The Master Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 2 hours ago, Desp said: It's a fucking nonsense that we can't schedule league games for midweeks in August, September, October etc because of UEFA competitions. Sorry lads, you can't have Motherwell v Kilmarnock or Ross County v St. Mirren because Real Madrid are playing Lyon on the telly. Get that rule to f**k. It would mean we could lighten the load in late November/December, somewhat, when the weather gets worse. Still have fixtures up to Boxing Day and New Years Day, then have a three week break, coming back at the end of January for the Scottish Cup. We can and do schedule fixtures for European midweeks. These are fixtures postponed or otherwise moved from their original date - most recently, one of your examples fixtures Ross County v St Mirren was played on Tuesday 28th November, a Champions League night. What we can't do is have a scheduled round of Premiership fixtures for European midweeks, because at least three teams will be playing in Europe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 9 minutes ago, The Master said: We can and do schedule fixtures for European midweeks. These are fixtures postponed or otherwise moved from their original date - most recently, one of your examples fixtures Ross County v St Mirren was played on Tuesday 28th November, a Champions League night. What we can't do is have a scheduled round of Premiership fixtures for European midweeks, because at least three teams will be playing in Europe. So we don't schedule them then? We have to reschedule for these dates, in the event of a postponement. We rarely have games called off in August, September or October, so we've already lost three months of potential midweek fixtures. As for the teams playing in Europe? f**k them. It'll be Celtic, Rangers and some other mug. They should be big enough to play catch-up. Not something Dundee will need to worry about anytime soon regardless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJF Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Desp said: So we don't schedule them then? We have to reschedule for these dates, in the event of a postponement. We rarely have games called off in August, September or October, so we've already lost three months of potential midweek fixtures. As for the teams playing in Europe? f**k them. It'll be Celtic, Rangers and some other mug. They should be big enough to play catch-up. Not something Dundee will need to worry about anytime soon regardless. If we have 3 teams participating in European fixtures on a midweek you propose to schedule a full full fixture list, then that means another 3 teams will also be without a fixture as they don't have an opponent to play (unless 2 of those involved in Europe just so happen to be due to play each other in this midweek fixture). So you'd only get half a card completed anyway so there would be up to 6 teams playing catch up, not just 3. Edited January 10 by AJF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarapoa Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Bin it - it's pointless and due to the number of games/ unpredictability of the weather - it generally adds to fixture congestion rather than alleviating it. AFC as an example are having to squeeze in loads of midweekers throughout the season (and still will despite being out of Europe) - but then have these long gaps. I would also bin international breaks too - and just get back to smaller groups with internationals being the very odd midweeker. However, I would bring back replays in the Scottish Cup - earning a replay and 'bringing them back to your place' was always part of the fabric of that tourney - penalty shootouts after one game are for the LC only. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarf Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 SC replays add to the fixture congestion. It was correct to scrap them IMO. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 There isn't generally actually fixture congestion for most Scottish clubs in the second half of the season, only in a small number of cases where a club has either had a lot of postponements or is still in Europe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girth Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Need Del Adams to say something dumb again to keep us entertained. Don't let us down Del. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Master Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 2 hours ago, Desp said: So we don't schedule them then? We have to reschedule for these dates, in the event of a postponement. We rarely have games called off in August, September or October, so we've already lost three months of potential midweek fixtures. As for the teams playing in Europe? f**k them. It'll be Celtic, Rangers and some other mug. They should be big enough to play catch-up. Not something Dundee will need to worry about anytime soon regardless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 (edited) Your typical Premiership club doesn't have fixture congestion... it only really affects OF (plus whoever came 3rd during this spell our coefficient is seeing them into Conference League groups). Even then only Rangers have made it into knockouts. There are 7 midweeks in Premiership but that would be reduced to 5 if we scrapped winter break, and 2 of those fall during festive holidays (granted for some reason we play Wednesday night instead of Boxing Day), plus we could really be playing 1 in early April not winter. Contrary to popular belief our league season is shorter and closed season longer than many countries - as start with LC groups (increasingly treated as preseason) and end with cup final. Many leagues start late July (early July in Bulgaria + Romania)... and/or end late May (early June in Belgium). There are also more countries outside UK with a 'heavy' domestic schedule than people would think. Belgium and Romania play 40 league games... some FA cups have groupstages or 2-legged rounds... Portugal and Israel have League Cups... etc. e.g. maximum domestic games in Scotland (excluding playoffs) = 47... similar to Belgium (47), Portugal (48), Romania (47), etc. Edited January 10 by HibeeJibee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 There should be no winter break because football is more necessary than ever at this otherwise bleak time of year. Anyone who disagrees is quite simply wrong. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoose Rice Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 A winter breaks a shit idea. Even if games are postponed we get to read how raging some random set of supporters are at it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VincentGuerin Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 10 minutes ago, Hoose Rice said: A winter breaks a shit idea. Even if games are postponed we get to read how raging some random set of supporters are at it. A postponment can be amazing. I was very jealous of the Hibs fans recently when their game at Ross County was postponed. Imagine having already been up in Inverness / Dingwall with your weekend away already underway, and then learning that you don't even have to go to the game? Just goes to show that good things can happen to bad people. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoose Rice Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, VincentGuerin said: A postponment can be amazing. I was very jealous of the Hibs fans recently when their game at Ross County was postponed. Imagine having already been up in Inverness / Dingwall with your weekend away already underway, and then learning that you don't even have to go to the game? Just goes to show that good things can happen to bad people. I actually see your point there. Great days have been had on the bus game postponed and and a heavy day in a random town and a match. Wash your mouth out the bad people chat too, you know we a friends along the Shandwick Place Edited January 11 by Hoose Rice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav nan Gael Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Winter break news,......Monday 15th onwards,temperatures to plummet to -7 . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 (edited) Winter break abolished: SPFL confirms 2024-25 season starts on 3 August with no Premiership winter break - BBC Sport Key dates for Season 2024/25 | SPFL Rare outbreak of common sense... no justification for sitting about, jetting off abroad or playing friendlies while having to cram midweeks in either side. It also felt like a lot of Premiership sides were rusty in Scottish Cup over the weekend, albeit that's a boon to lower-league sides. With part of what was QF midweek being taken by UEFA, interestingly every round of the League Cup will now be played on weekends; this could mean a very stop-start opening half of season for some Premiership clubs (especially any eliminated in groupstage)... Sat 03 Aug Sat 10 Aug Sat 17 Aug no league games (League Cup R1) Sat 24 Aug Sat 31 Aug Sat 07 Sep no league games (international break) Sat 14 Sep Sat 21 Sep no league games (League Cup QFs) Sat 28 Sep Sat 05 Oct Sat 12 Oct no league games (international break) Sat 19 Oct Sat 26 Oct Sat 02 Nov 2 to 4 league games cancelled (League Cup SFs) Sat 09 Nov Sat 16 Nov no league games (international break) Sat 23 Nov Sat 30 Nov Sat 07 Dec Sat 14 Dec 1 or 2 league games cancelled (League Cup Final) Sat 21 Dec Sat 28 Dec Edited January 22 by HibeeJibee 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 I would assume midweek Premiership games could be brought forward into the League Cup QF weekend if both teams are out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Excellent decision IMO. Now get rid of the summer break. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeTillEhDeh Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 10/01/2024 at 13:39, Girth said: Need Del Adams to say something dumb again to keep us entertained. Don't let us down Del. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 3 hours ago, craigkillie said: I would assume midweek Premiership games could be brought forward into the League Cup QF weekend if both teams are out. That would be sensible... this season St Johnstone and Hibs brought forward their game from New Year to League Cup Final weekend? Of course half or more of the division is often involved in QFs tbf. 3 hours ago, Richey Edwards said: Excellent decision IMO. Now get rid of the summer break. Tbh you could argue that has been the case for a while... this year our League Cup groups start same weekend as Euro 2024 final - with our 5th placed side entering EL just 1.5 weeks after that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennie makevin Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 15 hours ago, Richey Edwards said: Excellent decision IMO. Now get rid of the summer break. No domestic competitive club football between May 15th & August 15th is the way forward. The summer months are for Wimbledon Tennis, Open Golf, Test Cricket, Euros & World Cup Finals & Secterian marches. We all need a break from the high octane thrill that is Scottish football (or indeed 'fitba'). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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