DarloRich
Veteran Member
Darlington 3 v Kettering 0 - a really good home performance
Darlington 3 v Kettering 0 - a really good home performance
Perhaps the team will measure their improvement on Monday night when they are away to fourth place Curzon Ashton, 1945 kick off.
That surprised me as well - I knew Coldstream weren’t great and Jeanfield were decent (beat Ormiston 4-0 and 8-1 last season ) but such a heavy defeat was surprising.SCOTTISH CUP ... QUALIFYING
Coldstream 1 ... Jeanfield Swifts 9
Celtic have crashed out of the Champions League.
They were playing Romanian side CFR Cluj at Parkhead. Last week’s first leg saw a one all draw. Tonight’s leg saw Celtic score three goals to Cluj’s four. The aggregate score is 4-5.
After good performances in the Scottish premiership, beating St Johnstone and Motherwell 7-0 and 2-5 respectively, tonight’s disastrous result will come as a huge blow to Lennon under whom Celtic were once capable of beating the mighty Barcelona. After being torn apart by Cluj, serious questions have to be asked about Celtic’s ability and how this will affect them in the Premiership.
FAO Phil Hodgkinson, that's a considerably better record than clueless Jan.I note that Hereford have followed Bradford's example and sacked their manager after 3 games - a win, draw and defeat.
FAO Phil Hodgkinson, that's a considerably better record than clueless Jan.
At the start of the season I was prepared to give him 10 games to show what he can do despite him clearly being out of his depth in the top flight. However I've seen nothing to suggest he can turn it around, the players don't seem to know what he wants from them, and he refuses to take any responsibility for the poor results. I'm now hoping that the board are thinking "let's not have the new guy start with the inevitable smashing we'll get from Fulham on Friday".The silence from you about your team has been deafening so far this season. What is the mood down there about Siewert?
However to qualify for the Champions League, as Scottish Champions, they had to play 3 qualifying rounds before getting a play-off to enter the group stage. In England though the 3rd place Premiership team waltz straight into the group stage of the aforementioned Champions League. Not much of a Champions League. I detest Celtic hugely but this matter annoys me.The Scottish Premiership is sadly a "Mickey Mouse" league these days !!!
Beating St Johnstone and Motherwell counts for nothing in the wider scheme of things.
Even spending the £25 Million Tierney Wedge will not alter the current mediocrity of league standards in Scotland.
Celtic are miles ahead of everyone in Scotland but way behind the European Elite.
However to qualify for the Champions League, as Scottish Champions, they had to play 3 qualifying rounds before getting a play-off to enter the group stage. In England though the 3rd place Premiership team waltz straight into the group stage of the aforementioned Champions League. Not much of a Champions League. I detest Celtic hugely but this matter annoys me.
I get that we’re not great but it really needs to be renamed from Champions League since it clearly isn’t for championsThat is what you get for being champions of a minor nation. Sorry.
I get that we’re not great but it really needs to be renamed from Champions League since it clearly isn’t for champions
I still call it the European Cup, which served as a perfectly adequate name for decades. The irony is that the name of Champions League only came in when teams didn't need to be domestic champions or European champions in order to qualify. Even use of the word "league" is dubious: there's a group stage but the World Cup also has a group stage, it doesn't make it a league.it hasn't been for champions only for about 25 years and they cant call it the Europa league as they used that for the UEFA cup or the European League because the national associations will kick off! It is a fudge but we all know what it means
( plus the theme song wont work if you call it the champions, runners up from several nations and some third and fourth placed teams from the bigger nations league!)
If Scotland had a better, stronger, faster league and earned more "co efficient" points and had a better national side they would get more places. The SPL is, generously I think, rated 19th in Europe. it needs to move up to 15th ( Cyprus! ) to earn 2 CL places. There are some details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient
Also, that theme music is sh*te and makes me cringe whenever I hear it.
Completely agree.I still call it the European Cup, which served as a perfectly adequate name for decades. The irony is that the name of Champions League only came in when teams didn't need to be domestic champions or European champions in order to qualify.
Yeah. That’s my Mum’s problem she finds with it - how can a “league” have a final?It doesn’t bother me really but I can understand the issue.Even use of the word "league" is dubious: there's a group stage but the World Cup also has a group stage, it doesn't make it a league.
Me as wellAlso, that theme music is sh*te and makes me cringe whenever I hear it.
I utterly disagree with that. I think it’s excellent and far better than the claptrap the BBC used for this year’s Women’s World Cup. Why couldn’t have they used a french piece of music like ITV did when France hosted the Euros a few years back and when they famously used Nessun Dorma for Italia ‘90?Also, that theme music is sh*te and makes me cringe whenever I hear it.
My objection is more that a sporting competition doesn't really need a signature tune.I utterly disagree with that. I think it’s excellent and far better than the claptrap the BBC used for this year’s Women’s World Cup. Why couldn’t have they used a french piece of music like ITV did when France hosted the Euros a few years back and when they famously used Nessun Dorma for Italia ‘90?
Furthermore, it is a rearrangement of the fantastic Zadok The Priest. Both are known universally and are instantly recognisable. Despite the issues over the qualification process, the music fits its role as the tournament’s anthem very well. It was composed for champions and their coronation. Would any modern piece fit such a role?
Celtic need to get beat to get a mention on here i see.
Oh well, here we go to 10 in a row.
You are free to mention Celtic anytime you like. It is an open thread.
PS 10 in a row in a pub league with no opposition. Top effort lads. Darlo would just about finish 3rd in that league!
In the kingdom of the blind and all that!
Domestic football in Europe's smaller nations has been on the decline for decades as clubs from the big 5 leagues plunder their best players. These leagues have also become less competitive with the top clubs getting far more income from earlier rounds in Europe than the rest.
Yeah I’ve given up following Dundee Utd like I used to - living just outside Edinburgh doesn’t help as it’s a pain of a journey. I now follow my local non-league team and there is definitely less quality, but the league is really exciting and close for promotion and relegation. That’s my biggest annoyance with the English and Scottish Premiership - the top 6 in England and Celtic in Scotland are so far ahead and make the rest of the league dull.Above The SPL in the UEFA rankings are the top leagues of such mighty nations as Greece, Denmark, Croatia and perhaps the biggest of all: Cyprus. I wonder why those nations are able to over perform despite having all of their best players pinched yet Scotland can't. Could it be that technically Scottish football is miles behind where it should be?
BTW - i quite like Scottish football and have watched quite a bit of it seeing St Mirren and away from the top of the SPL the standard is pretty much uniform so you get some good games. The lower leagues are of a fairly low standard but are competitive, physical and good fun.
What is illustrative to me is that i have seen mediocre players go form league 2 in England to the SPL and look good. Richie Foran is my go to example!
Yeah I’ve given up following Dundee Utd like I used to - living just outside Edinburgh doesn’t help as it’s a pain of a journey. I now follow my local non-league team and there is definitely less quality, but the league is really exciting and close for promotion and relegation. That’s my biggest annoyance with the English and Scottish Premiership - the top 6 in England and Celtic in Scotland are so far ahead and make the rest of the league dull.
My mum and step dad live near Paisley so St Mirren are their local team. My step dad also works with a group of lads who are St Mirren fans so they kind of adopted him. I go along whenever i am in Scotland. He has now covered every Scottish league ground ( to go with the English ones) and I am not that far behind. I do like Scottish football and am happy to defend it against the clueless wibble you will often get from PL fans.