It speaks a lot for the inequalities of European club football that a team can go from winning 6-0 on Saturday to losing 7-1 on Wednesday, a state of affairs that now just seems 'normal'.
Lack of domestic challenge & tactical naivety aside (and there has been 3 European finals in the last 20yrs)...
The best hope for the Old Firm - beyond a 3 tier European League - is to sell themselves as nursery clubs: they can take young players, expose them to pressure, European football, wining mentality (domestically, anyway...) & move them on. It should've been the adopted model years ago. Developing youth rather than trying to attract middling talent at over-the-odds cost.
A massive problem in this is the scouting network of EPL clubs, who can easily afford to hoover up the best Scottish youngsters
Italian clubs/coaches like working with Scottish players - they work hard & do what they're told, apparently. So, there is hope for the Scottish game. It just might need to be accepted that it's a stepping stone to better things.
Lack of domestic challenge & tactical naivety aside (and there has been 3 European finals in the last 20yrs)...
The best hope for the Old Firm - beyond a 3 tier European League - is to sell themselves as nursery clubs: they can take young players, expose them to pressure, European football, wining mentality (domestically, anyway...) & move them on. It should've been the adopted model years ago. Developing youth rather than trying to attract middling talent at over-the-odds cost.
A massive problem in this is the scouting network of EPL clubs, who can easily afford to hoover up the best Scottish youngsters
Italian clubs/coaches like working with Scottish players - they work hard & do what they're told, apparently. So, there is hope for the Scottish game. It just might need to be accepted that it's a stepping stone to better things.