Gilmour is only man to crack this case

[ian1964 10,710]

He can stop the 12-12-18 shambles

 

IN EVERY episode of Columbo, the bad guyâ??s always on the verge on getting away with it because the shabby â??tec seems to be buying his story.

 

Until, that is, the wee fella turns on his heel as he reaches the door and mumbles the line: â??Sorry to be a pest, but I have one more question... â?

 

At which point, the trail of lies is shredded into a million pieces.

 

So, whoâ??ll be playing the role of Columbo today as the EssPeeEll votes on its future?

 

Whoâ??ll be the one, just when 12-12-18 is about to be shoe-horned through, to stand up and say: â??Sorry to delay things here, but just one question.â?

 

â??Yeeeessssss... â?

 

â??Er... WHY is this the only option to save Scottish football?â?

 

Because thatâ??s what we keep being told, that itâ??s this or itâ??s oblivion. And itâ??s an argument as flimsy as the average moustachioed murdering ratbagâ??s alibi.

 

Here we have the heads of the 12 biggest clubs in the country, a dozen people whoâ??ve found success in their own fields of enterprise and shown the drive to win charge of sporting businesses which sit at the heart of communities.

 

Yet when it comes to restructuring a struggling game for the good of all, they have neither the creativity, nor the free will, to come up with any alternative to one no one seems genuinely excited about?

 

Sorry, but if thatâ??s the case theyâ??re clearly the wrong people to be making the decision.

 

Fact is, 12-12-18 ISNâ??T the only option. Itâ??s merely the only option weâ??re being given, which isnâ??t the same thing and which simply isnâ??t good enough.

 

Those backing it do so with a sense of withering acceptance, not one of optimism.

 

Those who oppose it â?? notably St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour â?? are accused of â??self-interestâ? and of â??condemning the game to meltdownâ?.

 

But no one tells us WHY itâ??s vote yes or die today. They just keep telling us it has to go through, because it has to go through.

 

Well, let me tell every chairman in that room here and now. It doesnâ??t have to go through.

 

In fact, it must not go through, unless each and every one of you is absolutely convinced it will work.

 

Thatâ??s why someone in there has to have the balls to say: â??We all know things must change but surely there has to be a better way...â?

 

At which point, they order up a vat of coffee and a mountain of sandwiches and refuse to leave the room until they come up with a solution clubs and fans alike can actually buy into.

 

Like a 16-team top division, playing each other twice. Then, after 30 games, splitting into two eights who play each other once to settle the title, European places and relegation.

 

There, that wasnâ??t difficult, was it?

 

This is the system voted through in Poland this week, with the full backing of TV companies who think it might be just the thing to turn around their own stagnating game.

 

Now, to most EssPeeEll chairmen, 16 is of course the number of the beast. Itâ??s the size of league that robs them off their Unholy Grail, because it automatically reduces the number of home gates.

 

But the Poles have got round this with their novel twist on the split idea. Their model would give top-flight teams here 37 games rather than 38, which isnâ??t much of a hit to take in return for opening up the league to more clubs.

 

All in all, it seems to me the perfect halfway house between the dilemma of maintaining home fixture income and taking the top half of the current First Division out of the poverty trap.

 

Vote this through rather than 12-12-18 and next season weâ??d have Thistle, Morton and two of Falkirk, Livingston and Dunfermline. Clubs with potential to pull in bigger crowds, as proved by the top two drawing 9,000 to Firhill in midweek.

 

Why canâ??t we have this as an option? Why are so many minds within the EssPeeEll so closed to anything beyond the cobbled-up compromise theyâ??re standing by?

 

Gilmour keeps hearing his accusation that heâ??s going against the grain out of self-interest, but itâ??s surely anything but seeing as all itâ??s got him is abuse.

 

The easy decision is to vote with the gang and not rock the boat. It takes guts to stand up and say no.

 

Of course, the irony in the stick Gilmour has taken is that one of his main reasons for opposing 12-12-18 is that it wonâ??t change the 11-1 majority needed to push any vote through the EssPeeEll.

 

Why do we have that rule? The self-interest of Celtic and Rangers, who wanted to make sure nothing ever happened without both of them agreeing to it.

 

And why do Celtic more than anyone want that rule to stay? So that once Rangers scramble back from the wilderness, the Old Firmâ??s age-old status quo reigns again.

 

Until we end that, until we give every club the same power on the old-fashioned basis that we live in a democracy, we could rearrange the deckchairs however we like and the ship will keep on sinking.

 

If the 12 chairmen in that room today canâ??t see that, if they canâ??t grab the problem by the scruff and deal with it like grown-ups, they should adjourn the vote, stand aside and let someone else have a go.

 

Because, letâ??s be brutally honest, if 12-12-18 really IS the only option, Scottish footballâ??s banjaxed anyway.

 

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4887547/Gilmour-is-only-man-to-crack-this-case.html

[Zappa 0]

I was quite enjoying that until he suggested the new Polish idea. It would certainly be better than the farcical 12-12-18 concept they're trying to push through, but it would make more sense not to have any sort of split at all, so the Polish concept doesn't cut it for me. Keep it nice and simple. There's two obvious solutions staring them in the face: 18-24 or 20-22. At this point in time either of these solutions would be preferable to most fans in the country than what the SPL are trying to force down everyone's throat.

[Darthter 542]

I had never really thought about a 14-14-14 idea until someone mentioned on Fridays Football phone in.

 

Everyone plays each other twice - 26 games, then split into 2 groups of 7, who play twice - 12 games = 38 games for the season. It also gives each team 2 home & 2 away ties.

 

Alternatively if they don't want to increase the size of the league...go back to leagues of 10 - everyone plays each other 4 times with no split.

 

Fact is, 12-12-18 ISN’T the only option. It’s merely the only option we’re being given, which isn’t the same thing and which simply isn’t good enough.

nail & head springs to mind....

There are other formats out there which will provide an much easier system, but for whatever reasons they have been thrown out the window, or just plain ignored.