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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mncelt- Whilst in the area you should also check out Monifieth Medal and Ashludie courses and next door Panmure, which a wee bit snooty.
Good deals going.
…of course Smudger could always pull in Boaby Williamson to bolster his fooooball credentials………..should he cast his ‘hat’ in the ring for a joab wi’ the scoddish FA…
Mncelt,
My fav course is Gleneagles, for setting scenery and a cracking day out would highly recommend, have attached a link to a special offer on the go to support the 2014 Ryder cup, a four ball for £201.40′ not bad for a championship course.
http://www.gleneagles.com/offers/golf-offers/tee-time
Would give the hotel a miss though, too pricy.
Hail! Hail!
Sorry if posted already.
If Celtic back this pathetic attempt to fast-track Sevco into the top flight I,for one, will not be back.
How could we support proposals from a bunch of losers who only a few months ago were threatening Armageddon on anyone who did not back their plans.
celtic have to finally stop joint sponsorships with rangers, this tennents deal is repugnant, people think we have a relationship with a sectarian club in div 4.
!!Bada Bing!!
20:02 on 7 January, 2013
Emdae having bother with Google Chrome ?
================================
I got shot of it recently. Loved it when I first got it but it appeared to get hijiacked or something and turned in to nothing more than a giant advert. Every other word was turned in to a link for some web page or other selling keech.
No idea what happened to it but I removed it and I am back using Explorer. Might try something else. Anyone any suggestions. I use Firefox on a laptop I use for work related things. It seems OK
….roll up, roll up…………
rangers not my fav team
Your pathetic attempts at wind ups are becoming tiring
Away tae yer bed
HH
mncelt Kingsbarnes is a great golf course played it a number of times probably the best course I’v tried the sticks on.If you are in that region play the Queens course over at Gleneagles then head west and try Loch Lomond. Never played their but by all accounts magnificent.Make sure you have the money its not cheap.
Zombie R US coming to a Hovel near you soon…
Bzzzzzzzzz
RT -Thanks for reply ,could be a few things but laptop is slower than Craig Whyte paying a bill.
rangers are not my favourite team csc
Why have them in your moniker..? I smell sho…
Bada
I think the phrase the zombies use is …. Reekin ;).
2-1the reds
Jinky -ignore is the best policy mate HH, not sure if 4th tier shysters have their own websites :)
Lennybhoy-i’ve wondered if he’d be back but would he back as a squad player/Forrest cover or first team player – not too sure which
Who is playing tonight please?
channelislandcelt
20:40 on
7 January, 2013
rangers not my fav team
Your pathetic attempts at wind ups are becoming tiring
Away tae yer bed
HH
no wind up i genuinely believe celtic should have seperate sponsorships
Think its all the sweary words on zombie media that makes their site so f n appealing ;)
!!Bada Bing!!
20:46 on
7 January, 2013
rangers are not my favourite team csc
Why have them in your moniker..? I smell sho…
i genuinely thought was witty
but it proves the absolute paranoia of a lot of the posters on here, that they suspect hunnery from a name alone
Everyone enjoying the mighty reds ?
Back to 10 points clear from the forces of evil – come on you reds
I’ve got celtic & cliftonville in my name so hopefully no one thinks I’m a Hun !!!!!!
Phil
Cliftonville playing Glentoran at Solitude
Reds winning 2-1 27mins remaining live on SS1
Cliftonville -not over yet – going thru a nervy time
Evening all,
I have thought about what I would do if I were in charge of changing football in Scotland.
First and foremost I would 100% change to summer football, or March to November to be precise. With round the clock football available on tv it’s becoming harder and harder to entice people away from their homes or pub, even with free tickets.
Combine this with freezing conditions, driving rain and gale force winds (could be talking about a Scottish summer here!), the product just aint good enough to entice people to spend their hard earned on ridiculously priced games in these condition.
Football needs to attract families, it needs to be seen as a day out for all to enjoy. Sadly die hards are dying, the majority of kids and teenagers don’t have the same feel for our club as wee do, sure they support them, but on their terms. The marketing of the EPL, regardless of what you think of the standard, is first class and the young one’s I know by and large would rather watch Man U, Chelsea or Liverpool on sky than sit at CP freezing watching the Tic play Motherwell.
Again lets deal with the facts, the EPL is marketed to such a degree that it is becoming very difficult to compete.
So why try?. Move our league to a time that suits our climate better, where, for a ten week period we will not have competition from south of the border. There is more hours in the
day and less pressure on family time than during winter due to dark mornings and the early dark nights.
This leads on to the mach day experience, or lack of it. We as supporters are treated terribly, any other industry would not get away with treating customers the way football does.
How hard or expensive would it be for Celtic to put up a large corrugated structure to hold a few thousand fans?, nothing fancy, just somewhere warm where a couple of big
screens can go up, some make shift bars with table’s and chairs and reasonably priced good food to cater for fans wanting to make a day of it close to the stadium, it would make a tidy profit.
On non match day’s this could be converted into 5-aside parks that could be rented out through the week to generate additional income, or could run soccer schools through the dark winter nights, all that’s required is some decent hard wearing floor covers to protect the astro-turff on match days, hardly rocket science!.
The world has changed, the majority of parents lock their kids in the house at the sight of black clouds, so sending them out on a school night in -10 strikes fear into their hearts, i’m as guilty of this as anyone. The game should be a part of the experience, even when the football doesn’t live up to much, you should have a great day out without having to sell a kidney to afford it.
The problem is we keep talking about improving the product, but this will take years and greater minds than we have in any of the current associations. So I say lets improve the experience.
I’m pretty sure McDonald’s is a franchise, get a few of them inside the stadium (instead of the shameful excuse for catering we have at the moment), kids love them, i’m partial to the odd big Mac myself!. Have the kiosks selling food and sweets that we all want at decent prices, my nephews spend £4-£5 each prior to going to the game in the shop walking up the London rd!.
Family tickets, £40 for a family of four, season tickets that include all cup games (Europe excluded), max adult ticket of £20 and a tenner for the young, old, unemployed and pre-school free.
I know this doesn’t address the standard of play. On this I would move to a 16 team league with play off’s between the bottom two of the top league and top two of the first division.
I would introduce a goal bonus system, for every ten goals scored you get an extra point, I would give two points for a draw in games that had four or more goals or have a penalty shoot out for the three points at the end of a high scoring draw, encourage attacking football where off-side only applies in the final third of the field, this would create more space in the middle of the park for players to create.
I would also introduce a rule where all teams need to include three under 20’s in their starting line up, there’s nothing better than seeing home grown talent in the hoops.
I would introduce regional league’s outside the top two to cut down the expense of small clubs traveling all over the country.
There are a 1000 and one way’s to improve the experience of football, people are hard pressed and are looking for their pound to go a bit further. Celtic can’t improve Scottish football on their own, but they can create a great match day experience for our own fans and reverse the trend of empty seats.
Hail Hail
Evening all.
I’ve been away a wee while so sorry if it has been asked already.
I have ticked the boxes for automatic home tickets.
Have the St Mirren semi and the Juve game tickets been allocated yet?
Thanks,
EC67
rankers not my fav team
Seperate sponsorship from whom? The club that you cite died a wee while ago.
Did you not know that ?
genuinelygenuinecsc.
HH.
Gene
Wee gormley off too looked injured hope not wee lad is a cracker need him for cup final at end of month !!!
Final against crusaders also live on sky according to jackie ” I want to be elvis ” Fullerton
cliftonville Celt- Where do Linfield, Glentoran and Crusaders relate on a sliding scale of Hunnery?
A Ceiler Gonof Rust – Thanks for the note. The only course I could get on at St Andrews is the Castle Course which is about 120gbp per person. I applied for the Old Course but lost out in the ballot. The ladies open is on the week of our visit so tee-times were tough to say the least. I will definitely look into Carnoustie. All the other courses recommended look great.
I do need something to warm up the day before St Andrews in the Edinburgh area. Cheers.
Eurochamps67
Because St Mirren is at a neutral venue you’ll need to arrange for the tickets to be sent out or you’ll need to buy them at the TO.
seperate shirt sponsorship
both ourselves and huns are sponsored by tennents currently
TonyG – Thanks Pal.
I found a good deal on the Gleneagles site for a one-night stay there which includes two rounds of golf, one at Gleneagles (choice of their 3 courses) and a round at Kingsbarns. I am trying to book that
Thanks HT.
Goldstar, have you organised the Gazebo Gang’s semi final tickets yet?
EC67
jackie mac 20:59:
I just thought I would ask the question. I’m never for taking a player back for fear of them being berated if they are not an instant hit. Aiden sadly was berated in some quarters, I of course do not include you in this but I would not take him back. I have some wonderful memories of Aiden. That said if he were played as a play-maker rather than a winger, I think he would be magic.
I think Aiden will be destined for another Club.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
celtictom
21:11 on 7 January, 2013
I agree with you, summer football should at least be trialled for a fixed period (3-5 years).
The catering on offer at CP is crap. I go to a lot of English games (work down south most midweeks) and the choice of products at even League 2 grounds puts ours to shame. All grounds also allow supporters to buy alcohol before the game and at half time, but must be consumed on the concourse. Sky Sports, live game or news, is generally on screens on the concourse and there is a sufficient number of outlets to ensure that queues are generally not very long.
Unfortunately there is no way on earth Peter Lawwell and the Celtic board will reduce season ticket prices, the best we’ll get is domestic cup ties included on it since no one is going to these games anyway.
Hun ref chops off 3 rd goal for Reds
offside !!
Never – not even close