Scottish and Irish football could merge into 'Celtic League'

Today marks the first time the Republic of Ireland have faced England since the controversial riots in Dublin back in 1995. But the thirst for football in Ireland has never evaporated.

Similarly, Scotland are looking forward to a fixture at Wembley in August as the English FA clearly seem to be satisfying the demand for the English national team to battle its closest neighbours.

For English fans this kind of fixture adds a welcome pinch of spice to friendly games which are usually incredibly mundane and played against an experimental eleven of one of the world’s other elite nations. Irish and Scottish fans are likely to have a far greater interest in these matches.

The popularity of club football in England undoubtedly surpasses that of the national side at the present time. English football fans’ relationship with the club they support is far more intimate than the connection they have to their country, and crucially their club participate in many more enjoyable and meaningful games during the Premier League season and the Champions League.

Obviously a major tournament such as a World Cup will rekindle an Englishman’s affection for his national team but generally club comes first in the modern day. Unfortunately for Scottish and Irish fans, their league football is far inferior to that of England’s and thus they often have to rely on international games for big football occasions.

Celtic and Rangers are obviously the biggest clubs over the two nations and currently ply their trade in the Scottish football leagues. Rangers’ financial crisis has left them stuck in the lower depths of the Scottish leagues and thus Celtic have been left to steamroller domestic football. The 3-0 victory over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup Final epitomises how comfortably they were able to complete the domestic double this year.

By criticising the standard of Scottish I must point out that I am not criticising Celtic. I feel sorry for them. Celtic are a big club who are trying their best to outgrow the league they are in. They performed well in Europe this year but it is extremely unlikely they can push on from this with the inferior funding they get in comparison to England and other major football nations such as Spain, Italy and Germany.

The prospect of Celtic and Rangers joining the English Premiership has been mooted for some time now but the idea has never received enough momentum to be followed through. This is probably because, although the deal would benefit the Glasgow clubs, it would destroy Scottish domestic football whilst not transforming English football enough to justify such devastation.

The SPL is currently going through a transitional phase as a reform package was finally agreed this month to deliver a merged league body involving play-off games and better financial redistribution with regards to lower tier clubs. Hopefully this aids the improvement of Scottish football but perhaps the SFA could’ve looked at a more drastic plan to reinvent the league.

Whilst the SPL is comparatively weak to the rest of Europe, the leagues of Ireland and Northern Ireland are even poorer. Shamrock Rovers are the most successful team in domestic Irish football and have a stadium capacity of just 6,000. Compare that with Celtic Park’s 60,832 and of course the home of England’s most successful team, Manchester United’s Old Trafford which holds 75,765.

Irish football could certainly advantage from an affiliation with Scottish football, but perhaps the Scots could also benefit. The Scottish and Irish football associations clearly enjoy a decent relationship seen in their joint bid to host Euro 2008 and Euro 2020 (which involved Wales). Could something not have been arranged to plan a merge of the leagues?

The idea of a joint league has been put to FIFA before as the leagues of Belgium and Netherlands merging to create one division has been suggested. Interestingly this is already the case in women’s football which has the ‘BeNe League’ comprising of teams from both nations.

Belgium already has some relatively big clubs such as Anderlecht, Genk and Club Brugge. With FIFA ratification, merging these with teams in the Eredivise such as Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord could create a more competitive ‘Atlantic league’.

The Irish and Northern Irish leagues have no clubs of this stature and thus the merge could be even simpler. Club football in Ireland and Northern Ireland could be completely torn apart and rebuilt to have brand new teams representing cities such as Dublin, Ulster and Cork. These teams would undoubtedly have more appeal to the population of the area, tourists and football fans in general.

One has only to look over at football’s egg-shaped neighbours rugby, who created a ‘Celtic League’ for Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams in 2001. The competition, now known as ‘Pro 12’, has been extremely successful and more competitive, and has also now attracted Italian teams to compete in it.

I don’t want to blur the borders between domestic too much. Losing national leagues completely would be a travesty and a ‘European Super League’, which has been suggested before, would completely destroy the beauty of domestic football. Thus strict regulations and boundaries would have to be written by FIFA if a merged league was to be. But the idea of an Irish/Scottish league is an attractive one.

Television companies would be more interested, players would be more interested, and fans would be more interested. The money would increase dramatically and perhaps allow Scottish and Irish football fans to support a club which actually has the capacity to compete on Europe’s biggest stage.

Incorporating Welsh football clubs would be extremely unlikely as tempting the likes of Cardiff and Swansea from the glamour of English football would be impossible and thus there is little Wales could offer the league. Wales now occupies a tenth of the Premiership and so, although their domestic league is weak, they have club teams more than capable of satisfying supporter demand. Perhaps Welsh clubs could apply on a case-by-case basis to see if they could benefit the league.

Creating a ‘Celtic League’ in football would be a major job full of countless complications and hurdles to jump, but I have no doubt it would be a profitable venture. Scottish and Irish football both owe it to their own supporters to form a league which their population can finally be proud of.

Money talks in football, and who knows, someone with vision and big pockets could swoop in and make this happen. If Qatar can host the World Cup, anything can happen.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

Signing older players like Ambrosini could be the way forward for Allardyce’s West Ham

A minority of West Ham fans have expressed some dismay with Sam Allardyce’s transfer policy after rumours emerged that AC Milan veteran Massimo Ambrosini is in London for talks with the Hammers.

In his recent interview with the Mirror, David Sullivan spoke glowingly of Allardyce, arguing that ‘he is intelligent, he prolongs careers and he is brilliant in terms of maximising players’ potential’. Prolonging the careers of older players thus seems to be an attribute which makes Allardyce a valuable asset for Sullivan and co-owner David Gold.

The prospective Ambrosini deal is not one which is out of character for Allardyce. The man affectionately known as ‘Big Sam’ has taken a number of international superstars and squeezed a few extra years out of their careers at the highest level.

Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff, Gary Speed, Fernando Hierro and Ivan Campo are just a few footballers who were entering the twilight of their careers when Allardyce utilised them at Bolton Wanderers.

Many Irons supporters also doubted Allardyce’s choice to rely on 38 year-old Juusi Jääskeläinen for the first season back in the Premiership following Robert Green’s departure but have gone on to be proved wrong by the Fin who was eventually voted runner-up Hammer of the Year ahead of the likes of Andy Carroll, Momo Diame and Mark Noble.

Although his image may be moulded into that of an old-fashioned, unforgiving ‘gaffer’, Allardyce is famed for his focus on fitness and the cutting edge technology he uses to maintain this. Just recently West Ham were featured of ‘Sky Sports News’ for their use of an ice chamber to aid muscle recovery.



Allardyce and aging players can thus have a great relationship. They can use him to prolong their careers and he can use them to add quality and depth to his squad.

Another important factor for Allardyce, and of course the owners, is that he is extremely unlikely to pay for these players despite the competitive market. Razvan Rat, the recent acquisition from Shakhtar Donetsk, came on a free transfer, as will Ambrosini if the deal is completed.

Saving money on players like these to fill out the squad allows Allardyce to spend large bulks of his transfer budget on quality players for the first eleven, who also have re-sale value. If Allardyce wanted to spend £6-7 million on additional centre-midfielders and left-backs with no experience of the Premier League, there is no way a £16 million deal for Andy Carroll could be financed, especially with the new Financial Fair Play regulations.

The intent shown by West Ham and Allardyce to sign Carroll proves that they are not manipulating supporters by sexing up the signings of over-aged ‘has-beens’. As an English striker under the age of twenty-five, Carroll is in the most expensive bracket of footballers. If fans worry that Allardyce is creating a short-term team of OAPs they need only look at the genuine ambition shown to get Carroll permanently.

Additionally, the experience, attitude and aura of a multi-Champions League winner in the squad who has played over 300 times for one of the world’s biggest clubs can only be positive for a team like West Ham. In order to grow as a club it is important to have experienced winners amongst the ranks and whilst West Ham linger in the mid-table zone, they will need to accept those coming towards the end of their careers.

How any football fan can moan about having a few aging players in the squad on the back of Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy at Manchester United is beyond belief. Ferguson continued to use the likes of Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs well into their thirties and persistently won trophy after trophy. Many of Ferguson’s veterans will continue to be utilised by David Moyes.

Also, Ferguson wasn’t shy to bring in aging players in order to strengthen his squad with quality and experience at a low price. Henrik Larsson was drafted into his title-winning squad of 2007 at the ripe age of 36. Ferguson even wanted Larsson to continue at Old Trafford but due to family promises in Sweden, the former Celtic and Barcelona striker felt obliged to leave.

Finally, some West Ham fans are often desperate to hang on to their proud reputation with regards to producing young players in Tony Carr’s academy and therefore scoff at the idea of an older recruit getting first-team chances ahead of youth players.

If Allardyce and the staff around him felt that a player was good enough to step up into the first-team, there is no doubt that he would get the chance. Why would Allardyce waste any of his budget on a player if he had a younger, hungrier version sitting in the reserves for free?

Signing older players will actually benefit the youth players at West Ham. Not only do they gain from the experience of a man with a magnificent career behind him, but there is a place in the squad with a nearing expiry date which they could step into.

Short-term options therefore actually give enough time for young players to develop and show whether they will make the cut. For all we know, Allardyce could have big plans for the likes of Ravel Morrison next season. By bringing in Ambrosini, he provides a young midfielder like Morrison with a role model, competition and someone who plays in the same position, which can relieve the sense of pressure on a young footballer who is likely to burn out if he is heavily relied on for 38 games a season.

Similarly, Ambrosini is unlikely to be able to play two games in one week so he would benefit from having a young protégée to take over for certain fixtures in what will inevitably be a congested schedule. It is a win-win situation for everyone. If West Ham had a decent youth prospect but signed a 25 year-old midfielder in his position, the chances the unproven youngster would play are likely to be far more limited.

Therefore signings like Ambrosini should be looked at very positively. Moreno Roggi, Ambrosini’s agent, confirmed that there is an offer on the table for West Ham. Let’s hope all parties agree as contrary to popular thought, this is a forward-thinking decision rather than one rooted in the past.

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93

Mourinho; Moyes; Allardyce

I have an embarrassing image in my mind of Jeremy Nicholas innocently cueing a rapturous round of applause for Sam Allardyce’s new contract this afternoon and instead being met with a disgruntled mixture of jeers, boos and of course, a number of justified cheers.

As Allardyce’s second term in charge reaches a climax, it is fair to say he still hasn’t won the support of everyone. That is despite an immediate return to the Premier League, a trip to Wembley and a mid-table finish in the top flight.

Much like you are probably bewilderedly wondering why Manchester City have dismissed Roberto Mancini just one season after he snatched the league title from the red half of Manchester, plenty of football fans will be scratching their heads for as to why any Hammer could legitimately oppose Allardyce’s reign.

Whilst I am not arguing Allardyce is an inflated, northern reincarnation of Pep Guardiola, I do think that to suggest his style of football is far different from plenty of other successful coaches is a myth.

Last Saturday we were beaten comprehensively. Allardyce himself admitted that the players looked distracted and has also stressed the need to improve away from home next year. Thus we should hold back on whining about away form and give Sam a chance to rectify it over the Summer. After all it was our home form which was criticised last year and our away form celebrated. Some people have short memories.

Apparently Saturday’s game was one of Everton’s best performances of the season, undoubtedly sparked by the emotional exit of David Moyes who will succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

Moyes’ eleven years at Everton are considered successful because they were stable. He has managed to operate on a tight budget and still wedge the club firmly in amongst the top seven. If Allardyce has already broke into the top ten in one year (assuming we hold on to that place today) then what makes you think he cannot replicate Moyes’ success?

It is also important to remember that Moyes has been criticised in the past for similar to reasons to why Allardyce has been. Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard and even Ferguson himself, the man who recommended Moyes as his heir, have labelled Everton long-ball merchants.

With reference to Marouane Fellaini in Manchester United’s game against Everton this very season, Ferguson argued “it was just difficult to handle him when they were knocking these balls up to him. He is a handful, a big, tall, gangly lad, and they just lumped the ball forward to him, that's all they did”. Sound familiar?

Fortunately for Moyes, these jibes have been brushed off whereas for Allardyce, the label has stuck like fluff to Velcro. This is probably because Moyes has become somewhat of a media darling for the longevity of his time at Everton whereas Allardyce will always be 

Moyes' new 'image' at Man U

associated with an unfashionable Bolton Wanderers team.

When questioned about these criticisms back in November, Moyes was unfazed. He argued that “we are beginning to compete better against most of the top clubs now so that’s perhaps why these things are being said. I’d sooner get that, them having a dig, than people being nice about us because we’ve lost”.

Moyes makes a valid point. West Ham went through a stage of being continually praised under Gianfranco Zola, and whilst it was flattering, we were a far weaker and unstable outfit back then. You must first become hard to beat in the Premiership to earn the right to attack with fluidity.

Anyone who saw Everton against us last Saturday, or at their best during the season, must admit that they play an attractive style of football, and most importantly a successful brand of football. However they set up for games very similarly to us.

They have a solid back four, two deep-lying central midfielders, two wingers, one striker and a goal scorer sitting just behind him in the form of Fellaini (our Kevin Nolan). The only difference between us and Everton is that Moyes has had the time to acquire quality players and to have them play with each other regularly.

Allardyce is in a fantastic position to do the same. In Andy Carroll we already have a superior target-man to Victor Anichebe; if we can hold on to him we can work on improving our squad to a similar standard.

As useful as Joey O’Brien has been this season, Leighton Baines is obviously a better attacking force. Similarly a goal-scoring winger in the form of Kevin Mirallas was the difference between the sides on Saturday, he is far better than Ricardo Vaz Te.

Allardyce has admitted “we need better players” despite the fact that the squad is already strong. If we support him and give him time to upgrade the team in a similar manner to how Moyes has, we could be rewarded with a team regularly competing in the top-half of the league.

Allardyce is perhaps in a better situation than Moyes was as he has greater funding, the prospect of a large new stadium and the attraction of London which is likely to appeal to some transfer targets.

Another coach likely to be plying his trade amongst the Premiership’s elite next year is managerial superstar Jose Mourinho. Unlike Allardyce, when you think of Mourinho, you do not think of the long-ball, you think of trophies, a fashionable foreigner and ‘the special one’.

When compared to English coaches, Mourinho’s career has been rather fortunate. It was Mourinho’s short success at União de Leiria, a side now in the Portuguese third division, along with his charisma, which convinced Porto to appoint him.



The English equivalent of Porto would have undoubtedly looked abroad for their manager whereas Portugese coaches have a greater chance of managing the major clubs in their home nation. With just one year’s managerial experience Mourinho got the Porto job; Allardyce had four smaller jobs before his eight-year spell at Bolton but he was still inevitably leapfrogged by foreign coaches for the top jobs.

In reality it is the image of Mourinho which makes him so attractive to employers. He is charismatic, lovingly arrogant and above all a winner. In just two years at Porto, Mourinho was fortunate enough to inherit a good group of players and dominate the Champions League in a particularly weak year. Porto eventually overcame a distinctly average Monaco in the final and the rest is history.

I am not trying to criticise Mourinho. I am just pointing out the opportunities he has had in his career are because of his image and his nationality. If he was a somewhat overweight, Worcestershire-born bloke named Sam I suspect his career would’ve panned out extremely differently.

Mourinho is actually extremely similar to Allardyce in terms of tactics. He is a pragmatist and his teams are predominantly reactive rather than proactive, even when they do include the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo as opposed to Kevin Nolan.

His favoured 4-2-3-1 is similar to the way Allardyce lines up as it can smoothly transform into a 4-4-1-1, a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-1-3. These rapid transitions are the reason that 4-4-2 is rarer in modern football; it is simply too rigid to adjust quickly when a team wish to change the emphasis and speed of the game.

If Allardyce hadn’t been alienated from so many other coaches via his reputation, perhaps he would be better appreciated like Moyes. The fact is that Allardyce has become an iconic image within the game, but he represents everything which has become unfashionable.

Allardyce represents the antithesis of the stylish manager, but in reality he may not be so different. We should appreciate finishing the season in tenth position in the capable hands of Allardyce and I hope next season is another one of many stable, successful campaigns under his guidance.

 

Follow me on Twitter @RichMaher93