Pompey Blue
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Posts posted by Pompey Blue
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1. Berwick
2. EK
3. Tranent
Berwicks form last 3rd of last season was as good as anybody’s. They’ve strengthened and only really need a second striker still. Tight league to call though.
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On 15/06/2023 at 10:16, offsideflag said:
I'm sure this is just Rangers trying to "punish" the Lowland League sides for opposing the Conference League , by withdrawing their financial support. Good riddance.
It's an absurd position - apparently Rangers thought having a B team in the Lowland League was a great idea for 2 seasons, but suddenly it isn't anymore! I don't think they ever cared about developing younger players, they just wanted to find a way of getting B teams in to the SPFL.The slightest notion that the old firm were doing this for the good of Scottish football is thigh slappingly hysterical. If tomorrow they were offered places in the English premier league they’d take all of half a second to accept before sticking two fingers up to Scottish football. At least with one ugly sister gone a modicum of integrity has been restored to the LL.
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6 hours ago, welshbairn said:
You'd also think that League 2 sides would finally start thinking about making it easier for demoted sides to return.
There’s serious talk in England of 3 up 3 down between the league and the conference and league clubs are generally in favour. They recognise that making it easier to get promoted is a good thing if ever relegated. It’s about time league 2 clubs in Scotland got behind a proper model of promotion and relegation.
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Why is the very simple idea of automatic promotion and automatic relegation through all tiers of the pyramid so baffling and toxic to Scottish footballs lords and masters? Why does club 42 get a chance at all of redemption through a play off after finishing rock bottom of the entire football league? They fully deserve to be relegated and when relegated should be able to see a clear and attainable route back into the league. As for all these ambitious non league clubs they resemble the millions of sperm all scrambling to be the one who fertilises the egg. Anyway it’s time to get excited about Rangers v Celtic in the cup final. (Not).
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53 minutes ago, welshbairn said:
First voice from the Highland League coming from Nairn.
https://nairncountyfc.co.uk/news/supporters-update-proposed-conference-league/
Brilliant statement and finally the first club to stick their heads above the parapet and call out this garbage for what it really is. Let’s hope this leads to many other clubs issuing similarly strongly worded statements.
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2 hours ago, cowdenbeath said:
The top end of the National League would complete in our Premiership with decent full time squads and crowds.
Got to remember it has taken 34 years for their Pyramid to this level.
True it’s a well established set up and even clubs way down the ladder, say level 9 or 10 on the pyramid can dream of league football simply because there’s a clear path through promotions. The Scottish pyramid seems more like a bunch of sealed boxes piled on top of each other where getting promoted is more of a maybe than a reality.
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13 hours ago, Stoosh83 said:
Scottish football, and how every decision that is made within it, absolutely bamboozles me. The SFA only seem to put forward a plan that results in a negative solution for the majority of clubs.
I can't for the life of me understand they don't sort the pyramid in a positive manner for the vast majority of clubs.
SPL - 12 teams (I get why it has to be).
Championship - 12 teams ( would mean no relegation, and 2 teams still promoted, therefore positivity).
League 1 - 20 teams ( basically joining league 1&2 together, I can't see the sense in 2 part time clubs visiting each other twice) this would mean no relagation from league football, and both HL & LL champions going up.
After this setup should remain at regions, but clubs would have to be promoted to make up league numbers, rather than relegation.
This would allow play offs within every level of the pyramid, more teams being relegated from every league, and more importantly more teams in with a chance of promotion.
The best example I can give is boness United, who's fans complained they had nothing to play for in January. This is the result of a one up (possibly at that) one down in an absolute joke of a boring league, who get what they wish for.
Swallow some pride and follow the English way. Meaningless games in January don't help any league.
Post of the thread for me. If dropping into non league wasn’t such a terrifying prospect we might get some real progress. The English model has to be followed. The conference there is a thriving league and I include conferences north and south too. That’s because there is a proper promotion and relegation model. Getting into the football league is attainable unlike Scotland where a club has to virtually complete the 12 tasks of Hercules before gaining promotion. Fluidity of movement between divisions is the lifeblood of any domestic league. Take that away and it becomes uncompetitive and stale. How can it be right that probably between 5-8 clubs who are stronger than most of league 2’s clubs are marooned in the LL and HL simply because it’s impossible to get promoted. Needs sorting.
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League 2 clubs thinking the conference is preferable is hysterical in its muddled thinking. The bottom 3 or 4 clubs in league 2 are way weaker than probably the top 5 in the lowland league. So a relegation to the conference would almost certainly be followed by another relegation the following season as they finish bottom of the conference. At which point they are 2 promotions from the league and probably an eternity of non league football beckons for them. Without the conference they are only ever one great season away from league status again. Berwick for example are harbouring realistic hopes of a return. The underlying problem is every club and i mean every club is only interested in their own little world and none really care about the overall health of the pyramid.
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4 minutes ago, Dundee Hibernian said:
Earlier, I urged folk to write to clubs about this facade of a Pyramid system, and having done so myself, I've received a couple of replies.
As many here have recognised, the 42 clubs in the four SPFL set up aren't getting to vote for or against on the Conference introduction, it is a fait accompli as far as they are concerned. The L1/L2 clubs see the advantage of dropping into a funded league as the play off losing Club 42, rather than the farce which the LL has become. However, they see more negatives than positives in the suggestion, and don't accept the 'good for the national side' arguments.
For myself, as a fan, I'd hate to be watching 16 matches in a season against B sides: it'd be like a nightmare series of Challenge Cup matches in my mind.
I still don't see what's in it for Lowland or Highland League clubs, and can't understand why they would support or accept this, but then again, I couldn't understand them allowing B sides in, in the first place.
There’s nothing in it for lowland league clubs but even less for the highland league ones. They would in effect be facing 7 southern clubs, that’s 14 gruelling unattractive away games in a season. How is travelling to Berwick on a miserable wet Tuesday night attractive to a club like Buckie? Why would any HL team want that grim and grizzly journey to East Kilbride in the middle of January? They’d also be kissing goodbye to all the highland rivalries built up over decades to instead play a bunch of reserve teams. The HL should as one be giving this atrocity the proverbial middle finger.
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Whisper it quietly but Berwick look a good outfit this season.
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Solid start to the season for Berwick yesterday. For the first hour they were simply streets ahead of the Braves. They then got caught not knowing whether to stick or twist and lost impetus. Overall though they played well and were attractive to watch as well.
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32 minutes ago, Cowden Cowboy said:
Well to be precise you can sign them but you can't play them in SPFL match till next season. No trialists or new signings can be brought in to play in any season after 1 AprilI bow to your superior knowledge. I always thought that unattached free agents could be signed and played anytime during the season.
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54 minutes ago, Cowden Cowboy said:
You can’t sign and play anyone new now.
You can sign free agents at any time as long as they were released by their previous club before the end of the last window.
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What worried me most under Harvey was as soon as the team conceded the game was over. 1-0 soon led to 2-0 and beyond. Hopefully that’ll end now. They may go a goal down in the play offs but for goodness sake stay in the tie and don’t throw in the towel as under Harvey. Still looking bleak but hope is restored just a little. Are there no out of contract players who could make a difference willing to be signed up for 2 games!!!!
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10 hours ago, FREDDYFRY said:
https://twitter.com/bbcsportscot/status/1118150705611722754?s=12
At least being reported somewhat wider; if folk at my workplace for example, didn’t know me, most would not know about this decision.
At least highlight the decision, otherwise SFA just get on with it without any comment or criticism at all. Hide as usual, typical bureaucrats who would rather punish an admin error rather than sectarian behaviour or violence at games. Soft touch Clyde!
They have to be FORCED to explain the inconsistencies. How can the same offence committed in the same season receive 2 different punishments? Big club gets away with a soft touch, little club gets walloped. Clyde, Berwick and indeed any fan angered by this should not let this drop.
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3 hours ago, DutchBorderer said:
Ask and ye shall receive;
http://berwickrangers.com/club-statement-3/
Think there were more pressing matters to comment on but I appreciate the board's communication all the same. There simply isn't anything we can do and I hope that will be the end of that. Focus on Saturday now.
Court of arbitration for sport? If the rule clearly stated pre season that clubs would face the sanctions Clyde did and this would include gifting the opposition involved 3-0 wins then fine. But I doubt that’s the case and firmly believe the inconsistency in handing out these punishments needs to be explained fully. Personally I’d not be giving up until I got a detailed and comprehensive explanation of why they awarded what they did.
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Idea for the Albion Rovers game. Throw the doors open. Free admission and get a thousand fans in the ground. Roar on the team to avoid that play off. It won’t happen but could be a tactical master stroke if it helps the team win.
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9 minutes ago, Fergie1 said:
Forfeiting a match is different to fielding an ineligible player.
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Can you imagine the consequences if this was happening at the top end of the table and a team was robbed of automatic promotion because a rival was gifted 3 points. It would end up in court.
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4 minutes ago, Stuart Anderson said:
We don't deserve another crack at the games. It's unfortunate that Berwick may inadvertently suffer as a consequence of our stupidity but let's face it, they must be fairly rubbish to be in the position they are in anyway. I'm struggling to muster any sympathy for them.
Maybe the answer then is to dump Clyde into 10th place and let them face the play off.
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6 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:
I’m completely neutral in this. I have nothing to gain either way. Berwick should not be discussed at any point during the appeal. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a team at the top of the table, mid table or, like Albion, bottom of the table the appeal should be heard the same way.
But it does affect Berwick whichever way it’s dressed up. A possible relegation is at stake here due to a club being awarded bonus points after a defeat. That has to be a consideration in all this otherwise the powers that be have helped send a team down.
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2 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:
Berwick should be irrelevant in any decision making process. To say otherwise is deluded.
Let’s hope the appeals panel is more neutral than you seem to be.
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3 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:
We will never know as an ineligible player was fielded. I’m dealing in facts you’re dealing in conjecture.
Berwick have not been disadvantaged either. They should be totally irrelevant in this.
If Berwick finish bottom by 2 points then that’s hardly an irrelevance is it. They’d have finished bottom because Albion were given 3 points they didn’t win. Again that’s a scandal.
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17 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:
Its not a scandal. An ineligible player set up a goal against Albion Rovers - how should they be compensated? A player that shouldn’t have been on he pitch helped defeat them.
Nonsense. Did that same player stop them scoring a goal in that game? Would Albion have won 3-0 if he hadn’t played. Of course not. Point Is Berwick are being adversely affected by a mistake not theirs. That’s a scandal.
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Berwick Rangers 23/24
in Lowland League
Posted
Consistency needed. Strong finishes to the last two seasons would’ve meant so much more if the starts had been better. Start strong and who knows how far Berwick can go.