Hi magicpole , I've been enjoying your input.
I would be interested in where you think Celtic ( and in that context, Scottish football) go next.
The problem with being a huge fish in a very small pond is that you tend to consume more than your share of resources. What I mean is that a club the size of yours with its financial clout ,not to mention being the only club in Scotland that can guarantee European football to some extent,can Hoover up the best young talent from all the other clubs. As a lifelong Hibs supporter (20 years in Edinburgh but don't hold it against me) I have seen players like your own skipper Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths and more recently , Scott Allan all taking the Celtic shilling,not to mention one of your better players last night , Gary McKay -Steven who came from Dundee Utd.(and look where Hibs and Dundee Utd are now), although of course they had to take the opportunity to further their careers
It all just goes to further imbalance the whole Scottish PL and diminish competition, which is of course, why big money to companies are not interested in investing the kind of money in the domestic game that we see in England.
Celtic can now take the millions they have just made from the CL , and win the SPL by an even bigger margin.
What happens next season? Celtic win title by record margin and qualify for CL , get knocked out in group stages and pocket more dosh? Repeat cycle. I can't see anything changing for anyone in Scotland- maybe a decent cup run ( like last season for the Hibees- even if it did take 114 years) at best , but deep down , the knowledge that they need Celtic- and that other lot - to keep Scottish football alive- (if you can call Stenhousemuir 'living') but that their very presence effectively removes any competition.
Does success , because of its inevitability, taste sweet ?
Scottish football is what is. We have no alternative but to try and imorive it by bring through better players and more of them.
The point about resources is a new phenomenon. Could you dig out one article written by our 'impartial' papers, highlighting the damage this causes when Rangers had all the gold?
No. You won't be able to, because there isn't one. It seems obvious now, that since they are surviving on personal loans, that us having more money and the dominance this should ensure is now not cricket.
I'm actually filling up here at the injustice. How dare we?
Also, us plundering the best players? That has happened since day one. Football clubs first responsibility is to ensure they are competitive and in our case, you need to win the league. I like to see as many of our players being Scottish as ability allows.
The position smaller clubs are in re us. we find ourselves in with English clubs. No sooner has any player for us looked good than a story will appear in the Daily Ranger linking him with whoever has a few bob.
We get our best players plundered and find ourselves in a cycle of, getting better, getting better, oh fuck we 're shite again.
We have aspirations to do two things.
Qualify for the CL and put up a good show.
Beat Rangers in everything.
That's it.
Success is more the sweeter when we can play well in Europe too. I think next year we will be another wee step closer to that goal.
To do that up here you need to be on the game and ruthless. The money we get is recycled when we buy a player here. That it diminishes the competition is a fact. That it allows teams to survive is also an economic fact at times.
It's dog eat dog.
I prefer my dog to have the biggest teeth.
But also great with a ball.