Tottenham draw Hearts in Europa
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I matched up the two teams and Rodallega/Di Santo would walk into any SPL team.
Mcarthy/Diame are top midfielders that again...Would walk into any SPL team.
Al Habsi>Newcastle's reserve GK?
Defence wise it would be pretty even but Alcaraz has played at the WC and captained Paraguay so he's hardly a slouch...
Extreme comparison but the SPL quality is not what it once was, there's no Van Bronckhurst's/Gattuso's/Larsson's jumping out at me...Maybe Jelavic/Ki but they are probably the two biggest talents in the league.
And I really am a lover of Celtic, I think the football they play is superb compared to Rangers but I have to be brutally honest and say they are about par with Wigan for quality.
Euro co efficient for Scotland so far in 2011: 19.141
The Cyprus league is maybe 0.3 behind them...When the SPL gets overtaken by the Cypriots then we all need to a) Question the SPL quality or b) Start watching the Cypriot league.
Mcarthy/Diame are top midfielders that again...Would walk into any SPL team.
Al Habsi>Newcastle's reserve GK?
Defence wise it would be pretty even but Alcaraz has played at the WC and captained Paraguay so he's hardly a slouch...
Extreme comparison but the SPL quality is not what it once was, there's no Van Bronckhurst's/Gattuso's/Larsson's jumping out at me...Maybe Jelavic/Ki but they are probably the two biggest talents in the league.
And I really am a lover of Celtic, I think the football they play is superb compared to Rangers but I have to be brutally honest and say they are about par with Wigan for quality.
Euro co efficient for Scotland so far in 2011: 19.141
The Cyprus league is maybe 0.3 behind them...When the SPL gets overtaken by the Cypriots then we all need to a) Question the SPL quality or b) Start watching the Cypriot league.
Tells you a lot when one of the most lethal strikers in SPL history, Kris Boyd, goes to Middlebrough and fails to make the grade in the Championship.
You know where I'm coming from.
As a MFC fan I know all to well the quality of the SPL, Thomson/Robson are good...McDonald took a while but is starting to show up, Flood was useless and as for Boyd...He took his wages home, bought out a McDonalds then turned up Sunday looking like he'd gone ten rounds with Tyson then ate 20 happy meals before the match.
And I should say what I'm saying is with all due respect to SPL fans but being brutally honest the days of Larsson/Gattuso are seemingly behind us and it's been stagnating for a few years getting worse by the year.
Like I said before there is pockets of quality in the league like Driver/Sutton but nothing substantial or consistent enough to warrant any sort of challenge to the top 2 chasm. On the flip side you could argue how well Kenny Miller has done in England in opposed to Boyd...
Plenty of examples of young players coming down and doing well, Wilson at LFC and Mcarthy at Wigan.
When the Cypriot's overtake Scotland in the co efficient's I should imagine questions will need to be asked about how the SPL is ran.
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I would take Ki if I was Wigan manager, Izaguirre as well and possibly Kayal but I would not take Hooper and probably not Brown because I have Mcarthy. Ledley has...Stagnated alot in the past 2 years.
Tbh that team also got beat of Unirea Urziceni rangers dont have the squad to win european games imo
Gulf in class really showed tonight, it was a disgusting first half display. Tottenham played some great football and we just stood back and let them, you can't do that against a team like Tottenham. Rangers fan's had a pop and Walter Smith for being negative in Europe but this is what happens when you let teams play. If we'd got stuck in about them from the get go then I don't think it would have been as bad but we were never going to get anything from it really 
I really don't get why people bother with a lot of the comments on here, we all know Scotland is in a sad state and Robbie Savage is a complete moron too with his twitter comments. People pass judgement without knowing the situation. I've said it all before so I won't bother again.
I was just happy to see players like Bale,Lennon,VDV and Defoe at Tynecastle. It was just a pity we didn't have more fight in us.
I really don't get why people bother with a lot of the comments on here, we all know Scotland is in a sad state and Robbie Savage is a complete moron too with his twitter comments. People pass judgement without knowing the situation. I've said it all before so I won't bother again.
I was just happy to see players like Bale,Lennon,VDV and Defoe at Tynecastle. It was just a pity we didn't have more fight in us.
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Sam
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That grit and determination shown in the first 10 mins of he 2nd half was more like it really, Spurs were a different class today, really has restored my hopes of Champions League football seeing a performance like thatGulf in class really showed tonight, it was a disgusting first half display. Tottenham played some great football and we just stood back and let them, you can't do that against a team like Tottenham. Rangers fan's had a pop and Walter Smith for being negative in Europe but this is what happens when you let teams play. If we'd got stuck in about them from the get go then I don't think it would have been as bad but we were never going to get anything from it really
Slightly selfish reason for me wanting a Spurs win I have to be honest, the reason was I think Harry will play Coulibaly in the Europa League group stages and I wanted to have a look at him playing some club games in Europe...
Still, Paulo is doing a good job so far at Hearts...I just hope Romanov doesn't sack him after, 2 games is it?
Sad thing is with that man, it really would not surprise me.
Still, Paulo is doing a good job so far at Hearts...I just hope Romanov doesn't sack him after, 2 games is it?
Sad thing is with that man, it really would not surprise me.
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Sam
Guest
Yeah all true, I didn't like that Templeton bloke btw, something about him just makes me wanna punch him :S
---------- Post added at 11:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 PM ----------
Him and Ceballos
Shay Given
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Rodallega, Yes. Di Santo no. Jelavic, Hooper, Stokes and I would even say John Sutton at Hearts are better than him.
Ki is better than McCarthey and Kayal is better than Diame imo with Joe Ledley in the mix as well id say McCathy and Diame wouldnt get games for us.
Goal keeper they **** on us but McGregor is better than Al Habsi imo.
Izzy is better than Figuroa(sp?) and Wilson is better than Stam(i think he still starts there for them?) There center backs probably edge us.
Some of that may be a bit biased but your post is also EPL biased.
Izzy has the potential to be big maybe not Van Bronckhurst big but still big. I would rate Kayal better than Gattuso but tbh I rate Kayal better than most footballers and except the fact I want have his babies may cloud my judgement. No one will come close to Larsson but Ki, Jelavic, Brown, Davis, Forrest, Ness, Hutton, Russel are just some of the players in the SPL that could or will be able to play for a top half prem team easy imo.
We could question how a average SPL player in Charlie Adam could make such an impact in the EPL.
There's always an exception to a rule, and Adam most definitely is. Besides, it's slightly different from my point. Kris Boyd is the highest goalscorer in the history of the SPL, and he failed at Boro. Charlie Adam excelled in the Premier League with a whole team built around him, and yet still wasn't the best midfielder in the league by a long shot.
AAH > McGregor. And you're underrating McCarthy, IMO.
I do think he was a bit EPL biased but thing is the SPL is very ****** up. When I was a kid I used to watch SPL matches on ESPN (Henrik Larsson!) and it was interesting to watch, but now, tbf, I'd rather watch our lower leagues
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The Rangers team Boyd played for also was almost built around him, he did no running and was only the person to put the ball in the back of the net. When he moved to England the managers asked him to do more than score goals, so he flopped.
Whilst he is the top SPL goal scorer ever I doubt many people consider him one of the top strikers to have played in the SPL.
Im not say the SPL is as good as the EPL and that our top players would be the best in Premiership as they wouldnt, im just saying the SPL is not as bad as people think despite the lack of investment. There are many players capable of playing at Englands highest level, Kris Boyd isnt one of them.
There are probably 20 players who could do a good job, thats not many
Not that it matters to this game, Spurs showed the gulf and cut them to ribbons, and still got goals despite slacking off. And thats with plenty of players missing too
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My point still stands, however. Only the very best of the Scottish leagues can even hope to compete in the Prem, and it's the exceptions to the rule like Charlie Adam who get lucky. Another example of the SPLs decline would be the person you mentioned earlier as being one of the best in the league, Steve Davis. Allowed to leave by Villa for being too frail and mentally weak, he moved to Fulham where he was anonymous for a while before moving to Scotland and suddenly became brilliant. It also says a lot that David Weir, with his sizzling pace, can hold down a starting spot in the best team in the league. Gary Caldwell's better than him, IMO.
That said, I think there are A FEW who could potentially excel (rather than just do a job, there's probably quite a few more of those) in the Prem - after all, Stan Petrov and Carlos Cuellar have hardly done badly - but they are few and far between. Ki's good, as is Brown and Ness looks like he has talent, but apart from that? Eh... take em or leave em.