FortescueFotheringhamSmyth

Anyhoooo... That concludes this thread for another season. It's been a lot of fun. Same time, same place, next year, lads?

Again, a notable win... ...However... Rosenborg had a couple of "dip" seasons where they didn't win the league. This was one of them. The following season they lost at home to Sligo Rovers, but won 3-1 in Sligo to go through to a tie v. the famed Karabukspor, which they lost on away goals.

Slow at work... So I idly checked Lucerne's Euro pedigree. Prior to the St.Johnstone tie, they'd won 2 European ties: 1st Round early 90s wins v. MTK Budapest and Levski Sofia. In five European campaigns since, they've bested Faroese minnows Klaksvik (1-0 / 1-0) and lost every other tie. Have had some bad draws, mind. Three wins in 60 years of trying. I'm not checking to see how many of their players were on £20k or £30k per week, compared to the Perth lads on £1,000 or £1,500.

Let me put this another way... and I have no figures to back this up... Budget is the most reliable method of predicting a club's performance. There is an almost infinite amount of evidence to confirm that. In terms of results v. clubs with greatly inferior or superior budgets, I'd guess England would comfortably be bottom of any table of achievement. Even the 6th/7th placed side in the EPL will be almost certain to have a budget much larger than any opponent coming out of a hat in a qualifying round draw. I doubt there are 30 clubs on the continent with a bigger budget than Crystal Palace. So EPL sides almost never face clubs with more money than they have. I'd guess Spanish sides would come out well in that table, with Spanish clubs in the Europa League usually having smaller budgets than the teams they beat on their way to winning the trophy. Scotland? Scottish clubs have to be very close to the bottom. For all Rangers decent form of late, and Celtic's forays to the CL knockout stage, almost all of the defeats have been against opponents with much smaller budgets and wins against clubs with larger budgets have been rare. Tony Watt likely still dines out on his winner v. Barclays, and rightly so. Clearly budget isn't everything. I'd guess it's quite difficult to dodge tax in Holland, while there are plenty of countries were a salary can become "netto" pretty quickly, provided a club has the right connections (or have accountants who know their stuff better than those utilised by Rangers in the Noughties.) Cost of living is also a factor. It's quite high in Scotland, so a player offered similar money at, say, Hibs or Boavista, might well opt for Portugal - even if he's not fussy about the weather. A player offered identical deals by a Swiss club and Sheriff Tiraspol might have to think hard. He'll have a nice house and car in Moldova, so perhaps he won't mind living in a museum dedicated to Stalinist Russia, when the alternative is living in a country where a coffee and a croissant cost more than a three course meal with wine will set him back in Tiraspol... ... but budget is the best indicator of likely success or failure. I'd guess the number of times Scots have been papped out by opponents with 50% ot their budget is high. I'd guess the number of eliminations by clubs with 25% or less of the Scottish side's budget is embarrassing. Rosenborg may have had a budget 4 times the size of St.Johnstone's, as might Luzern. We are talking about probably the two countries with the highest cost of living in Europe though. I doubt Groningen's budget was much bigger than the Sheep's. Provide as many isolated anomalies as you wish but, overall, I can't see any objective measure by which Scottish clubs can be said to be punching their weight.

Aye... There are a few anomalies. However - in terms of on-field playing strength at the time, budget, history & size of club, etc - the two Sheep wins were unexpected, but hardly on a par with some of the losses. The two Saintees wins were more praiseworthy. However, they were hardly Partick v Celtic in the 1971 League Cup Final. The bookies' odds wern't on a par with those offered for Niederkorn v Rangers. Larne were about 10/1 for the home leg & 16/1 for the away leg against Aarhus last month. TNS conceded twice in the last 6 minutes before losing on pens to Viktoria Plzen yesterday. TNS relinquished their Welsh title to Morrison's hammerthrowers. They were 8/1 for the 1st leg and led 4-0 (Maybe that was the '71 League Cup Final) before losing two late goals. TNS were 18/1 last night, but again led for a fair while. Plzen are undoubtedly on a downward trajectory, but they are ranked #47 in UEFA's club coefficient list. Celtic are #46. Rangers are #52. Scottish sides don't seem to come close to that level of bridging gaps.

Airdrie 0, Falkirk 2. Clyde 1, Alloa 3. Cove 2, East Fife 0. Montrose 2, Peterhead 0. Queen's Park 1, Dumbarton 1.

Working, so didn't watch that. Just had glances at updates. For all him getting pelters for his post above, Rjc-1988 does have a point. Since the break-up of the Tornadoes, which was 45 seasons ago now, Mount Hibernian - the Hibees' highest point in Europe - remains a UEFA Cup 1st Round win over Videoton. Videoton's European pedigree was entirely down to one miracle season 5 years earlier, when they despatched Dukla, PSG, Partizan, Man.U & Zeljeznicar en route to losing the UEFA Cup Final to Real Madrid. Beating Asteras Tripolis - the 5th-best team in Greece - is the only win that rivals it. Neither 'Well - nor anyone else who's finished 2nd in Scotland - should lose to Stjarnan. Killie losing to Morrison's hammerthrowers and Hearts losing to a bloody Maltese outfit are not the only other embarrassments. Saintees shouldn't be losing in the Baltics. I mind the Arabs being pumped by Finns, the Pars losing at home to Icelanders and Gretna losing 5-1 at "home" to Derry City in the Noughties. The Sheep haven't shagged up since losing to Bohemians. This seems to be the point with Scottish clubs. It appears to take a few seasons of consistent European competition to become streetwise enough to compete with more technically adept continental sides. Scottish "provincials" (in Recordspeak) haven't beaten anyone from a significantly higher level for a very long time. I'm not checking countries of comparable size & tradition to Scotland. I can think of a few decent Irish results in the past decade or so though. Shamrock Rovers KO'd Partizan, Dundalk beat BATE Borisov, Cork City beat Häcken and St.Pat's got past Elfsborg, Karagandy, Krylia Sovetov & Siroki Brijeg over a few seasons the last time they were title contenders. Even in the "Celtic Tiger" years, the L.o.I. wasn't close to the Scottish Premier League - and all those results have been since the late-Noughties credit crunch. It's a shite state of affairs and all the fresh air in the world won't make any difference.

Well, that was depressingly predictable...

You'd likely be launched for racism on Miggs.Net for that.

Qarabag nick a goal on 87 minutes. Stats suggest it was overdue.

FT/ET: Alashkert 3, Kairat 2. Yerevan it is. (Apologies for interrupting the important debate on semantics. I didn't realise there were so many Old Firm fans in the Labour Party.)

Looks as if acca backers are putting Celtic in their multis. I doubt anyone's invested £100k on a single at 1/4 to win £25,000. That would be a balls of steel job. Generally 1/5 Celtic to win over 90 minutes tonight, though some firms still go 2/9 1.28 on Betfair. Jablonec out to 11/1, after being generally 9s with some 10s this morning. Only 11.5 on Betfair though.

HT: Qarabag 0, Aris AEL Apollon Limassol 0.

FT: Alashkert 2, Kairat 2. So it's extra time. Kairat down to 10 men. Done well to hold on for 30 minutes. Got to do it for another 30... or maybe just "Do a Malmö" and score a couple. They've only used 2 subs. Alashkert threw on 4 in about 10 minutes. Doubt it makes a lot of difference where The Famous go. Been unsettled and 27c in Alma-Ata for a few days & that's set for a while yet, but it'll likely be 33c and blazing sun in a week's time, whether it's Alma-Ata or Yerevan. You'd think Kazakhstan opposition would be stronger than Armenian, but Astana lost at home to Finnish opponents earlier today. *EDIT*....and there's a 2nd red for Kairat in the opening minute of extra time. That should seal the deal.

4 Armenians in the Alashkert starting XI. 4 Kazakhs in the Kairat XI... an XI including Vagner Love, who won 20 caps for Brazil when at Palmeiras & CSKA Moscow in the Noughties. Oil money goes a long way

Alaskhert v. Kairat Almaty just kicked-off. (Kicked off as in "started", not as in "Old-fasioned Armenia v. Islam pagger") Livestream on Bet365 and other usual places

I was at the Darkheid game. Things got interesting in town that evening.

Why can I not find a Vincent Price laugh GIF anywhere?!?

I've been saying since the foreign sides were invited in that this was Doncaster testing UEFA & English FA waters for a request that the two Scottish League Cup finalists be allowed to play in the English version... after a season where the Scottish League Cup final was contested by you know who. There was something approaching evidence for my theory this year. Of course, the path taken if the Gruesome Twosome were allowed a toe in English competition might lead to any number of destinations... which is why I favour the other Home Nations participating. I'll give it another (non-Covid) season before slagging off Doncaster and the Challenge Cup.

Aye, but... the kids in the B teams almost all hold the view that playing v. seasoned professionals or semi-pros is of huge benefit to their development. Exactly the same reaction from young players in England if a Football League side fields its youth team in a county cup or some other Mickey Mouse tournament and comes up against a decent semi-pro side.

Thread started an hour ago on Miggs.Net for Hibees Bees v. Elgin. Not one reply. Meanwhile, yesterday's "Yogi Is A Ned Who Should Be Banned From Leith" thread has 36 posts. Priorities.

Not difficult when one is a dealer and one's "customers" are junkies... which, as everybody knows - including chairmen & treasurers - is basically the relationship clubs have with fans... ....and not just in Leith

Liam Flin does the match preview in the Racing Post. Reckons the only thing Rangers are worth at the odds is "swerving". His recommendation for a punt is both teams to score @ 9/10. It's the same advice he gives in the Racing & Football Outlook column on this week's European games. It's a swizz that both papers are printing the same guy's opinions on games these days. The papers have enough tipsters to go around.

This is Scotland. The powers that be can delete what they like. I'm sure Uncle Humza explains this adequately in helpful & educational videos on YouTube. Heil Nicola!

Anyhow... FT: 3-1 to Breidablik. Now 4 points off the top, with a game in hand. Might trouble the leaders. Can't see 'em troubling the mighty Dons on Thursday.