Jump to content

Che Dail

Gold Members
  • Posts

    1,121
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation

361 Excellent

Profile Information

  • My Team
    Other

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. 'Nobody wants B Teams' is not a correct statement. We learned that once the 'No to B Teams' campaign stepped out of its P+B echo-chamber onto twitter... where people are allowed to express a different opinion.
  2. I know, I don't disagree. However, I think there's little merit starting at Tier 8 - not for the elite clubs, or those in the lower leagues. But they shouldn't be jumping ahead of existing Licensed clubs in the Lowland League, and probably not those competing at the top level EoSFL / WoSFL - there should be a place to get them in together.
  3. Bit of a diatribe, but I'll respond to one particular bit I'm interested in, which is to borrow a league structure from another country and see what it looks like for Scotland. Since you've mentioned Norway, I've run with that. Norway's performance at Beijing Olympics burnished its reputation as having the best sports system in the world, both in elite performance and making a meaningful contribution to communities and its democracy (aspen Institute). Football should be seen in that wider context. Nonetheless, Molde and Bodo/Glimt appear at 42 and 46th in Europe, behind Celtic at 32. Molde's average attendance is about 5500, Bodo/Glimt is 6000. These are small clubs by comparison and punching well above their weight in Europe. Molde: 31 player squad includes 1 Dane and 1 Swede. The rest are Norwegian. Bodo/ Glimt : 31 squad, 25 are Norwegian. Rosenburg: 26 squad, 18 Norwegian It's an exporter of talent - its elite players are abroad, similar to Scotland. There are 27 B teams in its league structure. This is not universally popular, and is regularly questioned by clubs (and fans) that don't have one. But the FA and participating clubs conclude, consistently, that there are more positives than negatives with the way it is organized now. If Scotland was to adopt the Norwegian league structure (which, incidentally, is the same format as Spain, Czech Rep and Austria) it would promote just about every club, allow free-movement between leagues, and a necessary departure from woeful 10-team leagues. There's a place for B-teams starting at the bottom of the 'semi-professional' game (licensed clubs). Feeder leagues below would be streamlined regionally further down - avoiding scenarios like Hawick v St Andrews at tier 7, for example. Importantly, it would provide a far more satisfactory outcome for Dundee and P&K clubs via the Midland League - and competitive local football for amateur / semi-pro players at grassroots level. Apologies if I've omitted a club, or duplicated one:
  4. Not in itself, perhaps. But I think it could be part of the solution, along with an actual pyramid-shaped league structure (with or without B teams). We need to look at the whole picture and present a proposal that is equitable for all.
  5. No idea, info is here: https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociations/uefarankings/club/#/yr/2023
  6. Removing the top two teams from every other country would place Aberdeen 88th in Europe, with clubs from 23 countries above them. This includes: 6 from Belgium, Netherlands = 5, Austria=4, Turkey= 4, Cyprus= 3, and 1 each from Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Denmark, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovakia and Romania. The article (in case you didn't get to the end) concludes: Any way you want to dress it up, Scottish teams’ under-performing in European competition when removing Rangers and Celtic from the equation doesn’t merely not add up; it is nothing short of criminal. Having previously stated: In coming up short with the best showings from the League Of Ireland, this ‘ah, but’ attitude falls apart when considering the scale of Scotland’s cinch Premiership compared to the Irish Premier Division. Sligo’s player budget is around a third of Motherwell’s outlay. In Irish terms, it is pretty average, which means that the squad wage bills of such as Aberdeen and Hibs were up to six times Dundalk’s when they made their group stage breakthrough two years ago. On this performance, it is far-fetched to believe that Scottish clubs would progress to the Champions League in the absence of Celtic and Rangers from the league structure any time soon. In fact, we already have data from the period in which Rangers were absent from the top league. Change is overdue - I don't like the Conference League proposal as it stands and I believe there's a better way forward following precedent from abroad. Note that of those 23 countries with clubs performing better than ours, 18 allow B teams in their pyramid - close to 80%.
  7. Scottish Parochialism is 'rubbidge' when it holds our country back. Football is just a microcosm of our collective "too wee, too poor, too stupid" mindset - while other small countries thrive.
  8. "Without Rangers and Celtic Scottish top flight has European standing of League of Ireland - Aberdeen and Hibs damned by the parallel" https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/without-rangers-and-celtic-scotttish-top-flight-has-european-standing-of-league-of-ireland-aberdeen-and-hibs-damned-by-the-parallel-3784689 The 'metric' referred to in this article is the points system set by UEFA - hope this is sufficient to answer that part of your long question. Motherwell beaten by Sligo Rovers. Kilmarnock by Connah Quay Nomads. Hibs v Riejka. Aberdeen v Quarabaq of Azerbaijan. Dundee United v MyPa, Finland. These are our full-time, professional clubs - a world away from Tier 3, 4, 5 and 6. I'd like Scottish clubs to improve in Europe, and willing to keep an open mind about progressive change - it is long overdue. I'm not alone in thinking there's something wrong with the current structure, but I don't think adding another tier is the answer.
  9. England, like Scotland, is conservative in its detached ‘no thanks’ approach to change, and to adopting progressive ideas from the continent. In terms of its league structure, I question the value of Crawley v Carlisle in League 2 (T4), or Gateshead v Torquay (T5), and think earlier regionalization of leagues, similar to Spain, France, Portugal & Germany would enhance the footballing offer. The top tier is effectively a European Super League with its model based on ultra-debt and investment from questionable sources. The English 'system' is failing numerous clubs on the brink of insolvency, which is why there’s an ongoing government-led review and reform being planned. Broadly, it is financially unsustainable: a £4bn gap between revenues of Premier League clubs and those of Championship clubs, the gap widening further down the ‘pyramid’. I don’t think it’s a good example for Scottish Football to follow.
  10. Hopefully some good comes out of this supporters-led campaign to re-think the Conference proposal before it is realized. The pause caused by COVID was an opportunity to make changes to Scottish football, but nothing meaningful has emerged yet. In Europe, ‘Pyramid’ refers not only to promotion and relegation, but to the actual shape of the structure: a narrow top with a limited number of elite professional clubs (best v best), and a wide, strong base with numerous semi-professional and amateur sides split regionally - often at Tier 3 or 4. In Scotland, we have a linear column-like structure, with a repeated 10-team national format in which semi-professional clubs play each other (fearfully) 4 times a season. It's poor as it is - adding another ‘storey’ into this column would weaken it further. If the SFA were to design a structure first, learning from European examples, we’d have a much better system for the benefit of all - and 'promotion', of sorts, for most clubs.
  11. Tell that to Pep Guardiola, and Ferran Soriano at Man City. "Developing players in England is a problem. B teams aren't allowed and we have a development vacuum for players between the ages of 17 and 18".
  12. They do have B teams - but not in the league structure. With the size of the country, the wealth of its top-level clubs, and the quantity of them, perhaps there is sufficient competition and development opportunities in reserve leagues. It has been shown that this doesn't adequately work for Scotland, unfortunately. Germany, as a comparator, does have B teams - as does France, and Spain.
  13. Eh, you've made that up. The suggestion is that a number of elite players, including some of the very best in the world, at the best clubs in the world, have played in B Teams.
  14. Oh ok - not content with Haaland and Odegaard. in fairness, they are probably the only two world-class Norwegian players . Here are some full Norway Internationals for your list: Alex Sorloth (27) - Rosenborg B - now Leipzig (on loan to Real Sociedad). 45 Caps. Kristoffer Ajer (24yr old) - Lillestrom B - now Brentford. 27 Caps Sander Berge (25) - Asker B, Valerenga B - now Sheff Utd. 32 Caps Orjan Nyland (32) - Ingolstadt B - then Aston VIlla, now Leipzig. 42 Caps and if I can be permitted Mats Moller Daehli (28) - Freiburg B (GER). 35 Caps.
  15. No, I didn't. Read it again. There's a distinction between saying: "It played a part in their development"(fact) and "It's the only reason they got to the level they did" (not a fact)
×
×
  • Create New...