Clubs’ European failings have left us in the lurch
Just when you think it can’t get any worse for scottish football, it does.
Europe’s top clubs, led by Bayern Munich, want to make the Champions League more elite and totally ignore Scotland. But can you really blame them? Just look at some of the performances our clubs have delivered in recent weeks.
Hearts being knocked out of Europe by a team from Malta has to be the all-time low.
Celtic recovered from their worst-ever result in Gibraltar to dispatch Lincoln Red Imps, but the embarrassment remains.
Likewise Aberdeen stumbled on in the Europa League after losing in Luxembourg, and continued their involvement against Ventspils of Latvia.
Hibs fought back to take Brondby to a penalty shoot-out in Denmark. But the bottom line is they have joined their capital neighbours on the Euro scrapheap.
We’ve long lost automatic qualification to the group stage of UEFA’s premier club competition.
Rangers last went straight through to join the top dogs in season 2010-11.
Now making the last 32 through at least one round of qualifiers looks certain to go, too.
The big guns from Germany, Spain and Italy are lobbying UEFA to switch to two leagues of eight instead of eight groups of four.
As if a 50% drop in participating clubs isn’t bad enough for Scotland, the agitators want the champions from Europe’s top countries to be joined by invitation only.
If that happens, there is no chance of an embossed envelope coming Scotland’s way.
It’s all based round money, of course, following the English Premier League’s newly struck £8-billion TV deal.
This means the bottom team in the Premier League will earn £100m, while winning the Champions League only guarantees a maximum of £50m.
Viewing figures are down for the Champions League in its present guise, with too many dull games being blamed for fans switching off.
It’s also being argued in the corridors of power that the round of 16 should be abolished too for the same reason.
That’s the same round of 16 that was held up as a badge of honour when Celtic and Rangers got that far several seasons ago, when our clubs had long given up even dreaming of progressing further.
These new proposals will be discussed at UEFA’s congress in Athens in September.
With money talking, they look sure to be adopted, especially as UEFA fears the alternative is a breakaway by the leading clubs.
Our European results in the last few weeks have only further emphasised how far removed Scottish clubs are from the top table.
With hazardous trips – to Kazakhstan for Celtic and Slovenia for Aberdeen – to come this week, our UEFA coefficient could take another battering.
Equally alarming is the fact the SFA has lost yet another performance director in Brian McClair.
This position was touted as being the key to better days.
However, like his predecessor Mark Wotte, McClair has gone before he has made any impact on the game’s future in this country.
It’s really quite depressing – and the season hasn’t even started yet.