Reconstruction talks

[ian1964 10,578]

Why numbers just don't add up for 'new' Scottish league set-up

7 Jan 2013 00:01

 

THE SFA have used the ideas of Gordon Smith, to come up with a solution that will make things worse instead of better.

 

 

 

SO that’s it then. The visionaries have spoken. The fans have been ignored. Again.

 

And it turns out the big shake-up – the supposed salvation of Scottish football in this its time of crisis – is about as radical as giving Willo Flood a makeover by buying him a comb.

 

Two top leagues of 12 teams and one of 18. Wow! What a brave new world.

 

What bright spark came up with this one? The same guy who told Mario Balotelli to paint his £160k Bentley in camouflage colours so that nobody in Manchester city centre would spot him?

 

Only in football can there be so many backward forward thinkers.

 

Actually, when you really think about, if this is to be the future for the game in this country, and it seems as if it will be, then the decision makers are more bold than we gave them credit for.

 

It takes real guts to risk further alienating your customers and driving them even further away from a game their cash underpins. Either that or real stupidity. And the men in charge couldn’t be stupid, could they?

 

Well, actually yes. They must be. How else can this latest farce be explained?

 

A creation so utterly complicated and absurd that it even manages to make the present SPL set-up seem slightly less ridiculous than it actually is.

 

Remember, since Henry McLeish’s report on the state of our game two years ago, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan has been warning that the top 12 was a busted flush. “We need change” was Regan’s mantra. And so now what are we getting? A top 12.

 

But hold on there, because if you thought the “top six, bottom six split” was Mickey Mouse stuff then you’ve another think coming. It’s Minnie Mouse compared with what they’ve got in store for us now. Think about it...

 

At the top level, instead of the top six sides facing each other a mind-numbing four times a season. Now we’ll have eight doing it. Ground-breaking stuff eh?

 

How can they call this change? It’s like turning yesterday’s skid-marked underpants inside out before pulling them back on for day two.

 

In fact, when you examine it more closely, the only discernible changes would appear to be fundamentally unfair and an affront to everything a football season is meant to be about. A league campaign is supposed to be the ultimate test of endurance, character and of squad capacity.

 

Last season Celtic came from 15 points behind to win the title which proved the old adage that it’s a marathon not a sprint.

 

But this new plan would allow two guys in a pantomime horse costume to run flat out for the first 13 miles and then be shoehorned into a run-off with the Kenyans down The Mall.

 

The season will be ripped up halfway through and those who don’t make the top eight will be locked into half a season of relegation play-offs with the top four from the second tier. If it were introduced today, Dundee United would make the cut on 26 points, which is just eight behind second-placed Inverness.

 

But Hearts, also on 26 points, would be forced to drop down a division on goal difference. With half a season still to play? How can that possibly be fair?

 

Now look at today’s First Division table. Who fancies telling Falkirk manager Steven Pressley his team deserves to go down when they are only 12 points off the top and one behind fourth-placed Raith Rovers? Then there’s the lowest league. Are we seriously going to ask Rangers fans to go on another free-spending tour of duty around all the same outposts they have visited this season?

 

In fact, these changes render this campaign a gigantic waste of time and money.

 

Blitz the Third Division and yet stay anchored to the bottom tier for one more year. Sporting integrity you say?

 

And here’s another thing. Do you know who is claiming responsibility for this masterplan?

 

None other than Gordon Smith. The man who gave us George Burley for Scotland and who, despite working next to Craig Whyte, was the last to notice Rangers were being driven towards oblivion through the office wall.

 

A visionary? If Smith couldn’t see what Whyte was up to – when all that was missing was a twirly moustache and a big black cape – then is he really qualified to lead all of Scottish football out of the dark?

 

No, Smith’s 12-12-18 isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a freight train and it’s coming straight at us.

 

How on earth can more of the same be packaged up as the answer for a game which has already bored the life out of supporters from Aberdeen to Annan and all points in between?

 

At a time when fans are desperate for genuine, radical change those in charge now seem determined to fail them. To fail us all.

 

Palms will be greased from a fairer split of TV cash but fans will see this for what it is – a complete cop-out.

 

SFL chief executive David Longmuir – who had previously promised real change when he championed the creation of a 16-10-16 set up – has been placed in an awkward position. He knows a 16-team top flight is the best way forward but is now having to horse trade his way to a compromise.

 

If he’s not careful he could end up looking like Scottish football’s Nick Clegg – a man who sold his principles for a position of power.

 

But there is hope for Longmuir. And it may be better for us all if he gains greater control of our destiny.

 

Longmuir certainly spoke the people’s language when he pushed for a top league of 16. He became the voice of all those supporters who have grown tired of watching the same old guff at the same old grounds.

 

They wanted something fresh and the idea of visiting each away venue just once a season would have been a start. Longmuir wanted to add another four teams into the mix and if he had stuck to his guns – and also introduced a heavily-reduced ticket pricing policy across the board – then we might really have had something exciting to look forward to next season.

 

But this is Scottish football and the SPL. The land of the great self preservers. But there will be no jam tomorrow.

 

Longmuir could not beat them so in the end he has joined them. And, for now at least, an opportunity has been lost. But if Longmuir really is the great reformer we’ve been waiting for then it must be hoped that from now on he does his best work on the inside.

 

If not, we’d be as well asking Balotelli to take the wheel.

 

Keith Jackson

[calscot 0]

So the 12 team league is unanimously dead, the obvious answer is to change things, and the suggestion keep it the same and extend the same dead model to the next division... Utter madness.

 

Scottish football just can't get any lower and really wish we'd joined the Conference instead of the SFL.

[ian1964 10,578]

ALLOA chief Mike Mulraney reckons the bridges built between the SPL and SFL can finally put Scottish football on the road to a brighter future.

 

The two bodies are on the verge of reaching agreement on a major overhaul of the game with the SPL’s 12-12-18 plan set to be rubber-stamped.

 

Mulraney admits he’s NOT in favour of that particular league set-up but says clubs are happy to go with it for the greater good of the game.

 

He said: “Everyone agrees the numbers are much less meaningful than the actual structure of our game.

 

“History has proven that regardless of the numbers, within five, 10 or 15 years it will be changed again.

 

“I understand why people focus on the number of teams in the league but that’s missing the main point. We must get the structure correct.

 

“The structure isn’t the one I’d have picked but like many people, we’ll support it if the other things are right.

 

“There are a few vital things – one ruling body for all 42 clubs and a financial model so clubs won’t be cast into the abyss when they’re relegated.

 

“We also need a governance model that doesn’t allow two clubs to effectively dictate what happens but at the same time accepts that smaller clubs can’t radically overhaul any financial agreement.

 

“I was strongly against the 12-12 and then no connection between that and the rest of Scottish football. There was no comment on what would be beneath the 12-12.

 

“The SPL and SFL were as far apart as everyone thought. If both sides accept they want to make it better then it makes it a lot easier.

 

“I don’t think anyone in the SFL reckons the SPL are trying to destroy Scottish football and vice versa.

 

“We had a complete and utter breakdown in trust 15 years ago but there’s nothing like talking to each other to make things better.

 

“You’ve got the SFL, SPL and SFA pulling together. It’s a big thing because you’re talking about a huge amount of different interests all willing to give and take.”

 

Mulraney admitted he still has to hear the finer details of issues that concern him most but is confident in those getting round the negotating table before it’s voted on.

 

He said: “As a chairman you have to have trust in your representative and others who are working in the best interests of Scottish football.

 

“Who knows if it will come off? We don’t know the figures yet but I’m really hopeful.

 

“I doubt any of the 42 clubs will be sitting at the end of the process saying it’s exactly what they wanted but I hope they’ll all agree it’s a good resolution for all of us.”

[calscot 0]

The top 12 SFL clubs will like the look of it and the bottom 9 are guaranteed another home game against us.

 

If the SPL can do without OF games then surely we should be looking at an 18 team top league that will eventually give two?

[calscot 0]

PS It seems like we'll win the league and be relegated AGAIN!

[DUDE 0]

LOL! I grew up in the 60/70s and that's exactly what we said about the feckless, no-good youth of the 90s

 

Maybe we should team up against those useless '00 kids then.

[Zappa 0]

Maybe we should wait till we hear some facts rather than bits and pieces. Obviously, next to any plan will get flak from one quarter or another.

 

Wait until they've all agreed and signed the paperwork on how to fuck up Scottish football even further before we discuss their current proposals?

[der Berliner 3,434]

Wait until they've all agreed and signed the paperwork on how to fuck up Scottish football even further before we discuss their current proposals?

 

Nope, but we barely know what they are discussing or how the discussions will go. That said, no matter what we discuss or debate here, they will do what they do ...

[GovanAllan 0]

Scottish Football fails again to look past the end of its nose, I truly despair with the people in charge of our game.

 

Would go for a top league of 20 Premier Div and the rest in the league below championship, 2 up 3 down the final promotion place up for grabs in a playoff just like the championship down South, nice and simple and no bloody splits.

[craig 5,199]

Scottish Football fails again to look past the end of its nose, I truly despair with the people in charge of our game.

 

Would go for a top league of 20 Premier Div and the rest in the league below championship, 2 up 3 down the final promotion place up for grabs in a playoff just like the championship down South, nice and simple and no bloody splits.

 

I agree with this Allan.

 

Too much self preservation rather than seeing the greater good. I would think that, through time, some of the other teams would be able to progress given increased revenue (hopefully increased anyway) and become more competitive across the board. The Championship down south is a good example of how competitive a division can be.

 

But we cant get past the self serving chairmen and "leaders" of the game in Scotland.