How can Scottish football possibly survive.

[54andcounting 0]

Apologies to all fans for my 'doom and gloom' I'm the ever optimist and think things will change for the better once we are out of this shite div 3 and the transfer embargo is over.

 

Hopefully from a personal point of view I don't suffer cardiac arrest before then.

 

Keep the faith.

[ian1964 10,548]

SPL managers urge fans to turn out for teams after 'Armageddon' fails to materialise

2 Nov 2012 00:01

 

LEAGUE chiefs had suggested Scotland's top flight faced a bleak future after the demise of Rangers but the predicted implosion has never happened.

 

 

 

THE men in charge of the clubs in the SPL might not have a history of agreeing on too much.

 

But they have returned a unanimous verdict on the possibility of their league facing Armageddon in the wake of Rangers’ banishment to the Third Division.

 

And the jury says it hasn’t happened.

 

The doom-laden diagnosis from SFA boss Stewart Regan, and SPL chief Neil Doncaster that our game faced a slow, lingering death following the decision to say no to an Ibrox newco in the top flight is currently in need of a second opinion as well.

 

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson says Armageddon was the wrong term to use and fellow SPL member, Kilmarnock owner Michael Johnston also believes financial ruin has been averted. Record Sport has taken a quarterly temperature check on the clubs who diced with the commercial consequences of snubbing newco Rangers.

 

And the findings are less disturbing than had been originally been predicted.

 

But Johnston, who was abused by his own fans, after abstaining from the vote that ensured the newco club started out in the lower orders, last night admitted the domestic game at the highest level had dodged a bullet.

 

“Armageddon was a possibility,” he said. “The danger wasn’t overstated when that word was first used. The main TV companies, Sky and ESPN, had the power to rewrite, or terminate, the agreement they had with the SPL, but they stood by us.

 

“If that hadn’t been the case who knows what might have happened.”

 

The only people who appear to have welched on their promise are those who said they would turn out in even greater numbers if their club did the right thing by blocking the fast-tracking of the newco straight into the SPL

 

Now Johnston is putting the Killie fans on their honour when Kenny Shiels’ side play Inverness tomorrow, the weekend after his club defeated Celtic on the champions’ own ground for the first time in 57 years.

 

Johnston was born in 1955 and he wants the win over Neil Lennon’s side to mark the birth of a revival at Rugby Park.

 

The Killie chairman said: “We need more people to come to games and I don’t know what more Kenny can do to attract a crowd.

 

“I call him the History Man after he won us a League Cup Final last season, beat Rangers in

back-to-back league matches and then re-wrote decades of negative results at Celtic Park.

 

“We’ve compensated for the loss of Rangers by selling a teenager, Matthew Kennedy, to Everton and getting a sell-on fee when Connor Sammon went from Wigan to Derby County.

 

“And yet we’ve provided every reason for fans to come out and get behind their team at the same time.

 

“Season tickets have gone up by 10 per cent after an aggressive marketing campaign that

involved our manager actually hand delivering books to supporters at one stage.

 

“But I’d still expect to see an uplift in our home gate this Saturday after beating Celtic.”

 

St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour, whose team are now in the League Cup semis after beating Aberdeen, admits there has been no uplift in crowds despite the club voting against the newco in accordance with the fans’ wishes.

 

He said: “That hasn’t happened for us. It’s still the hard core who follow the team in Paisley. But I don’t think any of us really believed anything other than that would happen in any case.

 

“What happened with Rangers is now history and the rest of us have to move on.

 

“I’m not ecstatic over the present but I’m not despondent where the future is concerned.

 

“But we’re now coming into that stage of the season where the temperature goes down and the overheads go up.

 

“Undersoil heating has to be paid for and the hope is you can continue to break even.”

 

It was the Aberdeen supporters who launched the Sell Out Saturday initiative and the Pittodrie club appear to have attracted more punters on a regular basis. A club statement said: “The fans have certainly responded but we still need them to come to home games in greater numbers.

 

“We take vast numbers to other grounds and it’s worth an extra man but, from a financial perspective, we see none of that money.

 

“Things remain extremely challenging and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

 

“But we do urge those fans who have not come back to Pittodrie to consider doing so.”

 

Hibs admit they are trying to reconnect with lapsed fans as well. And chairman Rod Petrie has apologised to them for the two years of under-achievement which helped erode the crowds at

Easter Road.

 

He said: “The unprecedented events of the summer created high levels of uncertainty within Scottish football. The uncertainty was created by the actions of those people running one club but the financial impact has been felt by every club.

 

“In the final analysis we’ve sold an extra 1,000 season tickets. The challenge for the club is to get everyone back on board and attending matches.

 

“Home attendances are growing from the low level reached following two years of under-performance on the pitch.

 

“There is no magic wand. Everyone needs to do what they can, but only if they can in these times of economic hardship.

 

“I’m asking every Hibs supporter to look again and to do what they can from within their budget.”

 

Hearts are averaging 12,091 at their home games. The gates holding up are an essential help as Jambos chief executive David Southern admits the club is “putting out fires everywhere else”.

 

Hearts face the twin threat of a seven-figure tax bill and huge historic debts starting an

inferno they can’t put out, but Southern remains optimistic.

 

He said: “Rangers still owe us money for Lee Wallace, payable next season, and our fans have stood by us.

 

“But we’re having to run pretty fast to get where we want to be.”

 

Even stability is progress in these austere economic times, which is why Dundee United’s chairman is relieved the Doomsday warnings were off the mark.

 

Thompson said: “Armageddon wasn’t the best choice of word. The economic climate is dreadful but if you’re holding your own you’re doing well, whether it’s football or any other business.

 

“We’ve put on an extra 500 season tickets and our average gate will go up because we

actually profited by losing Rangers and gaining city rivals Dundee in their place.

 

“We had 13,500 fans when we played Dundee, and that was two thousand more than would’ve turned up for a game against Rangers at Tannadice.

 

“But there’s nothing on the horizon to say there’s going to be a dramatic up-turn for any of us. Where we are is where we are.”

 

And where we are is still better than where we might have been under the circumstances.

 

Shug Keevins

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/spl-managers-urge-fans-to-turn-1412179

[amms 0]

These people just can't stop talking about us. No one from Celtic though, wonder how their crowds are bearing up....

[ian1964 10,548]

Mulraney gives stinging criticism of top flight amid hive of activity

 

THE Wasps are faring quite well this weather considering they were apparently fated for extinction not so long ago.

 

Mike Mulraney, chairman of last season's Irn-Bru Third Division champions Alloa Athletic, refused to buy into prophets of doom such as Stewart Regan, the SFA chief executive, and Neil Doncaster, his SPL counterpart, when the subject of Rangers' re-admittance as a newco into the first division arose in the summer, and he will continue to be rewarded for his stance this Saturday when his split of the gate receipts from the William Hill Scottish Cup first-round tie at Ibrox provides a further £100,000 to invest in his upwardly-mobile little football club. Or as Mulraney puts it, the down payment for their new 1500-seater stand.

 

Mulraney – whose Mulraney Group has a portfolio which includes property and warehousing – has always taken a keen interest in the restructuring debates around Scottish football. But instead of the widely forecast apocalypse four months ago, he feels the presence of Rangers in the SFL has helped nourish the grassroots of the Scottish game, and has generally been one of the most exciting development for years. Ongoing debates around restructuring not withstanding – the SFA has set a November 30 deadline for agreement on the future shape of our game – the Ibrox club may well alight in next season's second division, but all going well Mulraney and promotion-chasing Alloa will remain a league above them.

 

"The armageddon scenario that everyone discussed was always wide of the mark," Mulraney told Herald Sport. "People said that the economy of football would shrink, and in a way that has happened because I think the SPL are quite significantly affected by this. But what I don't think people anticipated so much was that the roots of football would be fertilised by the fact Rangers have come down and the money has been spread around.

 

"The creation of the SPL goes hand in hand with the failure of our national game," he added. "The Scotland team have not qualified for anything since it was created, the standard of football has deteriorated and the excitement of Scottish football has deteriorated. One of the most exciting things which has happened in Scottish football for ages is Rangers going on the journey they are on now. Throughout this entire situation the SFL has conducted itself with integrity and balance at all times and in all things and it would be laughable for any of the other two organisations [the SFA and SPL] to be suggesting that they will be imposing anything on anybody."

 

Mulraney's reward won't just be counted out in hard cash. Primarily, he is delighted that the town of Alloa can participate in such an occasion. With Queen of the South – who sit one place above them in the table – having already tasted victory in Govan in the Ramsdens Cup, success isn't exactly out of the question either, even if you can get a bet of something in the region of 16-1 in the sponsors' shop. They have a team which boasts the likes of Stephen Simmons, Darren Young and Jason Marr, all marshalled by manager Paul Hartley, who didn't so much inherit a squad as a list of phone numbers of unsigned players.

 

"What Queen of the South did is great encouragement to ourselves, however they did get them at the right time on their journey," said Mulraney. "I would say Rangers are a more cohesive unit now. Rangers are a great team and I don't underestimate what we are up against. But Paul Hartley came to us last summer and put a squad of 22 together.

 

"Anyone who thinks coming into a club and winning the third division with a new squad is easy just has to have a look at the early season difficulties that Rangers have had – and half of their squad were there last year. Likewise, people say they are a young team but their average age on the day will probably be higher than ours, because our manager has put together a very young team.

 

"Paul must be the hardest working man in Scottish football," Mulraney added. "He is in at 9am in the morning, he works till 10pm at night. And to have a manager who is on board who understands that the greater good for the club is spent by investing in long-term projects which will return long-term rewards for the club, rather than just blowing all the money on wages in the short term, is quite unusual."

 

Hartley is unlikely to be welcomed with open arms at Ibrox, but an away support of around 1000 is already guaranteed to make the journey. There may or may not be a sting in the tail, but the Wasps are buzzing.

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/sport/football/mulraney-gives-stinging-criticism-of-top-flight-amid-hive-of-activity.19313575?_=792eed93e471be02b2efbef737e7c795c655a564

[Super_Ally 0]

“We had 13,500 fans when we played Dundee, and that was two thousand more than would’ve turned up for a game against Rangers at Tannadice.

 

Really?

 

And this continual rush to brag about how well they're doing without us whilst begging more fans to turn up just doesn't ring true.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

nice to see Dundee utd were looked after by bringing Dundee up.

[ian1964 10,548]

Ah!,but wait until the season progresses,wait until the dark winter months with underground heating,dwindling attendances and match postponements,it's a wee bit premature to suggest all is well without the big bad Rangers me thinks.

[calscot 0]

The first season was always going to be not too bad with the defiance of the fans, the patience of the TV companies and the theft of Rangers' money. Next season will be the one to measure it by. A one horse race in a scrapyard of a field, interests very few.

[pete 2,499]

The first season was always going to be not too bad with the defiance of the fans, the patience of the TV companies and the theft of Rangers' money. Next season will be the one to measure it by. A one horse race in a scrapyard of a field, interests very few.

 

Totally agree that is why they will be stealing everything off us next year as well. Remember we only have a temporary licence and that is for a reason. We will have the exact same fight next season and it will depend how deep Green digs his heels into the earth. The one thing is, he now knows the Rangers support stand behind him and he did not have that certainty last season. He may be more up for a fight next season.

[GovanAllan 0]

Jeez these muppets really are deluded, I didn't think for a minute anything would happen this season. Next year and the year after is a different story.

Edited November 2, 2012 by GovanAllan