TheScarf Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 17 hours ago, Hampden Diehard said: Unless teams are forced to play kids, they won't, so the charade of this being to bring on kids for the Scotland team is pish. They spend untold millions on youth academies in England but spunk their TV cash on foreign imports, with some teams struggling to play even one English born player. You probably couldn't muster an English XI from the top four sides in the English Premier. It's been said for years that the top players in the top sides in England are foreigners. Probably why their national team can't replicate the success their club teams have had in Europe in the last 20 years. Out of the starting 11 for England these days, probably only Kane and Sterling are one of the top players at their club. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Brora included, I don’t see how the HL clubs with their population bases, will have the finances for a sustained stay in the SFL, unless of course they find a multi millionaire willing to spend his money on them.If Annan, Stranraer, Cowdenbeath, Forfar, Montrose and Brechin can manage it then Inverurie or Nairn can. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboke Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) I would accept the proposal if they made it an 18 team L2 with four from LL and two from HL gaining entry alongside the two colts teams. And if they also changed the pyramid play offs to relegate at least one L2 team automatically with another in a relegation play off each season. Because - I don't see any colts or other player development in a 16 team league with minimal relegation. Too many meaningless games. I don't think 15 home games in a 16 team league is enough when two of those are against colts teams. And having to play each colts team x4 is too much for real clubs and their supporters so a bigger division is required to avoid this. I don't see many HL clubs being ready or interested in playing nationwide and the LL covers the balance of the population so should have more representation. Basically if the league can afford to expand and open up opportunities for real clubs to come through then I feel that letting in the colts could be a price worth paying. And they just might develop a player or two. Maybe. Edited March 22, 2021 by theboke -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom & Gerry Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, DiegoDiego said: If Annan, Stranraer, Cowdenbeath, Forfar, Montrose and Brechin can manage it then Inverurie or Nairn can. Nairn struggle with the finances to run a HL team. Inverurie I grant you is a bigger town and growing but would still take significant sponsorship. They in common with Peterhead , Cove, Elgin etc would have to cast their player net further afield which costs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Nairn struggle with the finances to run a HL team. Inverurie I grant you is a bigger town and growing but would still take significant sponsorship. They in common with Peterhead , Cove, Elgin etc would have to cast their player net further afield which costs.I'm just going by population though. Nairn being shite is nothing to do with the population of the town. If a club from Nairn can get their act together enough to win the Highland league then they've every chance of attracting the sponsorship necessary to keep their heads above water in League Two.I'm not well versed on the finances of part-time clubs, but would they really need a millionaire chucking cash at them to stay up for a few years? What do Stranraer have that a Highland League winning Fraserburgh team wouldn't? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom & Gerry Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said: I'm just going by population though. Nairn being shite is nothing to do with the population of the town. If a club from Nairn can get their act together enough to win the Highland league then they've every chance of attracting the sponsorship necessary to keep their heads above water in League Two. I'm not well versed on the finances of part-time clubs, but would they really need a millionaire chucking cash at them to stay up for a few years? What do Stranraer have that a Highland League winning Fraserburgh team wouldn't? The sums involved in running a Div 2 team, say over a decade, is significantly higher than an HL team, not withstanding increase in prize money available etc. The big difference between Stranraer and Fraserburgh is the catchment area in the respect of player availability, both Div 2 standard and desire to play in Div 2. I could be wrong but I don’t see an appetite for SFL football up here in HL. I would very much doubt that Brora would last a decade in the SFL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 4 hours ago, Thom & Gerry said: There was a lot of opposition in HL circles at the time of the Pyramid System proposals. They were basically told that if they wanted to remain part of SFA they would have to go with it. At the moment Brora appear to want into Div 2. Apart from them I get the sense that the rest wouldn’t be overly bothered if they did not get in. Brora included, I don’t see how the HL clubs with their population bases, will have the finances for a sustained stay in the SFL, unless of course they find a multi millionaire willing to spend his money on them. If they have the money for a time machine then I doubt they'll struggle to run a football club in the SPFL. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 53 minutes ago, Thom & Gerry said: The sums involved in running a Div 2 team, say over a decade, is significantly higher than an HL team, not withstanding increase in prize money available etc. The big difference between Stranraer and Fraserburgh is the catchment area in the respect of player availability, both Div 2 standard and desire to play in Div 2. I could be wrong but I don’t see an appetite for SFL football up here in HL. I would very much doubt that Brora would last a decade in the SFL. Since there's a relegation spot, I don't think these clubs would be thinking a decade down the line if they got promoted. If 10 years go by and they're still struggling in SPFL2 then they've obviously been doing something right. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 I could be wrong but I don’t see an appetite for SFL football up here in HL. I would very much doubt that Brora would last a decade in the SFL.I reckon your final paragraph is probably spot on. However I'm a little bit more positive about the prospects of an ambitious, well-run Highland side than you are, should one ever come into being*! In practice though, the Lowland League area clubs seem to have a natural advantage and much more intention. *Lochee..? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampden Diehard Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 6 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said: Don't want this to make it look like I support this bullshit btw We should make ask our reps to add a caveat to the plan - if you want Colts that's fine, but you have to have six of your starting XI who are "graduates" of the colt side. I'd imagine the plan would be quietly shelved... Graduates and Scots. That'll scupper it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Just get it in writing that, if they ever manage to jump ship to a league of mediocre European sides, they have to take all their other squads with them. Wouldn't even need to have the vote. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboke Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 On 21/03/2021 at 08:45, craigkillie said: They made their decision based on the new league structure because it was a vote on the new league structure. The proposal to change the voting structure literally came during the meeting and can't possibly have been properly scrutinised. I wonder what scrutiny it would require to change a voting system from 11-1 to 9-3. How much time it would take to discuss. Representatives of the very same clubs, Ross County and St. Mirren, had already debated it and approved that change at a meeting earlier in the season. When that earlier vote failed, because of Aberdeen and Celtic, it was said that they would return to it later in the season. Which they did, eventually, at this meeting about fundamental change to the league. Maybe Stewart Milne repented! Yet it seems like St. Mirren's and Ross County's representatives could have taken a wider view, for the sake of the game, and joined him to change the voting system first, which would enable changes in league structure to be more easily agreed in the future. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 It was chucked in at the last minute and would likely have had a load of conditions (for example it may only have been changed for votes on league structure). It was partly a PR line from Celtic on "look how hard we tried to get this through" and partly a bribe to get what they want.The proposed structure change was a terrible idea that most fans were opposed to. The idea that clubs should have waved it through just to get a small concession on a voting structure seems very short-sighted. The actual impact of the 11-1 vote is overstated anyway, given that it only applies in a small number of situations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampden Diehard Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 I'm not a Donald Findlay fan, but he did a great job of totally rubbishing the colts suggestion on Radio Scotland this morning. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboke Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, craigkillie said: It was chucked in at the last minute and would likely have had a load of conditions (for example it may only have been changed for votes on league structure). It was partly a PR line from Celtic on "look how hard we tried to get this through" and partly a bribe to get what they want. The proposed structure change was a terrible idea that most fans were opposed to. The idea that clubs should have waved it through just to get a small concession on a voting structure seems very short-sighted. The actual impact of the 11-1 vote is overstated anyway, given that it only applies in a small number of situations. In a meeting where they were discussing changes to league structure, financial distribution and organisational structure, it doesn't seem out of place that they were also looking at changes to the voting system. Particularly when that was something they almost had agreement upon in the recent past and had decided to revisit. Agreement to normalise the voting system would have freed them to restructure the league again if necessary. It seems like that is the wider perspective missed by the representatives of Ross County and St. Mirren at that time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick1867 Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Hampden Diehard said: I'm not a Donald Findlay fan, but he did a great job of totally rubbishing the colts suggestion on Radio Scotland this morning. He was also on last night with those supercilious fannies Levein and Collins 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 52 minutes ago, theboke said: In a meeting where they were discussing changes to league structure, financial distribution and organisational structure, it doesn't seem out of place that they were also looking at changes to the voting system. Particularly when that was something they almost had agreement upon in the recent past and had decided to revisit. Agreement to normalise the voting system would have freed them to restructure the league again if necessary. It seems like that is the wider perspective missed by the representatives of Ross County and St. Mirren at that time. They weren't looking at those changes until the very last minute, when they realised it might be a way to push through the league reform they wanted. If Ross County and St Mirren wanted to keep the current set-up, then voting for this change would not have achieved what they wanted to. It would be very unlikely that they'd get 9 people to agree to change back if 10 clubs wanted to change away from it in the first place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Phoenix Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Hampden Diehard said: I'm not a Donald Findlay fan, but he did a great job of totally rubbishing the colts suggestion on Radio Scotland this morning. Donald Findlay QC* *Quash Colts 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 18 minutes ago, The Phoenix said: Donald Findlay QC* *Quash Colts Quisling Cunt mare lit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, TheScarf said: Quisling c**t Heard Davie Cormack is lining this boy up alongside Scott Brown to replace McInnes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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