HibeeJibee Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, true_rover said: if the second leg is on the same time then it feels reasonable Albeit scenario 'mooted' in the Express would impact on LL champion. They'd have to wait 17/18 days for the SF 1st leg, which could be a midweek trip to north east depending on the draw. If victorious they'd then host 10th in SPFL2 at only 3/4 days notice, and having played 2 games in preceding 6-8 days (possibly including extratime) whilst 10th in SPFL2 came in after 10/11 days off. Cove Rangers progressed in Highland League Cup QF today as did chasers Fraserburgh. Seems they meet at Bellslea in SFs (week on Tuesday) - thus one will reach HLC Final (3 weeks today). Inverurie now 2nd but Cove remain firm favourites. 1 Cove P22 W20 D2 L0 62pts --------------------------------------- 2 Inverurie P27 P19 D3 L5 60pts 3 Fraserb'h P25 W18 D4 L3 58pts 4 Formart'e P25 W17 D1 L7 52pts Spartans were the only LL club in action - EK and East Stirlingshire had blank days/BSCG's game got postponed - but yet again relied on a goal in the closing minutes to beat Stirling University 1-0. 1 East Kilb P26 W19 D5 L2 62pts --------------------------------------- 2 Spartans P23 W18 D2 L3 56pts 3 BSC Glas. P24 W17 D4 L3 55pts 4 East Stir P25 W16 D5 L4 53pts As well as their game being postponed Cowdenbeath's woes increased with Edinburgh City's impressive win at Annan, now trailing by 15pts (and worse GD) with 10-11 games left. 7 Clyde P26 W8 D8 L10 32pts 8 Berwick P26 W7 D5 L14 26pts 9 Edin City P26 W7 D4 L15 25pts ---------------------------------------- 10 Cowdenb’h P25 W1 D7 L17 10pts Edited March 10, 2018 by HibeeJibee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 40 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said: Albeit scenario 'mooted' in the Express would impact on LL champion. They'd have to wait 17/18 days for the SF 1st leg, which could be a midweek trip to north east depending on the draw. If victorious they'd then host 10th in SPFL2 at only 3/4 days notice, and having played 2 games in preceding 6-8 days (possibly including extratime) whilst 10th in SPFL2 came in after 10/11 days off. Cove Rangers progressed in Highland League Cup QF today as did chasers Fraserburgh. Seems they meet at Bellslea in SFs (week on Tuesday) - thus one will reach HLC Final (3 weeks today). Given the arse the HL have made of their league fixtures with their silly LC they should be getting told that the play offs have to be played on the original date if not then the LL winners should just be put through to the final with club 42. If they can't get their fixtures finished on time f**k them and their poor organisation. Controversial but it would maybe make them take the situation more seriously. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 The playoffs need to go ahead as planned, if poor highland league scheduling makes it harder for highland league clubs to win the playoffs then tough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Just now, parsforlife said: The playoffs need to go ahead as planned, if poor highland league scheduling makes it harder for highland league clubs to win the playoffs then tough. Exactly they knew the dates before a ball was kick. As I have mentioned they should have held their League Cup over until the title was decided like the Lowland League do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 Posts on FitbaNorth and P&B's HL sub-forum suggest Highland League Cup Final has been put back, but only by 1 week to Saturday 7th April. Updated run-ins: Cowdenbeat | Cove | East Kilb. Spartans BSC Glasg. East Stir. | | | | mid-week E. City(A) | Brora (H) | Sat 17 Mar Elgin (H) | Wick (H) | Civil (A) Cumber.(H) Gretna (H) V of L (H) mid-week | Fraser.(A) | Hawick (A) Sat 24 Mar Stirl’g(A) | Lossie.(A) | LTHV/VL(N) Whiteh.(A) Civil (H) Hawick (A) mid-week Clyde (H) | ? | Dalbea.(A) Sat 31 Mar Stenh’r(H) | ? | ? E. Stir(A) G. Univ(A) Spartan(H) mid-week | ? | Sat 07 Apr Clyde (H) | HLC Final | BSCG (A) Gretna (A) E. Kilb(H) Whiteh.(H) mid-week | ? | Whiteh.(A) Sat 14 Apr Peter’d(A) | Brora (A) | S. Univ(A) E. Stir(H) Hawick (H) Spartan(A) |------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sat 21 Apr Berwick(A) | | Sat 28 Apr Annan (H) | ---------------------------- no date yet Montr’e(H) | Clachn.(H) | Whiteh.(A) E. Univ(A) | Forres (H) | | Nairn (H) | | Rothes (H) | | Strath.(H) | | Fort W.(A) | | Fraser.(A) | | Wick (A) | 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 Further coverage of HL backlog in the north press, where Cove player Ryan Strachan calls for the playoffs overall to be delayed : otherwise he says they've "no chance" of succeeding in them. ttps://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/highland-league/1430945/cove-rangers-ryan-strachan-makes-appeal/Cove Rangers’ Ryan Strachan makes appealCove Rangers midfielder Ryan Strachan has appealed to Scottish football’s authorities not to wreck the club’s dream of winning promotion to League 2. The Press and Journal Highland League leaders are favourites to win the championship but face a potentially crippling fixture list as they try to secure the title before April 14. The Highland League winners are due to meet the Lowland League champions in the League 2 play-off semi-final on April 21 but for that to happen Cove face the prospect of having to play 12 league matches before April 14. A meeting of officials from the Lowland League, Highland League, SFA and SPFL is scheduled and Strachan hopes a solution can be found to avoid a schedule he believes will ensure his club has no chance of winning promotion via the play-offs. He said: “There’s a meeting to discuss what can be done but if we do face the schedule being talked about it will be impossible to go up if we are crowned Highland League champions as the players will be out on their feet by the time the play-offs come around. “What we’re facing at the moment will give us no chance of winning promotion to League 2 next season if we do win the Highland League. “We don’t have a playing schedule yet but we know we’re definitely playing two games a week from now on and at some point there will be three games in a week and potentially one week where we will play four games. “I don’t have know what the answer is but we’ve had a great season in terms of the cup competitions and the league and it doesn’t seem right that we’re going to be punished for that when it really matters at the end of the campaign.” A combination of cup commitments and postponements have left Cove in their predicament at the business end of the season and former Peterhead and Aberdeen midfielder Strachan hopes common sense can prevail and an extension of some form can be agreed. He said: “One option is to extend the season but that’s not ideal for players and clubs either as it will reduce their break but it’s better than having to play four times a week. “If we were crowned champions before all the games have been completed we could rest a few lads and even come back and finish the fixtures after the play-offs or maybe moving the Highland League Cup to the end of the season could be looked at. “We’re due to play Forres in the League Cup on Saturday which is daft when there are so many league games outstanding. The Highland League should be the priority until this situation is sorted out.” His concluding alternative doesn't seem to be happening as I note from Cove's website today that their Highland League Cup at Fraserburgh has been confirmed for a week tomorrow kickoff 8pm. Meanwhile outgoing HL president is calling for bottom of SPFL2 to be automatically relegated in seasons to come and HL v LL playoff winner promoted so that this playoff could be held later:https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/1427743/spfl-play-offs-highland-league-president-wants-no-escape-clause-bottom-clubs/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, HibeeJibee said: Meanwhile outgoing HL president is calling for bottom of SPFL2 to be automatically relegated in seasons to come and HL v LL playoff winner promoted so that this playoff could be held later:https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/1427743/spfl-play-offs-highland-league-president-wants-no-escape-clause-bottom-clubs/ How about: Bottom club in L2 automatically relegated, replaced by winners of the HL/LL playoff. Second-bottom club in L2 plays off against the loser of the HL/LL playoff... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB_Bino Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Meanwhile outgoing HL president is calling for bottom of SPFL2 to be automatically relegated in seasons to come and HL v LL playoff winner promoted so that this playoff could be held later: Although I’m not in support of them changing the rules during the course of the season, I think, going forward, that this would have the backing of quite a lot of supporters but it would need to be in place before the season starts for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 9 minutes ago, GordonD said: How about: Bottom club in L2 automatically relegated, replaced by winners of the HL/LL playoff. Second-bottom club in L2 plays off against the loser of the HL/LL playoff... Maybe one day there will be an automatic relegation for club 42 but it seems a bit of a deflection from the HL fucking their fixtures up big time under the out going blazers watch. Funny how the LL manage to get their schedule planned, the Cove player made a fair point about the League Cup. I would feel sorry for the Cove players for the situation which is not of their doing but the blazers really need to get their schedule better planned for next season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, GordonD said: How about: Bottom club in L2 automatically relegated, replaced by winners of the HL/LL playoff. Second-bottom club in L2 plays off against the loser of the HL/LL playoff... Agreed, as that'd be equitable with levels above: 10th down, 9th in playoff with loser of HL v LL playoff. However it wouldn't make a difference to dates, of course, whereas 10th down/winner up would. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Cove need to identify their priorities just like any other club and if that means fielding a weakened team in a nonsense League Cup tournament, then tough. They've also got enough resources and a strong enough position to field a weakened team in several league matches and still be strong favourites to win the title. Absolutely no changes to the play-off schedule should be made then. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, cowdenbeath said: Maybe one day there will be an automatic relegation for club 42 but it seems a bit of a deflection from the HL fucking their fixtures up big time under the out going blazers watch. 49 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said: Agreed, as that'd be equitable with levels above: 10th down, 9th in playoff with loser of HL v LL playoff. However it wouldn't make a difference to dates, of course, whereas 10th down/winner up would. Yeah, I know the current point is about the fixture jam, but I was responding to the bit about the HL president calling for automatic relegation. FWIW I don't think the dates of the playoff should be changed - that would be unfair to Cowdenbeath whoever finishes bottom of L2 as they would have to hold their players back longer than expected rather than letting them go off on holiday. The Highland League may think it's unfair to make their champions play so often in such a short time but that's their own fault for not anticipating postponed games - hardly unusual at this time of year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poet of the Macabre Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 The play-off dates should not be changed, barring extraordinary circumstances. Cove being shite at organising doesn't count. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poet of the Macabre Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 I totally agree that Cowden the bottom side in League 2 should be automatically relegated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowden316 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 On 10/03/2018 at 11:45, true_rover said: That does of course pre-date the SPFL by about six years. SFL did similar to Raith in 2010 when we had reached the Scottish Cup semi finals (using several replays) along with a bad winter - we had to play 7 league games in the last 14 days of the season. However, there should be some common sense applied - if the second leg is on the same time then it feels reasonable especially if there are any more postponements. But the Highland League should also be forced to stop prioritising the cup games at this point. Fair enough point in being pre SPFL. However as someone already pointed out the HL organised their fixtures so they should have taken into account of this potentially happening I do not not think the SPFL needs to rearrange anything but the HL should reorganise their cup structure in my opinion 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 36 minutes ago, Poet of the Macabre said: Cove being shite at organising doesn't count. It sounds like it's the Highland League's fault as a whole, I'm not sure Cove shoulder much of the blame. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdenbeath Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Poet of the Macabre said: The play-off dates should not be changed, barring extraordinary circumstances. Cove being shite at organising doesn't count. To be fair its not Cove's fault its the Highland League. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelheart Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 To be fair it's scottish football's fault ,we should be playing March - December job done , nae postponements imagine that !!! -2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom & Gerry Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 It’s March now, The first week was descimated with snow, now flooding with more snow forecast for next week! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 I think Kelheart was joking. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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