SPL, Hearts and Armageddon

[simplythebest 0]

I think rangers fans rate him more than many celtc fans. he is afterall taking huge wages and bonuses regardless of how they perform on the park and he won't spend any cash.

 

he's deferred over a million quid in bonus money meaning if the want to sack him it would cosy fortunes.

He's managed them well, which is more than can be said for our folk in charge last few years.

[54andcounting 0]

so liewells plan is coming to fruition. destroy scottish football and be the last man standing. then apply to the epl cause they dont have a league to play in.

 

There is another league they can play in, they'll have to do what we had to do...apply to the SFL they'd be very welcome.

[kuznetsov 0]

He's managed them well, which is more than can be said for our folk in charge last few years.

 

he has managed them very well. huge but sustainable wage bill, some excellent young players, very strong squad, taking the best players away from us, not in trouble with taxman, has media round his finger.......

[Gribz 743]

Thought this for a few year now, two in Dundee across the road from each other for example, would have thought fewer teams with the money redirected, larger league/division format would be better.

 

 

Its been much more obvious that there are too many clubs since 4 divisions were set up rather than 3 in the 90s. I even did a report for an english class assignment back in the 90s. But its not just the 2 Dundee clubs across the road from each other its having 4 teams up the road from them - Brechin, Forfar, Arbroath and Montrose all in the space of 20 miles from each other....they should have all merged and become Angus Utd. Im sure the central belt and Fife have similar scenarios.

 

The Scottish game is now beginning to melt away infront of our eyes despite all the warning signs for years....the SPL and SFA should be struck off as incompetant. I cant believe the government simply allow this yet they would get involved and help Hearts?!

 

Restructure shouldnt just be discussed right now, it should take effect from the start of next season with a 2 or 3 division set up and get the regional game back involved so it entices all the junior clubs that they have a chance of making it professional.

 

As for the OP about Hearts, I see where Super Ally comes from. I wouldnt go as far as saying a brotherly relationship but Hearts have always been the 3rd force in Scottish football for the last 20 years. It was a refreshing challenge when Burley took over and looked like they would seriously be title contenders. They also did well in 1988, 1998 and 2006.

 

Again you would feel for the genuine fan if Hearts went through what we did. They dont have a Charles Green coming along to buy them from Mad Vlad and 50000 at every home game so they would be in a far worse state, yet the other 10 SPL clubs (not Celtic) would be even worse if it happened to them.

 

The SPL needed to watch what they wished for with their treatment to Rangers and the domino effect will now take place and start to pick off some of these clubs. Rangers and Celtic practically funded the game with away support and TV rights.

 

I would be sorry to see Hearts go bust altogether and if they do go into Admin then if the twats at SPL / SFA dont restructure then I hope they go to Div 3.

[ian1964 10,514]

St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown would like to see a salary cap introduced because he thinks it would prevent more Scottish football clubs going bust.

 

"If you go down a league you lose in the region of £1m," said the Scottish Premier League board member after a year as chairman of the Perth club.

 

"So everybody pays over the odds on wages, then makes a loss to keep in the league, to make less of a loss than you would if you got relegated.

 

"It's a ridiculous model."

 

Brown took over as chairman at McDiarmid Park after his father, Geoff, ended his 25 years of service to the club in the same capacity.

 

Brown senior installed Steve Lomas as manager at the same time as naming his son as his own replacement.

Continue reading the main story

 

“We've got far too many players for the resources we have at present”

 

Steve Brown St Johnstone chairman

 

And a year into the post Brown argues that limiting the payments that can be made to players would help those trying to operate Scotland's football clubs.

 

"The club is a business and it has got to stand on its own two feet," he said.

 

"There is not enough governance in the game on the financial front

 

"[Wage capping] has to come. How many clubs are we going to see go to the wall before we say enough is enough?

 

"It's no good for anybody. You are asking supporters to come out and support the club, then when the clubs go into meltdown, you are asking the supporters to bail the club out.

 

"It's just not fair."

 

While admitting to getting caught up in the thrills and spills of football, citing a top-six SPL finish and playing in Europe as highlights, the new chairman paints a stark picture when describing the difficulties he faces.

 

"There is not a lot of money in Scottish football," he told BBC Scotland.

 

"Trying to balance the books is the biggest challenge and I can see that for the foreseeable future.

 

"There is not enough money in the game to pay players' wages. In England they have a billion-pound Sky contract; we don't.

 

"We're charging supporters too much money to come to the ground.

 

"Commercially it is very limited what you can bring in.

 

"The only thing you can look at is expenditure and the biggest expenditure is players' wages."

 

Brown points to the effect of the recession on Saints' ability to generate revenue from non-footballing activities. In his opinion, it is becoming harder to stay still, never mind avoid going into debt.

 

He said there is always "going to be animosity and frustration" between chairman and manager as each fights his corner.

 

"Steve wants to get a good team on the park and I have to look after the finances," he continued.

 

"We keep talking. He is disappointed. We've got far too many players for the resources we have at present."

 

With Hearts in danger of following Rangers' financial disaster, Brown believes it is "very probable" that more Scottish teams will go to the wall.

 

"When you have leagues against leagues and clubs against clubs and supporters against supporters, the only thing that is going to fail is the whole of Scottish football," he argued.

 

"You see it at international level and the European ties - we are one of many clubs that failed at the first hurdle - but it is going to have an effect on the whole game.

 

"We are struggling to get people to come and watch St Johnstone.

 

"Last week if we had won the game we'd have gone top of the league and yet less than 3,000 turned up. It's really frustrating."

[Guest Bluepeter9]

I for one- dont want any other club to have to face what we faced. I think Hearts are a lost cause - but they always were due to the amount of debt owed to Mad Vlads Bank - they had real basket case spending and they do need administration to sort the finances out (and they do need a new onwer). I don't actually want them to fail - I just thinkits ineviatable.

 

But other than that Scottish football needs to retain its strength and the failure of a number of clubs in some ways MIGHT strengthen the game BUT I suspect most likely will weaken the game. And there is the rub..... a weaker game is bad for us, especially for ambitions outwith Scottish Football,like the champions league. WE want to be a strong team playing in a strong league that has respect, in some ways the Celtic win has helped that cause. I know many of our fans just want revenge and to lashout in anger at what happened to us but 4,5,6 other teams failing could see our league going down hill and that is to the detriment of Scottish Football and that is to the detriment of Rangers.

[GovanAllan 0]

I for one- dont want any other club to have to face what we faced. I think Hearts are a lost cause - but they always were due to the amount of debt owed to Mad Vlads Bank - they had real basket case spending and they do need administration to sort the finances out (and they do need a new onwer). I don't actually want them to fail - I just thinkits ineviatable.

 

But other than that Scottish football needs to retain its strength and the failure of a number of clubs in some ways MIGHT strengthen the game BUT I suspect most likely will weaken the game. And there is the rub..... a weaker game is bad for us, especially for ambitions outwith Scottish Football,like the champions league. WE want to be a strong team playing in a strong league that has respect, in some ways the Celtic win has helped that cause. I know many of our fans just want revenge and to lashout in anger at what happened to us but 4,5,6 other teams failing could see our league going down hill and that is to the detriment of Scottish Football and that is to the detriment of Rangers.

 

I think we need this watershed moment we have far too many teams in this country, a lot of them run badly by incompetent idiots. The clubs who are run properly with good people in charge will survive and come out the otherside stronger and ready to take the game forward.

 

As for the rest its been nice knowing you but the Gravy Train has left the station, time to live in the real world, you won't be missed.

[ian1964 10,514]

It will all be the fault of the big bad Rangers

[GovanAllan 0]

It will all be the fault of the big bad Rangers

 

Dunfermline had an emergency meeting, on the brink can't pay HMRC or the staff, pleading with Falkirk to rearrange a fixture so they can get a home game and get some money in.

 

Sad but that's how the world turns.

[amms 0]

I think we need this watershed moment we have far too many teams in this country, a lot of them run badly by incompetent idiots. The clubs who are run properly with good people in charge will survive and come out the otherside stronger and ready to take the game forward.

 

As for the rest its been nice knowing you but the Gravy Train has left the station, time to live in the real world, you won't be missed.

 

Where do we come in that equation then?

 

I disagree we've too many clubs, what we have is an imbalance in the allocation of finances and a system where the customer (us, the supporters) are ignored, taken for granted and at times actively discouraged from voicing an opinion. Reform is needed but reducing the number of clubs won't make it better.