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The EPL restart makes Scottish Football the laughing stock of Europe

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As football fans we all gear up for the restart of the English Premier League on Wednesday. Remarkably football in the UK is getting back underway less than 1 month after the Scottish Premier League decided the best course of action was to cancel the league!  For years Scottish football has been in the gutter. It has been dwarfed by the high wages in England. Its teams have struggled to compete on the European stage against technical opposition. There have been refereeing strikes and an abundance of teams going into administration.  The question has to be asked - why cancel the league?  The above map taken from  europeanleagues.com  shows in green countries which are going to (or already have) continue their seasons. In red are the handful of countries which decided to cancel their seasons - either null and voiding the season, or in Scotlands case awarding a team the title, and relegating a team who could still have fought their way out of relegation.  Why the haste to cancel? The deci
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January Transfer Deadline Day - A timeline of disastrous signings

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Transfer deadline day has become a big event - with many people throwing parties and creating drinking games based on which catchphrases Jim White will use. The latest Sky Sports Advert which aims to drum up excitement outlines the pitfalls associated with last minute transfers. The advert (link below) highlights key signings and the time they signed on (or slightly after) the deadline. Below I'll analyze those mentioned and workout if they have been a success or a failure: 20:34 Blind Signing for £13.8m Daley Blind has made a slow start at Manchester United. Signed as a left back he has played mostly as defensive midfielder. He has suffered a bit through injury but has made a reasonable start to his United career, but Blind has been criticized  for his constant side passing and patient play and is seen as one of the reasons United have been so slow in attack this year. Verdict: Too early to tell 20:46 Suarez Signing for Liverpool from Ajax in January 2011 Suarez had a r
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Rangers: What does the future hold?

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Glasgow Rangers, the worlds most successful club, so what are they doing now in the third division of Scottish football? The timeline for this demise starts officially on Feb 13th 2012, when the club officially went into administration. However, the road to destruction must have started far earlier, perhaps when buying Tore Andre Flo for 12million, almost double the previous Scottish transfer record. Or maybe it was buying players like Stensaas, Prodan, Maniero, Ostenstaad - all players who hardly kicked a ball for the team despite no doubt demanding a big wage from the club. Maybe it was before then, when greats like Laudrup and Gascoigne were playing in the top tier of Scottish football when they could no doubt play at a higher level. Who is to blame for the current situation? The biggest culprit surely is Sir David Murray who in an attempt to make Rangers to dominate Europe, left them with unmanageable debts before selling the club to Craig Whyte for a pound - a man who&
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Paul Scholes - Proof class is permanent

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It was unsurprising to see Manchester United struggling in the first half of the season after losing their play-maker to retirement at the end of last year. No player makes a club and United will need to replace their talisman, but as of yet they haven't and somewhat surprisingly they have gone back to Scholes to get a disappointing season (they are out of the Champions League before Christmas) back on track. A lot of fun was poked at Sir Alex Ferguson for bringing back Scholes in a shock move just before the derby match against an impressive Manchester City team; however the media should look at the scoreline to see that he was right in doing so. Although Scholes, understandably rusty gifted City a goal, he had the desired effect on the overall team which led to United winning. Another rusty performance against Bolton yesterday again seen United win the game 3 - 0, with Scholes scoring the opening goal. As he returns to full fitness, I can only see Scholes improving and im
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Footballing clichés: A quick guide

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Before I start writing posts, I thought I best introduce some of the great football clichés that I will no doubt fall into the trap of using. Here's some of my favourites: The team looks strong on paper: Has a team ever looked strong on paper? With the exception of Porto's  Hulk  I don't think I've ever seen a team or player that looks strong on paper. There are no easy games in international football: This is the excuse that you roll out if your country has only beaten San Marino 1 - 0. He's ran his socks off: Yes if this ever was the case then I'd accept it, but I have never seen it. Most players nowadays actually wear their socks in a stupid position above their knees - e.g. Thierry Henry. They are setting out their stall early on:  This basically means they have started the game, there is no other meaning. This free-kick is in Beckham's range: As talented as Beckham is, I don't need to know every time there is a free kick in the oppositi
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What to expect

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Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney....Titus Bramble - all have played the beautiful game and have made it what we all love. This blog will chronicle some of their greatest and worst moments, as well as discussing current affairs, looking back at historic moments such as Cantona's fly kick, Denmark winning the Euro's, Souness planting a flag in a centre circle and much more. There will be goals, own goals, funny moments and serious discussion - and hopefully it will all be fun!
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