The great and the good (extensive poetic licence used) of the SPL and SFL will gather at Hampden tomorrow to shuffle the deckchairs of Scottish football. For reasons which no one has, or will, explain, it will be suggested that three leagues, with 12, 12 and 18 teams, will be able to resolve the problems of our game.
There will be no consultation with fans, Uefa or neighbouring associations, and no claim will be made that this reorganisation will be able to resolve a single significant issue.
For all its limited appeal, the Scottish Football League is in rude health. On the whole clubs live within their means and in places play important roles in their communities. This is as good as it gets for the likes of Alloa, Montrose or Brechin City. They could all benefit from a higher solidarity payment from above, but this would be the case no matter what level the trickle-down was set at. Their interests would be best served by ensuring that those sending payments down the pyramid are as fat as possible.
The clubs with most to gain from substantive change are those condemned to compete for second place in the SPL. Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts have been neutered in recent decades. United and Aberdeen have gone from being the two most impressive clubs in Europe at developing young talent, to clubs who cannot hold onto players long enough to put a competitive team on the field.
Scottish clubs with ample support, stadium and coaching talent have been left behind by smaller clubs in England, from Wigan to Burnley, who benefit from operating in a more lucrative commercial environment.
Hearts are trying to sell shares to raise a few million to keep themselves afloat at the moment. The club would be worth ten times as much if it was located 100 miles down the road, or structural change made it possible for it to benefit from a more valuable environment. Shares in clubs like Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibs would also be worth many multiples of their current value.
Stephen Thompson has spoken of the financial burden Dundee United place on his family, a regionalised league structure would turn this burden into a vastly more valuable legacy. It beggars belief that Hearts, United, Aberdeen and the rest have not grasped this reality and started to make inroads.
It’s time for some radical thinking.
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Back home . Back to life . Back to reality.
Juve news -.
Watched Juventus 1 ——Sampdoria 2 . Juve were poor. Sampdoria played with 10 men for @ 60 minutes . Buffon made a dreadful mistake. Newly signed left sided defender- Peluso , played his first game —–he was dire —torn a new one by a 19 year old Argentinian. Juve looked really vulnerable at the back.
The Drogba — he will /he wont saga continues.
The search for a centre forward continues .
Platini / UEFA are now claiming that Platini was misquoted re his remarks on Celtic.
Corkcelt,
Belated thanks ( I’m just back from the dentist :)) for acknowledging my earlier post.
ThephantomraspberryblowerCSC
Platini – Le Grand Ballon….
saltires en sevilla
From the last topic.
A excellent and well balanced post regarding our support
HH
All to benefit MoneyLaunderers F.C.
Get tae.
obonfanti1888
got a link? love some twitter handbags!
Richie – Right back at you pal (thumbsup)
Vmhan – I barely know how to use the sliding cupholder on my laptop. When I see the letters I.T. my first thought is “scary clown”. I don’t even know which post office branch to go to when sending a Tweet.
There simply is no credible way I could have used Java, PHP, or Perl to achieve so many stunning podia.
Trust Philvis. I will fight these allegations of scripting with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play. (thumbsup)
Aye. And they say crime doesn’t pay.
Lees………purveyor of luscious macaroon bars.
…….I hear Gordon Smith has poked his head over the parapet
re League gerryma…..er……………… re-structuring………
He’d want to be careful –
it’s awfy windy……………………
Topper.
Barnsley have approached Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle to talk to Terry Butcher about their managerial vacancy.
Ryan Stevenson charged by SFA
Forgot to copy the details…
Notice of Complaint issued to Ryan Stevenson
Monday, 07 January 2013
Alleged party in breach: Ryan Stevenson, Heart of Midlothian FC
Match: Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian – 3rd January 2013
Disciplinary Rule(s) allegedly breached:
Disciplinary Rule 200 (Serious Foul Play on an opponent, namely James McPake, Hibernian FC).
Fixed suspension offered: Yes (two matches)
Principal hearing date: Thursday, 10th January 2013
The player has until 3pm on Tuesday, 8th January 2013 to respond to the Notice of Complaint.
Should the player reject the fixed suspension offered, a Fast Track Tribunal will be convened on Thursday, 10th January 2013 to consider the complaint.
Rule 200: No player shall commit offences in the Schedule of Offences in Annex C. (Such offences may be dealt with by a Fast Track Tribunal following a Compliance Officer Reference under the Judicial Panel Protocol).
Re the proposed league changes,this was tried out in other country’s and was an abject failure,the person ,who I believe is the main pusher of this farce,is none other than Gordon Smith.Says it all really.
……..If the omnishambles that is scoddish fooooball is further ‘enhanced’ ….then we can only hope that the former ‘Big-Wig’ is employed in some front-of-house role…………..
….just think of the Press Conferences……..!
StanleyUnwinOnSurrender….CSC
fanadpatriot
Any idea from that eejit should be dismissed as soon as possible. The BBC will have him back on our screens and radios as some kind of football guru ahead of his time.
LB
Institutional investors over-subscribing in search of early profits…
“I hope investors stay with it,” he said. “I can’t tell them what to do, obviously, because they have better business brains than me, but it would be fantastic of them to show continued support.
“Businessmen do what they need to do, of course, and I appreciate that. But at the same time there is a wee bit of romance about the whole thing and they can stay with what will hopefully be a great story.
“If it does become a great story then they will get greater rewards.
“We are delighted with the support they have shown already but it would be great if they showed continued support and I would certainly ask them for that.”
Livi…….chillllllllllllllll…………
………..think of the comedy value………..visually and aurally………
ernie lynch @ 13 10
” the headbanger element ”
A Tayside residing mate of mine [ a neutral] attended the Dundee v Celtic game . He sat with ” Dundee supporters ” His match night experiences include these —–
Sitting near to a group of four guys who worked their way through 2 bottles of Buckfast and a bottle of Vodka [ whilst chain smoking skunk ]. Nothing furtive ..
Going to the toilet and having to steer his way past a guy who was on his knees chopping out lines on a CD case whilst his skunk smoking / Bucky drinking pals told him to Hurry up..
Maybe social norms are changing ?
…and Livi….If I may……………
………”ahead of his time”?
…a………
…an open goal if ever I saw one
The Rectum ran an infamous recruitment campaign for the auld indulged ned when the national team poisoned chalice became available………..
Perhaps they’ll do the same for the bould (sp) Gorgon………..?
cheers for the earlier replies bhoys,always good to shut a zombie up,
bankiebhoy1
I don’t think he ever got over that! Smith must score. He has missed plenty open goals since that moment.
The guy has made a fortune out of the game with little inteligence! He must interview well.
LB
If the leagues are reformed as proposed then I suggest that it be delayed until Stuart Hall is free to host them on TV. He had a successful career doing similar in the Seventies.
South Of Tunis
13:47 on 7 January, 2013
ernie lynch @ 13 10
‘Maybe social norms are changing ?’
Certainly after the thirty year war on drugs we’ve had in Scotland there is now a far greater proportion of the population using recreational drugs and, whether as a cause or effect of that, there is now a wider variety of drugs available at a lower price than ever.
So it’s no surprise that such things happen at the football.
Especially when you have an evening kick off on Boxing day.
iki
13:58 on 7 January, 2013
‘If the leagues are reformed as proposed then I suggest that it be delayed until Stuart Hall is free to host them on TV. He had a successful career doing similar in the Seventies.’
Today’s press is reporting what he’s been charged with. Your comment is ill judged.
As a follower, not only of Celtic, but also of football as a whole, including and indeed especially two or three teams in the lower leagues, I know that for many fans, they look forward to the one or two times in their lives when their team sit proudly atop whatever division they happen to compete in at the end of the season.
It’s with this thought that I find myself pondering the following: when will the likes of Partick Thistle, Dunfermline, Falkirk, et al have another of those sunshine Saturdays – a few beers and perhaps a bottle of bubbly before that final game; another afterwards? League celebration barbie on the Sunday?
Will there be a SPL-mid-table piece of silverware? Invariably won year in year out by whichever one of Hearts, Hibs, Utd or Motherwell who happen to find themselves on the wrong side of the cut after 22 games?
What about the SPL-bottom-table? A trophy awarded to the 5th/6th/7th best team from lower initial league before the split?
Would the fans of Hibs rejoice at winning the former; Morton the latter?
Or would it, at a single stroke, further disenfranchise two tiers of football fans, effectively telling them: you’re here to make up the numbers, take this nice pat on the head for doing so?
The only straight-forward competition worth winning would be the top tier of the top tier, as it were, the remaining 16 teams from places 9 to 24 would understand that in one way or another, wherever they are placed, they either simply weren’t good enough to compete in the league they started in (for 12 at least), or they were maybe robbed of a commendable lead built up over the first 22 games (for 4 of them).
The bottom division would suddenly find that 8 clubs, including current 2nd division annual play-off clubs like Brechin, Dumbarton, Cowdenbeath, Arbroath, etc are in their midst, thus further reducing their chances of that day in the sun. No more parties for you Montrose, Stenny, etc.
And what about the club who wins that division? Do they go up? Brechin promoted with the very slimmest chance of being in the top 4 after 22 games ergo a crack with Hearts, Dundee etc?
Will there be a set criteria that debar nigh on half the clubs from promotion by merit? It’s certainly been discussed before.
And with that, another 10 or so clubs at least are further disenfranchised.
So, is that 12, 16, 26 or maybe every one of the 34 clubs sitting outside the top 8 clubs who are left at the end of it all being told to be grateful for the opportunity to lift 1 club, barely 6 months old, above such station as they have eked out in a collective 2000+year existence.
ernie lynch
Maybe it is required to watch Dundee! The club may be handing them out at the door. Considering you can’t get into Celtic Park with a bottle of water who is checking their fans at the turnstiles?
Sounds like Dundee have issues with their stewards!
LB
.
Going to the toilet and having to steer his way past a guy who was on his knees chopping out lines on a CD case whilst his skunk smoking / Bucky drinking pals told him to Hurry up..
Maybe social norms are changing ?
..
What was the CD..? ‘Charlie’ In the Bhogs..;-)
Summa of DoCoke4TheCraicCSC
Livi……..
:)))))))
I think most of his recent interviews have been a formality……………
………the deals already been done and agreed with a…….’handshake’…..
Grip’n’grimace CSC
Twitterati saying Gershon has signed.
We welcome a Rami
play
Getting the feeling standing areas will be accompanying the restructure into existence, not enough qualifying clubs currently exist to fill the 24 places. The cost of restructure will be the erosion of standards and safety.
Rami Gershon loan deal done – is this old news ?
Alasdair Lamont @BBCAlLamont
Rami Gershon: “I’m very happy to sign for this fantastic club.and I’m ready to the great challenge.” From his agent’s Facebook page
Am hearing the meeting will also discuss the fact that the GB have infiltrated the Hearts support where they threw fireworks into the Hibs section.
That they also were forcing the Celtic support at Dens to get absolutely steamboats and making them urinate on the spot.
That they have a masterplan to wreck the very fabric of society, and that Celtic FC, will acknowledge and apologise for having such knuckle draggers who are doing down the highest standards of integrity that is Scottish Football.
Gaun yersel’ Gershon!
bankiebhoy1
The handshake still holds great sway in certain industries in Scotland. I think that is a major influence at the start of Sevco games.
LB
.
Summa of Rami