Comments on: Could Scottish giant Rangers really play elsewhere?

By: Catenaccio Conquered

Catenaccio Conquered — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:05:03 +0000

The problem with going to England is that both teams risk getting stuck in limbo somewhere in the championship and never really making it to the top of the English game. Celtic are certainly good enough to play there now but if you toss them into the bottom of the league will they be able to maintain the resources to once again reach the level that they are at now?

As for the Old Firm, I don’t believe its as good for the Scottish game as everyone believes. Celtic’s desire to separate themselves from Rangers is not such a bad idea, and while it could harm Rangers long term, Celtic need to take every opportunity to break away from them as possible.

By: mvktr2

mvktr2 — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:55:45 +0000

Got to disagree on the ‘Rangers may not have any better options’ analogy. Rangers’ option is EXACTLY what the Celtic’s option is as there is little doubt they’ll be back in the SPL in as many years as there are rungs in the Scottish FA. Translation. There is no real ‘if’ they get back to SPL, and they will be competitive. Will they be hampered for a short while once returning to the SPL, probably, but they’ll be a virtual lock for 2nd place and the Old Firm will be restored to it’s standards sooner rather than later. They and Cetic are HUGE clubs and even after administration their reach and resources will see them back in the SPL climbing 1 league per year (currently in 3rd division so 3 years including the current cycle).

As to jumping to the EPL, the issue would be the same as it is now, they’d have to jump into the bottom rung. However I expect they’d climb into the championship in no time but would be like most other English clubs once there. It would be interesting and I expect both Rangers and Celtic could do very well in the EPL with time.

By: tylerbetts

tylerbetts — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:19:41 +0000

Seems a) like sour grapes and b) unnecessary to me. I go with unnecessary because we seem to be moving towards a European league of sorts. Qualification for Champions League is the just about the most important thing now, even more than winning a title sometimes (See: Arsenal). Making the last spot in your league for Champions League has almost as much drama as the last spot above relegation. And, with the proposal to expand Champions League, that’s only going to grow and grow and grow.

By: drewvt6

drewvt6 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:14:55 +0000

Its seems all to simple for those of us without the historic connections to the club and country to say let em go to England!

Think of the heart ache this country (USA) has over NCAA conference changes is probably 1/10 of what Glaswegians will feel over old firm teams jumping ship.

By: jmillmac

jmillmac — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:54:40 +0000

As much fun as it’d be to talk about, I don’t know if it makes much sense for Celtic from a competitive stance. If Rangers hops down, then getting the Old Firm back together is great for everyone, aside from administration, a bad year for Rangers or Celtic in the SPL is finishing 2nd to the other. A bad year in the BPL could see both – or worse, one and not the other – relegated. Obviously Rangers may not have any better options, but Celtic have a clear shot at consistent Champions League qualification. Even when (if?) Rangers makes it back to the SPL and are competitive again, Celtic would probably only have to worry about one team between them and those European millions.

In short, I’d love to see it, but it’d be a huge risk for Celtic, to say the least.

By: dfstell

dfstell — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:28:30 +0000

Oh, this is a lot of fun to talk about. It’s always fun to see/talk about how teams from one region would fare in another league.

Of course, first Rangers need to get themselves back on their feet.

By: charliej11

charliej11 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:16:30 +0000

How foreign is the comment, “Everyone flies to games now” ?

Redknapp actually played for the Sounders, back in the day.

He has a viewpoint that not too many in Europeans probably have, after flying to Tulsa to play the Roughnecks and 3,000 miles to play the Cosmos a few times, no amount of flying seems out of the question.