Next non-Old Firm title winner

[gudge1903]

Seriously need a proper league or we won't have serious competition at the top end.

18 or 20 top league or we are all just farting in the wind and begging for scraps.

[Trackdaybob]

1 hour ago, gudge1903 said:

18 or 20 team league or its Glasgow

Apparently this will cause too many meaningless games. Or some such trash.

As opposed to meaningless league titles going to Glasgow every season. 

1 hour ago, gudge1903 said:

I think we need a league where we don't play each other 4 times a season

This is what has to change. It's the fundamental flaw in the current set up. 

Just my onions of course. 

I'm just popping off now to say hello in the championship section

 

[Kyle Reese]

30 minutes ago, gudge1903 said:

Seriously need a proper league or we won't have serious competition at the top end.

18 or 20 top league or we are all just farting in the wind and begging for scraps.

 

18 minutes ago, Trackdaybob said:

Apparently this will cause too many meaningless games. Or some such trash.

As opposed to meaningless league titles going to Glasgow every season. 

This is what has to change. It's the fundamental flaw in the current set up. 

Just my onions of course. 

I'm just popping off now to say hello in the championship section

 

Yup. Absolutely the first step imo.

[gudge1903]

Wage caps would help also.

Or kick the bigots out to find another organisation that will give them preferential treatment at all times since they're the biggest clubs in the world and that's what they deserve.

I would honestly love that to happen just so we could have a really competitive league. 

50% of euro money above a certain and set amount to go back into the league or youth development to keep it as competitive as possible without favouritism.

The league is broken and has been for nearly 30 years, but so long as it's broken in favour of the sectarian two then nothing will change.

[Monkey Tennis]

The belief that a bigger top division would make any difference to this, strikes me as flawed.

As long as we're prepared to accept such wild financial imbalance, we're stuck with this tedious duopoly.

[Leith Green]

2 hours ago, gudge1903 said:

Seriously need a proper league or we won't have serious competition at the top end.

18 or 20 top league or we are all just farting in the wind and begging for scraps.

There is a step before this of course.

Clubs need to vote for a change to the voting system first, in order that this proposed change above can be voted on itself.

...................and we know that first bit wont happen.

[Forfinn]

The answer here is Ross County. Hear me out...

Roy MacGregor will be 70 later this year. At some point he'll take a step back. There's three obvious possible outcomes when that happens:

1) The Gretna - While there's no denying the club relies on his investment, it's unlikely the plug gets pulled with no warning. Maybe his family continue their controlling interest, but there's no clear succession planning in place. At the very least though, I'm sure they'd oversee a transition.

2) Regression to the mean - That transition could see other local businessmen/women step in to the breach, perhaps on a more level playing field with no outstanding benefactor. This would see the club stand mostly on its own feet, probably at Championship level or as a struggling Premiership side like Dundee or St Johnstone.

3) Sugar Daddy - Now this is where it gets interesting. Danish multi-billionaire Anders Povlsen owns huge swathes of the Highlands and is the largest private landowner in the UK. His main focus is on rewilding the estates he owns. It's a controversial practice, likened by many to modern day Clearances. What better way to win the locals round than by engaging in a tried and trusted PR exercise? Buy the local football team, invest a tiny percentage of his estimated £6 BILLION fortune and away we go. The Scottish version of Hoffenheim (population: 3,191), except even more successful because you've only got Rangers and Celtic to overhaul, not Bayern Munich.

And if not Povlsen, there's any number of obscenely wealthy people who own Highland estates for a number of tax or leisure reasons.

It feels just as likely as any other answer at the moment.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Forfinn

[RandomGuy.]

The idea that adding Arbroth, Kilmarnock, Raith and Partick to the top flight will magically create a title race is absolutely bizarre.

A bigger top flight cuts the amount of money every club in it receives in prize money every season, and creates a dead zone in the middle of the table. I'm sure fans would be piling in to watch Hibernian and Aberdeen play for a meaningless 8th place finish tbh.

[PauloPerth]

Yup. Let's change something, anything, that'll fix it.

'More teams in the top league will give us a far better title race' is cloud cuckoo land.

If folk are saying it would make the league more varied and interesting, well that's a point that could be up for debate. (I personally don't think it would, after a couple of seasons the novelty would wear off and it would be very dull, but others will see it differently).

But saying it would make for a closer title race is nonsense.

[ArabFC]

55 minutes ago, Leith Green said:

There is a step before this of course.

Clubs need to vote for a change to the voting system first, in order that this proposed change above can be voted on itself.

...................and we know that first bit wont happen.

Yup. Any idea to improve the competitiveness of the league (inc bonkers one like more teams) are pointless without addressing the voting issue, which we can't cos - OldFirm veto.

So unless the rest of Scottish fitba tells them to do one (never gonna happen) we're left watching this pish forever.

[Richey Edwards]

5 hours ago, Trackdaybob said:

The league table right now is as good an example of what's wrong with it all as anything. No team even making a dent in the dominance of the bigot brothers. Instead, they just take points off each other fucking up anybody's chance of getting near. Sad times. 

 

Last season a team that was neither Rangers or Celtic won the league.

Cool yer jets.

[Theroadlesstravelled]

I don’t watch Scottish football much but when I do I regret it.

[jamamafegan]

Lifted this from another thread from earlier today:

Just been looking at the league winners when we last had a 16 team league (1946 - 1955.) Titles won:

Rangers 4
Hibernian 3
Celtic 1
Aberdeen 1

In the seasons Rangers won, their closest challengers (Hibs and Dundee) only finished a point or 2 behind them. One season was even won on goal difference. Would a 16 team league help to narrow the gap? Would less games put more pressure on the OF to their games win? Would lesser sides see their home and away games against the OF as a bigger occasion, a free hit, and throw everything at them and make it harder for them?

Who cares about the loss of 8 games? Make up for by letting more teams in the cup competitions or something. We have a beautiful pyramid system below the senior sides. Lots of teams that could be let into cup comps.

I agree that a bigger division would probably not make a big difference but it’s fun to speculate with the reasons above.

Disagree that there would be a always be a “dead-zone” - certainly some seasons there might be but you could easily have several teams involved in a relegation battle or competing for a spot in Europe. I also came up with a table model in the past that includes Europa conference play-off positions. Winner of the play-off wins the last European place to the conference. Don’t have it to hand just now but can post it later.

The 12 game system is garbage. It’s boring. I think I speak for the majority of fans when I say that they aren’t arsed to go to another game away to places like Almondvale or watch their team at home play St Mirren. No offence, the sentiment will be shared amongst those fans about facing St Johnstone as well. Even the more exciting games against the bigger sides, I think people would more inclined to go knowing that it’s possibly the only opportunity they’ll get to go to Tynecastle that season or see their team play one of the Old Firm at home.

[Kyle Reese]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

The idea that adding Arbroth, Kilmarnock, Raith and Partick to the top flight will magically create a title race is absolutely bizarre.

A bigger top flight cuts the amount of money every club in it receives in prize money every season, and creates a dead zone in the middle of the table. I'm sure fans would be piling in to watch Hibernian and Aberdeen play for a meaningless 8th place finish tbh.

The point is though, teams wouldn’t need to play eight games v the OF. I’m a season where a club put together a good squad, they could beat everyone else in a similar manner to the how the OF do. Then they’d hopefully get something against the OF at home. Over the course of the season, they’d have a better chance of closing the gap. It’s the gap between second and third that is the problem. All the other teams are too closely matched and take points of each other. If you had more teams and a clutch that were a level below first to fifth, then that gap would help reduce the current big gap that is the cause of all the problems.

[gudge1903]

Nailed it Kyle!!

8 times against 2 behemoths is ridiculous and a split to make sure they play you twice in five game run in at split to make sure you can't win it.

[Handsome_Devil]

A 16/18 team league might - and it's a big might - give the best of the rest the chance to close up but over a 30/34 game season it's still a one in a hundred chance they'd finish ahead of both the OF.

The only way you could revolutionise the game to cut the advantage would be playoffs - for almost everything - at the end of the season with the trick being you separate European qualification (which would come from the table at the end of the regular season, so the OF wouldn't feel their CL money was being grabbed) from the Scottish title (which would come from the play-offs). The OF would still win it more often than not but you're manufacturing jeopardy through one off (or two-legged at a push) games. 

However, it is such transparent and self-serving artificial excitement that contradicts all principles of league football you have to ask what's the point....you'd be as well just handing a big trophy to the third place side at the end of the season and telling them to go mental.

[Trackdaybob]

1 hour ago, Richey Edwards said:

Last season a team that was neither Rangers or Celtic won the league.

Cool yer jets.

My jets are idling away quite nicely though. Thanks for asking

That maybe sounded better in your head. Ah well. 

 

 

[Hoose Rice]

Anyone but they scarf twirling wanks fae Gorgie. 

If not Hibernian then Dundee. 

[kennie makevin]

2 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

The idea that adding Arbroth, Kilmarnock, Raith and Partick to the top flight will magically create a title race is absolutely bizarre.

A bigger top flight cuts the amount of money every club in it receives in prize money every season, and creates a dead zone in the middle of the table. I'm sure fans would be piling in to watch Hibernian and Aberdeen play for a meaningless 8th place finish tbh.

As opposed to the unbridled excitement of watching them play for a meaningless 4th place finish in the tedious nonsense we 'enjoy ' at the moment ?

[AsimButtHitsASix]

Well obviously it would be Morton under Dougie Imrie as we are unbeatable but he'll leave to go to fucking... Middlesborough or something when we're ten points clear at the top and we'll finish mid table after bringing in a "steady hand" like Allan Johnstone to see out the season.