I have a recurring complaint whenever a politician talks about the economy. We have millions unemployed with no shortage of policies, from back-to-work schemes to aggressive incentive-isation of the unemployed, offered as a solution.
Back-to-work schemes are all right, as far as they go, especially for people who need retrained, but they do not address the clear and glaring problem – millions are unemployed because there are not enough jobs available due to a collapse in demand across major economies. Get demand back on trend and jobs will follow. Whether your back-to-work schemes are effective or not, unemployment will drop and the latest Phantom Menace, the budget deficit, will revert to the surplus it was a few years ago. Our political thinking appears to be limited to dealing with the consequences of the economic crisis, not its causes.
The same is glaringly true of Scottish football’s latest suggestions to reorganise the league structure. We have many problems:
At least 40 of the 42 clubs have no chance of ever becoming Scottish champions
Large SPL clubs (like Aberdeen) cannot convince teenagers to sign new contracts reducing the rewards and incentive to develop talent
Wealthier, more competitive, English football dominates our TV screens and culture
Financially, most clubs are either surviving hand-to-mouth or depending on scarce benefactors
A new 12-12-18 league structure will not change how many teams will be able to become Scottish champions. It will not make it easier to Aberdeen to retain teenage talent, it will not halt the process of English football increasingly dominating our cultural and it will not bring an extra £1 into the game.
So why, when there is an appetite to actually do something, are we wasting the opportunity by putting a structure in place which will only serve to re-enforce the current decline?
I expect this arrangement will give lower league clubs a modest increase in the money handed down from selling tickets and TV subscriptions to SPL games. Modest, but not environment changing. The question Scottish football should be addressing is, if they are going to survive on solidarity payments trickling down from clubs at the top, how do you fatten those clubs sufficiently to make the trickle-down as large as possible?
The Aberdeens of our game need to have a reward and incentive to continue developing youth talent. The likes of Inverness and St Johnstone, who run excellent clubs, need to be able to see-off badly-run English clubs chipping away at their foundations. Community clubs, like Alloa and Albion Rovers, could be transformed by a secure stream of income that pays for a modern sports infrastructure.
Yesterday the Scottish Football League chief executive, David Longmuir, promised that fans would be consulted before decisions were taken. If we are the most important people in the game, let’s open this one out, before we resign ourselves to managing decline.
Every now and then we read a comment on Celtic Quick News urging the club to publicly get stuck into someone or other, let them have it, show the fans how much they care. Somehow I think anyone coming away with this nonsense in future will be referred back to an article from yesterday.
You don’t achieve anything by playing to the galleries. You don’t build influence and you don’t win support for your position, all that happens is people laugh at you. It is too easy to sound like an old jakey, ranting aimlessly while squelching along in lace-less, urine-soiled, shoes. “”Dear God”, squelch”.
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Speaking as one whose income depends upon the disadvantaged demographic, can I just say ‘ mon the Jakies.
I’d proabaly settle for Magner’s on the shirt if Sevco have Tennent’s. They may be owned by the same group but the same could be said of any number of products owned by these huge multi-nationals these days. How many people would actually have known they were the same company anyway? If we have a different name on the shirt from them then I’d be fairly happy.
I’d like to see us avoid any sort of joint photoshots or PR stunts for the group though.
We are Celtic. We want nothing to do with a fourth tier new club with a Chairman who spouts unprofessional, inflammatory nonsense aimed at Daily Record readers (“Aston Villa are completely useless” etc). I can’t understand why any reputable company would either.
TBB,
Those quotes only prove that the Sevco prospectus claimed that reconstruction would fast track them to top league. The prospectus claimed all sorts of nonsense which can be dismissed outright. They won’t be fast tracked. The SFL clubs all want a slice of the sevconian pie on their way up.
Last post is also from @THE_TBK
It is patently obvious that this hasty, ill thought-out pablum covered excuse for reform & reconstruction is for the benefit of one club and one club only, MoneyLaunderers F.C.
Look at its principal overseers : Ogilvie, Longmuir, Ballantyne, Regan, Doncaster et al.
If it looks like a luj……
“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King
Hutch
Go to Quay St. Take your pick. Best pubs in best city in Ireland. I like The Bunch of Grapes and The Quays. Try McDonagh’s fish and chips. Great hangover grub.
And now, of course, someone will tell me how MLK wasn’t like the driven snow…..
….hold on…
The Battered Bunnet 12.51
Of course if they told any players they signed that they would be in the SPL in two years then maybe those players might not be best pleased. Might even have release clauses in their contracts?
If attempts were being made to fast track the dearly departed into a higher league there would be the same outcry as we had last year.
If they had waited until the season after next with the blue mob fae the Big Hoose doubtless in Divsion 1 through (ahem) sporting merit there would be no discussion of this which makes the rush to change slightly concerning.
I don’t think a significant portion of the SFL sides would support thems being fast tracked so it seems a no goer. You have 18 teams who would be losing out on their money (provided their fans attend in the same numbers as they have so far at away grounds. The current 3rd tier sides would be making an extra windfall and the teams in the current Div2 would lose out in the restructuring plans – turkeys/Christmas.
The best thing is the delusions of importance are being dispelled. The top two leagues do not need them and the shake up makes most games in the leagues meaningful right to the end of the season something which brings in the crowds at the business end of the season when there should also be better weather.
The perma-rage as embodied by Jabba means only one thing – they’re not getting what they want. Despite all the guff spoken about we’re happy to be in Div 3 the mask has slipped and proclamations of dislike of the new system as bad for Scottish football is really code for we urny getting our traditional preferential treatment – what is going on?
I’ve not heard anyone in blue come up with a reasoned argument why league reconstruction is a bad thing. It is as usual all about them and their perceived importance.
Their predictions of the SPL dying have been seen as rubbish and the competition from 10th to 2nd is as good as it has ever been. Any of these sides can finish top 6 and at least 8 have a shot at Europe this season alone. Make the game matter and the fans will be back.
A great shot in the arm I think.
HutchyBhoy
Richardsons on Eyre Square used to be the home of the Galway CSC
Munroes Tavern Upper Dominick St is home to the Claddagh CSC
So many good pubs though so do a good crawl. Many with live music as well.
It’s been a few years since I have been but I’d love to go back. Brilliant place and easy to get about.
only an hour and a half to go
only we could get excited about a new shirt sponsor lol
Thread on FF:
” Could we end up with an NFL style structure in Scotland? ”
Think we already have.
miki67
13:21 on
9 January, 2013
Then why would the 40 clubs vote for it? I’m not saying I understand the reasons for the change or the timing of it but Brechin, Albion Rovers and Ayr Utd all want 2 home visits from Sevco so they can sell tickets and pies to their stupid fans. Why would they vote to deprive themselves of this income?
Sevco will be in the bottom 18 if this is voted through. The current Third Division teams want that so they can milk the Sevconians all over again, the rest of the SFL teams will wait for their chance to milk them after that.
People here said Sevco would be in the SPL this season then they told us they would be voted into SFL1. They weren’t, they will have to work their way up no matter what Doncaster/Regan try to do.
So, if there really is no need for reconstruction, why is it being pushed to occur as rapidly as possible?
Hutchybhoy
12:53 on
9 January, 2013
Best bars in Ireland, get into Taaffes and Murphys on Shop Street early for a few. Front Door is good later, especially for the ladies.
Enjoy
HH
It all stinks….much like those urine soaked shoes of yore.
Snake Plissken
Spot on. I’m not sure I share your enthusiasm for the restructuring but I agree it is not to benefit Sevco. Traynor’s assertion that they are “happy working their way up” is at odds with the qoutes from the Prospectus quoted by TBB earlier.
They are sh’#;ng themselves that they aren’t going to be in the SPL any time soon so are lashing out and spitting venom as only they know how.
GlassTwoThirdsFull
Excellent point, I never thought of that. The likes of Templeton and Sandaza were spouting out about being in the SPL sooner than the rest of us thought. Maybe some player unrest is on the cards soon.
I understand that change is what drives progress, what life is all about; but change, not well thought out, without coherent purpose, will only make things worse.
If these mooted changes are intended to better the game, then they fall at the first hurdle., that hurdle being Reason.
Found this on Tom Rogic.. looks a player and only just turned 20!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SayjW4Qa5Cg
I know it’s a Youtube compilation but he shows strength and an eye for a pass.
HH
/Bishop B
Gordon
I disagree with your view that, with 42 senior teams, we have ‘too many clubs’. What we have is too many skint clubs at the top of the structure. That’s where the quality is compromised, not in the levels below, where perhaps we have too few clubs.
Dundee Utd needs money to be able to resign its best youth players at the end of their first professional contract.
Irvine needs a football club the town can engage with.
Many of the lower level teams are significant community assets, providing benefits beyond a part time football match to watch on a saturday afternoon.
Clubs such a Stenhousemuir have morphed into CICs in recent years, and provide facilities, youth coaching and community outreach in addition to senior matches. We need more of this.
It is also inaccurate to equate the 42 senior teams in Scotland with the 92 EPL and EFL members in England.
For starters, half of our 42 are part time (or amateur) providing little or no meaningful income to their players. The 92 English clubs referred are full time, and in addition, are part of the FA’s ‘National League System’ comprising a further 262 clubs to level 4, and umpteen more in the levels below that.
Clubs are (or ought to be) part of the community in which they are located, and the better clubs have established meaning and function that impacts positively on a wide range of measures, from health to education to social programmes. What we lack is the facility to ‘weed out’ those clubs whose traditional community has changed such that they are no longer valued or relevant, and introduce clubs who have experienced the opposite.
Our game is enriched by the introduction of the Highland League sides, but their introduction has been haphazard. The shape of Scotland’s towns has changed markedly in the post war years, but the shape of our football structure has not reflected that.
For example Aberdeen’s rise in the football pecking order coincided with the growth in the city’s population following the early Oil boom, but the same cannot be said of the growth of East Kilbride or Glenrothes, major towns without a senior side.
Neither for that matter those towns whose populations once supported a thriving football club but which have diminished through recent demographic changes. Albion Rovers in Coatbridge is an example. East Fife in Methil too. Clyde’s migration from Rutherglen another.
We need to find a way to allow football to better reflect the towns and cities in which it is played, and create the environment across the country that allows ambitious and well run clubs to aspire and prosper, rather than the current set up which does little more than hamper development to perpetuate clubs that have lost their purpose and relevance.
We need more football clubs. We need more money in the game at the top end. The two statements are not related.
TBB
I wonder if the new league set-up might stymie the SFA from stripping titles from the former club known as Rangers?
Nimmo Smith might find them guilty but decide that the body that agreed to retrospective punishment is no longer and the new body has no power in this regard?
i think we have to be open minded about restructuring proposals, think it has some merits, but in the immediate timeframe i would like to see;
2 points awarded for a score draw
a couple of relegation play-offs within the middle table and bottom tables
and better share of all t.v. monies generated
reducing the number of senior clubs serves little to no purpose at all, the status of senior is just that, peope would continue to follow their team no matter the set up they play in.
we need to create more wealth, medium to long term, we should be looking to set up our own scottish football league t.v/ internet etc… because right now the t.v deal is poor and serves only to damage the game in scotland, while sky pass on our subscription fees to the EPL, it does not have to be this way.
imho the combination of the right t.v., media, radio income, distribution of this income, business plan,youth strucutre, management team and player recruitment would do more to improve scottish football than anything else.
hail hail
regardless of ones politics, i really would love if we could get SINN FEIN on board as a sponsor,
just for the logo like –
http://dcusinnfein.webs.com/SinnFeinLogoHiRez_hirez.jpg
hehehhehehe
the open fenian hand.
The two major problems in Scottish football today are the mal-administrators who are simply looking after themselves & the fact we have too many so called pro clubs.
Get the first part in order we do not need SPL – SFA & SFL when ONE streamlined body will be more than enough. I believe the Blue Square Premier league (50 clubs to our 42 operate with FOUR people, how many do we have 100-200 ?)
We do not have 24 top level sides, at best we have the SPL & maybe 6 or so in the next league. So why not ask our biggest top level sides to put a reserve side into SPL2 (Say Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts) fans can then support both teams consecutively. This would help develop the younger players quicker at a higher standard.
We should also implement our own TV channel, selling rights to whoever wishes them…instead of relying on SKY for crumbs. All games on Saturday at 3.00 with ONE game switched to a Sunday. Resources are clearly limited so why spread even thinner.
At the lower levels, teams should be regionalised or find their true levels further down in the lower reaches. 42 clubs for the size of Scotland is nonsense, many Junior sides have better crowds & facilities.
I’d also look closely at continuing to throw money at the white elephant that is Hampdump…when we could utilise the much better Murrayfield when required.
Time the tail stopped wagging the dog…..much could be done to improve Scottish football, reduce admission prices, standing areas, consult fans first….but again we seem to have jumped ahead with talk of re-structuring then ask fans.
Big Nan
13:47 on
9 January, 2013
Nimmo Smith might find them guilty but decide that the body that agreed to retrospective punishment is no longer and the new body has no power in this regard?
———————————————-
Nan,
if i assault someone in a pub, can i use in my defence in court, that the pub is no longer open, so therefore the judge has no power in this ?
naw.
Hutchybhoy
12:53 on
9 January, 2013
Galway !!
The San Francisco of Western Europe.
I don’t go there, for the simple reason that I find it impossible to leave !
A city of Ocean, River and Streams.
The best pubs for good Guinness, Music and craic are; The Kings Head, Roisín Dubh, The Quays, The Crane.
Shop street into Cross St and down towards the Spanish Arch is the best place for nightlife.
Beware of young Hippie girls offering free love.
What happens in Galway, stays in….. actually if you are having that good a time, you won’t remember what happened in Galway.
CQN’s voluptuous Lady of The Night said it all about trickle-down last night, with her John Maynard Keynes quote.
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wicked of men will do the most wicked of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
Our Mags is not ONLY an accomplished Moon Howler.
Paul67 et al
We are all lying in the gutter.
But some of us are looking at the stars.
Stargaze CSC
“Stand up for the jakeys!”
;)
The shares have taken a wee hike since yesterday afternoon :-)
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/summary/company-summary.html?fourWayKey=GB0004339189GBGBXAIMI
Hi Paul67,
Interesting wee delve onto Politics there.
I have to say unemployment is one of those things that baffles me about Britian, there are any number of debates and interviews with the great and the good and various “experts” on the ills of our somewhat distopian society but the immense damage unemployment has on individuals, families and communities is largely down played or ignored.
The contrast to that bastion of free marketeering – the USofA could not be more marked.
From Conservative to Liberal, Wall Street to Main Street, Boardroom to Soup Kitchen there seems to be a consensus that unemployment is blight on the Nation and an tragic waste of human resources that can only have a detrimental effect on the economy and society.
Contrast and compare that to our own Country where among many it seems to be a price worth paying – never.
Got to agree with your views on the so called reconstruction of the Scottish Leagues, how this improves the lot of Scottish Football is beyond me.
In fact simply bringing back a reserve league would do more for the development of the game.
See you having a pop at the end of your piece, I have long been immune (though still entertained) to the piffle, but the Dockside Bullies still annoy me.
BTW Haven’t been on for a while so Good NewYear to yin & aw’ and Happy Birthday to the bhoys and Princesses who share this day with me:-)
Due to a number of reasons I haven’t posted in a while but hope to get back into things more as we go on into the new year. In my work life I am a Business Improvement Consultant, that means I go into organisations and businesses and try and help them get better. I go into all soorts of places from large to small and across all sectors. So being successful is not about knowing all of the answers – but knowing the approach to getting to the answer. This brings me to the leader article today and league re-construction. Most change efforts fail at the first hurdle – why? generally becuase the porblem or improvement opportunity ahve not been properly defined, so people don’t know what is supposed to be improved and why that is important. Paul listed various things wromg with football in this country – but which of these if any, is the current proposal trying to address. Unless the powers to be can explain that to the fans, the clubs and the stakeholders (like media sponsors) – then the plan is doomed to failure. people cannoy buy into change unless they understand the cause and effect. This is whats wrong, this is what we need to do about it, and this is what will happen as a result. All change has pros and cons – so you also need to say what else might happen as a result. People than have the full picture and may be more likely to embrace the change – so that you get sustained improvement. I don’t see or hear any of this relating to this proposal – so I am confused which is easy to do by the way!!).The result will therefore be petty squabbling, jockeying for position, serving self interest. Now is time for bold action – but well thought out and structured proposals that everyone can understand and see what is trying to be achieved. Can we please start by defining the problem we are trying to fix!!!! HH
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby, aye.
West Wales Celt, not so sure I can. Language violation, b.t.w.
Celtic Mac, Wylde?
Chairbhoy, yes, indeed.
Is there any good reason today’s Press Conference,and pre match ones too,cannot be shown live on the Club website? Makes sense tae me.
Australian article with Tom Rogic about joining us in Marbella
http://www.news.com.au/sport/football/central-coast-tom-rogic-expecting-the-unexpected-ahead-of-his-trial-with-celtic/story-fndkzvnd-1226550591526
WhathappenedtothelinkcreatorCSC
HH
Andrew67
12:45 on
9 January, 2013
Vmhan
Do you want Celtic to cease to exist?
They can’t just leave Scottish football .
The have to have another commercially viable league to go to.
Until that happens, we HAVE to stay in Scotland.
No other option , unless we want to bring about the extinction of GCFC 1888
**********
Do you want Celtic to cease to exist? ……. Stupid question that I won’t waste my time with.
For the remaining part of your post which does merit an answer:
I understand that Andrew, but that will be a never ending story unless CFC do something about it.
Either threaten to leave unless there is wholesale changes within the football authorities, I don’t trust them its rangers first everybody else 2nd, or
Make representation to join with another league, if we don’t ask we don’t get.
Celtic could have been lost to us after 15years of rangers cheating, they’ll do it again and the football authorities are already going down that road again.
I won’t be back on CQN until around 5ish and will check any reply then.
V
cabbageandbacon- Cheers mate didn’t know Bulmers was a 32 county drink!
celtic heritage
“Can we please start by defining the problem we are trying to fix”
Pretty sure its declining attendances they are trying to fix, they have been in free fall for quite a few years now.