calscot 0 Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 PS I'm thinking logically, ignoring all loyalties. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CammyF 6,787 Posted August 7, 2006 Share Posted August 7, 2006 I think Wallace Mercer was only wrong in the way he approached the subject - instead of trying to sell it as a 'take-over' he'd have been better selling it as a 'merger'. However, he possibly did this to ensure that he had as many Hearts fans on his side as possible. Scotland has far to many clubs for the population to sustain. I know folks will point out that some of these small provincial clubs are run correctly, have little or no debt and serve the community. But, for Scottohs football to florish, some sort or merging or even stadium sharing needs to happen. Cammy F 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 There are good reasons to have the split and not go to 18 teams. Would you pay the same for a season ticket for 17 games (instead of 19) where only one was Celtic and one Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen etc? They are replaced by the likes of Hamilton, St Johnstone and Dundee etc... We have a twelve team league but even then a lot of the games attract around 5 or 6 thousand fans. How many will turn up to a mid-table game between say Motherwell and St Mirren, where neither team will get into Europe nor get relegated? How much TV money will the league attract, as well as sponsors etc? The split may be controversial but it can spice up the mid-table three quarters of the way into the season. It gives all the middling teams a tangible goal which is rewarded with extra income. So we have a fight for the Championship, then a fight for the CL place, then a fight for the UEFA place then a fight for a top 6 finish and finally a relegation fight. To spice up the bottom even more I'd make the 2nd bottom team play a play-off with the winners of another playoff between 2nd and 3rd in Div 1. It's a flawed system, but it does work at making our league more interesting for it. Some good points, but isnt it just wrong that the SPL has to be unfair to make the split slightly interesting!! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 I think our league is small enough for the benefits to outweigh the drawbacks. The teams on average earn more money, even if they don't qualify for the top six, than they would with a 16 team league. It suits our league due to the uniqueness of having 42 teams in a country of 5 million people. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 Yeah but is still wrong that the SPL enter into it knowing that it is likely 1 or 2 teams will have an extra home or away game than the others. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 ...And the fact the team in 7th place finishes below the team in 6th place but is likely to have more points - it just looks absolutely mad 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geo1873 0 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 ...And the fact the team in 7th place finishes below the team in 6th place but is likely to have more points - it just looks absolutely mad exactly, 7th position has actually finished 4th for about the passed 3 seasons and it looks a complete joke when this happens! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 I must be the only one who can see past this aberration. The teams who finish outside the top six can only finish a highest of 7th. The top teams can only finish a lowest of 6th. If the 7th team is not far behind the 6th then it is LIKELY that 7th will have more points than 6th. This is because the 7th placed team, having already demonstrated that they are better than the rest of the bottom 6 are likely to win most of their remaining games. Conversely the 6th team are more than likely to lost most of their remaining games to the top teams in the country. It looks strange at first glance, but it's relatively easy to reconcile it when you understand it and get used to it. This was a known issue when before the new league system was ratified and was therefore acceptable to all clubs. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkirk Jim 0 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Two leagues of sixteen would be more than enough for Scotland 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Yeah but is still wrong that the SPL enter into it knowing that it is likely 1 or 2 teams will have an extra home or away game than the others. This is the price they pay for guaranteeing an extra Old Firm game or two at home as well as the likes of Hearts. The possible loss of a home game against the likes of Hamilton with about 2000 fans attending is not hard to take when you are gaining three home games which are against the top six teams as well as swapping games against the likes of Ross County with that of Dundee Utd. They get a minimum of 18 home games, while it's 15 in a 16 team league and they are against higher and more lucrative opposition. It's a no brainer. The interest created by the split can also increase their attendances. For example let's take Inverness's season who lost a home game and play that against what they would have had in a 16 team league. In both leagues they would have had one home game against the other 11 SPL teams that were in the league last season, and in addition the following home games: SPL as is-------------16 team league ------------------------------------ Aberdeen------------St Mirren Motherwell-----------St Johnstone Dundee Utd----------Hamilton Falkirk---------------Ross County Rangers-------------Nobody Hearts---------------Nobody Kilmarnock-----------Nobody So not only do they have 3 EXTRA home games but they are against Rangers, Hearts and Kilmarnock. They also have some more attractive home games with Aberdeen instead of St Mirren, Motherwell instead of St Johnstone, Dundee Utd instead of Hamilton, Falkirk instead of Ross county. As a Caley fan, which version of the season ticket would you rather have? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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