Well done Celtic

[TestMangler]

Actually, the start of the slow descent of Scottish football to where it is now can be traced back to the introduction of the ten team league in Scotland (1975). This was put there using the excuse that it would make the league more competitive and would improve the national squad.

And before 'experts' like Doohg decide to have another pop at Scottish football, bear in mind that around that time (early seventies to early eighties), all the top English teams had several Scottish players on their books.

The strange thing about the really successful Scottish players in England during that era is that with only a few exceptions like Dalglish, Hansen etc, most never actually played professionally in Scotland (think Bremner, Lorimer, Morgan, Harvey, Holton, Law, Hutchison, The Gray Bros, McQueen, Burns, Robertson, Gemmell, etc etc etc).

I fully believe that English football is on the same slippery slope and has been for a good eight years now. Too many imported players in a league dominated by TV. In ten-fifteen years time, you'll all be watching Spanish or Italian footy on Sky and bemoaning the loss of your national league and team to the doldrums of world football, just like Scotland have.

[Doggy Styles]

I blame the decline of kickabout football since the sixties/seventies, where most of the British greats learned their basic skills when very young. It's difficult for us to manufacture those skills at schools or academies.

I suppose that's due to disappearing open spaces (as ministrone says), too many cars on streets, and in the last couple of decades too many other things for kids to do.

It's true of England as well, and when the Welsh start using cars and get the internet, it will be true there too.

[d000hg]

I blame the decline of kickabout football since the sixties/seventies,

There's always kids playing football at school and out and about. It's only the soft middle classes who are too scared to send their kids outside in case the pedos are waiting.

Probably why footballers are mostly chavs, they come from deprived areas where kids still play outside. Wow, that could be a genuine research topic for someone