The Old Firm in England - Celtic relegated, Rangers struggle
The story of when the Old Firm left for England
By ANDREW SOUTHWICK
THE Old Firm in the English Premiership – we've all thought about it at some point, whether it's because you want them to move, or are frightened by what would be left of Scottish football without them.
Would everyone else having a chance to win the league title and enter the Champions League qualifiers mean life would be better, or would we always pine for the return of Glasgow's big two?
And what of Rangers and Celtic? Would they flourish in the millionaire's playground, or resent it if they became also-rans? Would Old Firm games be the same if season after season the clashes just became another three points, with the league title never likely to be at stake?
Who knows, we'll never know until we try it. So, without the need to lobby the FA, UEFA or Sky, we made it happen, thanks to the make-believe world of Football Manager 2011.
Just how would last season have panned out had we moved Rangers and Celtic down south and restructured our game?
A new era for Scottish football
Lets get the boring bit out of the way and describe the set-up.
Any move south for the Old Firm should of course mean they start at the bottom and work their way up, however for the sake of sanity and to save this game taking far too long, they were put straight into the top flight.
We decided to put them on a par with Newcastle who had also just been promoted, and have an almost similar sized stadium and average support.
Therefore, both the Old Firm had £35 million ploughed into their accounts, with a transfer budget of £20 million and a wage budget of £60,000. Ticket prices were also upped to £32 per game, the same as games at St James Park.
In Scotland, there was now no point carrying on playing each other four times a season, so the opportunity was taken to restructure the whole game north of the border.
An 18 team top division was established, promoting the top eight sides from the previous year's First Division and canceling relegation from the SPL.
Three teams would be relegated, two automatically and one via a play-off. A 12 team First Division played to the same rules as the current SPL – three games against each other then a split. The top six saw two promoted, and three go into the play-off.
The new Second Division housed the remaining ten teams, and although we never set it up in our game presumably a pyramid system would be in place below that.
The League Cup was moved to the first half of the season, with the final scheduled for December, which would kick-off a new winter break which would end on Boxing Day.
With the Old Firm no longer representing Scottish football, they lost their European places. Dundee United took the automatic Champions League spot, Hibernian went into the qualifiers, and Ross County – who would now qualify for Europe as cup runners up because United were Champions League qualifiers – joined Hearts and Motherwell to make up the Europa League places.
Building title winning sides
And so, we were ready, however with the league title now a serious ambition for Hearts, Vladimir Romanov started meddling and they did their best to throw away their chance before the season began.
Lee Wallace, David Templeton, and Marius Zaliukas were amongst an exodus that brought in £4.5 million in funds but left Jim Jefferies short of talent. Costa Rican forward Ceslso Borges was signed for £1.3 million to try and appease an angry Jambos support.
Dundee United, who had been installed as the media's favourites to take the title, also began to sell their assets. Sean Dillon and Dusan Pernis went for a combined £2.3 million.
Motherwell managed the biggest coup, bringing in Dutch midfielder Andy Van Der Meyde on a free transfer.
Wigan seemed to be doing what Rangers and Celtic were expected to, signing up the cream of the SPL. Templeton, Derek Riordan and Stevie Hammell all made their way to the North of England.
The Old Firm's move south meant not so many young players would be able to get a game. Wisely, Gregg Wylde and James Forrest came north on loan to Dundee United and Hearts respectively.
Rangers and Celtic went spending big. Celtic broke their transfer record with £7 million bringing in Scott Dann from Birmingham (yes, exactly, who?). Matt Mill and Ross Jenkins where the other less than inspiring names that brought up their total spending to £12.3 million.
Neil Lennon also opted to send Scott Brown on loan to Bolton, and sold Nial McGinn for a fairly impressive £2 million.
Rangers brought in five stars, David Vaughan the biggest one alongside Mendy from Monaco as £10 million was spent.
A new chapter begins
By the time Rangers and Celtic kicked off their Premiership dream the SPL was already three games old, but those waiting for them to be humiliated had to be patient as they began well.
Celtic started away to a Wigan side packed full of new Scottish stars, and the Hoops romped it 3-0 and ended day one on top of the league.
Rangers battered Arsenal at Ibrox. There were 15 shots on goal from the home side, just three in return, only one on target. Final score, Rangers 0-1 Arsenal. The performance was there but their opponents now had the quality up front to punish them.
By the end of August the Scottish league had an incredible look to it. What had been expected to be a fight between the new big four of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hearts and Hibs had been turned on it's head.
Hamilton Accies led the table with 12 points from 15, with Raith Rovers in second place.
Down at the bottom, only Ross County were keeping Hearts and Dundee United off the basement.
The new TV schedule meant one game a week was live on a Friday night, with the second at 3pm on the Sunday. The Friday night games proved a hit with fans, with Kilmarnock 0-3 Partick Thistle drawing in a promising crowd of 7,237, while Dunfermline 0-1 Falkirk went off trouble free in another Friday night cracker.
In England, the Old Firm began to find the going tough, West Ham especially giving both a nasty welcome by thumping both by three goals. There was some comfort for Rangers as a 3-1 victory in the League Cup kept their trophy and European qualification hopes alive while Blackburn were defeated by the same scoreline in their first Premiership win.
Some things never change though, and in Europe our clubs fell like a stack of cards.
Hearts got past some mob called Sillamae Kalev, but lost home and away to Macabi Tel-Aviv as their season continued to start in disastrous fashion.
Motherwell got past Cypriot side Apoel, but had little chance against Manchester City who took them apart 6-0 on aggregate. Ross County, in their first ever European game, drew 1-1 with Besiktas, but got thumped in the second leg.
In the Champions League, Hibs lost to Braga, but should have done better when dropped to the Europa League, but succumbed to Bulgarian side Litex.
That left Dundee United as the sole survivors, virtue of automatic qualification for the group stage. Their first taste of the Champions League saw them draw Man Utd, Shalke and Shaktar Donetsk.
Wake me up when September ends
It was no green day for Celtic as Bolton gave them a 3-0 beating. However, Lennon's men recovered in emphatic style, thumping Manchester City 4-0 at Parkhead then drawing 3-3 in a reunion with Martin O'Neil at Villa Park.
It couldn't save them finishing the month in 14th place though, with just eight points from seven games.
For Rangers, it was even worse. They ended the month in 17th, just a single point above the relegation zone, after defeats to league leaders Manchester United, Birmingham and Liverpool.
They had left behind an enthralling title race.
Hearts continued to self implode as they sold Ismael Bouzid and Adrian Mrowiec. Their luck got worse when on-loan James Forest suffered an injury to his cruciate ligaments, with the physios predicting an eight month spell on the sidelines. Fans were nearly in revolt as Hibs knocked them out of the League Cup with a 1-0 win at Tynecastle.
Dundee United began spending their Champions League money as they bid to win the league – throwing £500,000 the way of Hamilton to sign Dougie Imrie. They had Craig Conway and Danny Swanson on the injury list though, alongside defenders Kovacevic and Douglas. Inevitably, they lost their opening two games of the Champions League, as they waited for an October double header against Manchester United.
St Johnstone went on a seven game unbeaten run to lead the SPL alongside Motherwell. Hamilton were just a point behind them, with Raith tucked into fourth place.
At the bottom Ross County were still rooted to the basement, holding up Dundee United, with Dunfermline and Dundee not too far ahead.
Winter wonderland
The fans were loving having the League Cup back in winter, and with the Old Firm out of the way, it paved the way for the first 'New Firm' final in twenty years. Dundee United demolished Hibs 4-1 at Tynecastle and Aberdeen put away Hamilton 3-1 at Tannadice. Paul Hartley would not be the man to captain the Dons at Hampden though, with injury putting him out for four months.
The Terrors were also hitting form in both the league and Europe, bravely battling away with Man Utd – losing both games just 1-0 – but defeat to Shaktar Donestsk ended any hope they had of avoiding bottom spot. That was forgotten though with a 2-1 derby win at Dens Park.
In the SPL, Hibs returned to Tynecastle in the league to gain a point from an ever improving Hearts, and by the end of November were joint top alongside Hamilton. St Johnstone were third, while Craig Brown was beginning to work his magic at Aberdeen and had them fourth.
The Scottish press were beginning to forget all about Rangers and Celtic, who were struggling to make an impact in England.
Walter Smith's side got as far as the third round of the League Cup before losing to Sunderland, while Celtic got a round further before succumbing to Tottenham.
In the league, Man City led from Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal. There was no Old Firm to be seen, Rangers 19 points behind and Celtic 21. This despite promising results, with Celtic drawing with Arsenal and Man Utd while Rangers were putting together a decent away record.
Their place in English football was rammed home though the night of the first Old Firm derby of the season. Arsenal v Bolton, Newcastle v Everton and West Ham v Sunderland were all chosen for TV ahead of the Ibrox showdown. Admittedly, 12th v 16th doesn't tend to be that important, and it was only Glasgow that held an interest as a late Kyle Lafferty goal ensured a 2-1 success for the Ibrox men.
Spend your way to success
Celtic decided to open the chequebook in order to change their fortunes, spending a combined £32 million on two players from Blackburn Rovers – Martin Olsson and Nikola Kalinic. To help fund the deals Glenn Loovens and Mark Wilson left.
Rangers decided to stick with what they had, though Jamie Ness was sent on loan to Inverness CT.
It worked – a little bit. Both the Old Firm started finding their feet, putting together some wins, and moving up the table, Rangers (10th) and Celtic (12th), and they were only a mere twenty points off top spot.
Second place Man City handed a 5-0 beating to the Hoops though, while Everton also stuck four past them. Likewise, Rangers lost by four to Chelsea. However, the 'Gers fought back and drew at Anfield before winning a five goal thriller at Old Trafford.
Save for the fact their chances of a trophy looked slim, every week should have been far from boring.
Up in Scotland though, we were having a right old knees up. Dundee United began the celebrations with a 2-1 win in front of over 46,000 at Hampden against Aberdeen; Jonny Russell's double sealing the League Cup.
By the end of January they were threatening to win the treble; leading the table alongside Hibs, with Aberdeen five points behind in third. However a Scottish Cup defeat to Kilmarnock ensured our first season without the Old Firm wasn't going to be ruined by one team taking all the trophies.
The dream turns sour
The fear of an 18 team league is that we would have a host of teams in mid-table without anything to play for.
As we got to April though, all 18 sides were fighting for something.
Dundee United led the table by a single point ahead of Hibs. Aberdeen and St Mirren were tied in third and fourth, St Johnstone tucked in just behind them.
The fight for a Europa League spot was still going strong too, with the top ten teams all still in spitting distance of each other. Likewise, 11th placed Queen of the South were only ten points ahead of the play-off spot, which was occupied by Dundee with Falkirk and Ross County hot on their tail.
Kilmarnock and St Johnstone set up an all blue Scottish Cup final, disposing of Hearts and Brechin in the semis.
So everyone was enjoying themselves. All, expect for some glum faces in Glasgow.
Rangers and Celtic both made their bow in the FA Cup third round, and both duly were knocked out nice and early – Celtic losing 2-0 to Everton and Rangers defeated 2-1 away to Birmingham.
However, you must always look on the bright side, and in this case at least neither set of support could complain of being bored. Celtic with five games to go were just one point ahead of the relegation zone, with a do or die game against 18th place Birmingham on the horizon.
Rangers looked to be safely clear of the battle, helped by completing the Old Firm double, with a 2-1 win at Parkhead helping to push their rivals closer to the championship – and them words now had a different meaning.
So Celtic began their fight for survival away to Alex McLeish's Brum, and lost 2-1, plunging them into the bottom three. A 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool gave them hope, but a 2-0 defeat away to Sunderland left them with just two games to save their lives.
It wasn't to happen for them. They could only draw 3-3 at home to Fulham, and on the final day already relegated Stoke's 2-0 win was enough to keep Newcastle above the Hoops.
Neil Lennon was sacked, Celtic were relegated, and the dream had turned into a nightmare. Rangers had survived, though they now had a season of no Old Firm derbies to look forward to, no European football, and simply a season of trying to close a considerable gap on the top five.
Up in Scotland though, the title race went down to the wire. On the final day of the season, in front of a Tannadice full house, Dundee United defeated bottom placed Ross County to win the title ahead of Hibs, who could only draw 1-1 with St Mirren.
Celebrations were added to for the Arabs with Dundee dumped into the play-offs. Cowdenbeath won Division One, with Brechin going up with them.
And then my friends, the game ended, and we got back to reality, where we kicked-off a twelve team Scottish Premier League. And it won'r be long until both are well ahead of the rest.
The vast majority of any TV deal is given to our top two to ensure the rest can never get close, and our clubs are more concerned with fleecing the loyal few fans who still go to the games than bringing the ones they've lost back.
Time to start up another game of football manager.....
Comments
Its clearly obvious that you dont have anything else to write about,never read such pish in my life.
Is this magazine a factual or opinionated publication? It just comes across as an uneducated slur at Rangers and Celtic.
Have a look for yourself and form an opinion on the magazine.
http://tinyurl.com/3lb6t8n
I'm still none the wiser. You're anti-Old Firm views are very clear to see though.
You are a typical biggoted so called Rangers supporter thats why your reputation is in the sewer nat no!
Think you're talking Rangers and Celtic up a little too much there.
Tottenham won 5-0 at Tynecastle the other night and they weren't even in top gear. Celtic have just went two home games in a row failing to score against Sion and St Johnstone, yet you're claiming you're head and shoulders above everyone in the EPL outside the top four?
I thought my article was a bit of a laugh, but your post raised more giggles than I ever could.
Try the basics first, like caps and full stops and work yourself up!
Seriously, are you related to the 'EDITOR'?
Maybe you were in the same class as him at skool! ;O)
You're not exactly writing great English yourself, unless "writen" is actually the correct spelling for that word (one of many examples).
Like?
Sorry for the typo, but as I said I don't have the qualifications to call myself 'EDITOR'.
If I writted writen when I should have wroted written I'm truly humbled.
Although your insistence in stating 'Rangers and Celtic', instead of the grammatically alphabetically correct 'Celtic and Rangers' speaks volumes. Although it does convey that renowned rapier wit of yours......sorry, 'EDITORIAL' rapier wit of yours.
Be honest though, a poster called 'trueblue' who has trouble spelling 'knees'??!!
Irony?
Come on, that's funny!
Probably worth actually reading (some of) your silly wee article for!
The only reason I can think is that your wee man got a wee tingle from it.
Celtic and rangers given the funds that ePL sides take for granted would blow the ePL apart, that's why they are, and have been for years, if not decades, fighting tooth and nail to keep us out!
The Celtic Man U charity game claimed an attendance of over 55,000, the Man U supporters who travelled up for the game, God bless them, numbered 5000 or so!
ANY ePL team would be lucky to draw that for an FA cup final!
Both teams have some of the largest global supports in the world!
Have a look at the record Celtic have against ePL teams in Europe, on a fraction of the budget.
You sir are a fud!
Firstly, if you're going to call someone illiterate, it's slightly embarassing if you then produce a post like you have above.
Secondly, it wasn't meant to be a serious article - the fact it was played on football manager was a large hint at that.
You see 'EDITOR' I'm just a guy giving my opinion to a poorly informed and badly writen piece of tosh.
I don't claim to be a writer or indeed have any delusional grandeur to claim to be an 'EDITOR'.
I will though concede that your article (?) was indeed comical.
Yeh...........games of football manager do tend to produce factually incorrect pieces right enough.
I think you've taken a light hearted piece a little too seriously.
My boy was playing Subbuteo with his pal just the other day and Celtic hammered Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea........etc, time and time again!
I rest my case!
Or, perhaps they'll take it for what it was; a wee bit of fun.
They'de be more than welcome!
Although I have to come clean and tell you my boy's 32 and build like the proverbial and was playing my wee maw who'll be 107 next month.
If you think I'm 'upset' you should see her!
She's sitting right now with a cup of sweet milky sugary tea with two asprins in it.
To be honest part of that's more to do with the fact that bullying big b******'s still not letting her be Celtic at Subbuteo!!
What can I say, 'Broken Britian'!!
the old firm would do ok, even with the extra cash they would not be prepared to put themselves into massive debt like most of the top teams round the world i.e Man Utd, Real Madrid ergo they wouldnt win the title.After a few seasons they'd settle into competing for european places. maybye on a par with a Spurs or liverpool. never gonna happen anyway
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