Jan Vojáček Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Just now, Margaret Thatcher said: It's too long. Too much reading. I thought you died about 3 years ago, you should have plenty of time on your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Signed up. If anyone should be getting into the Challenge cup it should be all the LL and HL teams as they are now part of our league system!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Think I'll just drop this here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Bump. If the invitation of 4 sides from Wales and Northern Ireland is going to continue in future seasons then in light of results this weekend - 3 of them exiting to teams in the Championship (Linfield) and SPFL1 (Bala, Crusaders); 1 of them beating a team in SPFL2 (TNS) - I wonder if it would be more appropriate for them to enter at an earlier stage than R4, for example R3 alongside Championship teams. Presumably the thinking behind parachuting them 4 rounds in, at the Last 16, was in case they charged on to the Semi-Finals and Final (and racked-up too many trips for themselves or their opponents) and so their games were on weekends. However, on this season's results such charges look unlikely and R3 is also on a weekend. If you wanted to consider it on the grounds of the "product" then it might even improve things, as they'd be more likely to win a game and that would provide another game for their local TV firm. It seems like the inclusion of the Welsh and Northern Irish teams has proven less controversial (and unpopular at the gate) than the 'B' teams, but they didn't do very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Totally agree HJ,an earlier round ie round 3 is a must now,dont agree with bringing them in at such a late stage.Also the welsh and ni teams should be able to be drawn against one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 The colts teams are a farce but I actually enjoyed the inclusion of the Welsh and Northern Irish teams, I think they generated a lot of interest too. They made it interesting for players and fans where as the colts were just something you wanted out of the way and were forced to endure. Agree with HJ about them coming in at an earlier round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 If we are to be stuck with Colts teams they should be made to qualify like the LL and HL sides, ie the top four from the previous season and not all 12 Premiership sides. Although I would prefer none of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVIFOREVER Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 On 08/09/2016 at 21:00, Sonsteam of 08 said: Think I'll just drop this here Daily Record Sport @Record_Sport Sep 8 Doncaster: "UEFA has a duty to act on behalf of the entire game, not just a few, select clubs." There is absolutely no shame on this fecker, bet he said that with a straight face too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 3 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said: If we are to be stuck with Colts teams they should be made to qualify like the LL and HL sides, ie the top four from the previous season and not all 12 Premiership sides. Although I would prefer none of them. They couldn't do that without (1) obliterating to a degree the claim that it's all about exposing youngsters in order to help develop them and (2) risking Rangers 'B' not qualifying. They finished 13th last season. This season the 4 qualifiers would have been Celtic 'B', Aberdeen 'B', and the decidedly unglamorous Hamilton 'B' and St Johnstone 'B'. I would like to see them get rid of the 'B' teams. I think there has been enough to continue with the Welsh and Northern Irish experiment, but not entering as late as the Last 16. If you did that you could cut out a round entirely and double the HL & LL teams:R1 - 10 SPFL1, 10 SPFL2, 8 Highland, 8 Lowland R2 - 10 Championship, 2 Welsh, 2 Northern Irish R3 QFs SF Final or alternatively trim HL & LL slightly and put SPFL1 in at Last 32 as well:R1 - 10 SPFL2, 3 Highland, 3 Lowland R2 - 10 Championship, 10 SPFL1, 2 Welsh, 2 Northern Irish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Knight Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 What about Southern Irish sides, Dundalk are doing quite well? Maybe the 'novelty' of a Celtic (said with a K not a C! ) type competition might catch on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairWeatherFan Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 With the Republic of Ireland having a summer season that could preclude their inclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Three obvious problems with Eire clubs: (1) - they play a summer season. I appreciate they used to join Northern Irish sides in the Setanta Cup - but it was played February-May. Given the length of the Challenge Cup and it including QFs in mid-November (end of one season), SFs in January (closed season) and Final in March (start of new season) that could be troublesome, though not insurmountable. (2) - Dundalk reached EL groupstage this season. Supposed to have 3 LofI games left, actually 6. With that and domestic cups already quite a lot congested before November finish. (3) - in travel terms it's more awkward. You can make a defence of Welsh and Northern Irish sides on the grounds that you could drive (just a long way) - or drive and get the ferry. As it happened the TV selections made some of the games a bit more troublesome still, but as we discovered there was still one ferry back after Crusaders v Livingston and so on. If you had a game in Cork or whatever that's much further away and you're effectively saying fans have to fly or make a few days of it. Again not insurmountable but possibly another factor. Finally, coefficients suggest they're better than Welsh or Northern Irish clubs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Has anyone seen how small time the The New Saints fans are? Truly remarkable levels of delusion. A win over a Scottish League Two side is actually the best result in Welsh Premier League history. Hopefully they get utterly gubbed in the next round. No time for diddies of this sort of level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Knight Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 1 hour ago, HibeeJibee said: Three obvious problems with Eire clubs: (1) - they play a summer season. Just out of interest for you guys, Crusaders are pushing that NIFL clubs also have their season also moved to a 'summer season'. Our plan is to start at Easter, a three-week break in July (for obvious reasons in NI) and finish in January. This protects the traditional Boxing Day derbies which have huge gates, in fact turns them into potential championship deciders. The main reason is that our teams have a good crack in Europe - we'll be two months into our season instead of having played two or three pre-season friendlies. Crusaders got £21,000 for winning the NI League last season, but we made £500,000 from getting through a round in Europe (defeating Levadia Tallinn of Estonia). Our running costs per season are about £150,000, so you can see what a difference this makes to essentially what is a working mans' social club team. There is opposition to this idea from Linfield. They won't admit it but the Blues receive £700,000 per season from the IFA for use of Windsor Park. This is in effect state sponsorship of one club in NI and gives Linfield a massive advantage over everyone. Crusaders have seen the deal which hasn't been made public. The only way we (indeed any other club) can compete with Linfield is through what's on offer in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitburn Vale Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 1 hour ago, Sonsteam of 08 said: Has anyone seen how small time the The New Saints fans are? Truly remarkable levels of delusion. A win over a Scottish League Two side is actually the best result in Welsh Premier League history. Hopefully they get utterly gubbed in the next round. No time for diddies of this sort of level. Would say too Sonstream,that the fans from NI seem really knowledgeable about scottish teams and our league system. As for the welsh,the opposite can be said,quite clearly they have not a clue.The welsh commentator at Bala v Alloa was banging on how alloa were a premiership side last season and now we have this new saints lot banging on about what a great victory they achieved over a part time league 2 side from Angus. They are full time and dominate their league. Would also add we've had crusaders and linfield fans on here,bringing something different but no one from Wales has showed face!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kincardine Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 2 hours ago, Sonsteam of 08 said: Has anyone seen how small time the The New Saints fans are? Truly remarkable levels of delusion. A win over a Scottish League Two side is actually the best result in Welsh Premier League history. Hopefully they get utterly gubbed in the next round. No time for diddies of this sort of level. That is outstanding work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 26 minutes ago, Marmite0nBrown said: Which post proclaims that? And who's wrong about Forfar? The Tweets you posted start with TNS' manager, what should he post? ''Yet another win in a Cup we never heard of before''? I'm Sure playing in the Challenge Cup ranks alongside drawing Man City, Anderlecht & Liverpool in Europe. Matthew Jones is wrong about Forfar. They are not full-time and League Two up here is probably a similar level to the lower Conference N/S. I think that's fairly evident. "What a result for the WPL, quarter final will be huge" - Just let that sink in. A victory over Forfar Athletic described as "what a result for a countries entire league" "To all those who think TNS are non league standard think again" - Again, nae disrespect, but they beat Forfar "Huge result for TNS" - Huge result. They beat...aye "Be amazing if they could go all the way" - Aye, getting to the final of the Scottish Johnstone's Paint Trophy where you enter in the QFs would be a truly 'amazing' moment. You sound like you know more about Welsh football than me. Do you not find it odd that a full-time side with 'Champions League (qualifying round) experience' are lording up a victory over a part-time club who play in Scottish football's 4th tier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priti priti priti Patel Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Would be great if someone replied with 'The New Saints'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakebite Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 I think its good that these teams coming in are treating the competition seriously (unlike the colts), it gives fans of smaller clubs a chance to play competitive games against clubs from other leagues and play competitive games outwith Scotland. Attendances seemed to have held up well for all 4 of the teams involved, compared to the farce that was the inclusion of the Colts where 2 men and a dug were coming along, even with reduced entry on offer at most matches involving them. I'd like to see further Welsh/NI teams invited in next season. I'd like to see the Colts binned completely, but suspect that will drag out another few seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
football maniac Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Maybe some non league Northern English teams like Penrith, Workington et could also be invited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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