It's interesting watching Howe, doing well though backed immensely , he may not have spent big EPL style but well over Β£100 million at Newcastle and over Β£250 million at Bournemouth, he'd have been backed here like no other before but not to that extent, either way we got the better option as we'd forever be bombarded with " x or y's clubs interest in our manager".
As a supporter I feel I can trust Ange to see his project out as long as he's got full support, we have him, I've never felt that since the days of Tommy Burns.
Your post ignites the grey matter , because , of course we've always known ( supporters especially) since the mid 80s of our games decline yet our media since then has often sneered at foreigners in leagues just as good or better but would have us believe we are better because we are Celtic or 'were' rangers and Hearts when they spent big etc.
As a lad following Celtic, always chasing Aberdeen and United then rangers and Hearts I didnt consider Irish players as foreign for obvious reasons and was also desperate for foreigners to do well,
The first ' name' , in the late 80s under ' super manager' Brady was English keeper Andrew's, a disaster.
First success for me was Paul Elliott, followed by Dariuz Dzeikanowski and Dwdowcyk the two Poles.
The beginning of change.
Some true disasters like Hayes, Biggins. Mowbray was a trier but not a winner, though still a good core of Scottish/irish players in the side like McLeod, Mcstay, Collins, Coyne at the time.
Reality was for me, regarding foreign players truly making a mark on our game, defying the " experts" was when Tommy Burns took over mid 90s , by now in my mid 20s known nothing but failure since the centenary really, 1 cup maybe, we began to bring in true quality players, big Pierre VH, hero, the header V Airdrie that changed us back into winners, and the type of player we bought ( mostly, there were still some nightmares to come under Dalgleish).
Tommy added Weighorst ( whom I seem to remember took time to settle), Cadete, Andreas Thom.
Then Annoni, Stubbs, Di Canio later.
He built the foundations upon which Wim finally stopped the cheating institution.
Our foreigners prevailed , enter Wim enter ghuys like Mahe, Rieper, Larsson, Brattbakk ( the bhoy who eventually come good haha) , Blinker too alongside Lambert, Phil O'Donnell, Boyd, Burley, " Darren Jackson" we had a team of winners.
We couldn't have done it without them.
Sorry , went a wee trip doon memory lane there
was your post that did it
Long story short ( but too late) I love our
" who ", players that come here setting the heather on fire under the bums of these ....bums who think they know better.
All they know is nothing more, often less than we do, the UK domestic game.
Any other small European countries media would praise and celebrate the heavens out of a new club reaching a UEFA final, even if a fortuitous draw in a 2nd rank competition ( bad season later included) and another new manager with his new squads very decent first assault on the elite European scene.
We have the worst media going that tries its best to be like their English counterparts when theres no similarity in the football we see, not financially we cant just hire and fire the most expensive in the world but they never give us a break.
On a side tangent , I seem to mind a certain Jim Goodwin in the Celtic squad for some of those years TB and Wim were manager
Had some sweet, sweet times since but Pierres winner over Airdrie was a sea - change that we all believed after it , it was coming. HH