Get yer pillows…

Date: 22nd September 2024

Get yer pillows…

I will be honest and say that I am quite liking the new Champions League format. Don’t ask me to explain it – I have nae idea how it all works – BUT it feels like we are beginning to see some innovation and people beginning to take the democratisation of European competition a wee bit more seriously. And I like that.

But not for the first time we need to get a wee bit cuter in the rest of the European competitions.

To be fair on Scottish clubs, our national squad can hardly be taken as a glorious example of how to handle the heat of group stages and the like, but we do have Scottish champions running out 5-1 winners of a Champions League game. That’s no bad.

The rest have had a flurry and with Rangers and Hearts still left in, it could be argued we are looking vulnerable below the top two.

T’was ever thus…

Well, apart from in the 1980’s when Aberdeen and Dundee United were doing so well. Or in the 1960’s when Dundee blazed a trail. Or Kilmarnock. Even Raith Rovers held the mighty Bayern Munich to account for a while. And Celtic beat Barcelona…

But all of these are mentionable because some of them are unique. We are not at the Crufts of fitba in Europe because we don’t really have that pedigree. But who does?

Those who have financially benefitted form it and got richer through their success have.

The teams at the top of Seria A, la Liga, the Bundesliga and down south have all won major European tournaments at a canter. Or at least with some degree of flair. We can now look at coaches and compare them across the continent with how many European titles they have won with how many different clubs. As they dive into their next contract, we are debating the degree of difficulty they face in taking their latest super rich charges into competition as people fear them more than they collectively fear the vast majority of their competition.

And so, the result of Bayern managing nine goals in one game hints at the disparity of those clubs who have got into the competition and those who are expected to do well within it. We take a step back, marvel at how good the German side are, and then look around for who can rival them whilst we hope Celtic can gather enough points to still, be in the competition in January.

And then?

Perhaps lose gracefully over two legs but gather enough cash under the lights to strengthen for next year, win our domestic league at a canter and try their luck to get close to a European cup again.

But if the other Scottish clubs cannot up their game, Scotland’s champions might not be automatically in the most lucrative of stages for some time.

And here is the go-to sleep topic of fitba – the co-efficient.

We are out the top 15 and that means that next year the champs will not go straight into the new league mesmerising format. We are dropping from five teams going to the continent to four and if reversing that trend happens to matter to us, we need the teams who have remained in the competitions they are in – Celtic, Rangers and Hearts – to manage decent runs.

To do that, we need people in authority to work out how to help them. And yes, that may include moving fixtures and working together for the common good. Fans love European nights and having them in places that are not the largest city in Scotland are massively important. The democratisation of football is not something that happens without help. I might balk at the rich clubs getting richer and nobody in League Two, the pyramid system or anywhere other than in Glasgow really getting the biggest cash benefits of European success, but we need to build something to be able to feed our national side.

The fact is that both Rangers and Celtic are filled with the majority of non-Scottish players. Hearts are not that much better but other clubs, with young players coming through should be encouraged to use Europe as a real testing ground. It is early in the season but seeing players from Scotland in Italy – Adams, Ferguson, McTominay and Gilmour – whilst Vancouver Whitecaps have Gauld and Armstrong – suggest the foreign experience might suit us. Wouldn’t it be better to have clubs in Scotland showing the way by bringing them through and retaining them?

Or have I just put ye to sleep again…

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Posted in: Latest News

Tags: Celtic, Champions League, Scottish fans, Scottish football