Right, so pretty much everyone on the forum has been making negative comments about the SPL and the state of scottish football in general over the last few days so i would like to know what peoples real opinions are and the reasoning behind it rather than just saying crap such as "even my nan would score 400goals in the SPL" or "rangers are sh*te"

I would say the majority of forum members have never watched an SPL game in the live bar the Glasgow derby. They hear one person slating the standard of the league so they all jump on the bandwagon

I'd agree with that. And the lack of posters in this topic just goes to show how none of them actually knows enough to form a proper argument rather than just petty insults or one liners.

i think you take the banter all too seriously.

yes, the quality of football is pretty poor. other than the obvious two which of your other teams would survive in the premiership? how many of the players from the teams outside of the glasgow teams would cut it in the premiership? its minimal.

nobody really gives a sh*t about scottish football.

Crikey, and there was me thinking the Scots and Celts generally were reknowned for their sense of humour.

Obviously not.

I've watched a few live games here and there on Setanta and the like.

I took an interest in Hearts, Hibs and Falkirk because I had friends training with them over different periods. I watched a few Kilmarnock games to check out that young lad Naismith that we were interested in as well.

The quality is poor. I think it's dire and even the top two rarely give good showings. But that's in comparison to top, top level football around Europe. Celtic and Rangers have done well in European competitions in the modern game so there's no denying that there are strengths & qualities up there.

However, overall, the League is poor. Then again if there was a League where I live that was as strong as the SPL I'd be happy with it.

Comparing it to the top leagues its poor, comparing it to most leagues around the world its not too bad. Theyre got two clubs competing in Europe every season but other than that theres not much going on in the league. I wouldnt mind if our own league was as good..

Us scots do and thats all that matters. Good showing of a team from scotland in the uefa cup final. Teams live Everton couldnt even beat florietina

great. you take pride in other teams from your country bumbling their way through tournaments to show how good your entire league is. perhaps you missed the Champions League this year then?

counters that argument.

there are more than 2 teams in the SPL mate

obviously i have no idea about scottish football really .....only ever watched Celtic and Rangers really . All those who complain that no one takes scottish football seriously and moans about how we always take the mickey over the quality of it only needs to look at the table to see the reason ..

Celtic and Rangers nearly 30 pts ahead of the nearest challenger .....that says it all for me ...why even bother . Since the SPL started only Celtic and Rangers have won it ....it was all formed because of money and the current format of the SPL is a joke ...ecah club plays each other at least three times ...then the last 5 games the league is split in two ..top half ..bottom half ..

Complete shambles ......in my opinion......

Think you might find a certain scottish team was in the Champions League at some point.

Im guessing your looking me to compare this to the epl? But i wont because we all know the epl is a strong league. Well top 5 teams are anyway. The rest kinda just like the rest of the scottish league no hopers

you said top 5 because you bum Everton at any chance you get.
I think most of the teams in the EPL could win your league.

Derby? Could they get to the uefa cup final? Could Newcastle? Could Everton?

In this example it doesnt matter what one team does in Europe, we are talking about your league. Look at Liverpool. They have a great record in Europe and yet when it comes to the league they never manage to do as well. The year Newcastle got to the UEFA cup semi final we only managed to finish level with Villa on points (2004).
If Newcastle played Rangers in a one off game i would expect us to beat them. They would not cause us many problems. I know they got to the final of the UEFA Cup but the football in Europe is different.

Rangers would beat Newcastle. Im very confident on that. And well end of the day its my words and yours. Rangers proved to beat big teams like florentina and so on. Teams like Everton "whos better than Newcastle" struggled.

You just dont get it. Did you even read what i said about football being different in Europe?

Nope.

Because at the end of the day Rangers n Newcastle would play and it would be a friendly and even if did newcaastle win would mean 0.

Pointless post in my opinion

For certain narrow-minded idiots, yes Celtic & Rangers are the only 2 that has won the league since it was formed in '98. How many different teams have won the mighty EPL in the past 16 years? How many points did United finish ahead of say Everton? No one in their right mind would argue that the SPL comes close to the EPL in terms of quality, but to dismiss the ability of other teams in it for the sheer fact that the Old Firm dominate the league is petty.

To be honest Conner, you have stated in your post that you only ever watch Celtic or Rangers, so how are you able to assess the entire league on two teams? And for the format, what would you sugguest? Make it a 20 team division like Englands top flight?? That way, more teams like Gretna would crawl into the league, unable to cope financially and risk going bust. In case you havn't noticed, Scotland is a much smaller country than England, therefore alot less professional teams. The current format is the only way the SFA can make a full season. I sugguest you jot down your brainwaves and send it off to the SFA, I'm sure they could use some fresh ideas alright

I see, to a degree, what you are saying CFC.

There are a few teams that run away with the SPL.
There are a few teams that run away with the EPL.

I don't think that is being contested - it is more to do with the quality of the remainder, the gulf.
Maybe I am wrong but I think the comparisons being made are that you can still get quite entertaining games between the remaining EPL teams, and of course you no doubt do with the SPL.

But the diffreence in standard between the remainder of the EPL, and the remainder of the SPL, sounds as though it is quite large?

Of course the standard in the EPL is better. Hey if we had the money the epl does our standard in scotland would be better. Derby got 40 million for being relegated. Brilliant