Scott Arfield

[JamboAl]

@Shway: I take offence to your general comment about the SPFL but I’m probably biased.  Blood and guts yes, quality can be iffy at times but you can’t beat the passion.  If you say the SPFL is shit then I don’t want to hear what you think of the CPL.

[Shway]

17 minutes ago, JamboAl said:

@Shway: I take offence to your general comment about the SPFL but I’m probably biased.  Blood and guts yes, quality can be iffy at times but you can’t beat the passion.  If you say the SPFL is shit then I don’t want to hear what you think of the CPL.

I hear you, it should be taken offensive if you have some sort of affinity to the league. For reference MLS used too be about “blood and guts” but have evolved to where that league is now overall better technically and skillfully than SPL in a lot of ways…I don’t believe Rangers or Celtic would wash the best MLS teams in a given year. There’s a reason Scotland national team is where they are for years.

CPL is in year 2.5 ….and you know what I say to my football friends about the quality? If you can watch the SPL, then you should watch/support the CPL. Forge has shown that they are better than perceived, especially with their 2 year history. I can’t imagine when the league gets to 2026. 

Im pro-Canada everything, so it’s weird you would think I would have a negative notion for a league that’s as old as my son, in comparison to clubs thats are older than my father. It’s shit, but don’t dislike me it’s just my opinion lol.

[trc2014]

I wonder if anyone even asked about him at the JH press conference.....

we have likely reached the end of this thread.

[Yoginess]

54 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

I wonder if anyone even asked about him at the JH press conference.....

we have likely reached the end of this thread.

If Tomori has done anything for us, it's prove that it may be dead but that doesn't at all mean the thread is dead. 

[Free kick]

18 hours ago, Shway said:

I've watched Arfield in the SPL (just not recently), I've watched Millar in the SPL, I've watched Wotherspoon in the SPL, I've watched Paton in the SPL....that league is shit. Reason why Millar couldn't adjust to the rash style of play. Reason why Stevie G said the ball spends way to much time in the air. I have a basis of seeing the level of the league, and the fact he isn't playing is alarming regardless if it's the mighty Rangers of the Scottish football league.

It was always a two horse league. I believe that in something like 60 years the same two teams have won the league except once (Aberdeen if i am nit mistaken).  
 

But what is more significant is that, now, even those top two clubs cant even get out of the preliminary rounds (August and Sept) of champions league.    Rangers coulnt even beat Malmo this year.  Not being able to beat the Swedish champ would have been unthinkable even 10-15 year ago.   Malmo look like they will be the wipping boys in this CL group stage.   You always use to think of Celtic and Rangers as at the very least a group stage regular , though not much more than that. 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

13 hours ago, Free kick said:

It was always a two horse league...

That's not actually accurate but it doesn't really matter because you could say much the same about plenty of other European leagues in smaller countries. In Serbia you have Red Star and Partizan, in Croatia you have Dinamo and Hajduk and then....

Not being able to beat the Swedish champion has never been unthinkable for top Scottish clubs for as long as Swedish clubs have been fully professional because Sweden has a significantly larger population than Scotland. CL qualification happens when Swedish clubs are in midseason form and Scottish clubs very much aren't so I think you are making too much out of that.

If Arfield was still starting regularly for Rangers, the quality in depth of the CMNT has not progressed to the point where he would be easy to ignore just because a top Scottish club is involved. I hope you are not going to try to argue that Rangers are below FC Eindhoven, Panetolikos or Moreirense in the pecking order of European soccer?

He isn't starting regularly and from what I understand has lost quite a bit of pace now that he is past his prime years in career terms, which is a problem for him because his game depended on that more than would be the case for many other players, so I'm not sure why this is so much of an issue on here.

[CanadaFan123]

2 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

That's not actually accurate but it doesn't really matter because you could say much the same about plenty of other European leagues in smaller countries. In Serbia you have Red Star and Partizan, in Croatia you have Dinamo and Hajduk and then....

Not being able to beat the Swedish champion has never been unthinkable for top Scottish clubs for as long as Swedish clubs have been fully professional because Sweden has a significantly larger population than Scotland. CL qualification happens when Swedish clubs are in midseason form and Scottish clubs very much aren't so I think you are making too much out of that.

If Arfield was still starting regularly for Rangers, the quality in depth of the CMNT has not progressed to the point where he would be easy to ignore just because a top Scottish club is involved. I hope you are not going to try to argue that Rangers are below FC Eindhoven, Panetolikos or Moreirense in the pecking order of European soccer?

He isn't starting regularly and from what I understand has lost quite a bit of pace now that he is past his prime years in career terms, which is a problem for him because his game depended on that more than would be the case for many other players, so I'm not sure why this is so much of an issue on here.

I’m not sure how national population factors into club sides here. What is relevant is that Celtic and rangers both have significantly larger fan bases than any club in Sweden. 

[Free kick]

23 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I’m not sure how national population factors into club sides here. What is relevant is that Celtic and rangers both have significantly larger fan bases than any club in Sweden. 

Yes, In fact they have massive fan bases with tentacles and branches even right here is Canada.   Malmo, is unknown (outside sweden) compared to Celtic and Rangers.  And the stadium for Malmo has only 14k seats.  Whereas the two scottish clubs have huge stadiums of 50k and 60k.  Yet Malmo advanced comfortable by winning 2-1 and 2-1 against Rangers.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Free kick

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

10 minutes ago, Free kick said:

...Malmo, is virtually unknown (outside sweden) compared to Celtic and Rangers...

Malmo played in a European Cup final against Nottingham Forest in 1979. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is widely known to have started his career with them, so no idea how you could have reached that conclusion.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[longlugan]

7 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Malmo played in a European Cup final against Nottingham Forest in 1979. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is widely known to have started his career with them, so no idea how you could have reached that conclusion.

And that makes them a household name like Celtic and Rangers? Wow... your soccer IQ is dipping Ozzie the Peanut.

[Unnamed Trialist]

19 hours ago, longlugan said:

And that makes them a household name like Celtic and Rangers? Wow... your soccer IQ is dipping Ozzie the Peanut.

Anyone who has followed European football with minimal attention knows the teams that have played European Cup finals. My kid is studying in Liège, which I know from Standard, and pretty well only from Standard. Because they played a European Cup final. No one is saying Malmoe is more famous, just that to diss it like that is extremely parochial and narrow-minded. 

Sweden has been a strong footballing nation since the 1950s and has held up better than Scotland, to give an example. Scottish players have never gotten their team past a first round. Swedes have played 4 semis and lost a final to Brazil. So just assuming a team with more butts in seats in a stadium in Glasgow, or with more fans doing tartans on their driveways in Canada, is better than a team from Sweden is pretty ignorant.

It is like saying, hey, Aston Villa, don't know where that city is in Britain, never heard of a town with that name. Or if someone from London disses the Scottish teams when a Scottish club was the first British team to win the  European Cup and London clubs only did likewise 40 years later or so.

The bumpkins should just shut up instead of exposing themselves in public.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Unnamed Trialist

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

On 10/1/2021 at 4:34 PM, Shway said:

...CPL is in year 2.5 ….and you know what I say to my football friends about the quality? If you can watch the SPL, then you should watch/support the CPL. Forge has shown that they are better than perceived, especially with their 2 year history. I can’t imagine when the league gets to 2026...

I would imagine that it probably won't be much different from now but why would that be a problem? With the amount of youth coaching that goes on in Canada nowadays it should have been no huge shock that there were plenty of Canadian players out there that could provide a lower division fully pro level entertainment product in European terms.

The problem isn't with the level of the soccer but in getting people who have been brainwashed into thinking that anything other than the English Premiership or Serie A is not worth bothering with (a club with the pedigree of Malmo viewed as unknowns etc) to appreciate that the skill level is still very high. That was never going to be easy but what has unfolded in Halifax suggests there could be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Think you are a bit offbase on comparisons with the SPFL though. The Forge are stacked in talent terms through the Sigma angle so are a bit of an outlier at times in all of this but a game like Valour vs FCE is more like the third tier in Scotland in quality where the lowest budget fully pro teams are to be found than something like Hearts vs Dundee United. Calling up a St Johnstone player like David Wotherspoon or an on form Scott Arfield is still a bit different in soccer league pecking order terms than calling up players like Bustos, Didic or Becker.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Not in the matchday squad again for Rangers.

If he's not even on the bench, it means something is up!

Edited October 3, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

6 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Not in the matchday squad again for Rangers.

If he's not even on the bench, it means something is up!

My baseless speculation is he retires at the end of the year.

Herdman won't call him because he won't be available for Qatar when we qualify 

[Free kick]

There has been a string of posts here that illustrate how not properly reading all the posts, and how they fit into a discusion, can throw a a whole discussion into chaos.    
 

here is an example:

On 10/3/2021 at 4:41 AM, Unnamed Trialist said:

Anyone who has followed European football with minimal attention knows the teams that have played European Cup finals. My kid is studying in Liège, which I know from Standard, and pretty well only from Standard. Because they played a European Cup final. No one is saying Malmoe is more famous, just that to diss it like that is extremely parochial and narrow-minded. 

Sweden has been a strong footballing nation since the 1950s and has held up better than Scotland, to give an example. Scottish players have never gotten their team past a first round. Swedes have played 4 semis and lost a final to Brazil. So just assuming a team with more butts in seats in a stadium in Glasgow, or with more fans doing tartans on their driveways in Canada, is better than a team from Sweden is pretty ignorant.

It is like saying, hey, Aston Villa, don't know where that city is in Britain, never heard of a town with that name. Or if someone from London disses the Scottish teams when a Scottish club was the first British team to win the  European Cup and London clubs only did likewise 40 years later or so.

The bumpkins should just shut up instead of exposing themselves in public.

You totally missed the discussion and reponded to one post by not knowing how that fits into the discussion.  Nobody dissed Malmo.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Free kick

[Weng]

https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/?search=Scott+arfield

 

This may have been posted here before, but it seems Rangers fans are done with Arfield.  Seems he has performed poorly this season.

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 hours ago, Free kick said:

There has been a string posts here that illustrate how a not properly reading all the posts, and how they fit into a discusion, can throw a a whole discussion into chaos.    
 

here is an example:

You totally missed the discussion and reponded to one post by not knowing how that fits into the discussion.  Nobody dissed Malmo.

Oh, but that is my habitual experience of this board when I post, I would not want to treat anyone else differently.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Not being able to compete with the tiny handful of financially bloated clubs at the top of the big five leagues in Europe doesn't make Malmo some kind of joke outfit that Rangers needed to be able to beat to be worth taking seriously. Rangers and Malmo and clubs like them at the top of the European leagues that don't attract the same sort of TV and sponsorship revenues still play the sport to a very high standard that is well worth watching.

Never mind CanPL who were basically on Mission Impossible with York 9 on attracting much of a crowd beyond some of the hardline nationalists that post on here who will automatically go into Stompin Tom Connors mode over any league with Canadian in its name, it's highly concerning what's happening with TFC in interest terms at the moment given the way so many people in GTA soccer circles have that kind of mentality. Take away stuff like Beckham signing for the Galaxy, "it's a bloody big deal" or a former Juve player scoring world class free kicks for fun and interest in domestic pro soccer in the GTA can evaporate very quickly just like it did in the mid-80s once there was no Eusebio, Pele or Bettega factor any more.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[longlugan]

7 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Anyone who has followed European football with minimal attention knows the teams that have played European Cup finals. My kid is studying in Liège, which I know from Standard, and pretty well only from Standard. Because they played a European Cup final. No one is saying Malmoe is more famous, just that to diss it like that is extremely parochial and narrow-minded. 

Sweden has been a strong footballing nation since the 1950s and has held up better than Scotland, to give an example. Scottish players have never gotten their team past a first round. Swedes have played 4 semis and lost a final to Brazil. So just assuming a team with more butts in seats in a stadium in Glasgow, or with more fans doing tartans on their driveways in Canada, is better than a team from Sweden is pretty ignorant.

It is like saying, hey, Aston Villa, don't know where that city is in Britain, never heard of a town with that name. Or if someone from London disses the Scottish teams when a Scottish club was the first British team to win the  European Cup and London clubs only did likewise 40 years later or so.

The bumpkins should just shut up instead of exposing themselves in public.

I agree UT but the people on this board may know who Malmo is...I know I certainly do...but the general public will not whereas if you ask non-soccer people the odds are they will have an idea what those two organizations are...whether for sporting, political or religious reasons. Ozzie's response was pertaining to which team was better known, not which was the better team and hence his statement was incorrect...unsurprisingly. 

[Floortom]

He was out of the squad yesterday due to an illness (not covid). Otherwise, Garrard said Arfield would have played. 
still think he just needs a bit of good playing time to get another invite from Herdman

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:08 AM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

If he's not even on the bench, it means something is up!

On 10/3/2021 at 8:33 PM, Floortom said:

He was out of the squad yesterday due to an illness (not covid). Otherwise, Garrard said Arfield would have played.

He got a non-COVID illness from his daughter! Kids are good at spreading germs around!

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/sport/football/steven-gerrard-admits-rangers-curveballs-21759197

---

Also got his car broken into and a signed shirt for charity stolen:

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/7809461/scott-arfield-car-rangers-merchandise-stolen/

Edited October 8, 2021 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[costarg]

13 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Also got his car broken into and a signed shirt for charity stolen:

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/7809461/scott-arfield-car-rangers-merchandise-stolen/

Must've been a Canadian expat, thats what happens when you diss a CANMNT call up.

[dennis]

He may be on his way out with Rangers.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/arfield-may-quit-rangers-on-a-free-next-summer-hutton/

[Cblake]

9 hours ago, dennis said:

He may be on his way out with Rangers.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/arfield-may-quit-rangers-on-a-free-next-summer-hutton/

And so his he done with the CMNT too? What will it take for to see him possibly return?

[dyslexic nam]

18 minutes ago, Cblake said:

And so his he done with the CMNT too? What will it take for to see him possibly return?

After missing so many games, seemingly on the decline with Rangers, and some behind the scenes drama as per Hoilett’s “no 🧢” comment, I don’t really see him coming back.