the_bully_wee Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 It pains me to say it but, if we're being serious about the pyramid functioning in an authentic manner, then lesser-supporter parochial teams like Stranraer need to be flushed like the stubborn floaters they are. On this occasion I'd be backing them against EK, but there's no doubt that they are the kind of club that will perpetually circle the drain in their current guise. As with most teams, you just wish the locals would bother with something other than watching the OF on the telly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GallowayBlue Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 2 minutes ago, the_bully_wee said: It pains me to say it but, if we're being serious about the pyramid functioning in an authentic manner, then lesser-supporter parochial teams like Stranraer need to be flushed like the stubborn floaters they are. On this occasion I'd be backing them against EK, but there's no doubt that they are the kind of club that will perpetually circle the drain in their current guise. As with most teams, you just wish the locals would bother with something other than watching the OF on the telly. Pains me more to say it but you're probably right. The pyramid should help clubs find their level and Stranraer's level ultimately isn't in the top 42 clubs in the country. Suspect we'll go down anyway but hope not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Just now, the_bully_wee said: It pains me to say it but, if we're being serious about the pyramid functioning in an authentic manner, then lesser-supporter parochial teams like Stranraer need to be flushed like the stubborn floaters they are. On this occasion I'd be backing them against EK, but there's no doubt that they are the kind of club that will perpetually circle the drain in their current guise. As with most teams, you just wish the locals would bother with something other than watching the OF on the telly. And without that daft bugger Kennedy’s cash what would EK be? I’m all for natural order but not when it involves daft clubs like East Kilbride (who are quite clearly spending WELL outwith their means) 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Tunbridge Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: And without that daft bugger Kennedy’s cash what would EK be? I’m all for natural order but not when it involves daft clubs like East Kilbride (who are quite clearly spending WELL outwith their means) On this point of view was there this much outrage against the thought of Cove flushing Berwick? Or Kelty over Brechin? Both of them were outspending their rivals whether through sugar daddy or conservatories. I genuinely don’t remember this much outrage at the thought of any of them coming up. The only club 42 I was a wee bit sad to see go was Albion Rovers but if you finish bottom in the league and don’t beat a HL/LL team in a play off slightly weighted in your favour you deserve to go. Edited May 4 by Scotty Tunbridge 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_bully_wee Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 13 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: And without that daft bugger Kennedy’s cash what would EK be? I’m all for natural order but not when it involves daft clubs like East Kilbride (who are quite clearly spending WELL outwith their means) That's my point, though. I'd love for them to see off EK, who are a complete nothing outfit and whose most hardcore of fans appear to be OF fans without the bus fare, but it feels like with their current level of attendances Stranraer are always going to be susceptible to suffering the drop. Albion Rovers, Cowdenbeath, East Stirlingshire have already endured it, with Berwick and Brechin perhaps slightly outliers fanbase-wise but it feels like this is the equilibrium of a pyramid properly in action. Stranraer surviving would be great - despite the shithousery of them and some of their fans against Clyde a few months ago - but clubs like them are pissing against the wind of the Old Firm scourge when it comes to harbouring a regular and committed support. As the years wear on, I wouldn't bet against yours or ours going that way too, unfortunately. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: And without that daft bugger Kennedy’s cash what would EK be? I’m all for natural order but not when it involves daft clubs like East Kilbride (who are quite clearly spending WELL outwith their means) They've previously won two Lowland League titles. As well as runners-up on occasion. If it hadn't been for some penalties against Cowdenbeath they would have been in the SPFL years ago. It's not just Kennedy that's kept them in contention. Edited May 4 by FairWeatherFan 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BucksburnDandy Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Normally I'm all for Club 42 being relegated as they should be gone automatically, and I think the leagues have benefitted from some fresh blood, Kelty, Edinburgh City and Cove have all been promoted into higher leagues, Bonnyrigg have a solid fan base and Spartans have obviously been a well publicised community club for a long time. Indeed I've seen three random legs of these ties over the years: Edinburgh 1-1 East Stirling Montrose 3-1 Brora Cove 4-0 Berwick But on this occasion, I would be sad to see Mick Kennedy getting any glory. I'm still bitter about Darvel, let alone then all the money he's splashing about. So on this rare occasion over recent years, good luck to Stranraer. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 My only problem with the pyramid is that there's nothing like enough movement. As things stand, none of these sides have much of a chance of ever coming back. Make League Two a bit bigger, bottom two go down, champions go up, with third and fourth bottom involved in play-offs with the Highland + Lowland league sides from second to fourth. If you can't make fourth in an eighteen team league, you can't have too many complaints. Absolutely won't happen unless Celtgers get their reserves in the Championship, nor any other significant change, unless they find a bigger issue they'd like to push through. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 35 minutes ago, PossilYM said: Must be the poorest ground to watch a game in all of Scotland Including rain infested cages in suburban Glasgow? Well, whatever floats your boat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossilYM Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 1 minute ago, Scotty Tunbridge said: On this point of view was there this much outrage against the thought of Cove flushing Berwick? Or Kelty over Brechin? Both of them were outspending their rivals whether through sugar daddy or conservatories. I genuinely don’t remember this much outrage. The only club 42 I was a wee bit sad to see go was Albion Rovers but if you finish bottom in the league and don’t beat a HL/LL team in a play off slightly weighted in your favour you deserve to go. Originally nobody gave an eff, even when wiser heads on P&B pointed out the dangers of the trap door, not for just one or two clubs but for 20 or 30 clubs. Under no circumstances could you have a two/three/four year bad spell. It wouldn't be the LL you'd need to worry about, you wake up in the land of the Juniors and the Boys Clubs. Not a seat to be seen and in some cases playing in what looks like a council pitch also known as a Cage. Nae terracing or cover. Nae catering and lovely lavvies in the adjacent sports centre. Local support, yeh those middle committee men with the matching anoraks. Yep and they genuinely put their hands out for 9 or 10 quid. Still, usually the Boys Clubs have great parking facilities. They're waiting on you. Enjoy. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossilYM Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 3 minutes ago, tamthebam said: Including rain infested cages in suburban Glasgow? Well, whatever floats your boat. Yeh even including them. Been in them all. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 7 minutes ago, PossilYM said: Originally nobody gave an eff, even when wiser heads on P&B pointed out the dangers of the trap door, not for just one or two clubs but for 20 or 30 clubs. Under no circumstances could you have a two/three/four year bad spell. It wouldn't be the LL you'd need to worry about, you wake up in the land of the Juniors and the Boys Clubs. Not a seat to be seen and in some cases playing in what looks like a council pitch also known as a Cage. Nae terracing or cover. Nae catering and lovely lavvies in the adjacent sports centre. Local support, yeh those middle committee men with the matching anoraks. Yep and they genuinely put their hands out for 9 or 10 quid. Still, usually the Boys Clubs have great parking facilities. They're waiting on you. Enjoy. Nae bother Martha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 30 minutes ago, Scotty Tunbridge said: On this point of view was there this much outrage against the thought of Cove flushing Berwick? Or Kelty over Brechin? Both of them were outspending their rivals whether through sugar daddy or conservatories. I genuinely don’t remember this much outrage at the thought of any of them coming up. The only club 42 I was a wee bit sad to see go was Albion Rovers but if you finish bottom in the league and don’t beat a HL/LL team in a play off slightly weighted in your favour you deserve to go. Neither of them were managed by Mick Kennedy and Si Ferry. Nobody wants to listen to more of these c***s. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnieman Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 2 minutes ago, BFTD said: Absolutely won't happen unless Celtgers get their reserves in the Championship, nor any other significant change, unless they find a bigger issue they'd like to push through. An expanded bottom division can happen if the L1 and L2 clubs want it to but they don't, I doubt Premiership clubs give a rats. SPFL money is king at the bottom levels and clubs are shit scared of the drop and losing it without actually looking at the bigger picture. Four years ago McMenemy at Stenny tried to get pro/rel suspended entirely for 3 seasons to "protect" clubs post covid. Didn't happen, so he worked towards getting Bronze licence adopted instread to try and slow things down, that worked. However they can't shut the trapdoor entirely, and one day if the drop happens to them and they end up on the other side they'll quickly realise that climbing back through it is expectionally difficult due to the rules they themselves stubbornly refused to amend. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Rckinnon Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 (edited) 49 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: And without that daft bugger Kennedy’s cash what would EK be? I’m all for natural order but not when it involves daft clubs like East Kilbride (who are quite clearly spending WELL outwith their means) This is my issue with the pyramid. Many HL teams would probably be worse off financially if promoted & the LL only seems to produce the chicken man type clubs. Is it really better to have clubs getting into the 42 having spent over the odds then running out of cash or the sugar daddies running off over having teams like Albion Rovers etc. yes, those relegated so far have been mince, but Scottish football is quite unique in the sense that we have different pockets of the country in which junior clubs operate quite happily where they are with, in some cases, better resources than clubs like Stranraer. If those at the top really want it to work, do away with the nonsensical license pish & fully open up the pyramid from the very bottom right to the top. The fact Strathspey will continue to survive because fort William are shite & lochee don't fancy going up shows what a shit show it is. Edited May 4 by May Rckinnon 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFizz Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 39 minutes ago, GallowayBlue said: Pains me more to say it but you're probably right. The pyramid should help clubs find their level and Stranraer's level ultimately isn't in the top 42 clubs in the country. Suspect we'll go down anyway but hope not. This is true. There are maybe 15-20 clubs right now below the SPFL with higher attendances. But is this due to regular good seasons and a prospect of winning things? I'd hazard a guess that attendances at clubs like Talbot, Pollok etc would drop off over time if they found themselves stuck in the middle of the LL for a few years. After all, its not that long ago that attendances of 5-600 were a regular occurrence at Stair Park, with 4 figures on occasions. I guess apathy has set in. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 1 minute ago, Burnieman said: An expanded bottom division can happen if the L1 and L2 clubs want it to but they don't, I doubt Premiership clubs give a rats. Any additional teams to the league require a share of the prize money so of course Premiership teams will be interested. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde01 Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 f**k EK, good luck Stranraer. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burnieman Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Just now, The Moonster said: Any additional teams to the league require a share of the prize money so of course Premiership teams will be interested. They're really not, this sort of stuff has been talked about off and on for years at PGB and there isn't any groundswell of opposition from Premiership clubs to expanding the size of L2 (be that 12, 14 or 16). It's left to L1/L2 clubs to make the argument for it but there never is, as the over riding factor is they don't want to increase the number relegation spots regardless of size of league as many don't want to entertain the prospect of no SPFL money if they go down. A play-off spot is about as much as they can stomach. Not sure how that attitude changes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bestsinceslicebread Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 11 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said: Imagine being that much of a bitter mess that you’d rather see Mick Kennedy’s vanity project replace a club like Stranraer. The wee guy mentality from these non league/old firm losers is off the charts! Haven't got a clue wtf this is all about. Got nothing to do with what any of us think on here. The story is: Stranraer ended up bottom of the SPFL 2 on merit. East Kilbride are Champions of the Lowland league on merit. Its a playoff between the two to see who goes to the Lowland League and see who goes to the SPFL2. its just that simple. Personally, I had a feeling if Clyde were to finish bottom, I think they would win against EK but the playoff between Stranraer and EK I'm absolutely certain EK will win 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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