Marc The Muppet and other Scottish sh!t Thread

[Cripps_orig]

'Scotland can reach final of World Cup' insists Mark Wotte

THE man entrusted with producing a generation of players to restore Scottish football to its former glory is nothing if not ambitious. No sooner had Dutchman Mark Wotte introduced himself at Hampden Park yesterday than he was quietly insisting that there was no reason why the country in which he will work for the foreseeable future cannot reach the World Cup final.

The Scottish Football Association's first-ever performance director comes with an eclectic CV that includes spells in Egypt, Qatar and at Southampton but the most eye-catching chapters of his career have been in his homeland, where he was technical director of Feyenoord, and more pertinently, coach of the Netherlands' under-21 squad. He helped to bring through several of the players who finished World Cup runners-up to Spain in Johannesburg last summer.

If the Dutch can do it, asks Wotte, why not Scotland, another small country from northern Europe? "I am convinced that we can maybe get to reach a World Cup final," he said. "It is not something that can be achieved in one or two years but you have to start somewhere. Maybe in five, seven or eight years, I don't know. With Holland in 2001, we didn't qualify for the World Cup. Ten years later we played in the World Cup final."

In 2001, Wotte was working with the backbone of last year's finalists: Maarten Stekelenburg, Nigel De Jong, Rafael Van der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin Van Persie. While he admits that he was fortunate to be blessed with a golden generation, he insists that they were handled in a manner that served the Netherlands well in the long term.

"Wesley Sneijder, we gave him like a protected status because he was very small. He was sometimes the kind of player you wanted to kick out, but we kept him in the teams. Arjen Robben at 17 played for the under-17s, under-19s and under-21s. Heitinga at 17 was playing for the under-21s. In my philosophy, age is not important. It's the quality. If we have a 16-year-old player who is very good at playing in the Premier League, why is he not playing for the under-21s? It is not logical. If they are good enough they are old enough. This is something that we did for 30 years in Holland."

And it is what the SFA, led by Wotte, will do at all levels in the years ahead. Bemused to find that Craig Levein, the national coach, is given next to no information about Scottish players under the age of 15, the performance director wants to change all that. His aim is to identify prospects at a much younger age, expose them to elite coaching and, with it, an improved standard of football. It will be better for the players, for the clubs and, in the end, the national side.

Wotte, who will start work in Scotland on 18 July, emerged from a long list of 17 applicants to be the most impressive of seven who were interviewed. Levein described the SFA's two-hour conversation with him as a "Eureka moment". The 50-year-old's thoughts chimed effortlessly with plans put in place by the SFA since Henry McLeish, the former First Minister, published his famous Review of Scottish Football.


As well as persuading clubs and coaches at all levels to buy into the nationwide strategy, Wotte's task will be to introduce a new style of play.
Like Levein, he favours Barcelona's slick passing game, the origins of which can be traced to Johan Cruyff, the Dutchman who was manager there between 1988 and 1996. He wants an end to Scotland's reliance on big, physical players, so that younger, more technical professionals, inspired by the likes of Lionel Messi and Xavi, can emerge.

"The modern football player is changing," he said. "The top four in the world are small, clever, have a very good technique and are very agile – but, most of all, they are very intelligent.

"Scotland still has a good reputation in the world because of the fighting spirit and the mentality and the Scottish way of playing, but it's not enough anymore. You need to add something to it. You see Spain and Holland playing. What is most characteristic of this style of play is that they pass five or six hundred times in a game. They don't lose the ball. They are clever. They are brave. The best clubs in the world play the passing game."

http://sport.scotsman.com/sport/39Scotland-can-reach-final-of.6790341.jp?articlepage=2

:lol:

Good luck with that. A World Cup final appearance in 2018 is the target.

[dazthegooner]

He was misquoted he meant 2118 :good:

[Rors]

Altogether now - "When we reach the Argentine we're really gonna show/the World a brand of football that could never know".
Damn straight....

[Ollie the Optimist]

The Hearts Board of Directors has issued the following statement in relation to outside influences on players and the club.

"What's happening with the club today is not a new thing. For almost 7 years we have been fighting to shield the club from crooks, criminals and thieves. Many of the top players at the club have felt the bitter results of the swindles that have been carried out with them on their own skin. Skacel and Webster have returned to the club after realising where these 'football patriots' have led them.

"Over a short space of time 4 players at our club have been on the wrong end of the law. We note that 3 of them are represented by the same agent - Gary Mackay - who has been so vicious in his attacks against Mr Romanov.

"Taking into account the facts that have been omitted by the media it can be presumed that each of these cases is not a coincidence, but the result of targeted actions of a mafia that wants to manipulate the club and the results.

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"Every year Hearts fights to be in the top 3, but even last season in the last 12 games of the season it was almost like someone replaced the team with a different one. Whose fault is that? Players? Manager's? Or it is mafia.

"Stealing players, bad games, problems with the law - all of that on top of record SFA fines. Problems are just shifted to another level.

"Mafia are dragging kids into the crime, in order to blackmail and profit on them. It is not possible to separate these people from pedophiles, and you don't need to do that. Each year we are forced to fight against these maniacs harder and harder. We are standing in their way not letting them manipulate the game of football in the way they want. As such they undermine us in every possible way they can.

"The task of the club is to tear these kids out of hands of criminals." http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/articles/20110624/hearts-statement_2241384_2381659

wow

[McNamara That Ghost...]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru_v_Scotland_%281978%29

:lol:

[Rors]

In an interview before said 1978 World Cup:

"As for your long term plans Ally (McLeod), what about 1982?"
"Retain it"

:bow:

[Rors]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru_v_Scotland_%281978%29

:lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4QSsviw8w

Red Stripe :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

RqkShPKgAbw

:haha:

Still amazing.

[Cripps_orig]

First of 39874293874923847 old firm derbies this season

1-2 Celtic atm

[Cripps_orig]

2-2

Jelavic

Worth a cheeky bid?

[Cripps_orig]

3-2 Rangers

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-2 Rangers now, barely any time left. Full time in fact.

[Niall_Quinn]

wow

Conspiracy theory. Move on. Football is completely clean, the one industry where big money does not attract the wrong sort. It is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Celtic have won 15 games in a row as well. :lol:

Wonder how it must feel for them to essentially have no competition at all now.

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers wont be in Europe next season :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Celtic can win the title at Rangers this weekend with a win. :lol:

It's not even Easter FFS.

[GP]

What a shambles.

They should beg the League of Wales to let them join.

[Marc Overmars]

With Rangers being dead and buried for the forseeable future, it wouldn't surprise me if the idea of Celtic joining the PL was brought up again.

They should have to work their way up from the very bottom at least.

[Flavs]

With Rangers being dead and buried for the forseeable future, it wouldn't surprise me if the idea of Celtic joining the PL was brought up again.

They should have to work their way up from the very bottom at least.

It was earlier in he week and again they were told to bollocks

[Letters]

Crown Celtic perma-champions and be done with it. Close the league down.
It's a farce as it is, Rangers going under would just make it a one horse race every year.
:sleep:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

The court ruling has been that the judge won't rule so I guess Rangers still owe Ticketus £24.4 million. Any investor would have to pay that off, so that will probably put them off from investing. What a mess. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers 1-0 Celtic, Aluko! :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Celtic :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Amazing atmosphere, you can't even hear the ref blow his whistle.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Cha sent off for Celtic! :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Stokes hauled off, Izaguirre on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sending off for Wanyama now!

Celtic. :haha:

[Dennis Bendtner]

Oh dear. :lol:

Title party eh.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers 2-0 Celtic, Little!

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers 3-0 Celtic, Wallace. :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Title party on hold for another week then.

[Cripps_orig]

MON :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanty to Celtic.

Bocanegra sent off.

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers 3-1 Celtic, Brown.

[Letters]

Celtic :haha:

Yeah, they're going to be champions by Easter

Celtic :pal:



:unsure:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers 3-2 Celtic, Rogne!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

3-2 FT. :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

The Old Firm derby has to be the best Pub Team derby in the world

[Cripps_orig]

Neil Lennon was sent off as well :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

:lol:

I guess he and McCoist will have a barney in the dressing room.

[Marc Overmars]

http://bit.ly/H5atAC
















http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/063/Picture_2_c.jpg

[Cripps_orig]

Celtic win 6-0 at Kilmarnock and win the SPL

SPL :haha:

They should be embarrassed to win that

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17681268

Congrats to Celtic for winning the next 2 titles

[McNamara That Ghost...]

The URL says Rugby Union.

BBC. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Celtic just lost 1-2 to Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final. :lol:

Hibs vs Hearts final. :popcorn:

Neil Lennon runs on to the pich to confront the ref. :lol:

[Master Splinter]

Neil Lennon :haha:.

If you're not winning every trophy in Scotland with all the advantages they have, you're quite simply the worst manager ever.

[Grebbo]

Neil Lennon is an odious little oik isn't he? He seems to be angry all of the time.

Freak

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He said he thinks the decisions going against them was personal.

:lol:

[Xhaka Can’t]

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/523110_3574244951423_1132029490_3817541_629477704_ n.jpg

[McNamara That Ghost...]

:haha:

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers handed a 12 month transfer embargo :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Motherwell are in CL next season :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

They'll get pumped in the qualifiers. :lol:

[Master Splinter]

Gary Hooper scored five goals today.

Must Get.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Craig Gordon has been released by Sunderland. :lol: Save of all the Premier League seasons didn't help him much.

Quite a loss though, given he was bought for £9 million.

[Cripps_orig]

Keane :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Scottish Cup Final: Hibs 1-5 Hearts, FT.

Hibs are Marc's Scottish team aren't they?

:haha:

[Xhaka Can’t]

Glad I didn't go for the value bet there.

Got a up to £50 free bet match with Ladbrokes - so considered Hibs. Went with the safe option so have £50 riding on Bayern.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hopefully your wisdom will be repaid.

[Marc Overmars]

Rangers are on the brink of liquidation and SPL clubs will now vote whether to allow their reincarnated club to stay in the SPL or start from scratch in the 3rd division. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

BBC has live text just for this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18410999

Rangers. :doh:

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2932/spl/2012/06/17/3180478/rangers-to-be-left-off-spl-fixture-list

:lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Club 12 :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

RANGERS are looking at an astonishing plan to buy out League One club Bury — so they can play in England.

The Scottish club were bought last week by Charles Green for £6million but are in liquidation.

Rangers could face starting next season in Scottish Division Three — if SPL clubs vote next month against their bid to be allowed back in this term.

Green is looking at other options, including buying Bury and playing English league games in Glasgow.

They would want to start immediately by taking up Bury’s fixtures for next season.

The Greater Manchester club kick off with a home game against Brentford on August 18.

There is strong opposition to Rangers being invited back into the Scottish Premier League.

The SPL fixture list currently has ‘Club 12’ listed until the other 11 clubs vote on July 4.

Rangers do not want to start right at the bottom of the Scottish professional leagues and have long been touted for a place south of the border, along with Old Firm rivals Celtic.

A source told SunSport: “Yes, Rangers really are thinking about this.

“They are in a position at the moment where they have no idea what the future holds.

“They don’t know whether they will be in the SPL next season and do not want to go to the bottom of the ladder.

“Acquiring an English club would get them the foothold they have always wanted down south.”

It is not clear whether the amazing plan to buy is even allowed under Football League rules in England or Scotland.

But there are precedents with Welsh club Swansea playing in the English Premier League and rivals Cardiff in the Championship.

Berwick is actually a town in England but their football team plays in Scottish Division Three.

Also, Wimbledon moved 60 miles north to Milton Keynes before being renamed Milton Keynes Dons in 2004.

Bury fans are sure to be furious at the suggestions to take their club more than 200 miles north.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4385272/Rangers-plan-to-buy-Bury-and-play-in-English-League-One.html

[Flavs]

:wacko:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

It's looking as if Rangers will be voted out (or not back in) of the SPL after Hearts, Caley Thistle, Hibernian, Dundee United and Aberdeen have all said they will vote no. There only needs to be 4 no votes for them to be booted out.

They'll go down to Division 1, and come straight back up after a year. And then go straight into the top 2 with Celtic just like it always was.

[Cripps_orig]

So Celtic have won the title next season. Give them the trophy now

Who will get 2nd and a CL place? :popcorn:

Thats the only reason there is a Scottish football season next season

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rangers are the only ones to have said yes. :lol:

[Xhaka Can’t]

I can't believe the complete lack of pragmatism amongst the SPL Clubs. No Rangers means less money from media and via gate receipts. If they don't let Newco Rangers in the SPL or at worst the 1st Division, they are all headed towards oblivion.

[Flavs]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/

:haha:

McCoist :pal:

[The Wengerbabies]

Good news.

Not that I really care either way.

[Marc Overmars]

Celtic fans must be loving their misery but they also must be thinking their existence is pretty much pointless now. They're going to win the title at a canter for god knows how many years on the spin.

[Syn]

Celtic fans must be loving their misery but they also must be thinking their existence is pretty much pointless now. They're going to win the title at a canter for god knows how many years on the spin.

Yup, it's bad news for Scottish football in general.

I think Rangers and Celtic should do whatever it takes to join the English leagues. Start at the very bottom if necessary. They'll have enough of a monopoly in their respective areas to keep getting promoted.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

personally i dont think celtic would ever get out of the championship but if it makes that sh*thole of a league more competitive then by all means feel free.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

I can't believe the complete lack of pragmatism amongst the SPL Clubs. No Rangers means less money from media and via gate receipts. If they don't let Newco Rangers in the SPL or at worst the 1st Division, they are all headed towards oblivion.

i think the other teams are more concerned about possible champions league entry, something they have all been dreaming of for years. no rangers means greater chance of european football which sees their revenue rocket.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

The vote: Rangers Newco would be put in to Division 3. :lol:

[Letters]

:lol:

Rangers :pal:

[Flavs]

:haha:

[Coney]

And if, at the end of the season, they fail to get promotion, I will laugh my nuts off.

[Syn]

Mark Dingwall of the Rangers Supporters' Trust is live on SSN, and he said Rangers not playing in the top division - "in terms of sponsorship, season tickets etc. it will be a holocaust for the SPL".

:lol:

Only on Sky.

[Kano]

its very easy of me say as a supporter as one of the biggest teams in the british isles but this will turn out to be a good thing for scottish football.

there hasn't been a real alternative challenger to the big two since aberdeen and dundee utd used to flirt with success in the 80s and this is the only way that other clubs would've got a shout to grow.

it is also a warning to premiership and i would not be surprised if something similar happened to a big club in the top division within the next 5-10 years.

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers to win div 3 winning all their games?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

It's going to be brilliant when they lose a game.

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18850864

Crocodile Dundee invited to play in the SPL

[Cripps_orig]

Mike Ashley to buy a 10% stake into Rangers

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Rangers needed a last minute goal to draw at Peterhead :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers drew at Berwick :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

St. Johnstone 2-1 Celtic, FT.

:haha:

[Cripps_orig]

Celtic :haha:

[Master Splinter]

I think the GW team could win the SPL.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Celtic :haha:

Can't even argue :gp:

Even when Rangers get relegated Celtic are shite how is that possible?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

They need each other.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Stirling 1-0 Rangers, FT.

:haha:

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers :haha:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Celtic 0-2 Kilmarnock FT

:haha: Celtic

:haha: Marc

[Cripps_orig]

Rangers 0-3 Inverness

Rangers :haha:

Marc :haha:

[Cripps_orig]

Levein decision to be made on monday

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Hearts are warning fans the club might not survive until the end of the month after receiving a winding-up order over a tax bill of almost £450,000.

The Edinburgh club issued a plea for "emergency backing" from supporters to avoid the prospect of administration.

"This isn't a bluff, this isn't scaremongering, this is reality," read a statement from Hearts.

"Without the support of fans there is a real risk that Hearts could possibly play its last game on 17 November." Hearts host St Mirren on that date, with the men in maroon travelling to Inverness this weekend.

The latest matter is unrelated to a £1.75m tax bill Hearts are currently contesting.

The bill, which has led to what is the sixth winding up order placed on the club in three years, is understood to be for unpaid PAYE and VAT and Hearts have eight days to pay or the order will be enforced by the court.

Hearts, who have confirmed that the amount due is £449,692.04, say they are hoping to reach agreement with HMRC over a repayment plan.

The Edinburgh club, owned by Lithuanian-based banker Vladimir Romanov, are appealing for fans to invest in a recent share offer and to turn out in numbers for the next three home games.

"Discussions on whose name is above the door, talk about how the money has been spent and debate on whether the investment in silverware has been appropriate is all natural but quite simply worthless at this moment in time," adds the club statement.

"The only valid debate now is how can you help the club. "This club has been supported for the last seven years by generous funding from the majority shareholding business Ukio Banko Investicine Grupe (UBIG) and we continue to seek the support of UBIG at this stage.

"However, no business is immune to the financial realities of the current global economy and for this reason the club's reliance on its supporters is greater than at any point in the last seven years.

"Our partners, our opponents, media, football bodies, many others - all are watching and judging how we will respond to the challenge. If we cannot demonstrate that we are united and we represent a force then there will be no due respect to the club from anyone around.

"Without your help now, we could be entering the final days of the club's existence.

"There are limited options for the board of directors to take to avoid the catastrophic consequences that a funding shortfall would mean for the club.

"In a footballing sense alone Hearts will suffer an immediate 17-point penalty [for going into administration]. This would just be the start of a painful process that will affect every one of us and could lead to far more damaging actions that threaten the very existence of the club." SPL rules on clubs going into administration were changed over the summer, with clubs receiving a minimum 15-point deduction or losing a third of the previous season's total.

Meanwhile, it is understood Hearts are unlikely to face any immediate sanctions from the Scottish Premier League over the non-payment of tax.

The only sanction for not paying HMRC on time is a registration embargo and the club already have this sanction in place for the late payment of salaries to players.

The SPL has been informed and could take further action if payment is not paid within the eight-day deadline.

Hearts insist the petition "has only recently been presented" to them.

Earlier, a club spokesperson said: "We would be hopeful that HMRC will accept that winding up the club would be totally unnecessary."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20241385

[Cripps_orig]

Celtic won the title surprisingly