25 Aug 2026 23:48:31
Worryingly, now that all European leagues are now up & running..doesn't our Scottish game look so slow and outdated!??
Every league seems to be played at high pace, power & quick turn around between defence & attack!
We still need 12 passes just to move 20 yards & then go backwards!!
Is it just me???
Maybe we need European computers to tell us what to do..
26 Aug 2026 06:57:49
I know exactly what you're meaning, Bar72. 🤔
I thought that Chelsea and Fulham game on Monday was a terrific watch of very good attacking football. 👌 That Chelsea front 3 will take some stopping. 😲
26 Aug 2026 07:49:38
Bar72, I agree and I'd say there were 3 reasons for this.
Commercial & Financial Stagnation: Historically low media rights deals managed by the SFA/SPFL create a massive wealth gap, forcing clubs outside the Old Firm to operate on microscopic budgets, leading to an immediate talent drain of the league's most explosive athletes.
The Tyranny of the 12-Team Structure: The narrow structure of the Scottish Premiership and the looming terror of relegation force managers into risk-averse, low-block tactics that naturally decelerate the game.
The Engineering of Athletics: The lack of league-wide investment in advanced sports science and modern transition-based coaching, leaves players less conditioned for high-intensity, 90-minute pressing compared to their European peers.
26 Aug 2026 07:49:47
Hopefully, the days of this slow sideways and backwards rubbish is coming to an end. Unfortunately, we tend to be last to catch up on ideas.
26 Aug 2026 09:08:18
One of the other problems is folk see one successful style like Guardiola and try and copy it regardless if they have the elite players needed to make it work. Lower league players and kids are being coached to do that, and now, as they are looking to break through, football is moving on again.
Even Pep was starting to adapt. Instead of following after the latest fashionable tactic, we should be working on building and working on things we're actually good at.
26 Aug 2026 09:11:35
It is a sad reflection on our football that the 'current' strongest team got embarrassed this week (what does that say for the rest of our teams!). Agree the 12 team league also stifles, but with TV money (paltry as it is), dictates that the Old Firm x 4 per season is so pivotal, and reflects interest in the rest of the teams from a media perspective.
Motherwell have at least shown what can be done on a limited budget, but clearly this seems like an exception.
So for me, I really hope All teams get through this week, as we need the profile and money for the league if we are ever to progress.
26 Aug 2026 09:20:50
Chelsea / Fulham game was a great game to watch, maybe the derby made it flow quicker, and an early goal helped big time. Not all games like that in the EPL, and actually can fw the so called big team that are terrible to watch with their slow possession football.
26 Aug 2026 09:45:05
You get good attacking football; well, at least attacking football; when both teams want to play. The opposition tend not to want to play in. SPL, as they are more worried about getting beaten than winning.
If you get an average point per game, you won't get relegated, so getting a draw is a good result in most games for teams. Until we change that mentality, nothing else will change.
26 Aug 2026 09:53:27
Angus, to promote more attacking football, you're spot on mate, something has to change. 🤔 Maybe look at the points system for instance. 🤔 But we've got non football backwater guys running our game in Scotland. 👎
26 Aug 2026 10:14:29
We need to hire someone like Guardiola to come in, structure our football, and the leagues get rid of the money grabbing dinosaurs.
26 Aug 2026 10:42:11
If you consider what Strum did to Hearts, the Celtic result did not come as a shock, but I, for one, did not see them going out with a 3 goal lead from the first leg. Should the unthinkable happen and we go out the Conference League,
Where do we go from here?
26 Aug 2026 10:43:22
Zero points for anything apart from a win, 2 teams automatically relegated. Then you will see them trying.
26 Aug 2026 10:52:22
Sounds very much like Arne Slots' complaints about teams not playing against him the way he wanted them to. Same kind of things can be said in most leagues that clubs are trying to avoid losing or relegation. And it's been a long time since teams were scared of coming at us.
U need to come up with solutions to overcome it rather than just imitate formations of elite level clubs. Or, saying plan B is plan A better regardless of how teams play against us.
26 Aug 2026 11:23:20
For as much as I hate to admit it, maybe Roger Mitchell (I think that was the name, Celtic-supporting CEO of the SPL way back) had the right idea. SPFL TV might have been the way forward, keeping everything in-house and selling the rights for the bigger games.
I can't remember exactly what the proposal was, probably based on a stay-at-home season ticket to get access to all games.
26 Aug 2026 13:34:15
That was obvious at the World Cup too, the way the emerging nations played and used the ball highlighted how bad the slow, pedantic Scotland team was.