This week, for my sins, I've seen three games and five SPL teams in action - the aforementioned Caley - Rangers, then Aberdeen's home win over Falkirk in the cup and defeat to Hearts in the league. The signs from these games are generally good - over the last season or two, the Old Firm, despite their increasing success on the European stage, find almost all their away games to be a bit of a test, and are even finding it hard to break down teams at home (notwithstanding Rangers gubbing St. Midden - sorry, freudian slip there - today). The 'tic have dropped points at home to Killie, the Saints and Hibs this year, and lost at Easter Road and in the Highlands. Of their league games this season, only half have seen them win by more than the odd goal. It's about the same proportion for Rangers as well.
Now compare that to the late nineties and early noughties. It's not hard to remember Celtic doing Aberdeen 7-0 at Parkhead (and wasn't that with John Barnes in charge as well?), or that legendary French striker Stephane Guivarc'h firing Rangers to an 8-0 t***ting of St. Johnstone in Perth (he was possibly the worst ever player to start in a World Cup Final, and his team still won). The days where the SPL's top two could reach goal differences of +80 are thankfully behind us, at least for the time being. Some might argue that the others are "parking the team bus in front of the goal" (thanks to Mr. Jose Mourinho for that one), but events at Caley last Sunday, when instead the Great Unwashed (if you'd walked past the away supporters at the game, you'd realise that this is probably true) played 4-5-1 and stuck 10 behind the ball as well in the first half, suggest that it's because there is less to choose between the sides in this league, at least when the big guns are on their travels.
This season has also seen a bit of a power shift between the rest of the sides. While nobody quite has the consistency or the resources to split Rangers and Celtic, instead we've seen a rather more competitive challenge for the top six, partly because of Hibs' inconsistency and Kilmarnock's injury problems, but mostly because Hearts have displayed a bizarre intent to self-destruct at every conceivable opportunity. Add to that the fact that Dundee Utd have showed their chairman what can happen if you give a manager a bit of time, and Motherwell have showed everyone else what can happen if you manage to get hold of a decent manager, while Falkirk and ICT continue to insist on punching above their weight. So the middle of the table is like a traffic jam, with about seven teams close to each other, and each of these sides has the potential to ram a nail in the coffin for somebody's title chances (probably Celtic's, going by recent form). It's all good, I think.
The trouble is, this situation may not last much longer, going by this transfer window. Those with nothing better to do will have noted that Aberdeen have sold Chris Clark, the midfielder, to Plymouth for 200 grand. What with Clark being a fairly mediocre midfield player who also had only a few months left on his contract, it sounds like Argyle really got screwed there! But with another Don, Michael Hart, about to move to Preston, and with increasing speculation that Barry Robson will sign for Burnley, this is a worrying precedent. There is a lot more cash to be had playing for an English Championship side, taking on the likes of West Brom and Scunthorpe Utd, than playing in Scotland's top division, even if your team are playing in Europe. I expect that, come the summer, there may be a lot of decent SPL players who take the opportunity to make much, much more cash in exchange for a move South. It's sad but even the generous TV deal from Setanta (obviously it comes out of the budget for their coverage) isn't going to reverse this.
Is it fair for me to use the word "stingy"? Probably not, but the Aberdeen situation is a curious one. This is a side who have made well over a million from their astounding UEFA Cup run. They didn't fork out big cash in the summer for anyone either, and there are no longer big stars milking off the cash, and that big fat Russell Anderson transfer fee must be lying in the bank getting interest. So what's the deal? Players like Clark are ten a penny, but Hart is one of the league's better right backs, and will be hard to replace. So next season the race for top six may be close, but the Old Firm's dominance could head back towards where it was seven or eight years back.
L.
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