A top-class tournament anywhere in Britain outside the altar of Wimbledon is a welcome addition to a meagre list. With plans to reduce the league to 16, you could hardly see some wanting two more big clubs.PHIL GORDON. I’ve discovered that people in England don’t look too highly on the Scottish game.JAN MOLBYEX-LIVERPOOL AND DENMARKThe concept is interesting, because there are moves for a Scandanavian Superleague involving the top four teams from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. A professional Scottish League would be worthless without the Old Firm. Celtic and Rangers can’t escape their geography, although they would add to the Premiership However, I don’t think the weaker clubs would welcome them.
The only thing wrong was that they played in the wrong league Playing in front of 60,000 home fans must be great. But, without being disrespectful, Celtic and Rangers could probably field their reserves and not be embarrassed in the Scottish Premier. I knew when I moved from Celtic to Monaco that I’d left a massive club behind. However, Fifa would probably demand we have only one national team, so I don’t think it will ever happen.JOHN COLLINSEVERTON AND SCOTLANDThe Old Firm have outgrown Scotland, but they would be an asset to the Premiership. It’s difficult for other Scottish clubs to compete financially with the Old Firm, but when I was with Motherwell we beat both of them. The Old Firm would certainly add to the Premiership, where there is such a gulf with the First Division, but it will never happen.GARY McALLISTERCOVENTRY AND SCOTLANDCeltic and Rangers would add to the English Premiership.
I know there is a lot said about the Old Firm crowds, but it can’t be appreciated until it is experienced, as a few of my old Leeds team-mates found out when we played Rangers in the European Cup in 1992. Hopefully, television money will now filter through the other Scottish Premier clubs the way it did in England and they can challenge more consistently. Big scorelines happen as much in England now as Scotland, and there are still shocks here – Celtic have lost to St Johnstone and Motherwell beat Rangers. They have outgrown Scotland, where although some clubs, like Kilmarnock, have come up the ladder, traditional rivals, like Aberdeen, have died off.TERRY BUTCHERDUNDEE UNITED COACHI don’t think they have outgrown Scottish football.
The Old Firm have no problem attracting top players because the support of both clubs is massive. They have the strength in depth to make a real addition to the league, whereas some of the promoted clubs from the Nationwide League just cannot live with the big boys once they are up. There is no interest in them down south and the Premiership is an exciting enough product on its own right now.PAUL ELLIOTEX-CELTIC AND CHELSEAI would love to see Celtic and Rangers in the Premiership. But the English Premiership does not need Celtic and Rangers. The gap between them and the rest is worrying, but I remember scoring a hat-trick against Motherwell in 1982 when we won 7-0, so it’s not new. The main problem is they have bigger resources – the other clubs can’t match that. They might not get the girl, but they’ll be able to outcast her..
CHARLIE NICHOLAS
EX-CELTIC AND ARSENAL
This is only surfacing because of the big results Celtic and Rangers have run up recently. That was me, aged 13, thinking that the way to a girl’s heart was to show how far he could cast. The time has come to revive the fishing club, and teach a new generation of lads the facts of life. and threw himself into the lake.On the journey home, he asked Amber out. But she hasn’t yet reached the stage where a lad’s devotion is measured by his ability to fling himself head-first into a pond. She turned him down.While siding with my daughter and sharing her chuckles when we got home, I secretly felt mortified for Ben. Ben was so impressed with her prowess that he vowed to emulate it himself “Watch this, Amber,” he called.
