To a certain degree

[John Findlay]

we should all(connected with Scottish football) be hanging our heads in shame. Why? Simple. We have turned a very simple game/sport into something more complicated than Einstein's theory of relativity.

 

1. Sold our souls for television money.

2. Agreed to a league set up where you play certain teams at least four times a season in the league, three for definite and then perharps more times in cup competitions.

3. Agreed to a split setup that on-one is happy with but apparently when asked clubs say they like it.

4. We do indeed reap what we sow.

 

 

 

John

[johnjl]

cheered me up no end

[davieholt]

John, it's not only the set up.

 

I watched Barca v Deporto last night and realised that what we play is like a second cousin twice removed from the game they were playing. Teams in Spain, Italy and Germany (perhaps even England) must look at our game, slowly shake their heads and sadly smile.

[johnjl]

there was a discussion on another thread about the set up the other day and someone posted that the biggest problem in scotland was the complete old firm domination of the game here.

i think the set up is poor but tend to agree that rangers/celtic winning the league every year is what really makes it all so stale.

[Tasavallan]

In my mind it is all about climate. Even if we had players on a par with those playing around the Med, they'd still find it difficult to show their skill on surfaces like Fir Park in mid-winter.

 

The SPL needs to follow Scandinavia and allow artificial surfaces.

[Johanes de Silentio]

we should all(connected with Scottish football) be hanging our heads in shame. Why? Simple. We have turned a very simple game/sport into something more complicated than Einstein's theory of relativity.

 

1. Sold our souls for television money.

2. Agreed to a league set up where you play certain teams at least four times a season in the league, three for definite and then perharps more times in cup competitions.

3. Agreed to a split setup that on-one is happy with but apparently when asked clubs say they like it.

4. We do indeed reap what we sow.

 

John

 

Agree with all points - watcha gonna do 'bout it?

[Tynie b]

John, it's not only the set up.

 

I watched Barca v Deporto last night and realised that what we play is like a second cousin twice removed from the game they were playing. Teams in Spain, Italy and Germany (perhaps even England) must look at our game, slowly shake their heads and sadly smile.

 

 

I watched some of the Srups v Ersholes game and switched over for a Bit to see the score of DUtd v Weegie SC**, that was like night and day as well!

Scottish Football is Finished unless DRASTIC changes are made...Unfortunatley, Like the SFA/SPL/Weegie Media, I don't know what changes would help!!

[johnjl]

I watched some of the Srups v Ersholes game and switched over for a Bit to see the score of DUtd v Weegie SC**, that was like night and day as well!

Scottish Football is Finished unless DRASTIC changes are made...Unfortunatley, Like the SFA/SPL/Weegie Media, I don't know what changes would help!!

 

 

 

 

 

the top flight in england has always been better than scotland. saying scottish football is finished is just plain silly. i do agree that league restructuring and other changes are required.

[The Brow]

we should all(connected with Scottish football) be hanging our heads in shame. Why? Simple. We have turned a very simple game/sport into something more complicated than Einstein's theory of relativity.

 

1. Sold our souls for television money.

2. Agreed to a league set up where you play certain teams at least four times a season in the league, three for definite and then perharps more times in cup competitions.

3. Agreed to a split setup that on-one is happy with but apparently when asked clubs say they like it.

4. We do indeed reap what we sow.

 

 

 

John

 

Whilst I agree with your sentiments, im not entirely sure what 'we' could have done. The clubs have done this to themselves. The fans, im pretty sure, had bugger all to do with these decisions.

 

Scottish football is pretty shyte, if I didnt follow the Hearts I wouldnt even bother with the highlights. Saying that, the championship in England is also pretty dreadful most of the time. Ive watched lots of Cardiff games this year and have witnessed teams trying to bludgeon each other to death as regularly as when I used to watch scottish football. Although, I get to drink at the games so that makes it bareable.

[Hearts Heritage]

The problem with any restructure is that clubs would want to retain at least the same number of home games. That would mean a league of 20 playing once home and away.

 

That would also restrict the number of Tv games assuming they would continue to show the Of away

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[andi17]

Scottish football will never change as long as the tail of the old firm is wagging the dog the rest of us , no matter what keek they come out with they love being the big fish in the small pond.

[johnjl]

slightly off topic but the myth that scottish football is the same standard as the lower leagues in england is just that, a myth. i have watched quite a few league 1 and the odd league 2 game on sky sports and they have been dire affairs. i think (though difficult to equate) our league is of a similar standard to the championship in england. many of the critics of the scottish game also hail the championship as a superb league.

although the standards here are below par i think-

1) the standards have been low for a long time, this is not a recent downturn and 2) at least most games are highly competitive, with few games that can be termed as meaningless.

i think we sometimes talk ourselves down a wee bit too much because we are the neighbours of, imo, the best league in europe.

but as i have already said old firm domination is the real problem.

[I.J]

Oh goody, more hysterical over reactions and mindless rhetoric on kickback.

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

I'm not going to hang my head in shame for anything that I have no control over. Stop trying to act 'wise'.

 

 

 

Alan.

[Creepy Lurker]

I'm not going to hang my head in shame for anything that I have no control over. Stop trying to act 'wise'.

 

 

 

Alan.

 

 

On topic, it's easy to say that the number of games is too high, but a 16 or 18 team SPL = less home games = less money coming in = something that no board of directors in their right mind would go for.

 

I actually quite like the split.

 

Every league in Europe has, to some extent, sold its soul for television money.

 

A penny saved is a penny earned. This doesn't have anything much to do with Scottish football, but the bit about 'we reap what we sow' was pretty pointless too.

 

Creepy Lurker

[DalryJambo]

I think one of the fundamental problems is that good 'boys clubs' and the 'pro teams' can poach players from any area of the country at almost any age. When I played under 16 level, in the mid-90's, Hutchie vale had at least two players coming down from Aberdeen on a train each week and a few lads from Falkirk and Glasgow. How was that helping the development of kids in Edinburgh? It wasn't, it was giving the coaches of the teams involved an ego trip cause they won the league most years. At the same time it was weakening the teams in the areas the lads were coming from.

 

Where is the incentive to develop the basic skills in players from the age of 6-10 when the 'big fish' pick up all the best they can between the ages of 10-14. If all teams were allocated zones divided by postcode/primary school catchment areas, from which all their players had to be selected, there would be a genuine incentive/benefit in investing in youth. All the time knowing you couldn't lose the player until they were 16 at the earliest. It would mean you could bring in players from outwith your 'zone', but would also mean you couldn't lose players either, which in the long term would hopefully drive up the standards.

 

Each club could have an area and they would know the more they put in, the more they got out. At the age of 16 a player would then sign for the pro club that funded the coaching in the area and the ones that didn't get signed by the top club could then look else where for a team at their 'level'.

[gadgey55]

slightly off topic but the myth that scottish football is the same standard as the lower leagues in england is just that, a myth. i have watched quite a few league 1 and the odd league 2 game on sky sports and they have been dire affairs. i think (though difficult to equate) our league is of a similar standard to the championship in england. many of the critics of the scottish game also hail the championship as a superb league.

although the standards here are below par i think-

1) the standards have been low for a long time, this is not a recent downturn and 2) at least most games are highly competitive, with few games that can be termed as meaningless.

i think we sometimes talk ourselves down a wee bit too much because we are the neighbours of, imo, the best league in europe.

but as i have already said old firm domination is the real problem.

 

 

Best league in the world? Disagree strongly mate. Barca made the arse look like silly wee laddies twice. La liga is 10 times what the EPL is. (imo, of course)