Fans overwhelmingly favour bigger spl

[rbr 1,266]

And how many times recently have we bought players from abroad. And when we do sign they're hardly hardly world beaters shining in their leagues. How many do we actually have on high wages? Hurr durrrr. Of course they're going to increase their wages, no foreign player comes to the SPL for the array of technique on display

 

And you think there's no chance Panathinaikos have a higher wage bill than us? Get your facts straight - Boumsong, Govou, Gilberto Silva and Cisse will all earn much more than anyone at Ibrox. Christ, I bet their squads wages is double ours.

 

So lets get this straight , your seriously telling us that the teams I mentioned above have wage bills over �£50 million , I haven't laughed so much in ages mate , seriously you need a wee lie down

[johnnyk 158]

Another thing - in a way parents caring too much (over protective) gets in the way of kids playing football. Kids in Argentina, Brazil and to a lesser extend the rest of the European countries are more likely to be out kicking a ball about. Now parents are too scared to let their kids out.

 

The fact is that it's pathetic that a country which takes football so seriously struggles to produce any good players at all. Even tiny countries way down in the rankings seem to get the odd world class player by chance. We haven't had a world class player since........????????

 

Uruguay is much smaller than Scotland and not a single Scottish player would get in their squad

 

I wouldn't say parents are scared to let their kids out when they get to a decent age. There are 'no ball games' signs up all the over the place so they can't play in the streets without someone chasing them, there's no decent facilties to play football in estates or none near enough to houses which means kids would have to cross very busy roads so no wonder parents don't let them out, I know I wouldn't just now.

 

I've took my boy to Motherwell FC and SFA run football classes for young kids and they were a joke. My boy hated it and I wouldn't take him back anyway, I could teach him more than they were doing and I told them as much but i've seen them since and nothing has changed. I will take him again when he's a bit older and if I can find one decent enough he will enjoy. He enjoys other sports/activities much more just now because basically they make it appealing and enjoyable for kids unlike the football classes he went to.

 

IMO they should have more at both primary and secondary schools as I agree that some parents could not give a toss about what their kids do outside school or maybe some parents can't afford to do take them as some can be quite expensive. I don't agree kids should be forced into doing sports if they don't want to.

[calscot 0]

The incredulous thing I found was that my nephew was not allowed to play football in the school playground in case a pupil was injured and the parents sued the school!

 

When I was young we used to play football in the morning before school, at morning and afternoon playtimes and at lunchtime. Then you might even play again in the evening.

 

I DO think that kids should be forced into doing sport as well as eating vegetables, doing chores and tidying their room. They should also be forced to go to school and learn stuff. I also think they should be forced to learn a language and a musical instrument.

 

Kids cannot make important decisions for themselves - they are by definition naive and immature. Kids are becoming fat, lazy, disrespectful and stupid - because people think they should do what they like and make their own decisions.

 

I do, however, think that sport, food, chores and learning should be made as enjoyable, fun, fulfilling and satisfying for kids as possible. What they don't need is draconian sergeant-major types, who pick on the weakest ones and humiliate them.

 

Kids definitely need a bit of fair and consistent discipline and that can really set them up for a happier and more successful adulthood. How many adults regret not learning more stuff when they were kids? All the best sportsmen I know had parents that pushed them and encouraged them at it. These are also the ones that were subsequently cherry picked at school and then giving proper training.

 

In this day and age of obesity where what used to be considered a bit fat is now considered reasonably slim, we really need to instil in people that exercise is something we HAVE to do every day.

 

If any kids hate normal sports so much then give them aerobics, martial arts or dance classes, play Ultimate Frisbee, or at least take them for a long walk or cycle somewhere nice, or play silly childhood games - while periodically giving them tasters of other sports.

 

We need to do at least an hour exercise a day to stay healthy, even if it's just 10,000 steps walking, and we need to get into the habit from a young age - that used to happen naturally, but not any more.

 

That's a huge reason why we're going from one of the best sporting small countries in the world to one of the worst. In Uraguay, kids play football all day long...

[craig 5,199]

The fact that you create football clubs takes the need away for coaches in schools. Football clubs here are mostly self sufficient with the money covered by membership, profits from the canteen, sponsors and lottery money. The pitches and up-keep are normally provided by the local council and volunteers from the club. The top senior and youth teams mostly have paid coaches with the club also using members of the top senior teams to coach at youth level. From u13 upwards all coaches of the first team at that age group(A1,B1,C1,D1) all have KNVB Youth coaching certificates. Even the coaching level is a part of the pyramid.

 

The bit in bold is paramount IMO. When I played boys club football the coaches had barely any idea on how the game should be played. Little coaching was spent teaching technique and basic skills - and much of it was spent running as fast as you can with a truck tyre strapped to your wait.

 

Here in Bermuda, anyone who coaches from U8 onwards has to be working towards the FIFA D licence at least - from U10 (or might be U12) they have to be working towards the C licence - all of which makes sense.

 

And at such a young age, psychology is actually a hefty part as much as technique and skills.

[rbr 1,266]

Craig I posted before , at the world cup the Spanish system was being discussed , they have over 600 class A coaches who all coach kids under 8 I think it was , England by comparison had approx 90 who all coached adults , the system we use in the UK is so outdated , I have since tried to find out how many we have , no one seems to know

[craig 5,199]

Craig I posted before , at the world cup the Spanish system was being discussed , they have over 600 class A coaches who all coach kids under 8 I think it was , England by comparison had approx 90 who all coached adults , the system we use in the UK is so outdated , I have since tried to find out how many we have , no one seems to know

 

And therein lies the problem - we have bemoaned the dirth of talent in this country for 20+ years - everyone says we need to "get back to grass roots football" - yet 20 years on nothing has seemingly changed.

 

At 5-7 years old the ONLY thing that kids should be getting taught are the basic skills. How to control a ball, cushion control, passing, moving. The basics that even a kid can learn. Physical attributes come with age and physical maturity.

 

I coach my 6 yr old's U8 team and, to be honest, they regularly get beaten - but the reason is primarily due to them being a very young U8 team (mostly 6 yr olds plus some 5 yr olds) whilst some of the teams that they play against have players who are almost 9 - a 3 yr age difference is massive at that age.

 

However, the one thing I have noticed is that the other teams play primarily to win - they will leave a big, older player up front for a breakaway and it is all about the winning - despite the results my team probably has better basic skills than most of these teams they are playing against - and when they are a year older they will be handing a beating to some of these teams because I REFUSE to seek out the "win at all costs" mentality - I would rather nurture these young kids into how to play the game properly with good control, good movement, vision, and being quick when in possession.

 

We try to teach them about passing and the importance of it (at that age everyone wants to be a Messi....) and they get it, sometimes too much as they will pass up a shooting opportunity for a team mate to get a touch instead.

 

But I firmly believe in the basics and it has me shaking my head watching some of the other teams' coaches playing only to win - they will even put their biggest, most physical player in front of our 5 yr old keeper at a corner.

 

Rant over - but if Scottish football really wanted to better itself then start at the coaching level - create a philosophy (heck, even just use the FIFA and/or UEFA licencing model....) and enforce it across the board both in the educational system as well as the boys club system. And also periodically send round an assessor to the clubs and schools to make sure it IS being enforced.

 

And make sure the kids are working on their game - our kids train twice a week (Wednesday and Friday) for 90 minutes at a time and they have a game on a Saturday. A few of my kids will stay late to kick about after training is done - you can tell the ones who are REALLY keen on football and I am more than happy to stick around with them and continue coaching when they want to.

 

Our club here took about 20 kids to the Man U football camp last summer and the youth program director made some decent contacts there - what was surprising to me was that Man U dont let their younger kids play against other teams until at least, I think, U13 - the sole reason is that they want the kids from U8 to U12 to play "The Man U" way - they play inter-club games and play the way Man U believe the game should be played - that way by the time they actually play competitive games they have ingrained in them a certain philosophy - so even though they will play to win they will still play that same way they were coached for the last 5 or 6 years.

 

My kid went on a Celtic football camp last summer (yep, I know......) and one of the coaches has been with Celtic as a community coach for 4 years - NOT ONCE has he been assessed by Celtic as to the adequacy of his coaching methods - in his own words (and he is a Tim....).... it is all about the money. The other coach (a massive bluenose) had worked with a company called Elite XL in the US - he was being assessed twice a MONTH to ensure his coaching methods were still effective. Not hard to work out which would be the most productive method....

[Totti 0]

So lets get this straight , your seriously telling us that the teams I mentioned above have wage bills over �£50 million , I haven't laughed so much in ages mate , seriously you need a wee lie down

Did I say that? I believe I mentioned one of the teams you listed.

 

And in my original post I said we would be one of the lowest spending teams in the CL, not the lowest. It's not complicated.

[rbr 1,266]

Did I say that? I believe I mentioned one of the teams you listed.

 

And in my original post I said we would be one of the lowest spending teams in the CL, not the lowest. It's not complicated.

 

Considering the size of our squad it aint exactly rocket science and there is no way in hell Pana pay double what we pay , as a squad that is .

 

There are teams I mentioned who were put together for a fraction and pay a fraction of what we pay , never mind one

[Zappa 0]

Thought I'd post this drivel from Chick Young's blog on the BBC since it's quite amusing -

 

 

"It's a well known fact that 38.47% of statistics are made up on the spot.

 

I just made that up.

 

But opinion polls have always seemed like numbers rackets to me. Well, it all depends who you ask, doesn't it?

 

Supporters Direct, who may sound like an online company who fire straight to your home a wee bloke in a coloured scarf and a tammy, are in fact a group of fans concerned about the future of the game.

 

And they claim that an overwhelming percentage of fans would rather choke on their Bovril than embrace a new set-up of 10, 10.

 

Fair enough. But I suspect that they may end up with a collective petted lip.

 

I'll be honest. I ebb and flow with the tide on this whole affair.

 

At times I embrace the philosophy of the fans, being one myself. I fair fancied a 16-team top division where everyone played each other just once at home and once away and one team was automatically relegated with a further two - and perhaps just for the hell of it, three - were involved in play-offs.

 

But the SPL muscle says that will never work. Or maybe what they mean is never happen.

 

It's down to money, which of course is generated most of all by television companies, and blokes like Rupert Murdoch will dictate what happens as surely as they had abbreviated moustaches just the width of their noses.

 

But then cash isn't an evil. It's the oxygen and blood of our professional game which builds better stadia, attracts better players, funds training grounds and develops young talent. Without it we're in a land of public parks and raffles to raise money for strips.

 

And, to be fair, blokes who run football clubs know a wee bit more about their desperate need for its life-giving qualities than your average turnstile clicking fan or lap-top thumping hack.

 

But here's the rub.

 

While the Old Firm are stoking the boilers of the 10-10 revolution with a little help in the shovelling from the likes of Ronnie MacDonald - despite the fact that his Hamilton Accies are the club currently most likely to be victims of such a reshaping - there are others who clearly reading from a different sat-nav.

 

St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour, who himself favours a 14-team top league, insists that nothing has been decided, despite SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster's insistence that all current top flight teams favour the 10-10 formula.

 

I am trying hard here not to use the word shambles.

 

David Sutherland, the majority shareholder at Inverness and as shrewd a businessman who has ploughed his hard earned millions into our game is at least honest about the timescale.

 

In his opinion, even with the fairest wind and tide available, there can be no new set-up before 2012-13 at the very earliest. And, to be honest, that is a forecast rubbed down liberally with optimism.

 

I fear procrastination and yet I suppose we should not be diving in as a salve to impatience.

 

We could be forced to live with our mistake for a long time. Or worse still, the professional game in this country would not have enough about it to winter many more storms.

 

For the time being let's do something, gentlemen. At least decree that the season will start when July does and that we can halt for a winter break.

 

Give us that as a token of your intent and a declaration that the wheels are in motion.

 

Statistically I reckon that would make 92.78% of us very happy. I am 73.47% sure of it."

[Zappa 0]

It's down to money, which of course is generated most of all by television companies,

 

I thought this was an astounding comment from cheaky Chick given that TV money in the SPL is a fraction of the revenue clubs generate from their fans. Even the small clubs like Chick's beloved St.Mirren generate far more money from fans than they do from the SPL's shitty broadcasting deals, while larger clubs like ourselves can pocket more from fans in 2 games than we get in a season for TV rights.