Topic: The Push Square Football (Soccer) Thread

@JohnnyShoulder It's just money, I think. More matches added to the schedule is just hectic.

@nessisonett I don't think that's down to Rodgers but more an indication of the money and status of other leagues these days. There is more competition from outside of Scotland as more clubs/leagues have more money and even in Scotland, Rangers are 'back' in the top flight.

There are more clubs now with 'money' to outbid Celtic, Rangers etc in the Transfer window. Even the EPL, it seems more 'teams' are able to buy players to try and compete in the EPL too. Those VVD, Dembele or Edouard type players are being bought by the likes of Brighton, Brentford etc and these teams probably get more 'money' coming in for TV rights etc than the Scottish league teams as the League maybe doesn't have the same Global TV audience as the English, French, German, Spanish, Italian etc leagues.

Things can ebb and flow of course, but it seems that since Rangers were kicked out of the Top flight, Scottish football has 'declined' - some may attribute that to the league being 'boring' with only 1 team clearly above the rest and expected to win 'everything' and of course, Scotland as a National team too were at a low point. Players maybe want to play in more 'competitive' leagues and/or leagues that get more coverage in their country, as well as more teams able to 'compete' for their signature. MLS and Saudi Pro League too can't help as they take some of the 'older' players, so these 'big' teams will replace with 'younger' players, paying more money than Celtic can.

It can't be easy to sign those type of players when other teams are also looking for those players to 'compete' in higher profile leagues, compete in terms of transfer fees and salaries etc when more and more teams are in better financial and/or higher profile Televised leagues.

And I meant to 'mostly' youngsters and not 'mouldy' youngsters! 😂

@BAMozzy At the end of the day though, Celtic and Rangers still have the reputation. Jack Butland and Joe Hart are the keepers and they could have gone to the Turkish or the Chinese league easily. The quality’s dropped but there’s still some great players on either side.

@nessisonett I'm not disputing that, I'm just saying that 'other' leagues in general have also become stronger and/or more popular on Global TV therefore have more Competition for those players. Had a Bournemouth or Brighton come in for Hart and/or Butland, they may have moved on - Turkey and China are not exactly high profile leagues and/or may not offer the 'lifestyle' those players want, too far from home, very different culture etc. Neither are likely to be 'in high demand' by a top European side outside of Scotland either so it may suit them more to stay.

I can't see Celtic necessarily competing for a Lavia or a Mac Allister when Southampton or Brighton came knocking - the types of players Celtic/Rangers may have signed years ago but it seems that they can't 'compete' with those teams in the transfer market. At one point, it seemed that those 2 big Scottish teams were a step up from a mid-table EPL team so moving to Scotland could be step up, now it seems that these 'mid-table' sides, as well as more European leagues and their teams are competing for the players and would rather go to a Brighton, Notts Forest or a German, Spanish, French or Italian side.

Maybe its TV coverage in their country of Scottish football for example or the fact that these teams may have little/no coverage in their country. Maybe they can't afford the wages or transfer fees to compete, maybe its the weather - all I am saying is that Scottish football isn't (or at least doesn't) seem to be as strong/popular as it was 10yrs ago for example and therefore isn't attracting the same standard of Footballers. VVD for example may have seen Celtic as a Step up from Groningen and a stepping stone to a top European Club. Now it seems that a move to an EPL or German, Italian, French or Spanish league team is a bigger step up where as if they move to Scotland, those 'big' teams will always question whether they are 'good enough' or just look good due to the lack of 'competition' in that league. It was said about VVD, looked incredibly comfortable in Scotland but how would he cope with the EPL?

As I said, I would have expected Celtic to sign some of the quality players that we see the likes of Brighton, Notts Forest etc can sign but it seems that for whatever reason, the gap between Celtic and even 'average' European teams you would have expected Celtic with their Domestic dominance and history to beat, now beating Celtic. A team that's almost guaranteed Silverware every season, qualify for CL every year, yet can't sign the same quality of players that mid table, no silverware teams in other leagues will get....

@KAIRU the change in the structure will mean more meaningful games hopefully. The big issue is teams qualifying for the knockouts in 4 games and the latter games not mattering,in the new format every game will matter as you get ranked on your final position in the league table.

The reality is, it's a solution to a problem which didn't exist. Its rare teams qualify in just 4 games. The bigger issue is the lack of competition to England and Spains big clubs outside of Bayern and PSG. The solution there is more competition in local leagues and less allocated foreign players in each match day team to stop big teams hoarding the best players.

The second point as Johnny alluded to is more games = more money.

@BAMozzy We also aren’t rampantly corrupt and aren’t owned by blood money oil magnates I guess.

Jude Bellingham is a real life cheat code😂. Man is living the dream.

Union Berlin are a great side. Bonucci was bossing that backline. Only conceded after he went off. Hope Braga pull off an upset or hold Napoli- would love to see Berlin finish second.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Union Berlin, another team we sold one of our best players to 😂

@Fight_Teza_Fight

@themcnoisy I think it's a similar format to that supposed Super League too. It practically seems like the same thing.

@JohnnyShoulder Cheers mate! Funnily enough I thought we were due a game a couple of days ago.
@nessisonett Juranovic?
Some interesting connections in that Union Berlin team. Rani Khedira is the younger brother of Sami Khedira & of course he’s injured.
Felix Kroos is the older brother of Toni Kroos who played for UB. Their podcast drop next week should be fun.

EDIT: Somewhat related. FM24 comes as part of a Netflix subscription. Day & Date.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/football-manager-2024-mobile-ex...

Apparently it won’t be compatible via PS4/5 Netflix’s app. So it looks like it’ll just be the mobile version. Never tried the mobile version, but I’m not expecting much.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Yeah, Juranovic was bloody brilliant for us and he’s part of a genuinely impressive defence now at Union Berlin. It’s nice to see how well they’ve been playing, the Bundesliga’s so dominated by Bayern.

I was this close to picking Brentford for my Last Man Standing thing that I'm in. So glad I opted to pick Man City instead.

I have the pre-NLD jitters. Don’t think we’ll win because our record there is awful but I have a bit of hope. COYS!

Oh no, Liverpool have scored first! I'm not sure what to make of this...

I’d have taken a draw at Arsenal before the game and there were times during the game I thought we could go on and win, but bringing off Son and Maddison completely nullified our attacking threat.

Hopefully Maddison and Johnson aren’t injured. Bring on the Scousers.

Arsenal v Spurs was great. Maddison PL signing of the year.
Poch getting sacked in the morning? Probably won’t, but he’ll be gone by early-mid November. They should get points against Fulham & Burnley, but after that they’ve got a really though run of games till Everton in December.

Sheffield United are Heckingbottom of the table with this result.

Coming from a Spurs fan, I thought that red card was a bit harsh.