Virgil van Dijk

Its surprising the number of Celtic fans who seem to be recruiting agencies for the EPL and Championship.. There are a lot of negatives involved with over half the EPL teams . Poor
attendances , no atmosphere and nearly every match a back to the wall fear of losing and fear of relegation .
At Celtic there is a reasonable expectation of playing in front of at least medium size crowds and at least a half dozen glamour European matches .

 

The Championship is an awful league, not one of their games have enticed me to watch 90 mins of football, same can be said for the EPL in the past 18 months, its just boring, negative, overhyped garbage

 

my views exactly

 

I really don't see it to be honest (assuming we are talking about top end teams).

The Championship is a richer and higher quality league that is capable of paying greater wages and offers just as great a platform for players to move on. Playing in the Championship is a far greater test that the SPFL and the media attention is far greater. Then there is the real possibility of winning promotion to play in the EPL and even if you don't, as long as you stand out you have a good shot at being bought. The season starts with around 10 teams that have a real chance at winning it, and around half the league have a real chance of promotion.

Celtic offer around 6 games a season - simple as that really. We offer a champions league platform that is of value if we do ok in the competition, and isn't worth too much if we just get horsed. Fail to qualify and a top players season is basically written off. We do offer a bigger weekly crowd but then that is on the decline and the crowd is basically silent. A motivated crowd of 25000 watching an important game is a lot nosier than a 45000 crowd watching a meaningless game.

Leaving my bias for Celtic aside and purely based on a career move, I would take a top Championship team over Celtic every time (obviously in a personal sense I would pick Celtic)

 

Sad but true. In my post, I actually forgot to point out that the CL isn't much of a platform if we get battered (not at all unlikely), but it's true. I think you make another important point that I didn't stress enough: join us for the CL and, if we don't qualify, the season is a wirite-off for these players.

We are Celtic, that helps a bit; but in terms of league there just isn't currently any comparison between the SPFL and the Championship, let alone the EPL. That is our own fault, though. It's not inevitable for our league to be quite as poor as it is now.

 

We have a higher revenue stream than every championship team - significantly higher.

Championship teams get themselves in a bit of a financial pickle in the hope of EPL promotion and thereafter the riches that are awarded.

Have you seen the crowds Sween? In the championship? They are pretty poor, plenty of empty seats and the atmosphere is non-existent. Too many gloryhunters who come out of the woodwork when teams play in the EPL but never appear when they are in the championship.

I agree with what you mean but I don't agree with it all. People are painting the championship in a better light because they are evaluating it through EPL goggles.

 

As I posted above, the crowds in the Championship are significantly higher than in the SPFL if you look at the figures. Our attendances are actually comparable with league 1 (though even here Wolves and Sheffield Utd have significantly larger crowds than any SPFL club other than ourselves).

 

And so they should be, what with a population 10x that of Scotland. However, in comparison to us? You see the matches and most teams have huge swathes of empty seats.

 

MARCH 11, 2014
Team Average
1 Brighton & Hove Albion 27,092
2 Leeds United 25,369
3 Derby County 24,347
4 Leicester City 23,725
5 Nottingham Forest 22,863
6 Sheffield Wednesday 21,447
7 Reading 19,120
8 Queens Park Rangers 16,725
9 Charlton Athletic 16,686
10 Ipswich Town 16,554
11 Middlesbrough 15,945
12 Bolton Wanderers 15,892
13 Watford 15,525
14 Blackburn Rovers 15,289
15 Wigan Athletic 15,144
16 Birmingham City 14,939
17 Huddersfield Town 14,147
18 Blackpool 14,111
19 Burnley 12,820
20 Barnsley 11,546
21 Millwall 10,681
22 AFC Bournemouth 9,661
23 Doncaster Rovers 8,705
24 Yeovil Town 6,663

 

Did you have that up before mate? I never seen it.

To be honest, I think thats still shocking. I mean look at Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City's - they are lacklustre for them clubs.

 

Huge swathes of empty seats? Bit like our league then. Except their stadiums are much bigger for the most part. It's very simple: if you were a footballer, would you rather play in front of larger crowds, a better quality of football and much more competitive league (plus the possibility of trips to places like Anfield and Old Trafford in the cups if you do well enough) for higher wages?

 

Perhaps you could give some example of teams that have given this platform which equals or surpasses ours.

If these guys want a competitive league then they should not aspire to move to the EPL or La Liga.

We have a minimum of 6 big European games however I would argue the the final Cl qualifying round will usually see us face better opposition than the likes of Millwall, Yeovil, Doncaster Rovers or Barnsley. Getting 2nd or 3rd in the CL will add a minimum of 2 more euro games(hopefully more if in the EL).

 

I didn't post them, mate; but it's the figures I was referring to in my earlier post. IMO they're very healthy crowds for a second tier!

Edit: you're right about Birmingham. That is surprising. Blackburn are a small club anyway IMO.

 

Well the clubs must sell themselves well then if they use the Old Trafford/Anfield/Etihad tripe because the chances are slim (I know cup games but only a few smaller teams ever play them every season). So for the majority of the season you are playing in Brighton, Luton and the likes.

There will be very few players in the championship earning more than Scott Brown (28k a week). And I do mean very few.

If I were a footballer, would I rather play for Celtic or in the Championship - thats an easy question, the EPL however.....not so easy.

 

Well the cup trips are dependent on how well you play. It's kind of partly in your hands. Of course, Celtic are a bigger draw than any Championship club; but the league itself is a much bigger draw than ours. If you were a player and they offered you the choice between the Championship or any other SPFL club other than Celtic, I doubt you'd have to think for more than a second or two.

 

Aye if it were any other SPFL team, you wouldn't have to think.

Really? I always thought Blackburn were 'big' aswell. Probably just because of the mid-90's and Kenny, couldn't tell you anything else though.

 

Nah, they were just a wee team (by English standards) with a rich sugar daddy. Jack Walker was the original Roman Abramovich type way back in the early 90's. I'd say Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen are actually similar sized clubs (at least potentially). Even in the Premiership Blackburn's crowds were only in the low 20k range IIRC.

Edit: a quick check on google shows similar figures for Birmingham City. I'm shocked, I always though they were bigger than that (presumably because of their rivalry with Aston Villa, who are a genuinely big club).

 

Were these players given more credibility than Gary Hooper? Who was our top goalscorer, which was the point being made. If the Championship top scorers were more sought after than Hooper, then why did only one get a move from the teams that didn't go up? You seem to have quite high an opinion on the Championship, a very overrated league in terms of quality in my honest opinion.

 

I don't have a particularly high opinion of the Championship, it's just that I have an even lower opinion of the SPFL.

 

Including our players? As this is the main crux of the debate. It wasn't the SPL in general, it was our players, compared to ones in the Championship. Mainly, strikers.