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Originally Posted by Novo
Well it hasnt opened up the league as far as the title goes because Celtic are still miles ahead of the rest so in that regard its boring but cup wise it has become more unpredictable and the race for 2nd place and Europa league spot has become open, but neautrals don't really care about the SPL anymore without Rangers there and finiaclly it has been hit hard, Hearts are ****ed and 3 or 4 other clubs look to be heading in that direction as well, in fact the Championship is probably going to be more interesting then the SPL next season now with Rangers, Hearts, Raith, Livingston, Dundee, Hamilton etc in there, Scotland will always need Rangers and Celtic though, imagine the league surviving with Hearts and Hibs being the biggest match of the year lol and they haven't even got that next season...
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Of course, Celtic will always be at the top as long as they can maintain their financial status, which Rangers weren't able to do because it wasn't built on a solid foundation. It's been great for the rest of the league in terms of competitiveness though, as you say, the race for 2nd place, cup competitions etc. I'd say the SPL's more interesting now because of all of that. It had been stale for a very long time knowing that 1st and 2nd were sewn up. As an Aberdeen supporter it was a bit sad that the highlight of our season was potentially finishing in the top half of the league. Scotland won't always need those two clubs, it's only in the last 25 years they've had such a stranglehold over the league (well, not in the last two years since Rangers have been out of the top flight) - of course they've been big teams for longer than that, but Aberdeen used to be a huge team, there've been successful periods as well from the likes of Dundee United, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell too. Having a local derby isn't as much of a big deal in Scottish football as it is in England IMO; there are only 7 actual cities in Scotland - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Stirling and Perth. Of those, only Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee can really be considered cities with more than one team - okay there are a few dotted around Stirling but none of them are major teams so it's not really the same - and only the Glasgow rivalry is particularly of interest because it's more to do with religion than anything else.
Aberdeen's a one club city, St Johnstone have the Perth support, Inverness Caledonian Thistle for Inverness... even without Rangers in the league you still have quite a few teams from in and around Glasgow in the SPL - Celtic, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, St Mirren... what would be ideal is if Rangers return to the SPL but don't manage to get back to the all conquering level they used to be at because I think it was killing the league having Celtic and Rangers being a class above the rest. Great for the fans of those two teams but just very dull for everyone else.