Fußball in Schottland

[Savio]

Ein schottischer Sport-Journalist hat sich so seine Gedanken darüber gemacht, wie sich ein möglicher Abgang Henrik Larrsons auf den schottischen Fussball (insbesondere auf Celtic Glasgow) auswirken könnte. Ich fand den Artikel ganz gut.

Hier ist er:

Life after Henrik...

Scottish football should be a lot more interesting next season when the new handicap system kicks in - the departure from Celtic Park of Henrik Larsson.

In my humble opinion the Swede is as good a player as has ever blessed the game in this country.

Without doubt its greatest ever foreigner - and for the purposes of this song of praise I include all non Scots in that collective noun.

Larsson is an awesome footballer and while defenders of every club in the land will offer a prayer of thanks at his leaving, for those of us who think that watching great talent is a joyous thing, it will be a sad day.

I have never been shy at being the first member of the Scottish Football Writers Association to publicly pronounce my vote for player of the year, but even I concede that early November might seem a little rash for a vote which will be tallied in May.

And yet surely only serious injury can deny the Celtic goal machine from that prize and the one voted on by his fellow professionals?

Larsson will need a freight carrier to ship his cargo of awards back to Sweden when he quits the Scottish game, although he will politely decline to take with him the broken hearts of tens of thousands of Celtic supporters.

He is a complex bloke. Henrik is never going to carve out a career as a stand up comedian, not that in any case he is likely to be in need of the money.

But I have seldom - if ever - met a Scottish based player so totally focussed on his profession. Only Richard Gough comes close.

It has been my privilege over the last couple of seasons to report pitch-side for BBC television during live games.

In most cases that means I am just a few feet from the players. That means seeing Larsson at close quarters.

He is the complete player - a deadly finisher and a possessor of incredible vision and work rate.

And the spring in his leap and ability to hang in the air is the best since King Denis Law was in his prime.

And Law, another soccer royal, was one of the few as good as Larsson although he did not of course perform professionally in his native country.

Only Jimmy Johnstone and Jim Baxter can claim to have graced the playing fields of our little land with the swagger of Larsson. He is that good.

Understandably then, Celtic are desperately trying to persuade him to stay for at least another year, because while they pay their king of kings a right royal ransom, replacing him would drain the coffers completely.

Wim Jansen paid just £650,000 for his services. There is a fat chance of repeating that kind of deal.

Celtic Park will be a poorer place without him, that is for sure, but so too will the Scottish game.

I just want to watch talent and I want our young players to learn from a master. On and off the park Larsson has been that in his craft.

Just for the record, I asked him again this week if the Swede was for turning. In short would he u-turn on his decision to walk out the door for good at the season's end.

And I got that look again. You know, the one that says "are you nuts?"

But I'll keep on asking until the men in the white coats come to take me away. I owe it to the football entertainment business...

By Chick Young

BBC Scotland football correspondent

[Savio]

Dundee have sacked 20 players and staff after being placed in administration.

Among those who have had their contracts terminated are high-earners Fabrizio Ravanelli, Craig Burley, Fabian Caballero and Georgi Nemsadze.

Players and backroom staff were informed of the decision by manager Jim Duffy and director Jim Connor on Tuesday morning.

The step has been taken in an attempt to curb spiralling debts of about £20m, with the club currently losing in the region of £100,000 a week.

Financial consultants Ernst & Young were brought in on Monday to oversee the running of the club.

There are genuine fears in the football world that Dundee could go out of business, such is the state of their finances, although the club's owners, Jimmy and Peter Marr, insist administration is necessary to safeguard the future of the club.

But prospective director Giovanni di Stefano maintains the move is a disaster and is bidding to have the process halted.

The lawyer wanted to buy the club for a nominal £1 fee and take over the club's debts, but the Marr brothers said they were not convinced the Italian had the funds to achieve this.

Di Stefano, who had previously promised up to £26m to Dundee, said: "Administration is not the answer but we have to take this one step at a time.

"Obviously, I am going to intervene because I still think that it isn't the answer.

"But, if somebody doesn't intervene and I walk away, it is the end of football at Dens Park. It is simple as that."

A statement from Ernst & Young's Tom Burton said: "This move stops the clock running on the club's debts and gives us the ability to restructure its operations and debts. However, the company is in a critical financial position and solutions to its problems will not be easy to find.

"The new procedures available under the Enterprise Act give us the vital breathing space to build a platform for the survival of the company as a going concern - which is our primary objective.

"However, I suspect that this will only be possible if significant changes are made to the company's operating structure."

When Motherwell took an identical route early in 2002, 19 players had their contracts terminated, but the Fir Park are now lying fourth in the Scottish Premier League and are making moves to come out of administration.

Sacked staff:

Kenny Cameron, Kevin Lee, Javier Artero, Paul Mathers, Craig Burley, Fabian Caballero, Juan Sara, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Beto Carranza, Mark Robertson, Barry Forbes, Jamie Langfield, Matt Engele, Kris Brash, Colin Boylan, Georgi Nemsadze, Steve Vander Deyl, Gavin Beith, Tom Cowan

BBC

[Gigi]

20 Minuten beim Spiel Glasgow Rangers gegen Hearts gespielt und seit der 11.Minute führt Hearts mit 0:1! Torschütze war Andrew Kirk!

[Gigi]

Ausgleich der Rangers!

[ianrush]

We are Hibernian FC

We hate Jam Tarts and we hate Dundee

We will fight wherever we may be

'Cause we are the mental H F C

We've played in South Morrocco,

And we've played in the USA,

But the greatest game in history,

Was the game on New Years Day,

7-0.

bearbeitet 31. Juli 2007 von ianrush

[Gampern]

Was hast denn da wieder für einen Uralt Fred reaktiviert?

Premiere live:

Inverness vs. Rangers, Sa 13:30

Celtic vs. Kilmarnock, So 15:00

[asbo_drinker]

Verdiente HZ-Führung für dei Gers!

Inverness 0:1 Rangers, Torschütze Ferguson mit einem schönen Schuss aus 20 Metern via Stange ins rechte Eck...

Inverness bietet kaum Gegenwehr, noch keine wirkliche Torchance. Die Gers hingegen auch schon Aluminium getestet (Boyd). Alles andere als ein Rangers-Sieg wäre ein Wunder...

[Cormega]

Endstand übrigens 3-0 für die Rangers

Nacho Novo, der den angeschlagenen Boyd ersetzte, erzielte in der 64. das vorentscheidende 2-0. In der Nachspielzeit war es erneut B. Ferguson, welcher aus kurzer Entfernung, den gegnerischen Torwart überlüpfte. Tolles Spiel der Gers.

Jetzt gehts am Dienstag nach Montenegro zum Rückspiel gegen Zeta. Sollte nach dem 2-0 im Ibrox aber nichts mehr anbrennen.

[makarulez]

falls es jemand noch nicht mitbekommen haben sollte: roman wallner ist beim 4:0-sieg seines neuen klubs falkirk eine minute nach seiner einwechslung (75.) mit einem gegenspieler aneinander geraten und hat prompt gelb gesehen.

[schooontn]

Falkirk (Wallner, Olejnik auf der Bank) nach ca. 10 Minuten 1 - 0 gegen Celtic vorne, Torschuetze mal wieder Higdon.

Falkirk trifft erneut, Eigentor Milne und 1 - 1.

bearbeitet 11. August 2007 von seanton

[schooontn]

Nach vielen Chancen in der 2. Hz. endgueltig die Entscheidung, Miller macht nach nach einem Seitfallzieher von McGeady der an die Stange geht den Abstauber rein

Kurz spaeter Rot fuer Milne wegen Torraub und aus dem daraus resultierenden Freistoß macht Naka das 1 - 3.

Hartley auf Miller, der direkt zu Hesselink und 1-4. Alles innerhalb von 5 MInuten.

Und Wallner kann duschen gehen, wurde nicht eingwechselt.

bearbeitet 11. August 2007 von seanton

[Cormega]

da schalt ich gerade zum Spiel und seh in 2 Minuten 2 Tore für Celtic

Wobei ich zugeben muss dass die letzten 2 Tore recht ansehnlich waren

Jetzt fast das 1-5, aber Miller verpasst..

bearbeitet 11. August 2007 von Cormega

[themanwhowasntthere]

Kurz spaeter Rot fuer Milne wegen Torraub

war für mich gelb und noch dazu den falschen der beiden bestraft.

[Kante]

So super Hibs heute

[Owls]

Was is mit Wallner bei Falkirk los????

Der wird ja nicht nach Schottland gegangen sein um bei einem nicht wirklich bekannten Klub bei den Amateuren zu spielen??

Hat am wochenende 63 min gegen die Rangers A. gespielt. In der KM war er nicht im Kader.