Okay, before you all cast your first stones, please, hear me out…
As you undoubtedly already know, Rangers have been demoted to play in the 17th division of the Scottish Premier League. Well, not the 17th, but you get the idea. Basically they will be playing from the backyards of the Stuart and Burns’ estates. They have fallen so far off the map that even Juventus (who were demoted to Serie B several years ago you will remember) is laughing. A team who is not laughing, surprisingly, is Rangers’ most hated rivals – Celtic.
*Warning* – about to state the obvious – Rangers and Celtic need each other, and their rivalry drives their businesses. Not only does the demotion of Rangers hurt their own fan base, players and staff, but also Celtic’s. The rivalry is one of football’s oldest, and without checking Wikipedia for an exact “established on” date (hey, it’s good for something, don’t laugh!) I would venture to guess it’s one of the oldest rivalries in all of sports. Fair to say? The rivalry got more interesting when Celtic’s fan base forced the club’s management to vote against Rangers, leading the latter to be demoted to the fourth division – the equivalent of playing top-flight football in Madagascar (no offence meant to readers from Madagascar).
Although this idea might sound convoluted, and I might even think so come morning, what if the English Premier League were to extend an invitation to Rangers and Celtic to play in the premiership? Of course the chances are about as great as Pier Morgan not sounding like an ass every time he tweets something “#Arsenal”. Hear me out…
Of course the schedule is set, teams are already preparing for the August 18th start, but we can always discuss “what ifs” such as these. I’m not actually suggesting that this year the FA do an about-face and rearrange everything to include the two Scottish sides – that of course is impossible. But how about for the 2013-14 season? Imagine two very well-supported and powerful clubs joining the English league. Would it not raise the league’s quality, financial stability and power? Don’t we want to see the best calibre of footy possible?
Let’s just say for a minute that I took my idea to the FA, and they, of course, laughed in my face (also very likely), what if there was a “Plan B” where the two Scottish sides would play an annual tourney with teams not involved in Champions League play (as their schedules are far too strenuous already) or Europa? Perhaps a Newcastle-Spurs-Liverpool-Everton-Celtic-Rangers tournament? It would certainly make money, and isn’t that what football’s all about these days anyway? I hope you can infer sarcasm.
Clearly my intent is not serious in nature, however, I believe it not to be so far-fetched either. I am the first to admit the footballers play far too many games as it is, so it seems even to me to be counter-productive to add more matches to their dockets. However, you can’t disagree that from a strictly financial perspective involving the two SPL teams only makes sense. Does anyone agree? Anyone….anyone…any… Oh, nevermind.
Okay, cast your stones…… now!
…until tomorrow, lads.
