Discussion about this post

User's avatar
The Celtic Underground's avatar

The issue may not be just about Celtic. If we want Scottish football to improve, not only should our second place team compete in the Europa League but the lesser teams need to compete in the Conference League. They too will struggle (and do struggle, look at Killie this term) with the extra games.

There is then the issue (as set out) about us getting beaten more if we plays kids in the League Cup. Our fans don't take losses well.

Expand full comment
Paul G's avatar

I'm of the school of thought that more fixtures brings opportunities for Celtic in the grand scheme. There are few leagues in Europe where the is the disparity between us (and to a lesser extent Rangers) and the rest is as large. That means we should be able to rotate heavily for Ross County and St Johnstone etc at home. The big leagues have more depth of competition so there is less opportunity for them to do so. I also subscribe to the Huddle Breakdown and Alan spoke about how Bayern's pressing stats were way down against us. That's because they had a tough game against Bayern Leverkusen in between our games but they'd been playing 2 games a week for months as well. That's a big equaliser for us in the tie. As all the big clubs are asked to play more games then we are going to see weaker versions of them because they'll be playing more 'harder' games regularly. We need to make sure that they are playing the best version of Celtic.

That would mean the club would have to commit to the top players playing no more than 35-40 games a season from the start and ensuring your 'second string'players are filling the gaps for those other 20-30 games a season. But that should mean more opportunities for academy players. One season in the B team, one out on loan and if you are doing well then your in the first team next season. I'd also hazard a guess that we'd look a more attractive proposition to high quality young players, knowing that we will afford them that time.

As the article says, all of that will requires the club to modernise and be progressive, two things the board struggles with. This probably sounds a bit Championship Manager-ish but i think increasing the amount of games favours the big clubs in less competitive leagues more.

With regards the fans, you are correct in everything you say but again, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I'm a season ticket holder living in the midlands with two kids 4 and under. I have to pick and choose the games I go to but that gives others opportunities to attend games by using my seat. Away tickets, both domestically and in Europe, are really difficult to get so having more games would be mean that there's more opportunity for others. I appreciate that not everyone thinks this way but demand is at a record high, increasing the amount of games should satisfy that to a certain extent.

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts