Albanian Football Forum

Great win, very happy for Skenderbeu and it's micro fanbase.

Plako wrote: No way does Seknderbeu winning the league year after year helps Albanian football

Yeah, but I really don't think what happens in the Albanian league matters. To me it's an amateur football competition. We need to start a tradition of teams doing well in Europe, which is what Skenderbeu's (and Kukesi) doing. European competitions will test, shape and provide scouting opportunities for potential talents, not waterlogged/match fixing Superliga.

I still don't see how Skenderbeu is bad for the league. I get that some of you are upset that they "bought" that way to the top but they probably spend less or as much as Tirana and Partizani. Skenderbeu just got lucky(If you want to say that) with their signings.

It's good for the league because it raises the quality as Skenderbeu wasn't a significant team in the league previously. It forces other teams to raise their quality to dethrone Skenderbeu and Partizani has seemed to accept that challenge. Tirana seems to be promising as they reinvested in their stadium and do put money in their team although the results haven't been too good for them lately. The other teams are just in shambles it seems.

Congrats to skenderbeu, that's one win more than I thought they would get in the group

Too bad they don't have a strong fan base

Congrats to Skenderbeu and their fans. All these archievements are good for our domestic football. Anyway Sporting was missing only two starters and 1 injured so they had their strongest lineup, they had a taste of what Skenderbeu had in Lisbone (missing Olyainka because Portugueses didn't give him the visa permit to travel with the team and then Salihi sent out) . I wish Partizani or other teams continue being present in Europe so that this becomes a normal objective for our teams in future. More europe=more experience= more money for infrastructure and players= more chances to export young players= becoming a more attractive league for talents = raise domestic league quality and so on...

artan wrote:I still don't see how Skenderbeu is bad for the league. I get that some of you are upset that they "bought" that way to the top but they probably spend less or as much as Tirana and Partizani. Skenderbeu just got lucky(If you want to say that) with their signings.

Skenderbeu bought their first couple of titles but they have become a professional outfit and that's to be respected. The problem with a Skenderbeu is their small fan base and their lack of a strong academy. Also having a pretty strong team like Skenderbeu built with some political support and CL money leaves everyone else behind. How is that good for a league?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fact of the matter is Skenderbeu raises the bar for what is an amateur league. Other teams need to invest more money, get new infrastructure (which most are getting), and increase their professional mentality to play catch up.

The new standard for being good is beating EL giants, not beating Ballshi in a waterlogged pitch.

The good thing about Skenderbeu is that they have inserted a stronger mentality in "yes we can". When was the last time an albanian team got so far in CL qualification and in EL? This will hopefully incite more teams to see the benefits. I remember when Tirana used to play play offs and whatnot. They sold all their games instead of thinkin of the profit they couldve gained.

None of the albanian teams went into a qualification game with the mindset that they can do something, so they sold their games outright.

Minotti wrote:The good thing about Skenderbeu is that they have inserted a stronger mentality in "yes we can". When was the last time an albanian team got so far in CL qualification and in EL? This will hopefully incite more teams to see the benefits. I remember when Tirana used to play play offs and whatnot. They sold all their games instead of thinkin of the profit they couldve gained.

None of the albanian teams went into a qualification game with the mindset that they can do something, so they sold their games outright.

Flamurtari did but that was 30 years ago. I remember Tirana came close to qualify in the 3rd round a couple of times. What Skenderbeu is doing is really a breath of fresh air though and exactly what the Superliga teams to motivate themselves even more to do better. We've had periods where teams have dominated the league but they have failed in Europe. Skenderbeu is taking us to the next level and helping the league's coefficient.

My only problem is that in this league is hard to play catch up. There is no Abramovich or Shekikh Mansour willing to plonk millions into a team because there is no guarantee of a return unless they start getting involved in shenanigans. And if a team does challenge Skenderbeu, like Partizani is doing now, and ends up winning the league there is a big Chance that Skenderbeu will fade into oblivion.

What I like to see is that at least 4-5 teams challenge for the league each year. That will generate more interest in the stand and more money will eventually being pumped into the league. This year it looks like Partizani and Skenderbeu will fight it out. It's only November and 8 of the teams are out with 4-5 fighting relegation. Other than Partizani fans who will show up in the stands? Only Tirana fans during the derby with Partizani, but that's only another 3 more games. Even the Tirana derby does not sell out Qemal Stafa like it used to in the old days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seems many Skenderbeu players might leave because they have offers from other European teams. Latifi, Berisha, Olyainka, Nimaga, Lilaj, Abazaj, Jashanica have received offers, a concrete offer for Berisha was made by Lokomotiv Moscow . Berisha's transfer might break a record for tranfers from Superliga to other leagues.