SPL Spl Thread 2011/2012 - Celtic Champions!

(Last Season's Thread - http://www.manutdtalk.com/forums/foreign-leagues/34113-spl-thread-2010-2011-rangers-champions.html)

Last Season's Results


P GD PTS
1 (C) Rangers 38 59 93
------------------------
2 (EL) Celtic 38 63 92
3 (EL) Hearts 38 8 63
------------------------
4 Dundee Utd 38 5 61
5 Kilmarnock 38 -2 49
6 Motherwell 38 -20 46
------------------------
7 Inverness CT 38 8 53
8 St Johnstone 38 -20 44
9 Aberdeen 38 -20 38
10 Hibernian 38 -22 37
11 St Mirren 38 -24 33
------------------------------------
(R) Hamilton 38 -35 26**

**Dunfermline finished 1st in the First Division, and so will take the place of Hamilton.


Scottish League Cup: Rangers
Scottish Cup: Celtic

TOP SCORERS;

Kenny Miller Rangers 21
Gary Hooper Celtic 20
David Goodwillie Dundee Utd 17
Nikica Jelavic Rangers 16
Adam Rooney Inverness CT 15
Connor Sammon Kilmarnock 15
Anthony Stokes Celtic 15
Michael Higdon St Mirren 14
Rudi Skacel Hearts 13
Nick Blackman Aberdeen 12

Managerial Changes (since last summer)

Aberdeen;
OUT: Mark McGhee
IN: Craig Brown

Hibernian;
OUT: John Hughes
IN: Colin Calderwood

Kilmarnock;
OUT: Mixu Paataleinen
IN: Kenny Shiels

Motherwell;
OUT: Craig Brown
IN: Stuart McCall

Rangers:
OUT: Walter Smith
IN: Ally McCoist



Managerial Changes (throughout the season)


Hearts - (1st August)
OUT: Jim Jefferies
IN: Paulo Sergio

SCOTTISH CLUBS IN EUROPE;

Rangers - Champions League group stages.

Celtic
Hearts
Dundee United - OUT: 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND

TRANSFERS;

Celtic

IN: Adam Matthews (Cardiff City), Kelvin Wilson (Nottingham Forest), Victor Wanyama (Germinal Beerschot)

OUT: Fraser Forster (end of loan), Paul McGowan, Graham Carey (St Mirren) Niall McGinn (Brentford, loan)


Hibernian

IN: Garry O'Connor (free agent), Ivan Sproule (Bristol City), Sean O'Hanlon (MK Dons), Junior Agogo (free agent), Phil Airey (Newcastle - loan), Isaaih Osbourne (free agent)

OUT: Liam Miller (Perth Glory) Steven Thicot, Valdas Trakys, Kevin McCann, Kevin McBride, Kurtis Byrne (Ross County) Derek Riordan (Shaanxi Chanba), Francis Dickoh (end of contract), Colin Nish (Hartlepool), Richie Towell, Darryl Duffy (end of loan), John Rankin (Dundee United)


Rangers

IN: Lee Wallace (Hearts), Juan Manuel Ortiz (Almeria);

(Alejandro Bedoya will arrive in January after signing a pre-contract agreement, leaving Orebro)

OUT: Vladimir Weiss, Kyle Bartley, El-Hadji Diouf, Richard Foster (end of loan)

Convicted sex offender Craig Thomson to leave Hearts

Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov has told convicted sex offender Craig Thomson he will not play for the Scottish Premier League club again.

The club had initially stood by the 20-year-old defender.

But they said on Sunday: "Craig Thomson will leave Heart of Midlothian Football Club imminently.

"The club has considered all implications and has decided to find a solution for the player to leave the club over the forthcoming days."

Thomson was convicted on 17 June at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after admitting to lewd and libidinous behaviour towards two girls aged 12 and 14.

He initially had been told that he would be able to resume his career, the final decision about his future having been left to Romanov.

Thomson resumed training with the club and issued an apology via Hearts' website.

However, after speaking to Thomson last week, Romanov had a change of heart and decided his time at Tynecastle is over.


Hearts' owner was back in Scotland for an attempt to set a world record for the fastest width swim of Loch Ness to help mark the 50th anniversary of the K-19 Russian nuclear submarine accident, when eight crew died in 1961.

Romanov explained to BBC Scotland that the delay in making a final decision about Thomson had been caused by other commitments.

"Only then was I able to meet Craig Thomson and his family and we have had a discussion," he said through an interpretor.

"I have reviewed all the facts of his case and understand he has done a wrong thing.

"This is a very bad example and he will not playing for the club again."

However, Romanov stressed that the use of social networking sites by children was one that needed to be addressed by society in general and that it should not be about "singling out one person".

Thomson was placed on the sex offenders' register last month following his court case.

Hearts' backing for the Edinburgh-born player was criticised from various quarters, including supporters' groups, the Children's 1st charity and sponsors.

However, Thomson was then suspended by the club and Lothian and Borders Police subsequently released a statement saying that they were making enquiries into fresh allegations against the player.

BBC Sport - Convicted defender Craig Thomson to leave Hearts

I should bloody think so as well. :fyou:

European Draws

Rangers will play either Swedish side Malmo or Faroe Islands champions Torshavn in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Malmo are in pole position to take on Ally McCoist's side after a 2-0 victory in the first leg, with a trip to Torshavn to come on Tuesday.

The two-legged tie will begin with a home match on 26/27 July, with the away leg taking place the following week.

Rangers would face a further play-off game to reach the group stages.


Hearts were drawn against Tromso of Norway or Hungarian side Paksi.

Dundee United, who trail Slask Wroclaw 1-0 after Thursday's first leg, will face Metalurg Skopje of Macedonia or Lokomotiv Sofia from Bulgaria if they get through.

European Results;

Slask Wroclaw 1 - 0 Dundee United

Dundee United are out of Europe at the first stage (like most SPL teams these days )

It was a 3-2 victory for Dundee United tonight, which meant it was 3-3 on aggregate with Slask Wroclaw progressing on away goals. They had 2 or 3 great chances in the first leg, so they'll rue missing those. They also had a lot of chances tonight judging by the match reports, and hit the crossbar in the 92nd minute!

The real question though, is where the mighty Hibs will finish this year

The first fixture of the new season, Rangers Vs Hearts, is nearly finished with the score currently 1-1.

That's the game over, and it finished 1-1. It gives Celtic a great incentive for tomorrow, having the opportunity to get off to a good start and put a bit of pressure on Rangers already.

Hearts were superb in the first half, the better team by far and took the lead. But Rangers came back into it in the second half and got their goal. But towards the end it got very sloppy, and the attitudes of the players made it look like an end of season game. I don't know if it was because the teams were too scared to push for the win because they didn't want to lose or what.

RESULTS - FIRST WEEKEND (13RD, 24TH AND 25TH JULY);

Aberdeen 0-0 St Johnstone

Dundee Utd 1-1 Kilmarnock

Dunfermline 0-0 St Mirren

Hibernian 0-2 Celtic

Motherwell 3-0 Inverness CT

Rangers 1-1 Hearts


TABLE;

P GD PTS
1 Motherwell 1 3 3
2 Celtic 1 2 3
------------------------------------
3 Dundee Utd 1 0 1
4 Hearts 1 0 1
------------------------------------
5 Kilmarnock 1 0 1
6 Rangers 1 0 1
7 Aberdeen 1 0 1
8 Dunfermline 1 0 1
9 St Johnstone 1 0 1
10 St Mirren 1 0 1
11 Hibernian 1 -2 0
------------------------------------
12 Inverness CT 1 -3 0

European Results;


Champions League Qualifier, 3rd Qualifying Round - Rangers 0 - 1 Malmo

Europa League Qualifier, 3rd Qualifying Round - Paks 1 - 1 Hearts

RESULTS 30TH/31ST JULY;

Hearts 0-1 Dundee Utd

Inverness CT 0-1 Hibernian

Kilmarnock 0-0 Motherwell

St Johnstone 0-2 Rangers

St Mirren 1-0 Aberdeen


TABLE;

P GD PTS
1 Motherwell 2 3 4
---------------------
2 Rangers 2 2 4
3 Dundee Utd 2 1 4
---------------------
4 St Mirren 2 1 4
5 Celtic 1 2 3
6 Hibernian 2 -1 3
7 Kilmarnock 2 0 2
8 Dunfermline 1 0 1
9 Hearts 2 -1 1
10 Aberdeen 2 -1 1
11 St Johnstone 2 -2 1
---------------------
12 Inverness CT 2 -4 0

Malmo 1 - 1 Rangers (agg 2 - 1)

Rangers dumped out of the Champions League :rofl:




edit. Even more funny is that i've just read Celtic lose their Europa League seeding to Rangers now. :rofl: :rofl: