clydebank celt
06-05-2008, 12:42:00 PM
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</td> </tr> <tr> <!-- storyText has no width attribute --> <td class="storyText" valign="top"> <!-- START IMAGE TABLE --><!-- END IMAGE TABLE --> by Derek Johnstone
<!-- STORY TEXT HERE --> <!-- article_text --> THE footballing world must be looking in at the SPL and shaking its head in utter disbelief at what's going on in the lead-up to Scotland's Shame' participation in the Uefa Cup Final.
I heard a discussion on an English radio station about the schedule Walter Smith's side have before Manchester and the pundits said that the governing body should hang their heads in shame - and that is absolutely correct.
Zenit St Petersburg have had three games wiped out by the Russian FA in a bid to help their cause in Manchester next week.
Even looking at the ChampionsLeague Final, both Manchester United and Chelsea have 10 days free before they face-off in Moscow.
Scotland's Shame? As it stands, they have to play Motherwell tomorrow night then take on Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday before travelling down for the final - so they have four days to prepare. Nice one, SPL!
And let's not forget the three SPL games in six days they have to play AFTER the Uefa Cup Final if the league season finishes as scheduled at Pittodrie on Thursday, May 22.
And then there is the showcase of the season - the Scottish Cup Final - due the following day after getting home from Aberdeen at 2am.
It's no wonder Walter Smith has had another pop at officialdom and you have to say the SPL have been spineless - they didn't really make a decision, did they?
This one, though, is not a local issue. And there won't be a nation in Europe not wondering why they haven't yet helped Scotland's Shame out.
As Smith has pointed out, bar giving Scotland's Shame a game on the Monday night before the Uefa Cup Final, there was no way they physically could have squeezed in all the games to finish on May 18 as scheduled.
They HAD to extend it by four days - but it was not done as any favour for Scotland's Shame. The only way it would have been a favour would have been extending the league AFTER the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday, May 24.
Scotland's Shame won't expect one bit of sympathy from any club. The bottom line is that teams in the SPL all look out for themselves, and I have no problem with that.
Gers are trying to do the best for their interests, Celtic are doing the same. The more games in a short space of time for Scotland's Shame the better for the Parkhead side in terms of the title.
When clubs in this league are free of relegation fears, and out of the race for European spots, they just want to get the season over as quickly as possible and head away on holiday.
I understand all the logistical problems, and the fact that most players book holidays as soon as they know they are not in the cup final and their clubs give them a definite winding-up date.
I also concede that Scotland's Shame had a game wiped out against Gretna before they played Lyon. But they have played that re-arranged match - the St Mirren game is outstanding because of the Scotland v Italy postponements, and the Motherwell game is backlogged because of the Phil O'Donnell tragedy.
Are people saying those games going off were actually Scotland's Shame' fault?
But surely the SPL could have had some kind of contingency plans in place? They have known for the past two months that Scotland's Shame have had the chance of going all the way to the Uefa Cup Final.
What chance have you got, however, with a discredited league that will see Aberdeen play 20 home games and 18 away this season, in contrast to the rest of the other teams chasing a Uefa Cup spot?
Or a league that threatens to expel teams that don't have undersoil heating, yet lets in a team that doesn't have a stadium deemed fit for top flight games?
They are a joke from top to bottom, yet the SPL brass will no doubt preen themselves at the City of Manchester Stadium next week even in the knowledge they've done nothing yet but hamper one of their own clubs which is trying to put Scotland on the map.
http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)
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</td> </tr> <tr> <!-- storyText has no width attribute --> <td class="storyText" valign="top"> <!-- START IMAGE TABLE --><!-- END IMAGE TABLE --> by Derek Johnstone
<!-- STORY TEXT HERE --> <!-- article_text --> THE footballing world must be looking in at the SPL and shaking its head in utter disbelief at what's going on in the lead-up to Scotland's Shame' participation in the Uefa Cup Final.
I heard a discussion on an English radio station about the schedule Walter Smith's side have before Manchester and the pundits said that the governing body should hang their heads in shame - and that is absolutely correct.
Zenit St Petersburg have had three games wiped out by the Russian FA in a bid to help their cause in Manchester next week.
Even looking at the ChampionsLeague Final, both Manchester United and Chelsea have 10 days free before they face-off in Moscow.
Scotland's Shame? As it stands, they have to play Motherwell tomorrow night then take on Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday before travelling down for the final - so they have four days to prepare. Nice one, SPL!
And let's not forget the three SPL games in six days they have to play AFTER the Uefa Cup Final if the league season finishes as scheduled at Pittodrie on Thursday, May 22.
And then there is the showcase of the season - the Scottish Cup Final - due the following day after getting home from Aberdeen at 2am.
It's no wonder Walter Smith has had another pop at officialdom and you have to say the SPL have been spineless - they didn't really make a decision, did they?
This one, though, is not a local issue. And there won't be a nation in Europe not wondering why they haven't yet helped Scotland's Shame out.
As Smith has pointed out, bar giving Scotland's Shame a game on the Monday night before the Uefa Cup Final, there was no way they physically could have squeezed in all the games to finish on May 18 as scheduled.
They HAD to extend it by four days - but it was not done as any favour for Scotland's Shame. The only way it would have been a favour would have been extending the league AFTER the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday, May 24.
Scotland's Shame won't expect one bit of sympathy from any club. The bottom line is that teams in the SPL all look out for themselves, and I have no problem with that.
Gers are trying to do the best for their interests, Celtic are doing the same. The more games in a short space of time for Scotland's Shame the better for the Parkhead side in terms of the title.
When clubs in this league are free of relegation fears, and out of the race for European spots, they just want to get the season over as quickly as possible and head away on holiday.
I understand all the logistical problems, and the fact that most players book holidays as soon as they know they are not in the cup final and their clubs give them a definite winding-up date.
I also concede that Scotland's Shame had a game wiped out against Gretna before they played Lyon. But they have played that re-arranged match - the St Mirren game is outstanding because of the Scotland v Italy postponements, and the Motherwell game is backlogged because of the Phil O'Donnell tragedy.
Are people saying those games going off were actually Scotland's Shame' fault?
But surely the SPL could have had some kind of contingency plans in place? They have known for the past two months that Scotland's Shame have had the chance of going all the way to the Uefa Cup Final.
What chance have you got, however, with a discredited league that will see Aberdeen play 20 home games and 18 away this season, in contrast to the rest of the other teams chasing a Uefa Cup spot?
Or a league that threatens to expel teams that don't have undersoil heating, yet lets in a team that doesn't have a stadium deemed fit for top flight games?
They are a joke from top to bottom, yet the SPL brass will no doubt preen themselves at the City of Manchester Stadium next week even in the knowledge they've done nothing yet but hamper one of their own clubs which is trying to put Scotland on the map.
http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif (http://i27.tinypic.com/105tv81.gif)
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