Comments on: Deal With It

By: William Heaney

William Heaney — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:12:57 +0000

I think many clubs would benefit from the standard of opposition they would face in at Atlantic League, but there are a lot of issues that would need to be resolved before it could become a reality.

By: Fabricio

Fabricio — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:50:37 +0000

That Atlantic League sounds really interesting, keeping the bigger clubs playing against each other. That migth even help some clubs to get more notoriety in Europe.

By: William Heaney

William Heaney — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:58:17 +0000

Steve, at the moment I would say overall the likes of the Portuguese and Dutch leagues are of a higher standard. I think this is reflected by Scottish clubs performances in Europe this season, though I don’t think the gap is huge.

Producing their own players is the only way forward for Scottish clubs. The days of overspending on foreign players, who often weren’t any better than those who came through the ranks, are over. Celtic and Rangers now both have purpose built training facilities so have no excuses. Hibernian have produced talented players and sold them on regularly over the last 10 years, while the likes of Motherwell, Hamilton and Falkirk are known to give youngsters a chance.

Dundee United were comprehensively beaten by Rangers this week, meaning they are 7 points from the top. I can’t see United or Hibs winning the title this season, but the gap is not as great as it once was. There has been a change in attitude from the other SPL clubs towards the Old Firm. Most teams now fancy their chances at home to Celtic or Rangers, and go to Celtic Park or Ibrox with a genuine belief they can take something, rather than the damage limitation exercises of the past.

By: Steve Atkinson

Steve Atkinson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:41:45 +0000

You talk of the Portuguese and Dutch leagues being involved, do you think they are of a higher or lower standard than the SPL? Scottish football needs to look at the grassroots level to improve in my opinion, rather than looking at extravagant ways to improve quickly. Get back to the way things were in the 1970s when all the most talented players in the English First Division were Scottish and the Scottish leagues were prospering too.

Come on Hibs and Dundee United, keep closing that gap and bring through the younger players to make the national team great again. At last it seems the reliance on importing players has come to an end. On a Scottish football related note, has anyone seen much of Ikechi Anya at Sevilla Atletico? How is he doing?

By: William Heaney

William Heaney — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:02:39 +0000

Geoff, I think you make a decent proposal for how an Atlantic League could be set up. I think they would have to go the whole way and include a number of teams from each country, rather than simply focusing on the elite. As I recall, something similar was suggested a few years back. Having the Portuguese and Dutch involved would give this kind of league some extra credibility.

I would still have some concerns for the domestic leagues of the weaker nations who could be involved. At the moment, I couldn’t see any Scottish side outwith the Old Firm winning through play-offs with sides from other nations. The idea of the SPL thriving with Celtic and Rangers is nice, but I don’t think it would survive at it’s present level.

By: Geoff Edwards

Geoff Edwards — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:43:23 +0000

William, good article, I’m quite intrigued by the idea of the Atlantic league and think it should be seriously thought about. With Belgian, Dutch and Portuguese clubs on board then there could be some great fixtures. My own way of doing it would be to take the best 36 teams and put them in 2 divisions, with the domestic leagues serving as regional leagues, the winners of which could go into a play-off system to decide who gets promoted, whilst the relegated teams would go down to their respective domestic leagues.