Since the inception of the Europa League in 2009 season, Scotland has had two teams qualify for the group stages, including this year’s farcical are we in/are we out escapade.
In fairness to Rangers, this is the first year they have had an opportunity to qualify for it as they were in the Champions’ League group for the two previous years.
During this same time period Austria have had nine teams qualify, Belgium have had eight and Greece have had seven. So how is it that these countries can consistently get numerous teams to perform at this level?
What do these leagues do differently to prepare themselves for European competition?
Is it budget? No. None of these leagues are wealthy leagues. They have a couple of teams they could rival us for transfer fees and wages like Olympiakios and Anderlecht who have spent more than us to assemble their squad.
Then you have a team like KRC Genk who are the reigning Belgian champions. They put their squad together for approximately 10 million. Now they have qualified for the Champions’ League group stages were they’re going to earn more than their  whole team is worth.
The average amount spent per squad in the top 4 of these leagues is about 15 million. So it’s not budget.
Is it population? No. This would only be a factor if we could only play Scottish born players. Looking at our current squad we are using the whole world’s population.
The same can be said for those leagues. In today’s game there is nowhere teams will not look for potential. So it is not related to population size.
Is it coaching? Maybe. Both Glasgow teams have untested managers who have not registered a win in Europe yet. They are definitely naïve tactically when it comes to the European scene, but could another manager do better with the squads available?
I honestly thought we were well equipped to perform this year after accumulating 93 points last year. We won a lot of games in the league and winning breeds confidence but when it came to FC Sion we looked one dimensional.
Lennon got his tactics wrong and I think a more experienced manager might not have made the same mistakes. Coaching could be a factor.
Is it competition? Maybe. At the start of every year in the Belgian, Greek and Austrian leagues there are at least four teams that fancy their chances of winning it.
This has to help prepare them for European competition because at least a quarter of their domestic fixtures are going to be games that they are not overwhelming bookies favourites.
Playing against similar standard teams week in week out keeps you sharp and cuts out complacency. There has to be some benefit to having competition.
All said, it’s a bit embarrassing. We really are being laughed at, but looking at these leagues give you hope. It shows that Scottish football can be competitive again without having mega money.
Something needs to change though and quickly because we are on a slippery slope and things can get worse.
Do you think we can get 3 or 4 Scottish teams into the group stages of Europe regularly?
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I think we could spend months talking about what’s wrong with Scottish football, and to be honest, I think it’s absolutely everything: corruption and self-interest, lack of leadership, lack of initiative, and self-pity.
We spend all our time and energy moaning about our lack of resources, whereas the other countries you mentioned get on with trying to do their best with the resources they have.
As for leadership, I still see newspaper articles praising Ernie Walker, Jim Farry and the rest, which makes me scratch my head in disbelief. Because Walker, Farry and the rest of them achieved absolutely nothing, apart from a massive slide in standards. It seems to have been good enough for their mates in the press though.
However, the one thing that stands out for me is the lack of talented Scottish players. Every single Czech player in their team last week was miles better than every Scottish player when it came to basic technique.
We’re always hearing about how good our coaches are, but I have yet to see any evidence of this. “One dimensional” is the best phrase to describe our players and our tactics. There’s been a steady decline in ability for the last 30 years. Most of the players look as if they’re on rails and get a nose bleed if they find themselves out of position. And even our international players look one step away from falling over when they’ve got the ball at their feet. Passing and moving is an alien concept to most of them. You cant play good football without good players.
I really hope this new Dutch guy improves the coaching and the players ability. Because, if he doesn’t, I think it’s all down hill for Scottish football.
Great post.
I agree we need a whole shake up which means distributing wealth….