RB Leipzig: The Most Hated Team in Germany

RB Leipzig's rise to the top has been met with great resistance in Germany.

Football hooliganism is nothing new in Germany but in the 21^st Century it is certainly rare. That’s why when violence broke out before a Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig it was something different and quite shocking.

Stones and bottles were thrown at RB Leipzig fans and hate banners displayed by Borussia Dortmund supporters.

RB Leipzig are challenging for a Champions League place in their first ever season in the Bundesliga and are 6 points clear in 2^nd only 4 points behind Bayern Munich.  The hatred is because of the way they are owned by one company, Red Bull.

A wall of hatred was on view: "Slaughter the bulls", "Red Bull, enemy of football" were some of the slogans used at the weekend. Families came under attack, and six fans and four police were hurt. One top football official Max Eberl said the violence was sick: "Whether you like RB Leipzig or not, it shouldn't get out of hand."

After the incident with RB Leipzig Dortmund were fined £85,000 for the crowd troubles the previous week.

 

WHY THE HATRED?

Selling drinks is the core business of RB's owner, Red Bull, and there have been plenty more insults since the company bought a team in the Leipzig suburbs in 2009 and oversaw four promotions in seven seasons. And at the bottom tier of German football is just where many Bundesliga clubs think is where Leipzig should stay. They argument? RB Leipzig is just another way to fund red bull.

One of the biggest haters is the chief executive at Borussia Dortmund, Hans-Joachim Watzke. "It's a club built to push up the revenues for Red Bull and nothing else," he says.

In Germany, there is the "50 + 1" rule, whereby the association or club has to have a controlling stake, commercial interests can't gain control which means the fans always own 51% of their clubs, it means super-rich owner such as those seen in the Premier League cannot occur in Germany.

There are two exceptions in German football, Wolfsburg is owned by Volkswagen and Bayer Leverkusen is owned by a chemical company. These clubs are an exception because they were founded as both clubs works sporting clubs for the workers at the factories. Generally however a club in Germany is a true club for the members.

MY OPINION

In my opinion I think it’s quite a good thing that someone new is challenging for the title so the big teams get a run for their money, it’s always exciting and something different kind of like a German version of Leicester City. Unlike Leicester however Leipzig have had far greater financial backing compared to their competitors and this is down to the money offered to them by Red Bull.  Other clubs may be jealous of Leipzig but it is more likely their objections are because the club exists mostly to promote Red Bull and their interests.

 

 

by Lucas Cameron

Rangers CAN Stop 10 In a Row

Since Rangers FC were placed into the Scottish Third Division in 2012, Celtic have been left to sweep the domestic honours without serious challenge from other competitors. Rangers have continued to struggle financially up until a regime change in 2015, when Dave King was made chairman of the club, appointing members of his choice in place alongside him.

Since then, Rangers had to overcome the embarrassment of defeat to Motherwell in the Premiership playoffs before appointing Mark Warburton as manager and David Weir alongside. Since then, Rangers stormed to the Championship title, finally won the Petrofac Challenge Cup and reached the final of the Scottish Cup, beating Celtic en route.

However, during this time Celtic won 5 league titles in a row with relative ease. Ronnie Deila however was producing unconvincing results and left the club at the end of the season of 2015/2016 and was replaced by Brendan Rodgers, a good friend of Mark Warburton and globally acclaimed manager who has managed teams such as Liverpool and Swansea with success.

This season, Rangers have struggled to adapt to top flight football, and Celtic have cruised to a 30 point lead at the top of the league over Rangers and 24 points ahead of Aberdeen, breaking a club unbeaten record set 50 years previously by ‘The Lisbon Lions’ in 1967. Rangers top priority now looks like stopping Celtic winning a record 10^th title in a row, as Celtic have more or less secured their 6^th title in a row already. Mark Warburton has since left the club in quite remarkable and dramatic circumstances. Despite the problems and the circus often associated with Rangers I believe there are many reasons why Rangers can stop Celtic reaching the much sought after feat of 10 in a row.

Celtic have been dominant in Scottish football since the demise of Rangers and are on course for a record 10 titles in a row 

Reason 1 – European Football

Rangers have fallen from 2^nd to 3^rd, which still guarantees them European football for next season. Their objective is to finish 2^nd but 3^rd guarantees the same rewards i.e. a 1^st round Europa League qualifying spot. Compared to previous eras in Scotland it is an extremely poor place in Europe but it would encourage investment from the Rangers board. European football will bring more money to Rangers and there are many good players who would be attracted by the prospect of playing in front of 50,000 fans in Europe and the opportunity to play against Celtic in similar circumstances.

Getting to the group stages is extremely difficult as teams from Scotland have to work their way through 3 qualifying rounds and a playoff round, where teams like Marseille and Hertha Berlin usually come straight into the competition. However with an intimidating atmosphere at Ibrox and the potential signing of one or two quality players, Rangers would certainly be in with a chance of getting through at least one or two of the qualifying rounds.



Can recapture their former European pedigree

Reason 2 – Rangers are adapting to top flight football

There is already evidence of Rangers beginning to deal with the pressures of winning in the Scottish Premiership. Until about half way through November Rangers really struggled but from then onwards Rangers have improved drastically. In December, they rose to the big occasions, notably beating Aberdeen convincingly on 3^rd December at a packed Ibrox before righting the wrongs of a Tynecastle defeat against Hearts on 10^th December in front of another full house at Ibrox. They then successively beat Hamilton Academical away from home and Inverness at Ibrox on Christmas Eve.

Since then they have admittedly stuttered. Before the winter break, they dropped 2 points to St Johnstone in Perth and lost to Celtic at Ibrox, albeit a much improved Old Firm display. This left them in 2^nd, but only 2 points ahead of Aberdeen, who had a game at hand.

After the winter break, Rangers have progressed to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup but have only won 1 from 6 in the league. They have fallen to 3^rd place, with Aberdeen riding off into the distance with a 6 point lead in 2^nd.

Reason 3 – Rangers have impressive home form and away form is improving

 However, Rangers’ decline in form may partly be due to unhappiness behind the scenes and the departure of Mark Warburton. They have shown signs of realisation that they can’t put every player forward and are getting to grips with top flight football. Rangers will hope that they can get a strong management team in to get more out of the players and remain in the fight for second place. They are still to play Aberdeen and Celtic away from home, they are also still to play Aberdeen, Hearts and Celtic at Ibrox in the closing games of the season which will be crucial in attempting to secure 2^nd place.

Rangers’ home form has been extremely impressive over the last two years. Since the start of the 2015/2016 campaign, Rangers have lost just two games at Ibrox, and in that time they went over a year without defeat at Ibrox. Up until defeat against Celtic on hogmany 2016, Rangers had the best home form in Scotland.

Since the start of this season, Rangers’ away form has been far less impressive. They have played 13 away games so far. They have won 5, drawn 3 and lost 5. For a club like Rangers, this record is simply not good enough.

However, their form on the road did seem to be improving until defeat to Hearts and Dundee, but it is possible the defeat to Dundee could be partly down to uncertainty over the management team at Rangers. Before the matches against Hearts and Dundee Rangers had won 3 and drawn 2 away games from 6, taking 12 points from 18. This isn’t a fantastic return but it is better than it was nearer the start of the season.

 

Can Ibrox regain some of the magic of the past..???

 

 

Reason 4 – Rangers can still win a trophy this season

It has to be remembered that despite a lot of poor form from Rangers, they are in these positions in their FIRST year back in the league since 2012. They have also reached the semi-finals of the league cup, only to be knocked out by Celtic 3 minutes from time and have received a good home tie in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup against Hamilton Academical. If Rangers can somehow secure 2^nd place this year, why can’t they expect to improve and mount a title challenge in future seasons?

 

 

Reason 5 – It isn’t about being better than Celtic

Many people are overlooking the fact that in Scotland, it is not about being a better team than Celtic. It is about beating them for consistency over the course of the season and being better than all of the rest consistently. This has always been the case.

I think if Rangers can put more pressure on this Celtic side, who haven’t experienced any pressure at all in domestic football, Celtic will drop more points. The key for Rangers is winning the vast majority of their other matches and being good enough to expose Celtic when they lose or draw. If they are able to do this, the title may come down to the Old Firm fixtures, and that depends on who has the nerve for the big matches.

Rangers obviously have no chance of touching Celtic this season. Next season however, they will have a new management team in place and probably some new signings of a better standard than Mark Warburton’s recruitments for European qualifiers. They should look to make a good start to next season and win most or all of their opening matches before the first Old Firm which will be at Ibrox. If Celtic also win their first matches, the 2 sides will be close in the table.

I think Rangers should look to start to bridge the gap to more like 12 points at most and look to win the Scottish Premiership the following season.

 

 

Reason 6 – Celtic lose their key operators

Is it inevitable that Celtic will eventually their best assets...???

The biggest fear Celtic should have is that they lose Brendan Rodgers.  There can be no denying that he has worked wonders at Celtic. He has not done a lot in either transfer window but has revitalised a team who have performed extremely poorly for a number of years now. He has got the best out of the players at his disposal and has made key signings for low prices.

Would it really be much of a surprise if he was offered at a job at a top club in England or further afield in Europe? He has managed at this level before and almost won the Premier League with Liverpool. The major clubs in Europe could easily significantly increase his salary of around £1,000,000 a year.

If Rodgers leaves Rangers could benefit if Celtic make another appointment like Ronnie Deila. This would give Rangers a massive opportunity to attempt to win the league without being that great, especially if Rangers appoint a good new manager.

Another problem for Celtic is that there have already been about 5 or 6 players linked with moves away from Celtic, including Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko, Nir Bitton and Moussa Dembele.

Celtic have been on an impressive unbeaten run since the start of the season, but it is unlikely that they will go on another run like this 1 and if these players leave, it becomes even less likely.

Celtic and Rangers are not the European powers they used to be who could lure top players to their clubs. Celtic probably will not be able to prevent many of these moves. For example, Kieran Tierney is a very hot prospect and seems to be a wanted player for Manchester United. Moussa Dembele is constantly being linked with top European clubs. Celtic will struggle to keep these players and will have to make good signings to replace them.

 

 

 by Luke Randall

 

 

 

 

Can Celtic win 10 in a Row?

Rangers liquidation

During the 1990s and 2000s, Rangers frequently dispatched financial losses. By the time of 2009, Rangers approximately owed Lloyds Banking group millions.  In 2011 the amount due to Lloysd reduced to 18 million however, Rangers had been in a dispute with HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) regarding the use of an employee benefit trust fund (EBT) which is an employee-owner that provides a company’s workforce. A bill increasing to approximately £49 million, including interest and penalties, was assessed in 2010. Rangers argued that their EBT scheme was a legal method of tax avoidance.  The scale of the potential liability led then Chairman Alistair Johnston   to admit in 2011 that the club could go out of business.  Months later after David Murray sold 85.3% of the clubs interest to Craig Whyte for £1 and  Rangers officially entered administration on 14 February 2012, after appointing London-based financial advisers Duff&Phelps as administrators.

 In 2012 The Company was sold to Sevco Scotland Ltd.  While the manager, Ally McCoist and a number of players were willing to transfer, other first team players such as team captain Steven Davis, Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker refused to have their contracts transferred and became free agents.

The financial collapse of Rangers resulted in a great deal of discussion within Scottish football. Initially it was proposed by the Scottish Premier League (SPL) that Rangers should be given re-entry straight into the SPL. The SPL clubs rejected this application by a 10-1 vote with only Kilmarnock voting for.  The next season Rangers played in the fourth tier of Scottish football.

Craig Whyte presided over the darkest period in Rangers history

 

The years after Rangers Liquidation

Since Rangers were stuck in the lower leagues that made the Celtic league campaign a lot easier.  It took the pressure off Celtic in Scotland however; it focused this pressure a lot on European football.  Celtic dropped the number of points in the 11/12 season (93) to a much less impressive 79 in 12/13 thanks mainly to Rangers absence.  However, European success was on the high. Celtic acquired 10 points in the Champions League Group Stages, finishing second, managing to beat Barcelona 2-1 at Parkhead which will be remembered by mostly all Celtic fans particularly Rod Stewart who was spotted crying in the crowd.  Celtic were later knocked out of the tournament by Juventus.

Celtic improved the points in the next season to 99 but European success decreased as they finished bottom of Group H in the Champions league which left many Celtic fans disappointed.

Rangers next 2 years were 2 promotions under Ally McCoist. They got 83 points in the first season and 102 in the second. The arguably new club were improving but were still a very poor team under poor management.

 

Celtic's memorable night in Europe was at odds with Rangers fortunes at the same time 

 

Ronny’s Recruitment

The Norwegian came over before the start of 2014/15 season as Lennon left.  The new hoops boss was expected to add a new element of attacking, exciting football. Many fans were frustrated after NK Maribor kicked the hoops out of the champions qualifying round so that they would join the “boring” Europa League. Celtic performed satisfactory in the group and were then drawn against Inter Milan.  They drew 3-3 at Parkhead with a late John Guidetti Equalizer. Later at the San Siro, Fredy Guarín scored a stunner to end Celtic’s Europa League campaign.  Ronny Deila’s team gained 92 points from Scottish league campaign that season.

 

 

First old firm encounter

During the 14/15 season Celtic drew Rangers in the Scottish League Cup Semi-Final. The first encounter . A lot of anticipation grew as the tie was known for months and when it eventually came it was a fiery game. Celtic were expected to hammer Rangers while for the Ibrox, Championship side they saw the game as an opportunity to announce they were back on the stages.  The game ended 2-0 with goals from Griffiths and Commons although it could’ve and probably should have been been a lot more.

Continuing with Deila

Deila 2^nd season was a very poor season for Celtic fans expectations.  Celtic won the league relatively comfortably making it 5 League Titles in a row. Their League campaign was more of the same although many saw a loss of confidence and probably the worst ever Celtic team.  Just like the previous season Aberdeen finished 2^nd and this season were undefeated against Celtic at Pittrodrie. Hearts also joined the league after getting relegated in 13/14 season and finished a promising 3^rd.  Dundee United had a very disappointing campaign with the bottom spot. In Europe Celtic yet again lost in the last qualifying round to Malmö. They joined the Europa league and finished 4^th in a group that also contained Ajax, Fenerbahçe and Molde FK from Norway.

 

 

Rangers Revolution

Rangers finally won promotion back to the SPL in 2015/16 the previous season in the championship they were 3^rd and were blown away eventual Champions Hearts and crushed by Motherwell in the promotion play-off final, losing 6-1 on aggregate.

Their contenders were Leith giants, Hibernian. Rangers looked like a new evolved team in terms of quality. Mark Warbuton was set to take them to the next level and at the start of the season they thrashed Hibs 6-2 showing that promotion was evident. 

 Warbuton brought in new English talent such as Wes Foderingham, James Tavernier, Martyn Waghorn as well as many other influential players such as Andy Halliday. They cruised the league but Hibernian were left unsatisfied finishing 3^rd with Falkirk getting the 2^nd spot.  In the promotion play-offs Falkirk beat Hibs in the semis but lost in the final to Kilmarnock. Rangers won the League and gained promotion with an 81 point tally. The season however was not remembered for not the league campaign but for the Scottish Cup Semi.  

14 months after the last fixture, Rangers aim was to win. They were playing well and Celtic were performing under their standards. The game started and was very intense; Kenny Millers early shot being saved showed that it was a whole different game than the year before.

Miller later scored in the match which was the first goal Rangers scored against Celtic since reforming. It sparked the lights into the Rangers fans hearts and this was the first indication that Celtic’s 10 in a row chances were decreasing slightly. 

Erik Sviatchenko then equalized in the 50^th minute with a header and it went to extra time. In the first 15 minutes Barrie McKay scored a fantastic goal and Rogic made it level again later in the game.

The game went to penalties and Rangers won 5-4. It was a major spark for Rangers and some believed it was a return for Scottish competitive football and doubt for a famous 10 in a row for Celtic.

 

Rangers beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup Semi-final, the start of an eventual come-back..??

 

 

Has this season been everything we’ve come to expect?

 With 25 games gone so far in the Scottish Premiership Celtic have looked unstoppable under new manager Brendan Rodgers however, Rangers have not. In terms of many people’s predictions of the new Rangers joining the premiership some are not surprised. Rangers are currently sitting in third place behind Aberdeen and a significant amount of points behind leaders Celtic.  Some say that a new promoted team already being 3^rd place is a very large achievement but Rangers fans expectations were always going to be higher.

It has showed the poor quality of Scottish football and the inconsistency of over half of the league. Six of the twelve teams have negative goal difference and win to lose ratio and even 5^th place St. Johnstone have only acquired 2 positive. This shows that they are not a threat to Celtic in any form and they shall never gain consistency from poor management and morale.  Teams such as Aberdeen and Hearts have done reasonably well against Rangers but I think the Rangers team will have more motivation and drive and eventually pull away from the likes of Aberdeen.  This means that the only team to stop Celtic getting to TEN in a row is Rangers.

 

Players in and players out

The future of teams is mostly transfers and sometimes youth systems and Celtic will dominate in both factors.  They will gain Champions league money every season and will make tens of millions.  Celtic will be able to afford great players and Brendan Rodgers wants to turn them into a strong Champions league outfit.  Rangers through the Europa League will make a significant amount although a miniscule quantity in comparison to Celtics Champions League money and transfer dealings.  This will mean that they will be unable to beat Celtic on the profit and transfer front in the next several years. 

In terms of youth players or promising future stars, the Bhoys will win another on at front again.  Rangers do have many great young players such as Barrie McKay, Jordan Rossiter and even 15 year old Billy Gilmour.  All players are expected to transform into very influential players for Rangers and could go for tens of millions. For Celtic they have Jack Aitchison, Calvin Miller and Anthony Ralston coming out the youth system as well as Kieran Tierney, Moussa Dembele and Tom Rogic in the first team. 

 Those Celtic first team players have already established themselves and will leave Celtic for all over 10 or even 20 million pounds in the next few years.

If Celtic win 10 titles in a row the money argument will be vital as it will stop Rangers overtaking Celtic on the player ability scales and will not allow them to enter competitions to have any chance to make enough profits to buy good enough players to challenge.

 

Is Dembele Celtic's £20million man...????

 

Future Managers

With Brendan Rodgers performing great at Celtic so far and Warbuton leaving Rangers many are asking will the 2 clubs have different managers before the 2020-2021 season. Rangers will obviously find a replacement for Mark Warbuton and Graeme Murty will not be that man.   Rodgers stated that he had a 5 year plan to turn Celtic into a strong Champions League outfit. Therefore, he says he wants to stay but will he be satisfactory enough to stay for that time. He will clearly have to win the Scottish Premier league every season and will have to win as many Cups or League Cups as possible. Rangers will want a manager that will challenge Celtic every season and eventually win the title before they win 10 titles in sequence.

 

How long will Brendan Rodgers remain as Celtic manager...????

 

 

If Rangers stop Celtic

The main reasons why Rangers would stop Celtic would be because Celtic could lose consistency, Rangers would find a star signing or manager and could also be profit from European success.

Celtic would have to have immense consistency every season for the next 5 years and it is likely that this consistency would be lost.  Some have suggested that Rangers only have to think about being more consistent than any of the other teams which would be an extremely probable chance

In the next 5 seasons Rangers are bound to find a class signing that will have a significant impact on their team.  They already have good young players as well as youth players which could be possibly effective.   So far this season we haven’t seen one player for Rangers that looks that impressive but in the future Rangers could have a very promising youth or very important loanee player. 

Rangers should qualify for the Europa League soon and could go very far before Celtic win 10 in a row. This season if Rangers finish 2^nd or 3^rd place the League, which is very likely, or win the Scottish cup they will be able to qualify for a Europa League qualifying round. The Ibrox side aren’t expected to get to the group stage next season but in the next few years they could even go as far as the knockout rounds. They will earn a significant amount more than Scottish football gives them and open up a gap between them and Scotland’s other sides. Even though they will still earn much less than Celtic they will make a profit and will be able to gain consistency from playing better quality teams in the Europa League.  Therefore, they will be a big threat to Celtics campaign.

If Celtic win 10 in a row

They main reasons Celtic will win 10 in a row would be European profit, player development and transfers.

If Celtic could qualify for the champions league each season for the next 5 years they could make over 30 million each year and over 100 million over this time span.  This allows Celtic to dominate in the finical front. The European tournament will make Celtic more consistent and a better overall team from playing in high quality games. Rodgers wants Celtic to be a much more competitive team in European and his ambition will be vital if 10 in a row is to happen.

 Celtic have shown they have a better youth system and better scouting with players such as Dembele, Rogic and Tierney. Therefore it will be almost impossible for Rangers the next few years.  Celtic have also improved drastically this season in terms of their management, ambition, intensity and character. If these players are to leave they will go for massive profits so, teams such as Rangers will never catch up finically and player quality in the next several years.

 Since the improvement of Rangers and Celtic will happen in the next few years the league will be more attractive.  Players will be more urged to join clubs like Celtic as they appear to be ambitious and the players can get game time in European competitions. They will be more appealing to Premier League clubs and could be sold for money more than the whole cost of the Rangers team.

It looks however like Celtic are going to be unstoppable in their quest for 10 League Titles in a row.

by Innes O'Donnell