Can Hearts win the Scottish Premiership?
Hearts have had an incredible start to the Scottish Premiership season as they currently sit top of the table unbeaten. Derek McInnes joined the Jambos four months ago and has been a revelation as they’ve beaten Rangers and Hibernian already this season. The Jam Tarts are two points ahead of Celtic and 11 clear of the Light Blues as both of the Old Firm are massively under performing. As McInnes’ men are on red hot form, there’s been bold predictions from fans and pundits alike that this could be the season a team outside of the Hoops and the Gers could win the league. The last time a team outside of Glasgow’s big two won the league was Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in 1985. The Hearts boss has played down talk of his side being potential title challengers and is just taking each game as it comes. Social media content creator and long-life fan of the boys in Maroon ‘Hearts_Enthusiast’ Graeme Duthie spoke to SNN Sports about his team’s unbelievable start to the season: “It’s been a far better start than I think we could have imagined, 12 games in all competitions and only the defeat to St Mirren in the League Cup has been the only disappointment. “I think he has changed the mentality at the club and none more so than late winners against Dundee United, Livingston and the best one being Hibs. “He is going into every game to try and win it and not setting up thinking about trying to not lose. To be sitting top after only 7 league games is beyond any Hearts fans wildest dream.” Despite the excellent start to the campaign, Duthie added that the title may be too much of an ask this season as Brendan Rodgers’ men will more than likely strengthen in the January transfer window but believes finishing second is a strong possibility: “It’s been a far better start than I think we could have imagined, 12 games in all competitions and only the defeat to St Mirren in the League Cup has been the only disappointment. “I think he has changed the mentality at the club and none more so than late winners against Dundee United, Livingston and Hibs. “He is going into every game to try and win it and not setting up thinking about trying to note lose. “To be sitting top of the league after only seven league games is beyond any Hearts fans wildest dreams.” Despite the excellent start to the campaign, Duthie added that the title may be too much of an ask this season: “I don’t mind anyone whether it’s media or fans thinking it could happen as there is nothing wrong with showing ambition. “But personally, I don’t think we will as I think consistency is really important and over the course of the season I don’t see us being consistent. “I also think Celtic will get better as the season goes on and if come January we are still there near the top Celtic will go and spend money that we just can’t compete with. “Right now we have broken our transfer record with Ageu but if Celtic go and spend £7 million or more on a player we just can’t do that. “I think with the squad we have and the manager we have there’s every chance we could finish second but I think the title is something that might be out of our reach right now.”
Jesper Karlsson in full belief the Dons can find their feet following Dundee victory
Jasper Karlsson believes Aberdeen can kick start their season after the International break. On loan Bologna winger, Jesper Karlsson believes the dons can get going after claiming their first league win of the campaign against Dundee. Despite their 4-0 win over Steven Presley’s Dundee, they remain bottom but the dons look like they’re on the rise again. Aberdeen played fantastically against Dundee in their 4-0 victory which could’ve definitely have been more in a very bright display. Aberdeen haven’t had the start they’d hoped for but a big win on the weekend restores belief within the Aberdeen side. The on loan Bologna man came up with 2 goals against Dundee as well as a goal against Shakhtar Donetsk from the penalty spot on Thursday night. Karlsson hopes to be a key player at the Pittodrie side as the Swede looks to be an outstanding capture. The Italian outfit signed Jesper from Dutch side, AZ Alkmaar for £10million and is certainly a gem of a pickup by Jimmy Thelin. Karlsson will be looking to continue to help Aberdeen as they prepare for a trip to Paisley to face St Mirren after the International break, a place where Aberdeen have found to be very difficult in past meetings. Karlsson said: “There is now a little bit more relief for the situation we are in. “We have a good team with good players and I think we just need some games to get things going. “And a little bit of luck or something, and then we will go forward.” Aberdeen’s disastrous start to the season displayed signs of turning around when narrowly losing to Shakhtar Donetsk in Europe. Jesper said: “We built on what we did in the Shakhtar game. “It was good to do that and then go on to get the win against Dundee. “At the penalty I wanted to shoot to the middle, so it wasn’t good. “However, the second goal was really good. “Adil (Aouchiche) and Emmanuel (Gyamfi) scored too, so it was very good from everyone to get goals.”
Sheffield Wednesday On The Brink As Fans Protest Against Dejphon Chansiri
Sheffield Wednesday fans took to the field on Saturday in protest at the ownership of club Chairman Dejphon Chansiri as they slumped to a 5-0 defeat to Coventry. Whilst Wrexham and Birmingham City are living the dream after respective big money American takeovers the financial situation that has plighted Sheffield Wednesday for years has caused fans to have enough of the owner Dejphon Chansiri who seems to be in no rush to sell the club. Thai businessman took over the club in 2014 and set lofty goals of reaching the promised land of the Premier League. Whilst early on in his tenure this looked a possibly as they narrowly lost the 2016 playoff final to Hull City before succumbing to Huddersfield at the semi-final stage the following season what has proceeded at the Hillsborough club has sent shockwaves through English football. In July 2020 the club were hit with a points deduction for breaking the EFL spending rules being deducted 12 points reduced to 6 on appeal. This sparked the catalyst of what has been a turbulent 5 years for Wednesday supporters. Relegated to League 1 and taking two seasons to return to the Championship the fans were unhappy with the way Chansiri was running the club. In a bombshell statement Chansiri stated he was putting no more money into the club citing his unhappiness with the treatment towards him and demanding the fans pay the outstanding amount owed by the club. Since this statement the club has been put under two registration embargo for failing to pay HMRC. Earlier this summer the north stand at Hillsborough was condemned by the city council and forced to close with the structure being deemed unsafe however, this was later lifted. On top of this earlier this month it was revealed that the players wages were to be payed late the 5th time this has happened in only 7 months with it being claimed this is due to an issue with money owned to Chansiri’s other businesses. The club face further sanctions from the EFL as they are already under a transfer embargo until the end of 2026. With the club looking on the brink of insolvency and Chansiri showing no signs of selling it begs the question what can the EFL do? In the last 5 years there have been financial issues at Wigan, Bury, Derby, Torquay, Hull City, Bolton, Reading, Carlisle and Morecambe with Bury ceasing to trade as a football club due to their perilous situation. The EFL do have measures in place to assess new owners by way of a fit and proper person tests can they do more when owners are essentially running clubs into the ground. The Covid Pandemic has played a part in these issues the power to remove owners who are running clubs unsustainably or holding them to ransom is something that needs looked at. Furthermore punishing clubs for their breaches of rules in the way of points deductions is a counter productive measure. For clubs to find themselves on minus points increasing the risk of relegation in turn causing more financial losses is not the way forward. The future of one of English Football’s most historic and well known clubs in doubt and the situation showing no immediate signs of improving is it time for the powers govern the game to step in and save the club from potential collapse.
Robertson Urges Scotland to “Make Home Advantage Count” Ahead of Crucial Double Header
Scotland host Greece and Belarus this weekend in the latest leg of their World Cup Qualifying Campaign, and captain Andy Robertson believes his side can lead the Tartan Army to “America, Canada, and Mexico” next summer. Steve Clarke’s side currently sit second place in Group C, collecting four points against Denmark and Belarus last month. Robertson praised his side’s performances, but also acknowledged that improvements can be made this week. “I thought we got back to our best in September, I thought the lads were good, and we got the results to match that” “Delighted with a point away to the pot 1 team, but I think all the lads were sat in the changing room thinking it could have been more, I do think we had our moments, we had our chances, we had periods of pressure where we had them where we wanted them” Robertson also paid homage to his team’s professionalism against minnows Belarus, referencing that the match “was difficult on lots of different reasons” with none of the Tartan Army present inside the ZTE Arena. Thursday’s match against Greece may spark nightmares for supporters, after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to the Greeks in March relegated Scotland to Nations League B. Ivan Jovanovic’s side have received a major boost with the return of attacking star Konstantinos Karetsas, who originally looked set to miss the games, but has recovered from illness. The 17-year-old starred in the thrashing, adding the second goal minutes before halftime. Christos Tzolis should also play a pivotal part on Thursday night. The Club Brugge attacker enjoyed a major role in a 9-1 aggregate victory over Rangers in the Champions League Play-off Round. But Scotland will also be bolstered, and have reason to be confident. The return of Premier League stars Ben Gannon-Doak and Aaron Hickey, both injured for Greece’s last visit, will add threat in the wide areas. The captain has urged his side to produce a better performance against Jovanovic’s side tomorrow evening, “The last time we faced Greece here was obviously a huge disappointment, we’ve got to try and learn from that game and learn from our mistakes” Ultimately, it is vital that Scotland perform strongly due to the short qualifying format. With only four games left to secure automatic entry to the World Cup, Robertson admits the campaign is a “bit of a sprint”, reinforcing the importance to kick on in this latest round of fixtures. Two strong performances in Mount Florida would be a major leap towards a first World Cup appearance for 27 painful years. Scotland face Greece at Hampden on October 9th at 7:45pm, and face Belarus on October 12th at 5pm. Both matches will be broadcast on BBC Scotland.
SPFL announce record breaking payout
The SPFL have sent out a record sum to SPFL clubs. The Scottish Professional Football League have today sent out £42million across all 42 clubs in the SPFL which is an increase of 11% from last year’s £37.9million which is now sitting at £42million going up by £4.1million. The SPFL brought in a sum of £50.4million which has surpassed the threshold of £50million, making history. Money paid by the SPFL to teams in the top 4 decision has increased to £35.1million. The TV money has been the main factor for the increase which is also down to the rise of income in the deal with Sky Sports including the 5-year contract with Premier Sports which was to show 20 games a season which has went up to 22 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Another factor of the sharp rise of revenue was down to the sponsorships, licences and match data with the historic deal with the top betting company. William Hill with last season being the beginning of the 5-year contract. SPFL group chief executive, Neil Doncaster said: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to announce the strongest turnover and total group distributions in the history of Scottish league football. These figures are by some distance the best financial figures in the 12 years of the SPFL. “Against a backdrop of worldwide economic uncertainty, the strong cooperation amongst our clubs and a shared focus to continue to grow our game commercially has been vital to achieving these results. “We’ve recently reported considerably higher attendances per capita than any other European league in a UEFA report for the third year running, and these figures also reflect the high level of interest in our game from broadcasters and partners. Whilst we will never be complacent, we are proud that the league continues to make significant progress, and these financial results represent an important milestone in the history of the SPFL.” SPFL chairman, Murdoch MacLennan said: “Our latest results once again underline the strength and ambition of our game here in Scotland: “Our small but dedicated team at the SPFL is focused on driving forward the league for our 42 member clubs and we will now look to build on this momentum in the months and years ahead.” The fees will be sent out to clubs depending on where clubs finish in their respective league season. Funding will be sent to Scottish Power Women’s Premier League sides as well as prize totals in the Premier Sports Cup and KDM Evolution trophy. Payments for space will also be given in selected Scottish Premiership matches which are shown live on Premier Sports.
Rangers Are Looking Like ‘Wee Boys’ – Ally McCoist
Former Rangers manager and striker Ally McCoist has said the current playing squad at Ibrox look like “wee boys” and claims that sacked manager Russell Martin and co. were not readily prepared before accepting the job offer in the summer. The Gers axed the ex-Southampton boss just 123 days into his miserable reign, with fans being sceptical pretty much from the beginning. Martin won just once in seven league meetings, and only five times out of seventeen matches in all competitions, as he became the shortest serving permanent manager in the club’s history. Speaking on talkSPORT’s Sportsbreakfast, McCoist said: “The new owners and certainly the old management staff probably underestimated the size of the job and the task. “That aligned to really poor business in the transfer market. “The buck rightly and understandably stops at the manager, but sometimes when you get on the pitch you’ve got to take responsibility, and Rangers just look like wee boys.” When asked who he would bring in to replace Martin, McCoist suggested two England legends and one former Rangers player. “I wish we’d taken my advice for the last one and that was Frank Lampard. my exact tip was Frank Lampard. “I’d quite like to see Steven Gerrard coming back. I don’t think he will though. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but I think he probably has to stay out of the country for a while for other reasons. “We probably missed the boat with Derek McInnes who’s doing a fantastic job at Hearts.” Rangers have the luxury of an international break to find the right replacement for Martin, before they host Dundee United at Ibrox a week on Saturday.
Rangers set for talks with Steven Gerrard about a sensational return to Ibrox
Rangers are set for talks with Steven Gerrard this week about a potential return to Ibrox four years after departing the club. The Light Blues are on the hunt to appoint their 21st permanent manager in the club’s 153 year history after sacking Russell Martin. Gerrard appeared on Rio Ferdinand Presents and said that he has ‘unfinished business’ in football management. According to Sky Sports News, the Gers board are keen to speak with the former England international but it would not be a straightforward conversation as talks broke down in the summer before Martin was appointed. The footballing legend’s situation is complicated as his family are settled in the middle east and there may be some tax issues to iron out. Gerrard would need some reassurances before he decides to make the switch to Glasgow again. The 45-year-old is beloved by the Rangers faithful after he delivered their first league title in ten years in 2021.
