As Brian Glanville opined in his book on England managers, it is perhaps the toughest job in football. As the founders of the modern day association rules football, the English national team has a prestige and it is the manager’s job to protect this; to ensure that England remains at the top (or at least near to it) of the world game.

So what about the Scotland job? Arguably the co-creators of the game, and certainly the pioneers of a passing, team-centric game as has become the standard today, surely it is the Scotland manager’s job to ensure that they likewise remain as close to the top level of world football as is humanly possible?

It’s for this reason that I suggest it is the second toughest job in football. For all the failures that England experienced under Steve McClaren, most Scotland fans would probably have preferred his short-lived tenure to that of the two years spent under Bertie Vogts. And, calamitous as that time was, Bertie still had a better record in terms of win percentage than George Burley.

Since Craig Brown left the post after eight years, a European Championships appearance in 1996 and a place in the World Cup finals at France 98, Scotland have gone through four managers and appeared at none of the subsequent international tournaments since the 1998 finals. There have been highs, under Walter Smith and Alex McLeish, and the lows of course under Vogts and Burley. But it’s the inconsistency, and the pressure to reach a major finals for the first time in over a decade, which makes the job such a poisoned chalice.

The SFA announced today at their monthly board meeting that the search has now officially begun to find George Burley’s successor. The plan is to have a new man in charge before Euro 2012 qualification draw on February 7th of next year. Many men have been linked to the post since Burley was sacked on the 16th of November, profiled below.

John Collins & Jimmy Calderwood

Currently unemployed after half a season in Belgium with Charleroi, Collins was quick off the mark to announce his interest in the job, despite claiming that “it’s not for me to put my name forward”. Collins was one of Scotland’s best midfielders of the 1990s, enjoying spells at Hibs and Celtic in Scotland before becoming one of the few Scottish players to experience success abroad with Monaco and later played for both Everton and Fulham up until 2003 when he retired. After this he studied for his coaching badges and received his UEFA Pro License and in 2006 he was appointed manager of Hibernian, the club with whom he’d began his career.

Despite experiencing success during his fourteen-month spell at the club, including winning the 2007 CIS Insurance Cup – Hibs’ first piece of silverware in 16 years – his tenure was not without controversy. In fact his players went as far as arranging a meeting with Hibs chairman Rod Petrie in the hope of getting Collins removed from his manager post after a major bust-up between the players and Collins himself.

The coup was ultimately unsuccessful and Collins stayed with the club until December the following season, when he resigned with immediate effect. Following unsuccessful applications for both the Fulham and West Ham United jobs, Collins moved to Belgium in December 2008 and saved Charleroi from relegation before resigning that summer.

John Collins is without a doubt a favourite of many Scotland fans and few will forget his penalty against Brazil in the World Cup’s opening match in ’98 to level the scoring. But his short-lived time at Hibs proved that he still has a lot to learn regarding man management and taking that step up to international management would appear to be a step too far for a man who is still only 41-years-old.  An outsider’s bet but unlikely to be in the final running for the job.

Jimmy Calderwood, a vastly experienced manager also unemployed following his departure from Aberdeen last summer, began his coaching career in Holland before moving home to lead Dunfermline to the Scottish Cup final in 2004 and to a fourth-placed league position in that same season.

That summer Calderwood and his assistant Jimmy Nichol moved to Aberdeen and despite improving the club’s fortunes drastically on the pitch over the next five years, which saw Aberdeen never finish outside the top six and reach the last-32 of the UEFA Cup in 2008, they left the club by mutual consent on the 24th of May this year.

Jimmy Calderwood is a big character and well-respected within the Scottish game, he admits it would be a big honour to manage his national team and his experience of taking teams such as Dunfermline and Aberdeen, struggling when he took over, up the table and seeing them progress in cup competitions would certainly be viewed favourably by the SFA, who will be well aware that the national side is in need of being dragged up by their bootstraps. What he does perhaps lack is the fact that he’s not a ‘big’ name, and has never managed at a particular high level – Aberdeen probably being the biggest club he’s been at. While that shouldn’t necessarily count against him, it seems likely the SFA will prefer someone with experience of the Old Firm and/or management in England.

Csaba Laszlo

The current Hearts manager told the press that “if somebody comes to the club and asks for permission to discuss with me, we can discuss, definitely.” A massively popular character since he arrived at Hearts at the start of the 2008 season, Laszlo seems to be the most likely of all the foreign candidates to possibly get the nod, given his experience both at International level (with Uganda as team boss and as part of Lothar Matthaus’ backroom staff during the German’s tenure as Hungary coach) and in Scotland. Laszlo led Hearts to third place last season and won the manager of the year award, an impressive feat considering the general lack of success of foreign managers in Scotland, and at Hearts in particular.

Laszlo has said that he understands the necessity for the Scotland manager to understand Scottish mentality and his 18 months in Scotland should go a long way to his present understanding. He has also worked with a number of the quality youngsters coming through at Hearts and could help convince Andrew Driver, currently of Hearts, to switch his allegiance from England to Scotland. A popular figure with the Scottish media, Laszlo again seems to be the most qualified of all the foreigners putting their names forward, putting him ahead the likes of Dan Petrescu and Marco Van Basten, also rumoured to be interested. But there is a keeness to avoid a repeat of the Vogts-era and that could end any chances of seeing another foreign manager in charge of Scotland, at least this time around, despite the present successes witnessed both with England and the Republic of Ireland.

Craig Levein

The bookies’ favourite, the fans’ favourite (unless you’re a Dundee United fan), everybody’s favourite in fact. Craig Levein represents exactly what the SFA should be looking for; a young, enthusiastic and talented manager with a real pedigree of surpassing all expectations. Levein started out his coaching career at Cowdenbeath before moving to Hearts, where his talents started to become clear. He uncovered rough diamonds such as Craig Gordon and Andy Webster, and provided a real Scottish backbone to his Hearts side, in both Paul Hartley and Steven Pressley.

During his time at Hearts he led them to two successive third placed finishes and had perhaps his finest hour in the UEFA Cup when his side won 1-0 in Bordeaux in the second round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup, despite losing 2-0 in the subsequent home leg. In October 2004 Levein joined Championship side Leicester City, where he once again formed a nucleus of Scottish players including Rab Douglas and Stephen Hughes. His time at Leicester didn’t last long however, and after a poor start to the 2005/06 season he was sacked.

Levein returned to Scotland and had a short spell at Raith Rovers before he was appointed Dundee United manager in October 2006. So valued to the club he was made director of football as well as manager in 2008. This season he has already lead his Dundee United side to fourth in the league, just four points off of Celtic with a game in hand and inflicted a 2-1 defeat on the current league leaders just over one week ago. This feat helped him achieve the Manager of The Month award for November 2009.

Levein seems to be the obvious choice for the job, but it’s far from an easy decision for Levein himself. He’s reluctant to talk about the job, or any links he may have to it, out of respect for Dundee United, and it would be a massive wrench for him to leave in a season where it seems conceivable that the Old Firm could be toppled for the first time in more than two decades. If a compromise could be reached to allow Levein to stay on at United until the season’s end then perhaps a deal could be reached, but it depends just how much the SFA may or may not want him.

*****

More people seem to have ruled themselves out of the job compared to those interested. Graeme Souness, Walter Smith, Gordon Strachan, John Hughes and Jim Jefferies have all effectively said no, but at least twenty applicants have reportedly put their name forward for the job. Whoever the successful applicant will end up being, whether it be Collins or Calderwood, Laszlo or Levein, the job facing them is monumental. A proud, yet small, footballing nation with past pedigree at World Cup level (even if they never have made it past the first round) and a side that as little as two years ago were ranked as the 13th best in the world (and have now fallen to 46th). Scotland are a side in turmoil and are in need of a serious kick up the arse among other things.

Would anyone disagree that it may very well be the second toughest job in football?

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Even a quick glance out of curiosity at the Clydesdale Bank Premierleague this season makes for interesting reading. Yes, Celtic and Rangers sit first and second respectively, but the chasing pack are closer than ever and some fans of Dundee United and Hibernian are even dreaming of that ever-elusive SPL title leaving Glasgow for the first time since 1985.

Four points separate fourth place Dundee United and Celtic at the top of the league, and the Terrors have a game in hand. Sandwiched between them are Hibernian and Rangers, joint-second on 25 points, although Rangers have also played one less game. Even looking down at fifth and sixth, Motherwell are just seven points off top and Aberdeen, who inflicted Rangers’ first league defeat of the season on Saturday, are on 18 points. Just nine points separate the top six.

To put this into perspective, after 13 rounds of matches last season, Celtic were already 12 points clear of Dundee United in third place, and Rangers were just two points behind Celtic – both were already pulling away from the chasing pack.

It’s easy to get carried away with this recent shift, of course. It’s very early days and the Old Firm still have more than twenty games left to play, plenty of time to pull away once again. But the increased competitiveness has shaken up a league that had become stale. Since the creation of the 12-team Premier League in Scotland back in 1998, the title has been shared exclusively between the Glasgow clubs, with Celtic winning 6 and Rangers 5. The only break in the duopoly occured in the 2005/06 season when Hearts pipped Rangers to second place by a single point, in a season where Celtic finished a full 18 points ahead of their city rivals.

But the increased competitiveness of the domestic league has come at a high price; the performances of Scottish clubs in Europe this season have been woeful. Rangers are already out of the Champions’ League with no wins out of five, and Celtic in the Europa League after being beaten by Arsenal in the Champions’ League qualifiers are faring no better with no wins out of four and progression from their group no longer in their own hands.

Almost all Scotland’s other representitives in Europe fell at the first hurdle. Falkirk were beaten by Liechtenstein’s FC Vaduz in the second qualifying round, while Aberdeen were solidly beaten 8-1 on aggregate by Sigma Olomouc in the third. Hearts also failed in the playoff round, where they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Dinamo Zagreb. Only Motherwell managed to play more than two matches, having started out in the first qualifying round. They despatched of Llanelli and Flamurtari Vlore in the first and second rounds respectively before being dumped out by Steaua Bucharest in the third round.

Even the most optimistic Scottish football fan can’t fail to see that it isn’t a case of the chasing pack having suddenly caught up in quality with the Old Firm. Rather the overall quality has fallen dramatically for all clubs. It is simply that the Old Firm have fallen further than the rest. Thus we have seen Scotland fall from 10th in the European co-efficients list to 13th, which could potentially lead to the league losing its automatic qualification spot in the Champions’ League group stages. And it should also be bore in mind that this slide to 13th is based on performances last season in Europe. Next season is likely to see an even bigger fall from grace.

The collapse of Setanta sent shockwaves through the Scottish game and there were many who felt it spelled the end for their clubs. While ESPN came in and rescued the TV deal, it is worth far less than the previous deal and clubs who already had meagre or non-existent transfer budgets have had to make even further cutbacks.

A January ‘fire sale’ is expected at Ibrox, while most clubs this summer could only afford to bring in a few free transfer signings. Hearts’ Csaba Laszlo has told Vladimir Romanov that his decision on whether or not to remain at the club will be based on his transfer budget in January and beyond. Other than Celtic, only really Hamilton Academicals, buoyed by the sales of James McCarthy and Brian Easton, were able to splash some cash before the transfer window closed.

Rangers and Celtic were once again thwarted in their attempts to leave Scotland behind and join the English league. Whilst most managers south of the border welcomed the switch, Harry Redknapp and Martin O’Neill most notably, the clubs themselves decided that the Old Firm joining the Premier League was neither “desirable or viable.”

So the 2009/10 Scottish Premier League season does mark a new beginning of sorts. Rangers and Celtic have effectively been put in their place by the Premier League and their European peers, and now face increased competition from their fellow league clubs, whom they essentially regard with contempt.

If the overall fall in quality and money leads to increased competition and the Old Firm perhaps learning that the Scottish Premier League title is a privilege and not a right, perhaps it’s exactly what this league needs.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It seems that whenever I write an article for this site it’s about one of two things; Scottish football’s decline or uprising. No prizes for guessing which one this falls under, with the issues surrounding that of Rangers dominating the back pages north of the border for most of the past few weeks.

We’ve known for quite a while that there’s no money to spend. Rangers have failed to buy anyone for around eighteen months despite allowing several first-teamers and fringe players leave during that same period. Their only signing of the summer was the loan deal for Jerome Rothen from Paris St. Germain. It didn’t exactly get the blood pumping. Almost envious eyes were cast across the city at Celtic who were busy spending £3.8million on Marc-Antoine Fortuné and more on others in their attempt to reclaim the SPL title, theirs for three years running before relinquishing it to Rangers last season.

But adding to the doom and gloom was the announcement that chairman Sir David Murray was stepping down and putting the club up for sale. With debts close to £30million and the club now effectively controlled by Lloyds bank. It’s a far cry from the heydays of the 1990s, a decade in which Rangers matched Celtic’s record nine-in-a-row titles, and also saw now Ibrox legends Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne and Jorg Albertz amongst others plying their trade at the club.

The £12million outlay on Tore Andre Flo, a Scottish transfer record unlikely to ever be beaten marked Rangers’ highest spending spree at the turn of the century, but almost ten years on, the club is suffering from chasing that elusive dream of European glory. The best the club managed was a UEFA Cup final appearance in 2008, where they were comprehensively beaten by Zenit St. Petersburg and were widely criticised by opposing managers during that run for their negative, overly defensive football.

Essentially Rangers have spent big only to go backwards. They are no bigger a club now than they were some ten or fifteen years ago. And the current squad, with some notable exceptions lacks quality to compete with Europe’s elite. Last week’s 4-0 defeat to Unirea Urziceni, the bottom seeds in their Champions’ League group, saw them sit bottom of the group with a sole point earned in their draw away to Stuttgart. Whilst qualification from the group is far from impossible, it’s most certainly a bad start.

Their domestic domination is coming under question too. Rangers have won just five of their first nine games of the season, and ahead of Sunday’s game against Dundee United, they sit third in the table, one point behind Hibernian and four behind Celtic, although both sides have played one more game.

This slump in form has seen increased pressure on manager Walter Smith, whose current deal expires in January, and with no money seemingly available, a new deal for him and assistant Ally McCoist does not appear to be on the table. Smith to his credit has offered to continue working after his contract has expired until something can be worked out between Murray and any potential buyers, but against the backdrop of constant uncertainty it’s clear that the pressure on the management team will continue to grow.

Ultimately the hardest hit are the fans though, who have to watch their team continue to perform badly, whilst not knowing who is running the club or who may end up owning the club should a buyer be found.

Clinching the SPL title last June – never mind the halcyon days of the nine-in-a-row era – must seem like a very long time ago.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

In the aftermath of Arsenal’s perhaps suprising but fully deserved 6-1 victory over Everton in the Premier League’s opening weekend, the confidence mustered by many of the Celtic fans following the Champions’ League qualifying draw may have just evaporated away.

Arsenal were simply breathtaking. They looked like scoring almost every time they went forward, and there was no over-reliance on any one player to score either, unlike the days of Thierry Henry and a lesser extent Emmanuel Adebayor. The fact that two of Arsenal’s five goalscorers were defenders says a great deal of how every Arsenal player enjoys going forward and looks to score at every opportunity.

Celtic, still missing captain and centre-back Stephen McManus through injury, also recorded an equally deserved 3-1 over Aberdeen at Pittodrie in their opening league fixture. But the difference in quality that they will face on Tuesday means that it wasn’t exactly the ideal warm up.

Yet Celtic did look good going forward, thanks in no small part to Aiden McGeady. McGeady said after the game that Arsenal were ‘definitely beatable’ and if Celtic are to get a goal or two in the first leg in Glasgow, they will need him to be again on top form, along with talismanic striker Scott McDonald and Scott Brown, whom the Celts hope will have recovered from injury that has kept him out pre-season.

Friendly games aren’t exactly the ideal basis for comparison but given that Arsenal soundly defeated Rangers 3-0 in the Emirates Cup  would seem to suggest that the Old Firm are incapable of mounting a serious challenge against the bigger clubs in England, and yet Arsene Wenger paid Celtic the ultimate compliment when he said he felt they were capable of competing in the Premier League. But of course an obvious gulf still exists between England’s top league and that of Scotland, especially when looking beyond Rangers and Celtic.

Money plays a large part in that of course, though Celtic have strengthened their squad while Rangers signed nobody this summer. But while Celtic are likely to be up for it, and could pull off a surprise or two at Celtic Park, Arsenal are full of confidence and the likelihood of an upset over the course of the two legs would seem doubtful.

Watch Celtic v Arsenal live on your PC or follow the Celtic v Arsenal live blog.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Trolling the site for some interesting articles to read recently, I came across Ahmed’s article from the fourth of July of last year (side note, probably not the best day to write the article, Ahmed!). Having read the responses to the article I can see that most were negative, and so I decided to do my best to put forward some constructive criticism and make some of my own suggestions that would benefit the game in the US, that is, as opposed to just saying they suck and leaving it at that.

I’ve been most interested in the MLS and football in the US for several years now. And I’ve done some research. From reading into the history of the game stateside, to managing in the MLS in the Football Manager series, I’ve gotten an overview and I think I can make some informed offerings. So here they are:

1. DROP (OR REDESIGN) THE DESIGNATED PLAYER RULE

Designed solely to allow David Beckham to play in a league structured around the strict control of players’ wages, the rule has had only one beneficial impact: the arrival of some household names to make the game more attractive both within and outside of the United States. The problem with this however, is that most of the arrivals are either players well past their prime looking for one final payday (read: Freddie Ljungberg) or players who were once considered ‘the next big thing’ and failed to make it (read: Denilson and Claudio Lopez). With the exceptions of Juan Pablo Angel (quite possibly still in his prime based on recent form) and Cuauhtémoc Blanco, none of the players who have arrived under this ruling have made any real impact. Instead they marginalise the Americans playing in the squad who earn up to ten times less than these so-called superstars.

The solution that the MLS bigwigs have dreamt up to improve the quality of players in the league is in fact the opposite of what they should be doing. A revision of developmental contracts and indeed most senior contracts to ensure that young Americans coming into the league are appropriately recompensed is the clear way forward for MLS. Without this, the best young American players will continue to leave the country or take up a different sport in which they can earn far more money. It’s no coincidence that the country’s best and brightest have been seeking pastures new in far greater numbers over the past few years. Last year saw Jozy Altidore, Brad Guzan and Maurice Edu among others leave MLS, and none have made a particularly strong impact at their new clubs. But the fact is that they earn far more money than they did with their old ones.

2. ENCOURAGE MORE AMERICANS TO RETURN HOME

This rather goes hand in hand with dropping the designated player rule. I welcomed the decisions by Seattle and San Jose respectively to bring Kasey Keller and Bobby Convey to MLS and this needs to be done with far more aplomb in the future. Not all Americans make it abroad (note that I am not including Keller in that statement). Look no further than Landon Donovan. MLS should offer an attractive alternative to playing reserve team football in Europe. Indeed players such as Michael Bradley and Kenny Cooper also made the decision to move home. While the clubs in the MLS are clearly making improved efforts to bring these players in, more should be done to make playing in the MLS seem more of a natural choice than last resort.

3. DON’T ATTEMPT TO ‘AMERICANIZE’ THE SPORT

It’s a sad but true fact that corporate America tend to Americanize almost all popular forms of entertainment imported from around the world. The film industry are the worst culprits – remaking French and British films like it’s going out of fashion, take a note Hollywood; it’s rarely been IN fashion, but this has existed within football since the days of Pele. Cheerleaders, extravagant half-time shows and penalties from the halfway line don’t improve the standard of the game. Departing from the official FIFA rulebook only stands to make the game within America more of a laughing stock; something that thankfully MLS seems to have realised with the book being followed quite closely in recent years. But it’s important that this is the status quo and MLS doesn’t resort to deviating from what most of the world recognise as the modern game in order to draw in a few more punters.

4. INVEST IN GRASS ROOTS

From grass roots to the national team, the game needs this natural progression just as badly in the United States as it does in the United Kingdom. For models of this sort of thing in action, look no further than Brazil in South America and Spain in Europe, where emphasis is placed on the development of the under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 squads right up to the full team. It’s hardly a coincidence that both nations’ international sides are currently so strong. While America offers entirely different routes in terms of the way in which promising young players develop, (i.e. playing for their high school team then going to college on a sports scholarship, then being drafted to the professional league) soccer is much lower on the pecking order both in high school and college when compared to the traditional ‘big three’; football, basketball and baseball. This comes despite the fact that the ‘soccer mom’ phenomenon has been tremendously strong in the US for much of the past decade.

More structure, from kids playing little league, right through to the MLS, should be put in place to ensure much stronger interest from American youth in playing soccer professionally. I know that high school soccer teams are unlikely to ever usurp the basketball or football teams, and the same is true of college sides. But more can be done. This point is probably the most contentious; one could argue that there’s simply no point given that more young Americans will grow up wanting to play gridiron, basketball or baseball. But at the very least the USSF could take a more active interest in getting kids to take up the game instead, surely?

5. INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBILITY OF A LEAGUE PYRAMID

Along the same lines as point 4, MLS should work more closely with the USL (United Soccer Leagues). Promotion and relegation are cornerstones to the game throughout the world. America (together with Canada) has the size and wealth to incorporate a league pyramid system encompassing at least three or four divisions. Why not at least consider the possibility? Promotion and relegation dogfights would at the very least provide something for the fans to sink their teeth into, and the traditional American sports system of the playoffs can easily be found in leagues throughout Europe, consisting either of a solely promotion playoff or a promotion/relegation playoff. This could easily be incorporated into the American game too.

The benefit of a pyramid not only potential excitement for fans but would also counteract the somewhat elitist attitude of MLS, where potential sides are forced to jump through many hoops just to set up a franchise and even then there is no guarantee. While these hoops are designed to ensure that the teams and owners behind them potentially entering MLS have long-term plans, there are many sides already playing in the USL who have been around for many years with solid fan bases. Indeed, before Seattle joined MLS another version of the Sounders had been kicking around the USL for a few years. Many of the candidate cities for the 2011 expansion already have sides in the USL. Why force them to essentially recreate themselves when the teams are already there?

So there are my five points. I’ve tried to think them through as carefully as I can. But I know people will find holes in my logic somewhere. I do truly have the best interests of the game at heart however, so be gentle!

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

What Scotland needed least of all following a morale-boosting victory over Iceland was a nightmare scenario which sees both the nation’s captain and a promising goalkeeper banned from ever playing for Scotland again.

It was bad enough that Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor were drinking in the hotel after the defeat to Holland, mind you that game was enough to drive anyone to drink, which saw the pair dropped to the bench for the 2-1 victory against the Icelandics. But giving two fingers to 50,000 fans at Hampden was the final straw for the SFA and the pair were rightfully given their marching orders and neither will pull on the Scotland shirt again.

To add to the debacle both were suspended and fined by Rangers boss Walter Smith, who also stripped Ferguson of the captain’s armband for the second time in his Rangers career.

Only last week George Burley told the press how lucky he felt to be able to field Ferguson in the midfield alongside Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown for the first time since he took over. The fact that he had his three strongest midfielders available was seen as the dawning of a new era which so far under Burley has been more miss than hit. But now the Scotland boss will need to find someone else to complete the midfield triumverate which indeed looked strong, at least on paper. Ferguson is a big loss for Scotland in terms of his tenacity and undoubted ability.

Against Iceland, with Scotland lining up 4-4-2, Burley played Fletcher and Brown in the middle with Morrison and McCormack down the flanks, and of course it paid off. But Scotland’s preferred formation is 4-5-1, especially when playing away and against strong opponents, like Holland last week and last year when the Scots took on both Italy and France. Should they reach South Africa next year it seems likely that this will be the formation of choice, and this leaves Burley with a big task of replacing his midfield general.

There are still some positive signs however, with Scott Brown having flourished into a key player for both Celtic and Scotland this term. And Darren Fletcher, with all of his experience with Manchester United, will no doubt step up into the role of the side’s most important player in the midfield engine room.

The loss of McGregor isn’t as big a blow. As long as Craig Gordon can re-establish himself at Sunderland he provides the Scots with a top class goalkeeper with his best years still ahead of him. But the loss of a top-quality understudy is hardly ideal at this time of the qualifying campaign.

Time will tell if the lifetime ban will indeed be just that. Qualification for the World Cup will probably put more pressure on Burley rather than relieve it, with Scotland still desperate to make the second round for the first time. Fans can be fickle, and if pressure is put on the boss to reinstate the pair to give Scotland their best possible chance of making it, the SFA could potentially buckle.

The biggest losers from this entire scandal could well be Rangers, as they continue to push Celtic all the way for the SPL title. Without their first choice ‘keeper and captain, can they keep up their momentum and take the title? This writer, and probably the fans too, doubts it.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

A historic night at Hampden tomorrow will see Diego Maradona’s first match in charge of Argentina. Both his appointment and the arranging of this glamour friendly were rather controversial (with ticket prices going as high as £35), but it should be an enjoyable night for all involved.

Lionel Messi will be missing from the game but most of Argentina’s big names will be there, including hotshot Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano, who will be captaining the side for the first time. As for Scotland, captain Barry Ferguson and Alan Hutton are due to report following lengthy layoffs due to injury. It’s also a chance for Allan McGregor to shine in goal after a twisted ankle ruled out Sunderland’s Craig Gordon.

Call-offs are an all too familiar problem for international friendlies, which is why the likes of Scott Robertson (Dundee United) and Lee Miller (Aberdeen) make up the numbers in an otherwise fairly familiar squad.

The most likely scenario sees McGregor play in goal, with Hutton/Kirk Broadfoot and either Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United) or Jamie McAllister (Bristol City) in the fullback berths. It’s anyone’s guess who will partner likely starter Steven McManus in central defence. Ferguson won’t last the whole match but he’s certain to start in the midfield, most likely along with Celtic trio Scott Brown, Paul Hartley & Barry Robson.

Whether George Burley will opt for a lone striker up front or not is anyone’s guess, but Chris Iwelumo should get a chance at some point or another to make up for his horrific miss against Norway last month. This writer is hopeful that despite the quality of the opposition, the Scotland boss won’t just sit back and defend for 90 minutes.

As Burley said, himself a member of the Scotland squad the last time Argentina visited Glasgow back when Maradona was in his teens, “this is a tremendous game for Scotland to have [...] it will be great to see the flair and excitement the Argentina players have in their lockers.”

No matter what the cost,  the attendence or even the result, most Scotland fans should be thinking the same thing.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

As Scotland slid down 10 places from 16th to 26th in the latest round of FIFA’s world rankings, is it possible that the country’s hysteria over the exploits at both club and country level last term has finally died down?

Consider the evidence; Rangers fell at the first hurdle as they were dumped out of Europe altogether by Hearts’ reserve team (Kaunas to you and me), Queen of the South and Motherwell are out of the UEFA Cup, and Celtic will need a minor miracle to reach the last 16 of the Champions’ League after an unimpressive start.

Scotland suffered defeat to Macedonia and despite winning over Iceland, the nation’s default setting of pessimism has set in. It’s a long way off the smiling faces of a year ago.

So is Scottish football in decline already?

Probably not. Rangers were cocky if anything, feeling that as UEFA Cup runners up, a win over Kaunas was a given. This certainly seemed to be the case as the club was prepared to launch its new European kit just a week after the Kaunas clash, plans which, of course, were thrown out the window.

Celtic’s group is a tough one, they were drawn with the holders (for the second year running) and a highly impressive Villarreal side who finished second in La Liga last season. Aalborg have also proved themselves a banana skin for Gordon Strachan’s side. Queen of the South were never going to go particularly far and Motherwell were beaten by a well put together Nancy side, who themselves had a very good league campaign last season.

Perhaps luck just hasn’t been on their side. Aberdeen certainly had lady luck shining down on them when they reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup last season, as did Rangers on their way to the final. Werder Bremen, Sporting and Fiorentina are all undoubtedly better sides than Rangers, but hard defending and often playing for the draw won the day for Rangers, all the up till the final itself.

The national team are in yet another process of rebuilding under their third manager in almost as many years. They’ve missed the presence of captain Barry Ferguson and highly talented right back Alan Hutton, both injured. But two games into the qualifying campaign is still too early to tell anything concrete, and dropping ten places is not the end of the world, given that the rankings mean little on the football pitch itself.

So what happens next? Can Celtic as Scotland’s only European representatives get it together and reach the fabled last 16? For football’s sake all of Scotland should be hoping so. It’s not over until it’s over, and Manchester United are beatable. It’ll be a stern test but one that Celtic can manage to pass. Maybe that, coupled with a win in the next round of internationals, will see a proud country’s spirits raised once more to the jubilant scenes of last year.

We can only hope.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The recent debate over whether or not Welsh FA members Cardiff City should be allowed to compete in the UEFA Cup should they win the (English) FA Cup should have at least the one positive side-effect. On and off for several years the debate has raged on as to whether or not Rangers and Celtic should be allowed to play in the English leagues. Each time the question always seems to be placed back on the shelf only to be revisited a year or so later.

But would the removal of the possibility of European football should they join the English leagues put an end to this tiresome saga? Over the years the argument has been that the Old Firm cannot compete in Europe because of the lack of money generated in the Scottish Premier League compared to its English counterpart. If Rangers and Celtic were to play in England however, they too along with Cardiff would surely only have associate memberships with the FA.

If this is the case, then even if the Old Firm were to battle their way in the Premier League and finish in the top 5, or indeed win either cup competition, they also wouldn’t be permitted to enter European competition under the banner of a ‘guest club’, and therefore the entire basis of their argument falls apart.

Forgetting the question on whereabouts both sides would enter the English league pyramid, would the mere lack of European incentive kill the argument entirely? Given the choice between possible Premier League football in England and practically guaranteed European football in Scotland, for which would the Old Firm opt? In financial terms, it simply wouldn’t make sense to go for the former. Even if they were allowed to enter the English leagues, they would never be allowed to enter the Premier League straight away. This would mean several years in leagues no stronger than the SPL, with no prospect of European football.

Some, if not all fans, would be turned off by the prospect of traveling to England for every away game, and with no more enticing Champions League or UEFA Cup action, the money would slowly dry up as the fans decrease in numbers. Both sides’ successes in these competitions have, after all, provided both increased revenue and some memorable nights for the fans over the past few years.

Detractors of the Scottish Premier League and of Scottish football in general tend to forget that the league is considered the tenth best in Europe, and has the 19th highest average attendance of any outdoor sporting league in the world (and the 12th highest of any association football league). Whilst Rangers and Celtic account for almost all of this success, the quality of football on offer in the league is ever-increasing, television coverage is at an all-time best thanks to Setanta Sports, whilst it is arguable that the gap between the Old Firm and the rest is decreasing, if very slowly.

The best way forward for both sides seems to be to remain in Scotland. Whilst Celtic boasts a massive Irish following they are still a Scottish club with deeply embedded routes in the Glaswegian community, as with Rangers. There doesn’t appear to be any compelling argument allowing either or both sides to compete in the English leagues, and with the recent Cardiff City debacle, hopefully this will hammer home the final nail in the coffin of any plans for them to do so.

A peek at the history of the Celtic – Rangers rivalry.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

BBC Scotland unimpressed with their recent decision regarding the broadcast of this week’s UEFA Cup matches.

As some will know, Rangers take on Panathinaikos in Greece on Thursday and Bayern Munich play Aberdeen at the Allianz Arena in Germany that same day. But unfortunately for non-travelling fans, both matches are contested at roughly the same time. Which means that the BBC can only broadcast one – out of interests of “fairness” to viewers.

They’ve gone for the Rangers match. Which means that any Aberdeen fans unable to make the journey to Germany won’t be able to watch the second leg of the tie, where they still have a chance of making it to the last 16.

Both games are delicately balanced, it’s 0-0 in the Rangers game and 2-2 in the Aberdeen match. Given that neither Greece nor Germany are easy places to travel, I wouldn’t say either tie has a clear winner just yet.

It seems clear that the BBC assumed that Bayern would finish off the tie in the first leg at Pittodrie and therefore, there would be no need to show the second leg. That hasn’t happened and now I’d argue the Bayern vs. Aberdeen game will be far more entertaining than the Panathinaikos vs. Rangers match.

Of course, there are more Rangers fans in Scotland than there are Aberdeen fans. But frankly, even if I weren’t an Aberdeen fan I’d rather watch Bayern Munich, with players like Franck Ribery, Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni, than either Panathinaikos or Rangers. And any neutral would probably say the same.

Aberdeen South MP Anne Begg has gone as far as to write to BBC Scotland controller Ken MacQUarrie to try and have the decision changed, and have the BBC either show the Dons match instead, or to show both.

So far this season, BBC Scotland have broadcast seven of Aberdeen’s European matches, but only four of Rangers’. This is of course, because Rangers qualified for the Champions’ League, which is broadcast between Sky and ITV. Now that they’ve dropped down into the UEFA Cup, BBC Scotland have rights to their matches again – and clearly they’re displaying their preference for Rangers matches.

The general opinion amongst Aberdeen fans is that the 2-2 draw last week with the Germans was their greatest result in recent times. They travel abroad with high hopes, despite a 3-1 defeat to Hibernian on Sunday. They could pull off the result of the decade, or at least, of their decade, if they can win against Bayern.

What’s so special about Panathinaikos versus Rangers that makes it more desirable? Rangers clearly consider the UEFA Cup as a ‘consolation prize’, having been unable to make it into the last 16 of the Champions’ League. Why not let the fans who genuinely care about the competition and their side’s progress have their day?

Aberdeen are often mentioned as a footnote in Scotland’s ‘revival’. The national side’s narrow failure to qualify for Euro 2008, Celtic making the last 16 of the Champions’ League and Rangers almost making it. Aberdeen’s progress in the UEFA Cup, remarkable considering they don’t have the money, resources or the fanbase that either of the Old Firm do, should be more of a big deal.

But the BBC have gone for the viewers rather than the entertainment. What a boob.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News