Off The Ball - Monday Update

Oh, thank God that Euro nonsense is over. Inside Left is pleased that Germany didn't win, but is slightly miffed at the fact that we had originally picked Spain as winners in the office pool, but changed our minds - given Spain's record in football competitions generally - and changed to Italy instead. Excellent choice we thought, and so today we're £10 out of pocket; not a good way to start the day.

The two Scottish clubs represented at the competition, Celtic and Inverness CT, are probably glad it's over too, mainly because it means their players are no longer in the shop window and subject to being picked off by the bigger boys in the football playground. So just how did we rate the performance of the Scottish based players in Euro 2008?

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. It's hard to give him a rating because he only played once, and then for only 7 minutes (not counting injury time) when he came on for Klaas Jan Huntelaar after 83 minutes against Romania. We give Jan two points for making the team, 1 point for making an appearance and an extra point for keeping his kit clean.

Giorgos Samaras, like his Dutch team-mate, made only the one appearance, as a substitute against Sweden. He made some decent runs and looked dangerous when he first came on. Once Sweden got their second goal though, he didn't feature much.

Artur Boruc played in all 3 of Poland’s games, and was by far-and-away Poland's best player. He made a string of good saves that made the score lines look a lot worse had he not been there. We'd have given him nine points for making the best of a poor team, but deduct one because his performance meant there's a lot of clubs out to buy him, meaning another talented and entertaining player looks set to leave Scotland.

Inverness Caley's Marius Niculae started against Holland and came on as a substitute in the first game against France. He should be happy with his performances -  he's back on the international scene with Sporting Lisbon and Torino showing an interest.

Do you think we're right? Leave a comment with your opinions, or join the forum and start a discussion!

The Scottish Premier League has announced a massive £125m contract with Setanta Sports to continue the rights to live SPL matches for a further four years until 2014. The new deal - more than twice the value of the present one - will extend the current partnership from the start of season 2010/11 through to the end of season 2013/14.  (source BBC)

We're now only three days away from finding out who will join the SFL for next season. Last week on Inside Left we mentioned that Cove Rangers had created a video to showcase their club and explain why they, and not the others should join the league. The video is available here and is, in our opinion, rather good. Personally, we'd love Cove to join the league and give Aberdeen a second league team, but given the number of teams to have joined from the Highland League of late, it seems somewhat unlikely.

According to an "SFL insider", the eight-man SFL committee favours Annan Athletics’ bid, as they have the best facilities (apart from floodlights). Cove Rangers are planning a new stadium and Spartans are building a new stadium, though it will not be ready for the new season. The only potential fly in the ointment is the distance between Annan and the rest of civilisation. However, as Annan Athletic chairman Henry McClelland points out, they're an hour down the M74 from the "outskirts" of Glasgow. He goes on to say though, in an slightly own-goal sort of way, that the nearest league club is 80 miles away, further underlining the sheer remoteness of the club.

Spartans are panicking slightly, as the same SFL insider revealed that the Edinburgh based side scored poorly with the SFL management committee. The problem seems to be their new Ainslie Park ground, which will not be completed until the beginning of September.

We truly hope the SFL wont simply consider the stadium facilities as the most important criteria for selection. All the clubs applying have plans in place for new stadia which, when built, will serve the club and the community. The SFL needs to consider the long term, and not the short term vision and chose the team that will bring the most to Scottish Football on the pitch, in the stands and in the results. That may not always be the one with the best stadium.

The managerial merry-go-round at Hearts shows no sign of slowing down as another possible candidate, Jurgen Rober, turns down the dream-job that is being manager of Heart of Midlothian FC.  He fears too much interference from on high. And he'd be right about that! Jurgen was probably one of the most qualified managers Hearts could have hoped for, having managed for many years in the Bundesliga. Ian McLeod, a former member of of the 'Save Our Hearts' campaign group that successfully ousted Chris Robinson and his evil plan to move Hearts to Murrayfield, has said it is not too late for club owner Vladimir Romanov to save the clubs reputation if he acts quickly to appoint a new manager and stops interfering. He warned that:

"If things don't improve then people will vote with their feet and the team will be playing to half-empty stadiums. If things continue the way that they are then we are only a matter of weeks away from people saying that enough is enough. I have spoken to some of the other members of the previous campaign and, although we don't want it to take over our lives like it did before, the tide is definitely turning"

Hamilton have strengthened their managerial team with the appointment of John McCormack as Billy Reid's assistant.  The former Albion Rovers manager will face his old club again on 22nd July in a pre-season friendly. Staying in Hamilton,  Richard Offiong adds to his Irn Bru SFL First Division Player of the Year award - he's been named Sunday Mail First Division Player of the Year. Offiong was Division 1 top scorer last season with 19 goals.

Ok, that’s your lot for today – back tomorrow with more news and articles about the game in Scotland.