rangers and celtic need to exist elsewhere, is what I'm saying. A discussion about who will finish third is quite sad, demonstrating as it does that the fans of 10 out of the 12 teams involved KNOW that their team has literally no chance at all of finishing first. Last season, before Aberdeen's humiliation in the semi-final by QOTS, Jimmy Calderwood said he'd rather finish third in the league than win the Scottish Cup, and this is the mentality of most of the 'other' managers. History won't record that a team finished third, but that's become more important than that team's name being permanently engraved on a piece of silverware. But that's a sign of how distorted the Scottish game has become and it won't improve any time soon. It's been 22 years since anybody else won it...

Plus, rangers and celtic and their fans couldn't give a toss about the rest of the SPL. Gordon Strachan and the celtic board only care about Champions League and trying to win that, and they take it for granted that they'll have a regular crack at it, because their participation is guaranteed. But they resent the SPL because it doesn't provide the status or level of competition that would attract the players of the calibre that they need to have a realistic chance of winning it. It wouldn't just benefit them if they were to get into the EPL.

The idea that Strachan and the Celtic board "only care about trying to win the Champions League" is pretty bizarre. The league title is the first priority, every single season, followed by getting out of the group stage in the CL, followed by not being battered in the first knockout stage if they do get that far, followed by the Scottish Cup.

I haven't a clue myself what Strachan thinks about the SPL, because I don't know him personally and he's never sounded off on the subject in public as far as I'm aware. If I ever meet him, I'll ask him about it, and then report back here.

But I do know that not one of the many Celtic supporters of my acquaintance wants them to quit the league, primarily because it would be a self-evidently stupid idea for them to enter English football. It would also set an awful precedent for other leagues around the world.

Got to say I'm with HoH on this.

This 'we've no chance' attitude prior to the league even starting is bizarre. Granted Rangers and Celtic have bigger supports, crowds etc however Aberdeen, in Scottish terms, is a big city, it's a wealthy city and it only has one team in it so it's ridiculous that you can't compete.

I met Mark McGee last year and he genuinely believed that if both the Old Firm stayed in Europe and he could keep his team together he could split them in the league and Motherwell don't have a fraction of the resources of Aberdeen.

To say the Old Firm don't care about Scottish football is nonsense, I don't know one Rangers fan who doesn't want to win the league this season. This 'Old Firm going to England' is all paper talk on a quiet news day it's never been seriously mooted has it?

I'm not trying to pick a fight but for an Aberdeen fan to give up a month before the season starts is shocking.

Motherwell probably have comparable resources to Aberdeen, because we haven't bought a player for a fee in Christ knows when. We have one of the biggest away supports in the country, but that doesn't put any money in the coffers. The priority under Stewart Milne is servicing the debt, which stands at about £8 million or something. Aberdeen will never do anything under Milne because he is super-tight with his money, and that's just the way he is. I haven't completely given up; there is always a faint hope, but I am realistic at the same time. Look at last season's final table and still tell me the "we've nae chance" attitude isn't valid.

Old Firm fans DO have a less than positive attitude toward the SPL, if you listen to the barrage of irate calls from one or both sets of fans on the phone-in on BBC Radio Scotland whenever their team fails to win by a landslide. If you're expecting to demolish a team 5-0 every time you play them, how can you have respect for them?!?

Ah come on, almost everybody who rings up radio stations is a fool. We all know that.

You might as well take the temperature by reading the letters page of a Murdoch tabloid.

muzo1234 wrote:

QUOTE:
Look at last season's final table and still tell me the "we've nae chance" attitude isn't valid.

You beat the shite out of Rangers in their most important domestic game of the season, and lost only once to them in the league. And you knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup on their own pitch.

But if a team takes to the field anticipating a beating, then that's usually what tends to happen.

Rangers had blown it by that point, mate, and they played like they knew it. And you're talking about isolated games, I hesitate to trot out the marathon/sprint cliche but...

Most people who phone radio phone-ins are fools? Hmmm... does that apply to forums as well?

muzo1234 wrote:

QUOTE:

Most people who phone radio phone-ins are fools? Hmmm... [b]does that [b]apply to forums as well?

[/b][/b]

Isn't that patently obvious?

Ploughing on regardless, I'm struggling to believe you think Aberdeen are a similar sized club to Motherwell. No disrespect to Motherwell but they haven't got the money or latent support sitting on their doorstep that Aberdeen have.

I don't accept your assertion about the phone-ins either, Rangers and Celtic fans I know currently accept they could lose against most of the Premier League away from home and against a few of them at home.

Both teams are predominately made up of Premier League players, there are no Laudrups or Larssons around just now so why the fear factor? It might have made sense 10 years ago but not now.

Oh lordy, page two and we've got into Old Firm discussions already. Fuck them. They can fuck off out of the league and, more immediately, they can fuck off out of this thread.

So yeah, I was very disappointed with Mickey going to MK last season, but not enough to wash out the memories of Ibrox '94. And he's not there now, I like to imagine he's seen the error of his ways.

Actually I thought we were discussing every other team in the Premier League and Aberdeen in particular.

Jesus christ, would you ever fuck off, you unremittingly tedious, miserable, points-scoring, I'm-a-real-fan-and-you're-not arsehole.

"more immediately, they can fuck off out of this thread." What exactly gives you the right to start shouting the odds around this forum? Who do you think you are? What have you ever contributed here that was worth a shit?

Threads like this always get destroyed because Taliban-esque creatures like you can never refrain from launching into totally unprovoked attacks on others. I knew it was only a matter of time before you would show up on this one and begin farting.

We'll talk about whatever the hell we want, whether you like it or not. And in the meantime, you can take your balls-achingly boring stories of which Highland League pre-season friendly you went to last week, and ram them up your constipated grey hairy arse.

AMMS wrote:

QUOTE:
muzo1234 wrote:

QUOTE:

Most people who phone radio phone-ins are fools? Hmmm... [b]does that [b]apply to forums as well?

[/b][/b]

Isn't that patently obvious?

Ploughing on regardless, I'm struggling to believe you think Aberdeen are a similar sized club to Motherwell. No disrespect to Motherwell but they haven't got the money or latent support sitting on their doorstep that Aberdeen have.

I don't accept your assertion about the phone-ins either, Rangers and Celtic fans I know currently accept they could lose against most of the Premier League away from home and against a few of them at home.

Both teams are predominately made up of Premier League players, there are no Laudrups or Larssons around just now so why the fear factor? It might have made sense 10 years ago but not now.

Yes of course Aberdeen are a bigger club than Motherwell in terms of support, history and all the rest of it, but for the moment Aberdeen have got almost no money available for transfers- putting us on a level footing with Motherwell and others- and that won't change unless someone with squillions of pounds recognises the potential we have, as the only club in the city with an exclusive catchment area of 400,000. I know what people are saying here: it IS possible to bridge the gap, but no-one seems to be doing it. Why? Why? Why???

One reason may be that as soon as a player at a non OF club gets noticed, one or other wants to buy them, which in turn destabilises confidence in the former team, and buggers them up.

Not saying that is the only reason. Another is general lack of confidence, I think. If you dont think you can beat Celtic or Rangers, you damned well wont.

In my limited watching of the SPL last year, Celtic and Rangers didnt look that far ahead of the pack... indeed Aberdeen looked a very good side on two occasions I saw them. However, they were abject against QoS in the cup, which, and apologies to Dons fans, was theirs for the taking.

In other leagues, I quite fancy a good run from Queens Park in DIvision 2, as they have (apparently, hearsay from my brother) a seriously good crop of youngsters on the way.

I dont have enough knowledge to even begin to guess at who will finish where, but I quite fancy Hibs for the Scottish Cup, depending on where they are in the league at Christmas.

I was kinda looking to you for the answer to that one to be honest.
What about this proposed new ground then, if it h