Every year at the start of August football fans gear up for the start of a new football season. In the first few weeks it's not unusual to for them to find their team in the top two or three positions before they ultimately slip away and let the Old Firm continue their dominance just like in previous years. If you are anything like me then there is nothing you hate more than games like those the ‘Well have played in the closing months of the season. For the past few years those games have had no meaning and that offers very little in the way of entertainment. Now imagine life without these sorts of games, imagine life without the Old Firm.
There are many arguments about life without the Old Firm. In the
Scottish game many disagree that the game would be able to survive but I am of the opinion that the Scottish game could improve drastically without the Old Firm.
Like most football fans in the country I took in the Scotland versus The Faroe Islands game on Saturday. I watched in disgust as eleven men made up of teachers and builders held eleven professionals to a 2-2 draw. Was I the only one who felt there was a severe lack of talent on show in the Scots side? There is a vast amount of talent available to Berti Vogts in players such as Kenneth
McNaughton, Shaun Maloney, James McFadden and Maurice Ross. Surely these players would have done a much better a job than the players who featured on
Saturday. The only way these players may ever get the chance to shine or to be picked in the starting eleven in Berti's squad is in games against the Old
Firm or to be given the chance by Martin O'Neil and Ginger McLeish. This is extremely unfair and these players would benefit from competitive games every week. Saturday's team was made up of ageing Scots and over-rated English players who would never have been good enough to play for England. I sat and could not help but think the addition of the youngsters mentioned (and many others) would have benefited the team so much.
Financially I do not see why the game would be in a worse condition than it finds itself in at the moment. Crowds would rise - you only have to look to your place of work or school to see that the majority of your work mates like to follow a winning team (the Old Firm) - who would they turn to when every team has a chance of winning the title? If you're looking for an example of this then look at Hibs when they were in the First Division and winning every week. The crowds flocked to Easter Road. Television money is poor at the moment so I don't see why this would affect the game and feel it would actually bring more people to the games.
The standard of football would be much higher as every game would mean so much to the teams taking part. The possibilities are endless all we need is the chance for our game to blossom. I don't think it can with the Old Firm in the league.
Up The Well
Andy