Fans overwhelmingly favour bigger spl

[rbr 1,247]

The comparisons with smaller countries is fine , however one massive problem we face is that we pay far far too much to our players , the amount players recieve to play in Scotland is obscene , also the typical training day is absurd , I always use Stalle Stensas when he came from Norway where as a part timer he trained longer and harder than he did over here as a professional with us .

[BrahimHemdani 1]

The comparisons with smaller countries is fine , however one massive problem we face is that we pay far far too much to our players , the amount players recieve to play in Scotland is obscene , also the typical training day is absurd , I always use Stalle Stensas when he came from Norway where as a part timer he trained longer and harder than he did over here as a professional with us .

 

No argument with you on that, when was the last time we tried anything other than a shot or chip at a free kick? Mega full time wages for part time work.

[Zappa 0]

I find it hard to belive that the Croatian Clubs get more money from TV than Scottish Clubs.

 

I agree and while I don't know the exact figures I'd imagine there's no chance they get more TV money.

 

Dinamo have 2 Argentinians and 3 Brazilians on their playing staff but although they beat Villarreal at home thEY failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League and apparently have not played in Europe after Christmas for 40 years. Hadjuk Split managed only one win in the Europa League at home against Anderlecht and finished bottom of their group. Both Dinamo and Hadjuk are way down the coefficent rankings. Hadjuk once reached the quarter finals of the CL in 1995 losing 3-0 to Ajax. As a country Croatia were 27th in the UEFA coefficients last season compared to Scotland's 16th. Not sure what conclusions to draw from that except that a 16 team league in a small country doesn't necessarilly guarantee success in Europe!

 

Croatia don't have a perfect setup by any means because their league teams aren't performing well in Europe as you point out, but when you look at the quality of their national team and it's players as well as where they play club football the picture starts to unfold. To me it seems that Croatia are able to bring through very talented footballers who their league and it's teams basically can't afford to hold onto and while this is probably down to the leagues lack of income/revenue it should be taken into account that the lack of revenue is most likely NOT because of the size of their league. There's more Croatian national team players in the EPL than there are in the Croatian league. There's twice as many Croatian national team players in the Bundesliga than there are in the Croatian league. Their national team basically has Croatian players who play all over the place, but very few who play on their home soil. As I said though, the Croatian league's inability to hold onto Croatian talent is most likely not down to the size of their league and the salaries being paid in England, Germany, Turkey and other countries are most likely the real reason.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Zappa

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I agree and while I don't know the exact figures I'd imagine there's no chance they get more TV money.

 

As I said though, the Croatian league's inability to hold onto Croatian talent is most likely not down to the size of their league and the salaries being paid in England, Germany, Turkey and other countries are most likely the real reason.

 

If you look at per capita income, this bears out your theory. Croatia is about half Spain and Italy and about a third of Germany, France or the UK. So even basic salaries are bound to be a lot less, never mind the grossly inflated wages on offer in the the likes of Spain and England.

[rbr 1,247]

If you look at per capita income, this bears out your theory. Croatia is about half Spain and Italy and about a third of Germany, France or the UK. So even basic salaries are bound to be a lot less, never mind the grossly inflated wages on offer in the the likes of Spain and England.

 

The population has less to do with it than peoples mindset's , do the croatian kids work harder and have a better mental approach to training and football , or do they just want to go out and get wrecked , our kids are SOFT and spoiled

[BrahimHemdani 1]

The population has less to do with it than peoples mindset's , do the croatian kids work harder and have a better mental approach to training and football , or do they just want to go out and get wrecked , our kids are SOFT and spoiled

 

I agree with you on that as well, maybe it's the number of xboxes/ipods or wahtever per child that we should be looking at.

[maineflyer 0]

I agree with you on that as well, maybe it's the number of xboxes/ipods or wahtever per child that we should be looking at.

 

Perhaps it's also down to acute loss of national identity. Before we had political parties handing out parliaments and others barking for independence we actually had a far stronger sense of who we are. You struggle to see Scottish football on tv in Scotland - you can see any amount of English or Spanish football but the clear message being sent out is that our football is of no interest to anyone. Football is no longer identified with the nation, Scots people identify the country more with tennis or snooker than with football. Most people are followers, tell them our football is shite and that's what they'll believe. The game has been abandoned to the TA arseholes and petty media twats like Chick Young.

[Zappa 0]

If you look at per capita income, this bears out your theory. Croatia is about half Spain and Italy and about a third of Germany, France or the UK. So even basic salaries are bound to be a lot less, never mind the grossly inflated wages on offer in the the likes of Spain and England.

 

I think something that's definitely worth taking into account is sport curriculum in education as well. We've had quite lengthy discussions about this on Gersnet in the past and basically our education system in Scotland doesn't do enough to promote and include the country's most popular sport in the physical education curriculum. You can list a myriad of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that there are very few football coaches teaching in Scottish primary and secondary schools.

[calscot 0]

I think something that's definitely worth taking into account is sport curriculum in education as well. We've had quite lengthy discussions about this on Gersnet in the past and basically our education system in Scotland doesn't do enough to promote and include the country's most popular sport in the physical education curriculum. You can list a myriad of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that there are very few football coaches teaching in Scottish primary and secondary schools.

 

That's a great point and I've been saying for years that the supposed millions spent on "grass roots" football by the SFA would be better spent on a proper full time coach in each area, where they could be shared between five schools - each getting one day a week. That could be seven one-hour coaching lessons per school.

 

I think Scotland's education system has lost all focus and as we're supposedly the fattest and unhealthiest nation in Europe, sport and also nutrition should both be compulsory in our schools. We have our own parliament who can achieve this, and really have a duty to do so.

 

All schools should have to provide staff to run extra curricular sporting clubs with two strands - one an elite group who are taught to play in a highly competitive environment, and the other which is open to all and more about participation and improvement where everyone gets a game. Of course there should be easy movement between the strands.

 

We should be concentrating on our best and most popular sports such as football, rugby, golf, cycling, tennis and squash and employing PE teachers who are properly qualified to teach them as well as bringing in specialist coaches when needed.

 

Then we need to set up region and national centres where the government pays for top class coaching to the elite of school kids and young adults with facilities for pros of sports which are not so professional.

 

This could be paid for by tax-payers money as well as supported by the sporting bodies such as the SFA, SPL and R&A.

 

If we also make provide cheap facilities and encourage all adults to participate, we could become a much healthier nation who compete much better in world sport which would also improve our national pride and confidence.

 

Scotland used to always be a forward thinking country in these kind of things which is why we have a history of punching above our weight in sport and education, but we've gone so backwards in the last 20 years it's unbelievable.

 

One tennis player and the odd cyclist are the only real exceptions in 5M people.

[Totti 0]

I think something that's definitely worth taking into account is sport curriculum in education as well. We've had quite lengthy discussions about this on Gersnet in the past and basically our education system in Scotland doesn't do enough to promote and include the country's most popular sport in the physical education curriculum. You can list a myriad of reasons for this, but the bottom line is that there are very few football coaches teaching in Scottish primary and secondary schools.

Whilst I agree with that to an extent, there's a simpler reason though. Simply not enough kids are outside playing football. As Harry Redknapp put it 'the xbox generation'. Scotland have produced few top players since the 90s. We are a lazy and unhealthy nation, the uk largely is.

 

Plus most 15+ kids are more interested in getting pished than playing sport.

 

I think the size of our league isn't the main issue here (though a 10 team would be a joke), the bigger issue is how poor the Scottish game is.

 

There should have been a radical shakeup long ago. Not only do we need basic infrastructure in place to encourage and develop kids, but the Scottish mentality has to change. We're more bothered about how big a player is and how far we can hoof the ball up the park than whether the player actually has talent. Would Xavi and Iniesta have made it here or been told they were too small at a young age? Continuing on the mentality in Scottish football, there's still an archaic mindset where a strong challenge is appreciated more than intelligent passing and skill. We need to advance the sport like countries like Spain have but I don't trust this country to get fuck all right.

 

What chance do we have though when the national manager is so clueless he decides to play without any striker. I mean what sort of example does this set?

Edited January 9, 2011 by Totti