Considering the size of our country and our current status in world football, both at club level and at international level, I think the forum is doing ok. I'd like to see a bit more traffic on it but it is American based so again, it's understandable. There seem to be a fair few people who have Scottish teams on their favourites, and not just Celtic and Rangers, who never show up on here. A bit more chat about the SPL in general would be welcome but it never seems to take off. Still, I enjoy this site as a whole because it has more to offer than just football and I enjoy the Scottish forum as there is no hassle between Celtic and Rangers supporters. Which is a blessed relief as it's almost impossible to escape on any other forum or blog pertaining to Scottish football. I hope we can continue to keep our own forum and not get dragged back into the other European countries one. Which is why I'd like to see a little more traffic come through the place.
I used to comment quite a lot on the Livi games but a combination of university and then work has severely limited the number of games I have managed to make. As we are now ridiculously dumped in the Third Division I do not follow what goes on in the other leagues as much as I normally would which, again, limits my contribution here to the odd match or internationals. I agree with frasermc that increased traffic would be great and something we should be aiming for but that has always been the case here. I tried to change things about when I was moderator here but with little success so unless Gordon EF has any groundbreaking plans we are going to need to stick with what we have.
that's because not many people come on here. more people would surely increase the chances of hassle.
Probably. But it still wouldn't come close to any Scottish forums/blogs. And I'd still like the chance to find out.
Maybe a few more new faces would be good, I know I haven't been active lately but I still keep up and Fraser usually gives good analysis and links for break down. (long may it continue) Few more people would be good, but again I understand it's US. Maybe a bit of advertising wouldn't go amiss. The forum it's self could do with a bit of organising and shuffling of the topics at hand, perhaps taking all (members) official team threads and making them announcements so they appear at the top, sticky the match info threads so they appear under it and the other random topics below that. About the only thing I'd suggest for navigation, everything else is fine!
It's very quiet, but it's a predominantly American forum so I can understand that. Most posters' first inclination will be to go on the Premiership/MLS/UEFA forums, that's why the smaller nations like us get such limited traffic.
I have a feeling that if SPL got any airtime in the States, traffic would go up quite a bit. That said, I'd rather talk to you assholes about soccer than almost anyone else, so something is going right.
I agree. But the SPL just doesn't have the glitz and glamour that the Premiership/Bundesliga/La Liga do. And that's why it doesn't get significant airtime in the states, or anywhere else really. It's not just the rancid football on show, it's the advertising and lack of money. Which both, incidentally, contribute to the poor quality of football.
The quality isn't that bad...are there many countries of similar size that have stronger leagues? To some extent I'm happy to put up with some of the quality issues and lack some of the commercialism. If anything, it is Scotland's proximity to England that makes it seem bad.
And most folk in Scotland's insatiable desire to put the country down at all times, especially to do with football. Take a country like Sweden, almost double our population and a league of much lower standard and has been for a long time. Some folk need to get a grip.
So, would it be fair to say you don't believe there has been a deterioration in Scottish football? Especially in its top league?
Deterioration from when? Surely there have been better days, but I think some of that can be attributed to changing times and exposure of players from around the world.
From a personal point of view, I can remember paying something close to my current season ticket price about 6-7yrs ago and at that time I was watching a Celtic team that had the likes of Larsson, Moravcik, Sutton and Hartson playing. The Setanta TV deal collapse was just another kick in the stones, although it could be argued it was a self inflicted one. We're on the downward slope of the roller coaster at the minute. I'm sure we'll start climbing again eventually but we're definitely on a downslide at the minute. It was only a couple of seasons ago that Celtic and Rangers were both in the CL groups and Aberdeen were sticking 5 past FC Copenhagen while sauntering through their UEFA Cup group.
I'd wager fans of many leagues around the world feel similarly, and Celtic definitely don't have the team they did then. I think Celtic having a team like that is as much of an outlier as the current situation though.
There seems to be a long-standing myth that both Rangers and Celtic had teams full of world beaters in the late 90s/early 00s. Sure, Gattuso, Van Bronckhorst, Petrov, Larsson, Hartson, Albertz, Numan etc etc were good, and the two clubs finished 1st and 2nd by a far clearer margin ahead of the other clubs than they do these days, but they were hardly Barca or Man Utd. I remember the supposedly great Rangers side of the nineties being humped by Juventus, and losing to giants such as Viktoria Zizkov, Grasshopper Zurich, IFK Gothenburg, RC Strasbourg. We had good teams once upon a time, but I think that they're made out to be a lot better than they were, possibly due to the current state of the game.
Like YankHibee says, it totally depends when you are looking at it from. As far as the OF go, they're probably better right now than when I started watching football in the early 90s. they were regularly humbled by just about every team they played in Europe throughout the 90s (92/93 for Rangers, excepted). They probably hit a high point in the early/mid 00s. As for the rest, it's a bit harder to say. I's say the chasing pack are certainly no worse than they were during the 90s. Some fairly uninspiring sides have finished 3rd/4th throughout the last 15 years. The current Hibs or Dundee Utd sides aren't really worse than a lot that have gone before IMO. Apart from Hearts when they spent big, and Hibs (and Motherwell) under McLeish, the level hasn't been much higher than it is right now. If you listen to some people, the Scottish game is dying or already dead. There are some ridiculous over-reactions going on.
I started watching soccer 3 years ago when I randomly stumbled upon an MLS game (Colorado Rapids vs. Chivas USA). I was hooked from that moment forward. My family (crazy Nebraska college football fans, a blood-loyal and passionate fanbase a league all its own, which I am also proud to be a part of) are constantly attempting to figure out why the hell I love this game so much as I am an unlikely soccer fan in a country of football maniacs. I can't describe it to them. A life-long football fan, I found myself experiencing a more passionate connection and enthusiasm for the game of soccer. I got into the Scottish Premiere League a bit after I began to closely follow the MLS. I wanted to follow a European team, but didn't want to just join up with the ranks of Manchester United fans as so many do over here in the States. For that matter, I also wanted to steer away from the English Premiere League. While reading a book I got from the library on soccer, the author mentioned a team I had never heard of, Dundee United. I did a lot of research and decided this was the team I had been holding out for. I want to point out that what YankHibee said is exactly what drew me to the Scottish Premiere League in the first place: the lack of commercialism. Being a fan of a team in the MLS, trust me, I know all about the effects a lack of money has on the quality of a league, but I also know the loyalty it takes to be a fan during the rough patches. More importantly though, I like the fact that for the life of me I can't get a Dundee United jersey here in the states (I once came very close to getting a 2006-2007 away jersey that was two sizes too big for me, on Ebay, and was almost reduced to tears when at the last second some guy outbid me). Not so with English Premiere League gear: it's vogue to be a fan in those ranks. I'm drawn to the Scottish League because it is unique, and I have had to dig to find information and keep track of my team, but all through this I have managed to construct a unique niche from which to follow a game I love and now a team I feel passionately about (no matter how much crap I get from my few EPL soccer buddies, "You could pick any team to follow and you chose who??"). Anyway, forgive me for making this so drawn out. I just wanted to say that though I have been reading from this forum for a couple years and have gathered what knowledge I can about a sport I have so much to learn, I just recently decided to start an account and partake in discussion. It is nice to have a forum devoted to the Scottish Premiere League, and though it doesn't get much traffic, I still get a lot from reading the posts that are on here. After all, these are the only other Scottish Premiere League fans I know other than myself, and that makes my being a soccer fan in the U.S. that much less lonely. : )
As someone who loves football and only been a fan for nearly 7 years, this is a forum full of smart and fun people. I have really enjoyed learning more about SCO and the SPL.