Brazil's bounce backers

Releagtion yes but coming back up is another story in Brazil.

In 2007 of the four clubs that went down only Corinthians bounce-back up to Série A. They won Série B by 17 points.

The others well they struggled. Juventude finished higher in 8th with 56 points, Paraná finished 11th with 49 points and América finished 15th with 46 points and nearly got relegated again to Série C. 20 clubs in Série B in 2008.

But the following year in 2009 Juventude were relegated to Série C with América narrowly escaping while Paraná finished 10th.

In 2008 the four clubs that got relegated only Vasco De Gama went up, as champions. Portuguesa and Figueirense both narrowly missed out on promotion while Ipatinga finished 15th just four points from going down further.

The four clubs relegated in 2009? well in recent years history shows that one will bounce back while two will be pushing for promotion and mid-table while one will be involved in a tussle to avoid another relegation. So Coritiba, Náutico, Sport Recifé and Santo André are the ones to watch-out for in 2010.

Relegation in Brazil

Relegation, that absolute sinking feeling after a season of hard-work (depends on the team) and you drop down a level. It's happened to many. Just think of Leeds, Newcastle, Real Betis, Real Zaragoza and so on. But in Brazil relegation is completly different.

2009 saw the Brazilian Série A season end with the traditional four clubs being relegated. No problem there. The sides unfortunate to go down were Sport Recifé, Náutico, Santo André and Coritiba. Ok Náutico and Santo André aren't the biggest sides but Sport Recifé and Coritiba would be considered big clubs. Sport Recifé have a good fanbase in the Northern resort of Recifé.

Ok we will go to 2008. Ipatinga, Portuguesa, Vasco De Gama and Figueirense. Again two clubs not quiet big but two clubs that are quiet big. Vasco De Gama by far the most interesting relegation in 2008. They had big plans but fell down and the fact that Romario was continuing his quest for 1,000 goals the club fell apart. Figueirense big enough but not surprising with relegation.

2007. América, Paraná, Juventude and Corinthians. In this pile we have quiet big clubs suffering relegation. Paraná and Juventude are still to get back into Série A today but Corinthians are very big in Brazil. They went down in 2007 exactly two years after winning the Série A and three years after being taken over by MSI. They are back in Série after running away with Série B in 2008 and have ambitions to win the Copa Libertadores in 2010.

If you go back a few years more you will find that huge clubs such as Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Bahia went down. The first two did get back up but Bahia, such a big club went down as far as Série C and are currently in Série B looking to get back up.

Relegation in Brazil is different to Europe. In Europe you might have a big name club go down every couple of years but in Brazil you are pretty much guaranteed with a big name or two going down. But the thing is clubs that have gone down don't actually have a good record of coming back up. Just ask Bahia.

Boring leagues?

Boring leagues... leagues that have always without fail, year after year produced the same name or names on the titles at the end of the season. We all know what leagues are boring.

Personally I think the Scottish Premier league takes the crown for boringness and absolute predictability about it.

Year after year Rangers, Celtic, Rangers, Rangers then Celtic Celtic Celtic and then Rangers? Come on! Is it any wonder the league was stripped of one of it's champions league spots recently?

Yes i do know that the title races between these two can be exciting (2004-05, 2002-03) but the lack of more teams such as Hibernian and Hearts or even your emerging Motherwell means the top two in Scotland haven't changed since Hearts amazingly stole 2nd in 2005-06. But that was spoiled by Celtic winning by a healthy margin that year.

other boring leagues:

Another boring league in Europe is the Moldovan Diviviza. This league dosen't even feature two teams. Instead Moldovan football has been simply about Sherriff Tiraspol. Yes Sherriff are by far the strongest side in Moldova but the gap between them and the rest is getting bigger and bigger. Problems so for Zimbru, the former leading light in Moldova.

Croatia had a reputation for being boring with Dinamo Zagreb winning title to beat the band by fifteen to twenty points. But since Hajduk Split have got in order they have been making Dinamo work for the title.

Has Spain got a boring league? well with both Real Madrid and Barcelona running away to tussle for the title then yes this year has been boring in terms of number of teams fighting for the title. Certainly having both El Clásico clubs neck and neck is not boring but to spice up competition then yes Spain does lack that.

Serie A maybe with Inter Milan winning the title on offer since calciopoli in 2006. The other big names haven't managed to stop Inter.