player is too tired to finish the game.

If <insert good player/team> had scored that we would be raving about it for days: Believe it or not, there is a reason why we rave about it when good teams or players do it, because they are playing against good players. Messi skinning 5 players before scoring in La Liga is much better than Paddy McCourt skinning 5 players before scoring against St Mirren.

He's hit that perfectly/couldn't have struck it better: This is usually in the context when a player, 8 yards out, has tried a master blaster and hit it with such power that its narrowly gone over the bar or past the post - never into the goals. So in hitting it perfectly, they have not actually shown any accuracy at all!

It's a six pointer: No game has ever been worth 6 points. None.

He's a wheeler dealer in the transfer window: This usually applies to managers who seem to buy loads of players last minute in the transfer window, and is usually attributed to Harry Redknapp. Like car salesman, really this means that its all a bit dodgy!

The list could go on and on, what's your favourites?

What to expect

2012-01-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney....Titus Bramble - all have played the beautiful game and have made it what we all love. This blog will chronicle some of their greatest and worst moments, as well as discussing current affairs, looking back at historic moments such as Cantona's fly kick, Denmark winning the Euro's, Souness planting a flag in a centre circle and much more. There will be goals, own goals, funny moments and serious discussion - and hopefully it will all be fun!