Rivaldo drops huge Celtic hint

[Lady Whistledown]

Rivaldo is way past his best.

But I bet the Celtic fans are already creaming themselves about the prospect, thinking they're getting a "world class" player.

 

[Simster]

Rivaldo is way past his best.

But I bet the Celtic fans are already creaming themselves about the prospect, thinking they're getting a "world class" player.

I see your one ancient Rivaldo and raise you TWO de Boers.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Rivaldo is way past his best.

But I bet the Celtic fans are already creaming themselves about the prospect, thinking they're getting a "world class" player.

When you're playing teams with guys who had to get up at 4am to do milk deliveries, Ade Akinbiyi would be considered 'World Class' in that context.

 

[Mick Beard BHA]

I see that Celtic have won 39 league titles and Rangers have won 50 since 1890.

So assuming 7 seasons were lost due to the war, that means 89 titles out of 107 have been won by two clubs. And you're honestly comparing that to the English set up?

Ah, my 100th post. I always knew it'd arrive whilst arguing with you about Scottish football, Sim

No, you are correct, over the years English football had a generally very good mix of teams that were capable of, and in fact DID, win the title. Not the case any more though, which is my point.

And many of the leagues throughout Europe, or the World, have long histories of being dominated by only a handful, or a couple, of teams.

I'm not saying the Scottish league is perfect; we all know its far from it. I just think its fairly hypocritical of English Football fans to go slagging other leagues (specifically, their top-flights) when right now i get more worked up watching paint dry than trying to guess who's gonna win the Premiership next season.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

to be fair he was a possible 20 millions move a few year back. he surely must still be a quality player, probably slightly unfit but i think he would be fantastic for whoever he goes to.

examples. shearer still produces the best
bergkamp. may have lost pace but technically the best
roy keane.....oh sorry, hes crap

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I see your one ancient Rivaldo and raise you TWO de Boers.

And I'll see your De Boers and raise you one Claudio Caniggia, one Brian Laudrup and a Paul Gascoigne.

 

[Simster]

It's not hypocritical. We all know that it's boring seeing Arsenal, Man Utd and possible Chelsea fighting for the title.

But in the '70s it was Liverpool up against Forest, etc
In the '80s it was Liverpool up against Ipswich, Villa, Everton, - and Arsenal only at the end of the decade.
In the '90s, Man Yoo took over, but Leeds, Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle have all at least challenged them.

Where's the interest in Scotland then? Apart from the fact that you don't see any scottish flags in the crowd at an old firm match.

 

[Jambo Seagull]

Sim, we've had this discussion before. The total dominance of the Old Firm is quite a recent thing. The standard of football up here isn't that good, granted, but it certainly isn't as bad as some of the more disparaging comments made on this board about it. It is mostly on a par with the English first division. The only trouble is that you have two teams with the fan base and financial clout of teams from the top 6 of the Premiership. It's like having a league with Liverpool, Newcastle, West Brom, Ipswich, Cardiff, Rotherham and Gillingham all in it. You would expect Liverpool to beat Gillingham comfortably 19 times out of 20. That doesn't mean that Gillingham are a pub team. It just means the league is completely f***ed up.

 

[Lammy]

Sim, we've had this discussion before. The total dominance of the Old Firm is quite a recent thing. The standard of football up here isn't that good, granted, but it certainly isn't as bad as some of the more disparaging comments made on this board about it. It is mostly on a par with the English first division. The only trouble is that you have two teams with the fan base and financial clout of teams from the top 6 of the Premiership. It's like having a league with Liverpool, Newcastle, West Brom, Ipswich, Cardiff, Rotherham and Gillingham all in it. You would expect Liverpool to beat Gillingham comfortably 19 times out of 20. That doesn't mean that Gillingham are a pub team. It just means the league is completely f***ed up.

I wouldn't compare the rest of the scottish prem with Div 1!! I reckon only Hearts and maybe Aberdeen would cut it in the 1st Div here. The rest are at best Div 2 fodder. St Johnston have been in the Scottish Prem frequently and their grown has a capacity of 10,000. This is a purposed built ground only a few years old. They also never fill it! Not really div 1 standard.

 

[Mick Beard BHA]

It's not hypocritical. We all know that it's boring seeing Arsenal, Man Utd and possible Chelsea fighting for the title.

But in the '70s it was Liverpool up against Forest, etc
In the '80s it was Liverpool up against Ipswich, Villa, Everton, - and Arsenal only at the end of the decade.
In the '90s, Man Yoo took over, but Leeds, Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle have all at least challenged them.

Where's the interest in Scotland then? Apart from the fact that you don't see any scottish flags in the crowd at an old firm match.

Well i cant speak for Rangers fans, but i'd say the low-ish number of Scottish flags in the Celtic end at matches (and i say "low-ish number" coz there are indeed some flags) is due to the fact that many Celtic fans are Irish.

Its pretty strightforward really. Similarly, i'm not english, but i do support Brighton & Hove Albion. Hence, i do not take an english flag to our matches.

As for your other points about the differing title hopefulls in the 70's and 80's, well i've already agreed with you about that. But the simple truth is that since the Premiership started, only Blackburn have (briefly) broken the Arse/Manure monotony.

And the FA Cup isnt THAT much better. When was the last time someone a bit different won it?

 

[Jambo Seagull]

I wouldn't compare the rest of the scottish prem with Div 1!! I reckon only Hearts and maybe Aberdeen would cut it in the 1st Div here. The rest are at best Div 2 fodder. St Johnston have been in the Scottish Prem frequently and their grown has a capacity of 10,000. This is a purposed built ground only a few years old. They also never fill it! Not really div 1 standard.

That shows how much you know about Scottish football. Aberdeen have been woeful this year. I wasn't talking about the size of the club per se I was talking more about the standard of football. If you're talking about size of club you'd be right in comparing Livingston, Thistle, Killie, Motherwell and the Dundee clubs to 2nd division clubs.

 

[scotjem]

It's not hypocritical. We all know that it's boring seeing Arsenal, Man Utd and possible Chelsea fighting for the title.

But in the '70s it was Liverpool up against Forest, etc
In the '80s it was Liverpool up against Ipswich, Villa, Everton, - and Arsenal only at the end of the decade.
In the '90s, Man Yoo took over, but Leeds, Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle have all at least challenged them.

But if you look at the long-term trends over that period, there is no doubt that it is moving towards an Old Firm type domination. - a few clubs pulling away from all the rest. In the 50's the English champions were losing on average 9 games per season. In the 70's, that was down to about 7. In the Premiership, that has come down to 4.5 (not just down to playing less games.) Basically, the top is getting more and more predictable.
There is a good article on todays BBC site about it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3721055.stm

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I'm sure you've all related it many times before, but how did the Scottish Albion fans (as opposed to English Albion fans living in Scotland) on here end up getting lumbered with supporting the mighty BHA?

 

[Jambo Seagull]

I lived in Brighton from the age of 7 to 19 (1973-1985). Was lucky enough to be a season ticket holder during the glory years. Still love the place and the team. Most of the guys I've met through BHAlba are exiled Brightonians or Sussex people. Scotjem is from Horsham I think.

P.S. Are you Scottish yourself? I like the signature.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Only by Grandparentage Jambo - Aberdeenshire stock.

The quote's from 'Trainspotting'

 

[Jambo Seagull]

Only by Grandparentage Jambo - Aberdeenshire stock.

The quote's from 'Trainspotting'

I thought so.

 

[REDLAND]

Only by Grandparentage Jambo - Aberdeenshire stock.

The quote's from 'Trainspotting'

My mothers dad, was from Inverness, he loved Celtic though, bless him !!!