Having five clubs in Europe is doing Scots game more harm than good...
GThe trouble is that playing in Europe is not the same as competing...
OD knows how Jim McLean would have dealt with Dundee United’s craven capitulation in Alkmaar. The late, great curmudgeon of Tannadice Park once fined his players for failing to entertain their fans after they beat Monaco 6-4 on aggregate. Eight months later, Monaco were crowned the champions of France.
In tribute to his relentless perfectionism, a statue of United’s legendary boss now stands outside the main stand. And, after Thursday’s 7-0 thrashing to AZ in the Netherlands, the only thing missing was a plinth shaking with indignation and fury.
Pity help the Scottish game if UEFA ever decides to bring in a fourth club competition.
Desperate to keep the European Super League at bay, Europe’s governing body is rolling out more competitions with more home gates for more teams.
Yet the very last thing the SPFL needs is more teams playing on the continental stage. Five a season is already doing the league more harm than good.
Celtic and Rangers have shown they can make it through a Europa League group. In a good year, they might make it to the Champions
League. While Scotland’s big two rack up the coefficient points, however, the likes of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone struggle to bring much to the party. United’s 7-0 thrashing at the hands of AZ Alkmaar was a night of abject humiliation. And, for too many Scottish teams, that’s becoming the norm.
The Europa Conference League was created to give the also-rans a crack at European football. In theory, it made the continental game more inclusive. With the Champions League pretty much a closed shop for Europe’s elite, it was an attempt to hand down some crumbs from the table. A chance for the clubs who finish fourth and fifth to pack a suitcase and enjoy a few days away from it all. The trouble is that playing in Europe is not the same as competing. In the two seasons since the Europa Conference League came into being, Scottish teams have failed to make it past the play-off round. Hearts will finally become the first Scottish side to grace the group stage if they lose to FC Zurich in a Europa League play-off. But even that owes more to the efforts of Rangers and Celtic building up the coefficient than it does to the efforts of the other clubs making up the numbers.
Last season Motherwell finished fifth in the Premiership despite winning a mere three league games after Christmas. Eliminated from Europe at the first hurdle by Sligo Rovers, losing to a team from the League of Ireland was considered a bridge too far. It even cost manager Graham Alexander his job.
Yet the evidence of Dundee United’s capitulation to AZ suggests the Scottish Premiership and the League of Ireland are not all that different. The only thing that sets them apart is the presence of two huge clubs in Celtic and Rangers.
Four years since Mark Ogren bought a controlling stake at Tannadice, he must be wishing he’d kept his hand in his pocket. The American businessman has a plan to make the Tangerines financially self-sufficient. Yet the most recent accounts showed a loss of £2.27million and an unsustainable wages-to-turnover ratio of 132 per cent.
All told, Ogren has ploughed in £13m of his own cash. That investment nabbed Motherwell’s top scorer Tony Watt. It secured an ambitious move to make Jack Ross the new manager. They outbid rival clubs this summer to sign Steven Fletcher and Dylan Levitt. In Scottish terms, that’s a big outlay. In Europe, it barely scratches the surface.
Good luck to the United owner getting his money back. Developing a decent player-trading model is one tried-and-tested method but, despite promising academy talents like Archie Meekison, the club have yet to made any serious money from player sales. Last year Ogren clubbed together with Aberdeen, Dundee, Hibs and Hearts to commission a review into the Scottish game’s finances.
And while the American owners were convinced they could bring another £10m a year into the game’s coffers, Deloitte decided otherwise.
In an unexpected development, the independent report concluded that the SPFL were doing all they reasonably could in the current climate to raise cash. Despite calls from Rangers for league CEO Neil Doncaster, chairman Murdoch MacLennan and legal advisor Rod McKenzie to go, risk-averse clubs are poised to commit to another lengthy TV deal with Sky. With recession looming most accept there is hardly a line of broadcasters queuing down the steps of Hampden with pots of cash.
Results like Thursday do nothing to drive up the value of the league. And, while, the Old Firm prepare to join the VIPs in the Champions League clubs like Dundee United have a recurring problem. They can’t get past the bouncers on the door.