BrahimHemdani

Thought it was £4k but Dundee Utd couldn't afford that either.

It's agonising waiting to see how bad you look on TV.

We had a guy there from Dundee and were astonished he wasn't asked to speak.

Peter Houston wants to talk to him but doubt they could afford the wages.

They have contacted the debenture (Bond) holders who are creditors.

Just back from the Beeb. The show is on 5 topics: Rangers, Finance, Youth Development, Governance and Structure. The "audience" could only speak if spoken to. They came to me at the beginning of the last segment on Structure but as they had rearranged the seats Rob McLean was looking in the wrong direction so I might have been left on the cutting room floor. Managed to get in a sentence or two about bigger leagues and fairer distribution on the money to encourage more competition. I am the guy with the red tie and no head in the back row behind Longmuir. Thanks for asking and no slagging please. Interesting to see how many people it takes to put in a simple show like that and to be able to chat with the likes of Houston and Pressley after the show. Pressley made a lot of our points for us, as did Rod Petrie e.g. TV ruining the game.

At the Beeb tonight "sources" said that "the Americans" had left, which would make sense as their season is just beginning.

Dundee Utd also interested.

No they cannot, they need permission.

Good night, thanks again to all who contributed.

Agree with most of this as well, especially about seeding. The SPL has lost 400,000+ spectators in 2 seasons, pretty soon football will be played in empty stadia. BUT note that summer football IS back on the agenda (or at least an earlier start and a winter break) courtesy of a convincing presentation from an SD Council Member (not me!) at the last SFA Council meeting and SD have a plan for revitalising the LC (more anon).

I wouldn't argue with any of that (I too stood on the terracings of the late 50's and early 60's watching: Millar, Brand and Wilson) but as you say those times are past and smaller footballing countries than us have shown they can rise up the rankings e.g Cyprus and Israel, so we either try to do SOMETHING or sink further and further down the ladder.

Player indiscipline in Malmo (never mind Whittaker, but playing Boughera was a disaster waiting to happen) and rank bad tactics in the second half in Maribor cost us dear and who picks the players and who sets the tactics?

Many thanks for all these helpful contributions. Please bear in mind if you watch tomorrow night (BBC 10.35pm): I am there in my capacity as Chair of SD Scotland, so I do not represent Rangers FC, or any particular Supporters Group. The show may be presented as "live" but it is being pre-recorded at 7pm for transmission later, so may well be heavily edited. I may be left on the cutting room floor.

The teams that finish 1st and 2nd in the SPL get approx 33% of the total "pot".

These points all serve to show the parlous state of our game.

This is extremely relevant in my view. The academic research behind our Fan's Plan (to be released shortly) shows: Attendance at Ajax and Feyenoord is approximately the same as it is for Rangers and Celtic, between 42506 (Feyenoord) and 48698 (Celtic). But the next best supported club in the Netherlands â?? PSV â?? has an average attendance of 33482. In Scotland the next best supported team after the Old Firm is Hearts, whose average attendance is less than half that. None of the top ten Dutch clubs have an average attendance of less than 15000, while in the SPL only Rangers and Celtic have an average attendance in excess of 15000. While it might be objected that this analysis omits the fact that the population of the Netherlands is approximately three times that of Scotland, the point is less one of level of attendance, and more about its distribution between clubs. With the exception of Vitesse, their utilisation of their stadium capacity is between 80 and 100%. Examination of the same data for Scotland shows that in 2010-11 only three clubs (Rangers, Celtic and Hearts) had a capacity utilisation of 80% or better. In particular, a more detailed inspection reveals that the maximum capacity utilisations are not at the top of the Dutch league â?? Ajax and Feyenoord â?? but among the middle sized clubs such as as PSV (95% ), Heerenveen Groningen, Breda and AZ (all with 96%), and Twente with a remarkable 98% utilisation of their stadium capacity over a season. The conclusion we have reached is that work is needed to increase, but also make more equal, the match day utilisation of stadium capacity of Scottish football. For instance examination of tactics used by clubs in other countries with respect to match-day marketing and pricing, we would suggest is one area for Scottish clubs to look at. For instance, what is the role of the match-day experience for the fan in the likelihood that he/she will return, and how far does a half empty stadium contribute to that experience? Might it be more important, over the longer term, to fill the stadium than maintain a specific pricing policy?

I asked him that once before and I can't quite recall his answer.....

I think you have a very fair point there and one that the SFA no doubt will have to answer in due course and I think it's certainly relevant to governance but I think that the primary focus tomorrow (as in the SD Survey) will be how to make our football more competitive, increase attendance etc; but finance certainly does come in to it.

The influence of the Old Firm is most clearly seen in the TV deal. However, a fairer distribution of finances is one of the points that came out in the SD Survey: With the exception of Old Firm fans (although 48% were in favour), there is strong support for distributing central revenues more equally and clear evidence that supporters believe this would increase competition. There are indications that increased competition would encourage greater attendance particularly amongst those who attend games less regularly and fans of clubs in the First Division and non Old Firm SPL clubs.

Good point, considering that on the programme tonight he was talking about a new way for all Scottish teams to play football - technique and all that.

According to the producer: The programme is called Scottish Football â?? The Debate and it will take place on Tuesday 6th March at the BBC Scotland studios at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. The debate will look at the state of Scottish football and will come off the back of a documentary weâ??re putting out the previous night (Monday March 5) fronted by Jim Traynor called A Match for Europe? The debate will be chaired by Rob Maclean and will look at issues such as youth development, structure and governance, the national team, finance, and no doubt other areas. There will be a panel of 5 or 6 â?? currently confirmed Stewart Regan, Craig Levein, Gordon Strachan, Jim Traynor, Steven Pressley, and likely an SPL chairman and / or other manager â?? plus a group of 20 or so key stakeholders in the game , powerbrokers and administrators in Scottish football, some other chairmen and managers, key figures from prominent youth academies and youth football, as well as some fans representatives.

I am in the studio audience for the Debate tomorrow night following the programme "A Match for Europe" on now. Anyone with ideas (keep them clean) about the way forward, let me know asap, I will check this thread up to midnight but unfortunately cannot access Gersnet during the day tomorrow.

Only on rare occasions, such as John Greig's Testimonial.

Let me just clarify, if I may. No question that Edu was born in the US and therefore will be a US citizen and has played for the US on numerous occasions. No question that Aluko was born in England and appears to have dual UK/Nigerian nationality although most sites list him as Nigerian and he has played for England at all levels up to <19 but switched to the Nigerian team in 2009. Equally no question that both are of Nigerian descent inasmuch as Edu's parents are Nigerian and Aluko's family if not his parents are Nigerian. My point is that in my view it is offensive per se and it is doubly offensive given that we have two players of Nigerian descent in our team to say even jokingly that if the article referred to is true "I'm a darkie with a lean towards white folks of the gender bender sort".