While it’s great that we are at the top of the league, I was wondering how important it is for people to be entertained?
Ultimately winning is the most important thing but I’ll admit that I haven’t actually enjoyed watching us for quite a long time. For the amount of possession we have we really don’t create many chances in games and for long periods of games we look like a mid table team. Am I expecting too much to want entertained while winning aswell when we have a budget that dwarfs everybody in the league other than the Tims
At our level of financial and therefore player superiority over the rest of the league, we should be entertaining. Unfortunately teams either want to play a low block or indeed kick us off the park aided and abetted by poor officials. Last season without the baying crowds referees seemed more inclined to referee to the rules, ironically they seem to be clueless when stadiums are predominated by our fans.
Scottish top level football is so negative that if it were the rule globally it would get football banned. Serie A during the golden years of ‘football Italia’ had defenders like Maldini making defending look like a glamorous art form. His sidekick Baresi was the hard man, but let’s face it he was no Ross Tokeley or Brian Irvine. He was an elegant footballer with a determined, hard edge.
Scottish football has flatlined, it has died, but those who run it haven’t noticed, they were happy to flog a dead horse as long as the filth were the dominant force. I have no problem with teams deploying a defensive shape, happens in Europe a lot, what I do have a problem with is base thuggery openly acquiesced in by the powers that be and our officials.
Some of our number have become a tad disaffected by the predictability of our play this season. This coupled with the fact that our almost impregnable defence from last season, looks to be porous and uncertain, whilst our creative players and forwards are not firing on all cylinders.
Our players must be made to understand, that winning the title at Rangers, no matter how pivotal and important that title was. Does not mean that you can rest on your laurels and go through the motions the next season. Which would seem to be the issue from what we have seen thus far.
We cannot have been so far ahead of the chasing pack last season and given that those clubs have not (barring the filth) invested significantly be toiling against the same fodder today. We require to get back to our dominant, entertaining best to make sure that the slam dunk we have been afforded this season is indeed a slam dunk to the £40m fortune.
The more nervous our support becomes in regard to toothless, nervous, unentertaining performances the more nervous our players will become. Football is an entertainment/results business, at the moment our league results are acceptable, but certainly not remarkable. It is in Europe where we have seen the biggest drop in our standards from Slavia Prague onwards.
We are too predictable and workmanlike and ironically it was when we were much more risk averse and entertaining that we got our most remarkable results. I say to our players, let’s get back to entertaining, taking risks and winning with panache, whilst knowing fine and well that we can win ugly when required.