SPL clubs give 'unanimous backing' to proposed reforms

[ian1964 10,416]

By GAVIN McCAFFERTY

Published on Wednesday 6 February 2013 00:00

 

SCOTTISH Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster has argued that controversial reconstruction proposals will give fans what they want – and that no other plan has a chance of success.

 

SPL and Scottish Football League clubs backed the radical plan at meetings last month and Doncaster expects both groups to vote on concrete proposals in March. Plans for a 12-12-18 structure, with the top two divisions splitting into three after 22 games, have failed to capture the imagination of many supporters and have been met with fierce criticism by some, but Doncaster stressed that a 16-team league was “financially unaffordable” and that there was not enough support for a 14-team top league.

 

The SPL chief warned that the more popular elements of the plan would be lost if it was rejected. Doncaster said on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme last night: “Fans tell us they want a single merged league, an all-through and more equitable distribution model, play-offs, a pyramid structure, significantly more relegation and promotion, and more meaningful games. The only way we can achieve that is through consensus and we are only going to get consensus through this model.

 

“If people want these changes, that everyone says they want, we need consensus and the vast majority of the 42 clubs to vote in favour of the package. There were some clubs that would perhaps want a bigger league. But they know we need consensus. If you put a 14-team model on the table you’re not going to get consensus.”

 

Doncaster pointed out that Hibernian’s biggest Easter Road attendance last season was a televised game on a Monday night, when they secured their SPL status with victory over Dunfermline.

 

And he argued that the determination to avoid the middle eight among the top-flight clubs, and “scramble” to finish in the top four thereafter, would attract more fans and television companies, despite concerns over resetting points to zero after 22 matches.

 

The 12 SPL clubs gave Doncaster unanimous backing to take the plans forward and he rejected suggestions that the failure to hold a formal vote was a sign of weakness.

 

He said: “They want a rule book in front of them, they want to know exactly what’s in place and what it means for them. You can’t vote on a concept – you can vote on a rule book.”

 

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/top-football-stories/spl-chief-12-12-18-plan-is-only-way-forward-1-2776492

[metlika 0]

It's the best thing for Scottish Football at the moment says the donkey from Hearts, aka we need to screw Rangers one more time to keep us all afloat.

 

Stop living in the moment and actually look forward 10 years for once in your bloody life.

 

Agreed because no doubt there will be more reconstruction talks....

[Gribz 743]

SCOTTISH Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster has argued that controversial reconstruction proposals will give fans what they want – and that no other plan has a chance of success.

 

SPL and Scottish Football League clubs backed the radical plan at meetings last month and Doncaster expects both groups to vote on concrete proposals in March. Plans for a 12-12-18 structure, with the top two divisions splitting into three after 22 games, have failed to capture the imagination of many supporters and have been met with fierce criticism by some, but Doncaster stressed that a 16-team league was “financially unaffordable” and that there was not enough support for a 14-team top league.

 

Stopped reading after these paragraphs. This guy becomes a bigger tit by the day.

 

This statement should be framed and put on the walls of Hampden so in a few years time he can be reminded.

 

How on earth can he JUDGE that no other plan has a chance of success but a system that has failed in 2 countries will be a success.

[metlika 0]

I dunno how these clowns (Doncaster and Regan) have kept their jobs, both have come out and said some pretty stupid and inflammatory comments, plus the way the have handled our situation and the refereeing crisis etc. Then they have the cheek to say this is the best for Scottish football, lunatics.

[GovanAllan 0]

He just keeps digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself, but no one in the media or football seems to want to tell him instead they want to jump in beside him utterly baffling.

[BlueMazza 0]

By GAVIN McCAFFERTY

Published on Wednesday 6 February 2013 00:00

 

SCOTTISH Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster has argued that controversial reconstruction proposals will give fans what they want – and that no other plan has a chance of success.

 

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The plea of a desperate man?

[Blue Moon 1,113]

Doncaster is so disingenuous and gets away with it. No-one is prepared to challenge him.

 

"These proposals will give the fans what they want" is utter tosh. The fans want most of all not to play one another 4 times a year and to remove the fear factor which is suffocating our game. So what do we get?

[Darthter 542]

The SPL chief warned that the more popular elements of the plan would be lost if it was rejected. Doncaster said on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme last night: “Fans tell us they want a single merged league, an all-through and more equitable distribution model, play-offs, a pyramid structure, significantly more relegation and promotion, and more meaningful games. The only way we can achieve that is through consensus and we are only going to get consensus through this model.

 

“If people want these changes, that everyone says they want, we need consensus and the vast majority of the 42 clubs to vote in favour of the package. There were some clubs that would perhaps want a bigger league. But they know we need consensus. If you put a 14-team model on the table you’re not going to get consensus.”

 

The only reason they are getting "consensus" is because there are no other options put in front of them. All the clubs have been told is 12-12-18 or nothing. When faced with other options consensus will be tricky due to folk having to actually discuss the merits & pitfalls of each suggestion - commonly known as debate!!! If your reasons behind a particular proposal are good enough, consensus will be achieved.

 

Single league body, better financial distribution, play-offs, more promotion/relegation, pyramid systems.....not one of these is dependent on league structure & could be implemented at ANY time.

 

As for meaningless games....tell that to the clubs sitting 7th & 8th in the top section, and the club sitting 1st & 2nd in the 3rd section (post 8-8-8 split) - no relegation & no promotion = nothing to play for = totally meaningless games.

 

If the SFA/SPL want fans to back their 12-12-18 proposal, they need to come out and specify EXACTLY why that format is going to work better than any other. Simply telling the fans that is better, ain't gonna swing any support regardless of how many times they say it.

 

Hopefully the SFL sides will see sense and vote against the proposal - especially the ones that would be in the lowest 18-team league.....as the SPL/SFA have already made it clear that an 18-team league is not good enough for the top tier due to too many meaningless games....

[Darthter 542]

Doncaster is so disingenuous and gets away with it. No-one is prepared to challenge him.

 

"These proposals will give the fans what they want" is utter tosh. The fans want most of all not to play one another 4 times a year and to remove the fear factor which is suffocating our game. So what do we get?

 

its like..." the current 12-team top tier ain't working....lets fix it by adding a 2nd tier of 12 - that'll sort things out!!!"

[der Berliner 3,247]

Snatched from FF ...

 

I left Rugby Park depressed about our gameâ??s future

 

I SPOKE with one of our sharpest legal minds the other day and he twice used an expression that filled me with fear for the future of Scottish football.

 

â??Our game is withering,â? he told me. He went on to discuss how the Old Firm could take on the English FA in the courts and of his belief that they could win a legal route to the promised land of the Premiership.

 

The result of that conversation can be found elsewhere in these pages but it was that expression that has nagged at me like a toothache since advocate Eoghainn Maclean uttered it.

 

Because heâ??s right. The game I witnessed at the weekend proved that to me and the word he used â?? withering â?? is the perfect description.

 

I left Rugby Park depressed about our gameâ??s future on Saturday and it had nothing to do with the quality of the match, which was decent without being dazzling.

 

Kilmarnock beat Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-0 in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. I put my hand up to cover the game because, to me, it pitched two of the countryâ??s most attractive teams together at an important stage of the tournament.

 

Maybe Iâ??m caught in a time warp but the Cup elicits in me an excitement the league can rarely match.

 

I went along thinking there would be a buzz, a crowd creating an atmosphere the players could feed off. I could not have been more wrong. I arrived at about 2.20pm and genuinely wondered if Iâ??d screwed up and not realised that this was a Sunday kick-off.

 

The Park Hotel opposite the stadium was busy but outside the ground there was hardly anyone milling around.

 

Inside, at kick-off, the two stands behind the goals were closed. They werenâ??t needed because only 3172 people had bothered to turn up.

 

Jimmy Nicholl joked afterwards that more had turned up to see Marie Osmond at Rugby Park 24 hours earlier.

 

They hadnâ??t but chairman Michael Johnson must have wished sheâ??d brought her entire family to the match as that would have pushed the attendance up to around 3500.

 

Kilmarnock need help, every club does, but they have to help themselves.

 

They can start by charging prices that might get people to think about moving off their couch and into the stands before grounds turn into museums.

 

At the moment Killie charge £22 for adults and £15 for kids aged 12 to 16. So a mum, dad and two teenagers going to a game on a Saturday is knocking a £74 hole in the family budget.

 

Now maybe once in a while the family can enjoy it as a luxury but if they want them there every home game, the prices have to come down.

 

If tickets were pegged at £15 for an adult and a tenner for teenagers to go with the £5 for under-12s that already exists â?? commendably â?? then who knows? The family budget might just stretch to £50 more often than to £74.

 

And they MUST do something about fixture scheduling. Since the two-week break ended on January 19, Killie have played four games in 14 days. Dundee United at home, Dundee away, Celtic away and Inverness at home.

 

Asking a family to attend all of those matches in a fortnight is going to cost them nearly £300 â?? and thatâ??s not taking into account the cost of getting to Dundee and Parkhead.

 

Add in this weekâ??s fixture at home to Motherwell and then another midweek trip to Inverness on February 13 and it makes no sense at all. Just how many folk do the SPL think will go to Inverness that night? So Caley Thistle will feel the pinch.

 

Itâ??s happening all over. Too many games crammed into too short a time â?? particularly in a month when the Christmas credit card bills are thudding through letter boxes and the weather is so bad youâ??re letting the dog pee in the bath (well I would if the wife would let me and we actually had a dog).

 

Iâ??ve used Kilmarnock as an example because I saw first hand a club desperately trying to survive and I donâ??t know if they will make it long term.

 

It looked for all the world like something withering on the vine. It needs some TLC and maybe some sunshine.

 

Which brings me to summer football. As the authorities wrestle with change, they must find a way to play in better weather.

 

More people will come out if the sun is on their back and they are in short sleeves. Going to a football match should not be a battle with hypothermia.

 

There would be the chance to secure a better TV deal in the summer when they would not be competing against the English Premiership.

 

And finally, it would give our clubs who have made Europe a better chance of still being involved come August as they would be up and running when the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers start.

 

If they want to survive, clubs such as Killie must vote for summer football.

 

Otherwise, they WILL wither and die. And the only thing left will be Paper Roses.

 

Daily Record