craigiex3 Wrote:...also cardif have a realy good chance of the prem next season and its not a impossability that swansea could be there within the decade.
I have no objection to Welsh teams playing in the English Premier League, as these clubs started at the bottom and worked their way up under the old election system of entry to the league. If the Old Firm, or any other Scottish side for that matter, were to do the same (I.E. starting at the "bottom", such as the Northern Premier League, Conference North, or whatever the hell it's called this season) then I would have no objections to it at all. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of giving
any side, from
any country a free pass into the top flight. It's a suggestion motivated purely by money.
Twenty years ago, both Old Firm outfits - as well as Hearts, Hibs and maybe Aberdeen - would have slotted into the English top flight easily; the Old Firm would have been challenging for the title within a season or two. Ten years ago, the Old Firm would have taken slightly longer to adjust, but would have been pushing for honours by now. Doing it now, the Old Firm would be in genuine danger of relegation in their first season without
massive investment. Scottish football is in a slump right now, both financially and in terms of the pool of talent available. I don't think this will last, these things tend to move in swings and roundabouts in football over the long term, but it's most definitely the case at the current time. A great deal of players for both Rangers and Celtic are simply not EPL quality players. (Papac & Miller or Caldwell & Maloney, as two quick examples off the top of my head) Both sides would need to inject huge sums to progress at a speed that their fans would be happy with.
The only way for the EPL and the Old Firm to protect that investment would be to provide an immunity from relegation for a prescribed period. On top of the slap in the face to two sides from the English league structure, be it by stopping promotion from The Championship or providing two extra relegation slots in the first season before or after the amalgamation, I think those actions would be a step too far in the slow corporate takeover of the game I love and one step closer to a closed, no-relegation "elite", such as that currently in place in another game I love, Rugby League.
On those grounds, I'm against the clubs joining the EPL. As stated above, I have no objections to the sides starting at the lower end of the scale and working their way up, just as I would expect any English club joining the Scottish structure to do the same.
-EDIT FOR CLARITY- *Final paragraph, first sentence:- "joining the EPL
directly. As stated above, etc...."