posted Jul 24, 2008

Tinguts. I would like to apologise for having a go at the way some of your fans behave and at the same time sympathise that the true loyal fans, of any team, are always the ones who suffer first.I am friendly with several Rangers and Celtic supporters who all say they feel the general attitude to supporters is "if you`re not happy don`t buy your season ticket" By all acounts both clubs have a waiting list of those desperate for season tickets so there is no problem getting rid of them. Media rights means they must play games when and where it suits viewing figures and because of this you fans have to travel to Aberdeen and Inverness on a cold wet winters night. Maybe things will go full circle eventually and the fans will be the ones who dictate policy and we can have a bigger say in the running of the clubs we love.

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posted Jul 25, 2008

I'm a Rangers fan and I also think that it's morally wrong of the old firm to exploit their dominant position in this way. The SFA should intervene so as to avoid the widening of the talent gap that you correctly predict.

Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen. The fact of the matter is, both clubs are aware of the strong bargaining position they hold and will seek to push their luck as far as possible. They are businesses after all. I couldn't honestly hold my hand up and say I wouldn't support such measures were I in the position of Martin Bain or John Reid if i thought the result would be an improvement to my club.

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posted Jul 25, 2008

if you've been following scottish football for 50 years why are you the least bit surprised that bigotry is at its worst amongst old firm fans? what a stupid comment.

similarly, in the last 50 years the old firm have dominated the scottish title race and have undeniably been responsible for the overwhelming majority of the international attention the scottish game has received. why, then, do you point out the fact that the old firm are receiving the lion's share of the TV sponsorship deal as if it's an outrage?

the simple fact of the matter is that the old firm have enough support and influence in the sfa to attempt this kind of thing. are you honestly naive enough to believe that the other 10 spl clubs wouldn't try to impose such measures if they had the credentials?

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posted Jul 25, 2008

Neale89.
I never said I was surprised that bigotry is at its worst among old firm fans. My sxact comment was that old firm fans are the most bigoted I have come across. You are correct that the old firm have dominated Scottish football for the last 50 years, well except for Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson oh yes and Dundee United under Jim McLean. An to back that statement up let me say because of this Alex McLeish was never accepted by Rangers supporters and was eventually driven out of Ibrox. Gordon Strachan has given Celtic more trophies than Martin O`Neil ever did but Celtic supporters have not accepted him and he will be driven out as well.
As far as the T V money is concerned, in your words
"The old firm have enough support and influence" in the SFA to attempt taking the majority of the cash. Are you Naive enough to think the other 10 clubs stand a chance of stopping them?.
Get real man Rangers and Celtic have more say and influence than the rest of the teams put together. Thats why they are getting away with the vile behaviour of their fans under the guise of "stamping out bigotry" Tell me of any other two teams in any league in Britain who would have such leniency shown to them.
AS for those who think it`s only a matter of time before you get into the English Premiership it`s about time you stood back and looked at the package you are offering. The Premiership do not NEED you and as long as your ar--s point downwards will never welcome you into their riches in abundance to share in their spoils

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posted Jul 29, 2008

Wattie 1,

Your comments about the futility of any attempt to put a stop to the intended measures by one of the other 10 clubs echo my point. Read it again. I was trying to discredit any suggestion that if any of the other spl clubs found themselves in the position the old firm are in now they wouldn't also play hardball. In other words, you only think the measures are 'vile' and dispicable because the other 10 clubs (one of whom you presumably support) do not stand to benefit from the proposed changes.

Where does stamping out bigotry come into this? Rangers and Celtic are attempting to generate more revenue in order to improve themselves. They are able to have such proposals taken seriously because of their place in the pecking order of Scottish football. In totally unbiased terms, resentment of the old firm and silly jibes about the premiership aside, why is that invalid? Could you honestly say you wouldn't support the scheme if your club would benefit from it?

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posted Jul 29, 2008

ps- i've misquoted you when i said you thought the measures were 'vile' etc. sorry. the point in the rest of that sentence still stands, as does the one about the irrelevance of stamping out bigotry in the discussion here

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posted Jul 29, 2008

neale89.
You`re dead right when you say any other team would try to make a case to get the lions share of any T V money and I donn`t blame Rangers one bit.
The point I made previously about stamping out bigotry was I think made in response to another poster. I have also said - and stand by it - that Rangers and Celtic do not offer an attractive enough package to be invited into the Premiership and most of that is because of the general behaviour of both sets of fans I feel that the SPL and SFA could have done more to assist both teams but chose not to do so. This may have something to do with what you say about the amount of support and influence the old firm have but i really feel there needs to be a shift in attitude before we see a great improvement.I don`t think the old firm, SPL SFA do enough to engineer that shift and the Premiership will not take either on board as long as the bigotry still exists.
I am the first to admit that both Rangers and Celtic would survive in England and would surprise a lot of people who decry the standard of our game. If you look closely at the Premiership you see that only 3 or 4 teams have a realistic chance of winning the league and the rest are fighting it out for the UEFA cup spot, much like here where it boils down to 2 teams

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posted Jul 29, 2008

I still don't think this is right and I speak as a Celtic season ticket holder. I thought the system was that home teams kept the gate but this alters that. You are talking some substantial sums of money here, the loss of which won't help the game in Scotland in any way. Is this the way to make the SPL more competitive, I don't think so.

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posted Aug 2, 2008

Another attempt by the Old Firm to extort money from the smaller clubs thus widening the financial gap and making the SPL less competitive!

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posted Aug 5, 2008

Basically they are charging clubs because they are getting greedy seeing that other clubs make money from their fans. They disregard the fact that it strengthens the league. If they come out (again) and complain that nobody is putting up a serious challenge to 'help' them against their rivals they should be told where to go. (The utter blind self-interest and cheek of them is unbelievable).

How would the old firm react if AC Milan, Barcelona or any of the clubs they play in Europe started charge them for ticket sales, or take the lions share of money, because they are the bigger club on a european scale? They'd bleat and moan at the injustice of it, like the hypocrites they are.

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