Anyhow, here's the review...
Team of the year
Picking a team of the season highlights some of Scottish football’s problems this term. For example, the closest either of the Old Firm have had to a consistent striker is Kris Boyd, but a Henrik Larsson or Brian Laudrup he ain’t. Meanwhile, the shenanigans at Hearts saw Craig Gordon dropped for a spell, and his form was clearly affected. But nonetheless, here it is… a team to tear up the SPL, in a trendy, fluid 4-5-1 formation.
Artuc Boruc (Celtic); Stephen Whittaker (Hibs), Russell Anderson (Aberdeen), Stephen McManus (Celtic), Lee Naylor (Celtic); Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Scott Brown (Hibs), Russell Latapy (Falkirk), Barry Robson (Dundee Utd), Steven Naismith (Kilmarnock); Anthony Stokes (Falkirk - on loan from Arsenal).
Moments of the season
Nakamura swings his boot When Man Utd went to Celtic Park for a Champions League game the autumn, they were expected to give them a battering. And, for the first hour, they did batter them, without actually managing to score a goal. Then Jari Jarosik won a free-kick with a disgraceful dive, and up stepped Shunsuke Nakamura. The resultant goal was a thing of mesmerising beauty, utterly out of keeping with Celtic’s performance in the rest of the match.
Scotland 1-0 France Once again, the signs were ominous. The World Cup finalists were in town for a Euro 2008 qualifier, and Scotland were hoping for a draw. Again, they were battered, but somehow managed to not concede a goal. And then we scored! Scotland have taken the lead against France! The hero of the moment is… Gary Caldwell?! Cue a weekend of bafflement and celebration.
Player Revolt #1 After an indifferent start to the season, Vladimir Romanov threatened to sell the players to "Kilmarnock or whatever club would take them" if they didn’t beat Dunfermline. Cue a hijacked press conference, as Stephen Pressley, flanked by Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon, mumbled his way through a public criticism of the regime. Extraordinary television.
Player Revolt #2 Paul Le Guen and Barry Ferguson, it’s fair to say, did not get on. PLG wanted to impose his way of doing things on Rangers. Bazza responded by rampant indiscipline, both on the pitch (where he played like a man who’d missed the team talk) and off it, where he organised a piss-up in Newcastle. PLG, in a final test of his authority, dropped Ferguson and effectively put him on the transfer list. Ferguson complained to the chairman, and Le Guen resigned.
Player Revolt #3 Hibs won their first trophy for 16 years when they lifted the League Cup in March, but behind the scenes John Collins’ perfectionist management style was ruffling a few feathers. An unexpected defeat to Dunfermline led to a dressing room “bust-up”, and a delegation of players went to complain to the chairman. Unlike at Rangers, they lost, issuing a humbling apology and promising never to do anything like it again.
Player of the season
Scott Brown Quite simply, one of Scotland’s best prospects for a generation came of age this season. Back in July, he was still a Hibernian player, but the next 6 months saw plenty of upheaval. By Christmas had a new agent, was working under a new manager, and had handed in a transfer request. When Hibs made it clear he would not be leaving in January, he could have sulked. Instead, he got his head down and played. Really played. He won the League Cup with Hibs in March (not something that happens often at the Edinburgh club). He shed his previous hot temper. He established himself as a regular in the Scotland team on the strength of two performances. And, at the age of 21, he became the most expensive transfer between two Scottish Clubs when he moved from Hibs to Celtic for £4.4m. It’s not been flawless, but if he lives up to his potential, 2006/7 will go down as a pivotal season in his career.
Runners-up:
Shunsuke Nakamura Yes, he’s the most exciting player the Champions have. Yes he’s got a sweet left foot. And yes he’s a joy to watch at times. But he was all of this last season, too. Perhaps inevitably for a foreign flair player, he’s inconsistent, but the media hype around him seems to treat his every touch as golden. It’s not. The Japanese David Beckham indeed.
Russell Anderson Once again Aberdeen have their captain to thank for all that was good about their season. They clinched third place without really scoring enough goals, pointing to a tight defence as the reason for their success. Thanks to Anderson, it was. But successive Scotland managers have ignored the central defender, so We love fitba is hardly alone for ignoring him too.
Neil Lennon A controversial choice, given that the snarling, big-arsed provocateur has hardly had his best season with Celtic. He’s looked all of his 35 years when lumbering around the centre circle during matches, and even at his best he was never as good as Paul Lambert. Sadly, age hasn’t matured him either… he’s always been a hate figure to other fans, but this season he took the novel step of noising up his own supporters too. But now he’s left, it’s time to recognise his contribution to the Celtic cause. In the first half of this season, when Celtic could still be arsed, Strachan put their never-say-die attitude down to a fear of losing. In fact, the players probably had a fear of Lennon screaming at them. For all his more unpleasant traits, Lennon has a winner’s attitude. The Champions will miss him.
Steven Naismith Is he a striker? Is he a winger? Either way, he’s good. More than likely will be moving on from Kilmarnock this summer.
Flops of the season
Rangers Think back to last summer, and the optimistic mood music coming from the Rangers fans (a fair few journalists – the laptop loyalists – amongst them) was deafening. Paul Le Guen was going to revolutionise the club and reassert their dominance over Scottish football. Oops.
Hearts Think back to last season, and the bullishness of the Romanov Revolution was overwhelming. “2nd place is under-achievement” said Roman, the owner’s son. Oops.
Thomas Gravesen £40k a week might not raise eyebrows in the Premiership, but for the SPL that kind of salary - Gravesen's reputed earnings - represents a statement of intent. Celtic had bought a player simply unattainable to any of their rivals, a player with Real Madrid pedigree no less. In the League, the only question was how many man of the match awards he would win, because surely he would only really be tested in the Champions League. In fact, he struggled to hold down a regular place in the SPL and was frequently bullied out of those matches he did play, and started the pivotal 2nd leg against Milan on the bench. Oops.
Meteor Award
Gretna Their third consecutive promotion has made the rise of Livingston look pedestrian. They almost blew it after squandering a 12-point lead over St. Johnstone, but a win on the last day of the season clinched the title. And now they’re in the SPL.
Whether this is good news for the SPL or not is debatable. Gretna are still a tiny club, albeit propped up by a wealthy owner. They’ll probably attract a few more fans out of curiousity, but they’ll be playing their “home” games in Motherwell, which won’t do much for attendance figures. Like Livingston, they may find a seat at the top table hard to sustain.
Consolation Award
St Johnstone The Perth team reached the semi-finals of both cup competitions, and for 5 minutes or so were Division One Champions, with one foot in the SPL. They ended the season with nothing, and Jason Scotland – their inspirational striker – has already left.
Dunfermline So, so close, and yet so far. Improbably, they fought a way back into the survival dogfight, before defeat in their penultimate match confirmed relegation. In the Scottish Cup final they held Celtic for 85 minutes before losing to a scrappy goal scored by a defender. Life can be cruel sometimes. At least they have the UEFA Cup to look forward, a competition in which manager Stephen Kenny has previous - it was his Derry City who thumped Gretna last season, before getting a highly credible draw in their 1st leg with PSG.
Quotes of the season
“We are the only club in the history of football who can be the champions by 20 points and be under pressure in the first game of the season. So we just laughed at that pressure and produced some stunning football."
Gordon Strachan initiates smug mode after Celtic open their title defence with a 4-1 won over Kilmarnock.
"I'm very disappointed. This has all been done very quickly."
The SFL president, John Smith, struggles to cope with the pace of the modern world, as a proposal to create an SPL2 is launched, 5 years after first being discussed.
"Football is supposed to be what is happening on the field of play, not turned into a show thanks to the referee."
Vladimir Romanov blames the man in the middle for Hearts 3-0 defeat against AEK Athens in a Champions League qualifier.
“I can’t believe we just got beat by a fucking pub team.”
John Collins loses his cool after losing the Boxing Day Edinburgh Derby.
"Rangers are more important than Paul Le Guen. Even more important than Barry Ferguson."
Paul Le Guen ladles on the sarcasm when explaining his reasons for dropping his captain.
"I read it, ripped it up and put it in the bin."
John Collins carefully considers Scott Brown's written transfer request.
"Far too often Dundee Utd lose by scorelines that are unacceptable. People who don't want to do things properly, who don't want to fight to the end, are no good to me. I will just get rid of them." Craig Levein goes nuts after a 5-0 hammering from Rangers.
“Now it has become obvious to me why you, the Monkeys, were trying to ruin Hearts not only in the Championship, but in European competitions as well. I think it was not without your help that the ‘frozen’ referee from Russia was selected to officiate our match and that in the games against the Greek side we got three red cards.”
Vladimir can’t get that game against AEK Athens out of his head. Apparently, it was the fault of the journalists, who are all monkeys.
“A woman cheats herself and nature if she gives herself without love.”
Vlad also tries to do his bit for traditional values.
“Dunno.”
Scott Brown responds to a question about whether he was one of the Hibs players who complained to the chairman about the manager.
"See ya. Daft little ground, silly game, fuck off."
Richard Keys doesn't seem to think much of the key Faroe Isles v Scotland clash.
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