In Defence Of Scottish Football
It is Saturday I am going to relax by doing to the time-honoured tradition of following the footy scores. I like football, but not obsessed with it as some are. Raith Rovers and Scotland team are the only teams that I have any emotional connection with. Watching them means I am on the edge of my seat. I leap about when they win ( which has not been often). I suffer the lows when they get beat (which has been a lot).
There is a negative narrative about Scottish football. I have heard stuff like "Predictable", "Boring", "Dull". "Naff," said to me. These are from people who have watched one or two games, and those games are ones involving 'the old firm'. I will concede that the Scottish Premiership is predictable. When the season finishes it will be either Rangers or Celtic in first and second. Third place more often is what all the other teams are playing for. The neat equation of Predictability = Boring is a lazy one. People throw it around when they talk about our game. I would argue most of the top leagues in the world suffer from it. Let's face it most English Premiership clubs are playing for 6th or 7th. You can apply the Predciablity equation at that league.
I defend Scottish football from all the other charges of boring, dull and naff. Take a look at the Championship league where my team Raith play. At the moment 7 points separate the top 5. The bottom 5 is the same. A team can win a couple of games and be challenging for promotion. They can then go on a losing streak and be battling relegation. While that might not be good for the blood pressure of the managers it is a million miles away from being boring.
This is what an exciting League looks like
Forget the overhyped, predictable top leagues and watch the lower leagues. More fun, tighter games are more exciting. That is what football is about.
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