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League Reconstruction 20/21 season


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7 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

There are too many moving parts to consider to try to produce a fixture list that avoids Hearts/Hibs, Dundee/Dundee United, Dundee United/Hibs and Dundee/Hearts clashes.

Not really. It's common practice for schedulers to pair off clubs with two teams - one is their closest city rival, and the other is some other team in the same league, if these happen to be different. For next season, it's just a case of the two sets of pairings will be between the Dundee and Edinburgh teams. Basically, for every matchweek, Hibs play at home at the same time as Dundee, and likewise for Heats/United. There might be issues of local scheduling (for instance, you might want having Hearts play at home at the same time as some big event at Murrayfield, but there's no corresponding Dundee issue) but those can be adjusted by ad hoc devices like moving a game to a Sunday or weekday evening.

I'm sure fixture scheduling is a complicated business, but team-pairing between two leagues is one of the simpler aspects.

Edited by Aim Here
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1 minute ago, craigkillie said:

There are too many moving parts to consider to try to produce a fixture list that avoids Hearts/Hibs, Dundee/Dundee United, Dundee United/Hibs and Dundee/Hearts clashes. The fixture list will be drawn up based on the current make-up of the leagues and in the unlikely event that clubs have to swap divisions then any clashes will require games being moved to a Friday night or a Sunday. That's what happened in 2012, and Killie ended up going to Tannadice on a Friday night and Dens on a Sunday as a result.

Thats right - the guy (Blair?) was on the radio yesterday explaining the complexities - indeed although I didnt catch it all, I think they contract much of it out to an IT co in USA?

He was asked about the - widely reported - scenario that Rangers/Celtic matches might be crowbarred into a time when crowds are allowed back fully.

H laughed this off  and explained that - as there are so many factors, Euro matches etc, the fact that they have to have one of these matches in the first 11 fixtures - it cant be fixture 1 as Celtic will get the title flag etc - that to game the system this was nigh on impossible as there will be so few match days available.

Euro matches aside, many of the same factors come into play and any assumption that dates are being kept "as options" for Hearts / Thistle/ Dundee Utd or whoever are way off the mark.

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1 minute ago, Aim Here said:

Not really. It's common practice for schedulers to pair off clubs with two teams - one is their closest city rival, and the other is some other team in the same league, if these happen to be different. For next season, it's just a case of the two sets of pairings will be between the Dundee and Edinburgh teams. Basically, for every matchweek, Hibs play at home at the same time as Dundee, and likewise for Heats/United. There might be issues of local scheduling (for instance, you might want to avoid some big event at Murrayfield if Hearts are playing at home) but those can be adjusted by ad hoc devices like moving a game to a Sunday or weekday evening.

The more teams you start doing these things for, the more knock-on issues you create, such as the one you described where you're looking at trying to factor rugby internationals into two different sets of fixture lists. Then you might have the same problems which matches which would normally be televised and trying to fit them into a schedule which works for Sky. I'm not saying it's completely impossible, but I think it is a lot of effort to go to for a very unlikely outcome.

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3 minutes ago, PauloPerth said:

Unprecedented in football terms I was saying*. Something most of us have limited experience of, so the outcome is largely guesswork for the majority of us on here.

 

* if not unprecedented, then certainly a rare occurrence in Scottish football.

Every legal action is unprecedented in terms of the facts but thankfully not unprecedented in terms of the law. The suggestion that it's impossible to know how the Courts will react is just wrong. The Courts have a statutory formula and caselaw which allow them to focus on discrete questions so you don't have to say "woah this has never happened in Scottish football before" , instead you can examine the discrete question of "was the process and outcome one which a reasonable person might consider fair". If so the Court won't interfere.

The process was certainly flawed but was it sufficiently flawed as to materially affect the validity of the decision? The outcome wasn't ideal but was it even handed and based on fair criteria? 

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I think discussion of the fixtures is a red herring. If Hearts get everything that they've asked for then the  vote in April will be void and we're back to the leagues simply being suspended with every option back on the table.  Re-writing the fixtures will be the least of their worries at that stage.

Edit: I've now read the petition and this is wrong. Hearts just looking to cherrypick the bits they like. A bold strategy.

Edited by Pull My Strings
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4 minutes ago, Pull My Strings said:

I think discussion of the fixtures is a red herring. If Hearts get everything that they've asked for then the  vote in April will be void and we're back to the leagues simply being suspended with every option back on the table.  Re-writing the fixtures will be the least of their worries at that stage.

No. They're not trying to void the vote or suspend the league. They're asking either for promotion/relegation to not happen, or alternatively, for £10 million to be divvied up between them and Thistle.

 

Edited by Aim Here
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37 minutes ago, Aim Here said:

The facts aren't likely to be much in dispute in this case, so the judge will almost certainly be ruling on the basis of law (in jury trials, judges don't even rule on the facts,  juries do).

The arguments of the parties involved will mostly be two sets of legal theories as to which side is in the right, and it's a case of which one persuades the judge is the winner.

or Lord Clark could wipe his hands of it and refer it back to the SPFL....

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Just now, C4mmy31 said:

or Lord Clark could wipe his hands of it and refer it back to the SPFL....

I think you mean SFA. Referring the matter to the SPFL would certainly be dispositive of the matter, but I suspect Hearts would have immediate grounds for appeal...

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Guest Flash
8 minutes ago, Aim Here said:

No. They're not trying to void the vote or suspend the league. They're asking either for promotion/relegation to not happen, or alternatively, for £10 million to be divvied up between them and Thistle.

 

Does the court have to award one of the things they have been asked for? Section 996 says the court may make such order as it thinks fit. But I don’t know if that means it has to be from the choices they have been offered or if they could order some other kind of remedy.

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Just now, Flash said:

Does the court have to award one of the things they have been asked for? Section 996 says the court may make such order as it thinks fit. But I don’t know if that means it has to be from the choices they have been offered or if they could order some other kind of remedy.

I'm sure they have a lot of scope for judicial action, but the notion of a judge going way over and beyond the petitioner's demands to inflict a ton of damage on Scottish football seems like we're straying into 'maverick judge' territory.

It would be like a small claims dispute between a homeowner and a plumber where the plumber asks for his £500 bill to be paid and the judge orders the demolition of the house instead.

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Did we ever find out how hearts arrived at £8 million? What do they tangibly stand to lose? 5 home gates, tv money, prize money (although they should have a parachute payment)? Don’t see how that comes to 8. What else am I missing?

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4 minutes ago, ribzanelli said:

Did we ever find out how hearts arrived at £8 million? What do they tangibly stand to lose? 5 home gates, tv money, prize money (although they should have a parachute payment)? Don’t see how that comes to 8. What else am I missing?

 

Numberwang.jpg

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36 minutes ago, Aim Here said:

No. They're not trying to void the vote or suspend the league. They're asking either for promotion/relegation to not happen, or alternatively, for £10 million to be divvied up between them and Thistle.

 

Aye, I've just read the petition and you're quite right. I'm sure it has been reported that Hearts were looking to have the entire resolution reduced but it seems like they are only seeking to delete three clauses. I think there was some merit to their action  as I understood it, although I thought they'd lose. Their actual craves are bonkers. 

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2 hours ago, Green Day said:

I do wonder what will happen to their fans if Hearts (I am not mentioning PTFC as their fans have been broadly ok) lose this?

The craziness and vitriol of JKB isnt the real world, but I did speak to a Jambo of my acquaintance a couple of weeks back and he was of the opinion that the SPFL was entirely wrong and they were getting relegation rescinded.

Now, for me this was just a source of amusement - but I wonder if they have gone so far down the rabbithole that its impossible - even if they lose - to grasp the realities?

 

1 hour ago, Golden Gordon said:

Probably not a popular view, but could those who are convinced that Hearts will gain nothing through court action are also possibly prone to confirmation bias? Don't agree that what Hearts are doing is just, but I would be wary of drawing conclusions until there is feedback from the court as to each side's respective arguments. 

Fully agree with those saying there is confirmation bias on both sides, with none of us knowing how this will go.

I have been pretty taken back at the universal confidence within Hearts' support. The folk who have become over-invested on the other side of the argument seem to at least vary between SPFL fundamentalists and wet gimps who are sure Hearts are going to land on their feet.

Being 100% confident in a legal case they don't understand (having been wrong about every stage of this saga so far) does make it seem like a fanbase who have resorted to dealing in certainties because they canny hack it. 

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16 minutes ago, ribzanelli said:

Did we ever find out how hearts arrived at £8 million? What do they tangibly stand to lose? 5 home gates, tv money, prize money (although they should have a parachute payment)? Don’t see how that comes to 8. What else am I missing?

It's an injustice 

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8 minutes ago, Alan Stubbs said:

 

Fully agree with those saying there is confirmation bias on both sides, with none of us knowing how this will go.

I have been pretty taken back at the universal confidence within Hearts' support. The folk who have become over-invested on the other side of the argument seem to at least vary between SPFL fundamentalists and wet gimps who are sure Hearts are going to land on their feet.

Being 100% confident in a legal case they don't understand (having been wrong about every stage of this saga so far) does make it seem like a fanbase who have resorted to dealing in certainties because they canny hack it. 

It's the guys on Twitter (and JKB, I assume) that have unshakeable belief/confidence in "their lawyers" that make for the best entertainment.

They're 100% sure that, because they've got lawyers involved, that they'll succeed. It's remarkable. 

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23 minutes ago, Aim Here said:

I'm sure they have a lot of scope for judicial action, but the notion of a judge going way over and beyond the petitioner's demands to inflict a ton of damage on Scottish football seems like we're straying into 'maverick judge' territory.

It would be like a small claims dispute between a homeowner and a plumber where the plumber asks for his £500 bill to be paid and the judge orders the demolition of the house instead.

I was really wondering if the judge could award something less than the clubs are asking for. For example, could he say the vote to end the season was flawed, so there should be another vote?  

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1 hour ago, Aim Here said:

The burden of proof is on Hearts. Hearts have to provide a chain of reasoning (and suitable factual backup) to show that the SPFL's process was unlawful and unfair and warrants compensation of £10 million quid. If the SPFL or United knock one link out of that chain, they win. If United's lawyers convince the judge that, say, the outcome of the season end vote was entirely fair, it doesn't matter if Kevin Clancy, acting for the SPFL, puts on a pair of clown shoes, blows a whistle and awards a penalty to Ann Budge. The case still gets chucked.

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me if Kevin Clancy subscribed to the Patch Adams approach to litigation, if his refereeing is anything to go by.  It's possibly down to my limited knowledge of how the law operates that I'm erring on the side of caution here.  You obviously have a law degree or work within the legal profession, as you seem to have an understanding of how this process would work.  I could go and research the ins & outs of all this, but that would be like me saying that I'm ready to undertake heart surgery because I've watched some surgical videos on Youtube.

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