Queen of the South vs. Raith Rovers

[19QOS19]

The Championship has been great this year but I think massively restructuring would improve things all round.

Really? I think it's been a pretty dull league this year if I'm being honest. The Rangers have held top spot for the majority of the season and Alloa and Livi have kept the bottom two spots warm.

The only excitement/shock this season from a neutral point of view is just how bad St Mirren have been. Apart from that every team has been doing as expected before a ball was kicked.

From a Raith point of view I understand it will have been a great season for you having taken 4th spot but the league as a whole has been far from great IMO. Little excitement and even less quality.

[Skyline Drifter]

Really? I think it's been a pretty dull league this year if I'm being honest. The Rangers have held top spot for the majority of the season and Alloa and Livi have kept the bottom two spots warm.

The only excitement/shock this season from a neutral point of view is just how bad St Mirren have been. Apart from that every team has been doing as expected before a ball was kicked.

From a Raith point of view I understand it will have been a great season for you having taken 4th spot but the league as a whole has been far from great IMO. Little excitement and even less quality.

Well clearly views from Kirkcaldy are somewhat skewed by their own club's performance. I think of last season as being tremendous but likewise my views are skewed by how good we were. I suppose from a Raith point of view it was even more dull than our view this season. They were secured in 6th for weeks and spent the last 4 or 5 games going through the motions.

 

I don't actually think this season has been that bad. Certainly at the bottom Alloa have been adrift for the whole season whereas last season there was genuine competition at the bottom. The Rangers / Hibs title fight this season has become a massive anti climax since Hibs imploded but they did at least keep it close until January whereas Hearts had it won by then last season. Falkirk's attempt to split them has at the very least lasted longer than ours last year. It may even yet be successful. Raith have wrapped up 4th by a country mile in the end but it's thanks to a magnificent late surge in form. As late as February it was still one from 3 or 4 for 4th. We were always in control of 4th last season with only a late burst of form from Falkirk keeping it interesting. And there's every chance at the moment the Dumbarton v Livi race to avoid the playoffs might go to the last week.

 

Personally though I don't see any need for any more reconstruction. The League structure is doing ok. The Championship will still have an alien look to it next year. We may no longer have Rangers and Hearts but we'll probably have Dundee United and at least one, maybe even two of Hibs and Kilmarnock. With Dunfermline back too the sides are all likely to be closer together.

[CALDERON]

The only change I would make would be to the playoffs.

 

Im entirely comfortable with 4th place having to play more games, thats fair as we will likely finish far behind 2nd place so its only fair we have a disadvantage.

 

I think the first game should be 4th vs 11th though.  I think 11th place in the top league should be made to work harder for their league place. 

[RUSTY1111]

The only change I would make would be to the playoffs.

Im entirely comfortable with 4th place having to play more games, thats fair as we will likely finish far behind 2nd place so its only fair we have a disadvantage.

I think the first game should be 4th vs 11th though. I think 11th place in the top league should be made to work harder for their league place.

I do see your point but the whole idea of the play-offs is to try and keep the existing 11th Premiership club in that league.

[CALDERON]

I do see your point but the whole idea of the play-offs is to try and keep the existing 11th Premiership club in that league.

 

Well, yeah I guess thats true.  Just madness that 11th place get an easier job than 2nd place in the league below.

[19QOS19]

Only the morons that run our game could make such a horses arse of the playoff system. It's an absolute joke. As has been said, 11th should be playing 4th but that would risk losing another 'big team' from the top flight. The playoffs aren't a great thing, they are just better than what we had and the fact we accepted them the way they are shows how poorly our game is run.

I suspect that once all the 'big boys' are back up to the top league then we will see them disappear completely anyway

[Monkey Tennis]

I agree that the play-offs should operate in the same way they do in the divisions below.

I know the fact that it's better than it was doesn't make it great or even acceptable. However, I struggle to see beyond the SPL situation we endured for years.

To get up then, you needed to win the division and to begin with, have 10,000 seats. 2nd place was worthless, whereas fourth now gives you a shot and all you need is a safe ground.

It should change further and I don't suppose we should be pathetically grateful that some of that injustice has gone. It is a massive improvement on what we had though.

[Monkey Tennis]

We were always in control of 4th last season with only a late burst of form from Falkirk keeping it interesting.

I suppose we were ahead of Falkirk pretty much the whole time.

As I remember it though, the late burst of form came from us. Falkirk were close enough by the end of March to just about be favourites as we faced a tough run of fixtures. However, beating Hibs, Rangers then Falkirk in eight days took us virtually over the line.

[queenslad]

is this the last season for playoffs or does it depend on who is relegated or remain in championship?

 

Sure I heard it was only for 3 seasons

[RUSTY1111]

is this the last season for playoffs or does it depend on who is relegated or remain in championship?

Sure I heard it was only for 3 seasons

I'd assume that the play-offs will keep on going.

[Guest Flash]

The play offs were only more or less guaranteed for 3 seasons because any changes could only be made with the agreement of all clubs in the SPFL.

At the end of this season, changes can be made to the promotion play offs from the Championship by being voted on exclusively by the Premiership clubs.

[mrpaddyx]

How hard would it be to have 4th vs 11th, and 2nd vs 3rd over 2 legs with the winner playing in a "showcase" game at Hampden?

 

EDIT - Couldn't do that, it might actually promote Scottish Football in a good way.

[Rovers1992/1993]

The play offs were only more or less guaranteed for 3 seasons because any changes could only be made with the agreement of all clubs in the SPFL.

At the end of this season, changes can be made to the promotion play offs from the Championship by being voted on exclusively by the Premiership clubs.

They'd be extremely Stupid to go back on the play-offs now.

[Monkey Tennis]

How hard would it be to have 4th vs 11th, and 2nd vs 3rd over 2 legs with the winner playing in a "showcase" game at Hampden?

 

EDIT - Couldn't do that, it might actually promote Scottish Football in a good way.

The obstruction remains the self preserving instincts of top flight clubs.

The ideal structure would be as you suggest, although Hampden would often not be the best venue.

[mrpaddyx]

The obstruction remains the self preserving instincts of top flight clubs. The ideal structure would be as you suggest, although Hampden would often not be the best venue.

 

A game like that I'd always want at Hampden. I remember when we won the league there against Queens Park, there was less than 2,000 in the crowd and it was one of the best days i've had following the Rovers.

[Monkey Tennis]

A game like that I'd always want at Hampden. I remember when we won the league there against Queens Park, there was less than 2,000 in the crowd and it was one of the best days i've had following the Rovers.

Give me a packed Tynecastle or somewhere, over a gaping Hampden.

[Guest Flash]

How hard would it be to have 4th vs 11th, and 2nd vs 3rd over 2 legs with the winner playing in a "showcase" game at Hampden?

 

EDIT - Couldn't do that, it might actually promote Scottish Football in a good way.

It would be difficult to fit that system into the schedules because the Championship teams currently play the second leg of 2nd v 3rd/4th on the same weekend that the Premiership finishes. As things stand, the Premiership doesn't finish until 15 May, so the earliest 4th v 11th could happen would be 19 May, so the play off wouldn't then finish until early June.

I don't know how they could reschedule things so that the Premiership finished around the same time as the Championship.

[qos_75]

Not sure it would be that difficult. Add in another round or two of midweek games for the Premiership and you would get around that. However there would be much wailing and knashing of teeth at the thought.

[Skyline Drifter]

Not sure it would be that difficult. Add in another round or two of midweek games for the Premiership and you would get around that. However there would be much wailing and knashing of teeth at the thought.

Hibee Jibee is your man with the rules for this but I dont think you are allowed to schedule extra midweek dates for top league football. You arent allowed to use European dates. Realistically if you want semi finals where the Premiership side comes in at the same stage then you either play them much later (which you cant really do because of international tournaments) or the Premiership needs to play less games. Which means reconstruction.

As I said previously I dont have much issue with the current format really though there are issues if one of the teams involved reaches the Scottish Cup Final.

[mrpaddyx]

It would be difficult to fit that system into the schedules because the Championship teams currently play the second leg of 2nd v 3rd/4th on the same weekend that the Premiership finishes. As things stand, the Premiership doesn't finish until 15 May, so the earliest 4th v 11th could happen would be 19 May, so the play off wouldn't then finish until early June.

I don't know how they could reschedule things so that the Premiership finished around the same time as the Championship.

 

The Premiership only has 2 extra games than the Championship. Surely they could fit in an extra couple of midweek games or perhaps even start the Premiership a week earlier?