As i suspected ICT are now a few points ahead of Motherwell in 6th place. Same situation when we finished with more points that 6th place Hibs in 2004/5 ( i think)

I was thinking that it would be nice if there was an extra incentive introduced after the split; that if the team in 7th finished with more points than the team in 6th then they swap! Or something. I know there is a possible flaw in this. What if the team in 8th also had more points etc etc.

But still its so annoying as ICT lose out financially again! I suppose there is the argument that ICT should have made it to 6th place when they had the chance.

anyway just a little rant!

Glad to see ICT mixing it up at the top & bottom of the SPL!

Edited May 7, 201115 yr by BornCaley

The other argument is that we have been playing 'lesser' opposition but it is very annoying and the whole split format is so stupid.

As i suspected ICT are now a few points ahead of Motherwell in 6th place. Same situation when we finished with more points that 6th place Hibs in 2004/5 ( i think)

I was thinking that it would be nice if there was an extra incentive introduced after the split; that if the team in 7th finished with more points than the team in 6th then they swap! Or something. I know there is a possible flaw in this. What if the team in 8th also had more points etc etc.

But still its so annoying as ICT lose out financially again! I suppose there is the argument that ICT should have made it to 6th place when they had the chance.

anyway just a little rant!

Glad to see ICT mixing it up at the top & bottom of the SPL!

That was the 05/06 season and we finished with a points total that, had there been no split, would have seen us in 4th position in the league. What your suggesting wouldn't work I dont think but I agree its annoying. That season we won all our post split games and assisted in the near demise of Ferranti Thistle

the whole split format is so stupid.

I think the split is a good thing overall.

What have we been playing for in the last 6 months? What have we been discussing all the time?

Without the split, most of our season would have been a series of meaningless friendlies, with no chance of the title or Europe, and no chance of relegation. How dull would that have been?

maybe not swap places, but the Financial awards could be altered. That would work!

Split--no but Money--yes.

Which do you want?

Personally speaking I think the money should be split according to the points total , not the place.

the whole split format is so stupid.

I think the split is a good thing overall.

What have we been playing for in the last 6 months? What have we been discussing all the time?

Without the split, most of our season would have been a series of meaningless friendlies, with no chance of the title or Europe, and no chance of relegation. How dull would that have been?

I just don't like it. We have been playing for a top six finish but surely without the split we'd still be playing to finish as high as we can.. I just personally don't think the league splitting adds anything other than another Old Firn derby which keeps the media/spl happy.

Also out of interest does anyone know of any other leagues that use a split format? I don't know of any.

Edited May 7, 201115 yr by ubern

We just think it's more exciting because there's this artificial upper limit created for us to strive for.

The reality is, we've got feck all left to play for this season. We can't be caught in 7th place and we can't climb any further up the table and gain any prestige or additional money. With finances being so tight it would be worth our while sending out all the youths and saving ourselves a few quid on appearance and goal bonuses.

whilst we in the majority dont want a straight 10 team and play each other 4 times a season league, the 12 team split is also not perfect, but does add an incentive to most teams up until the last five games. If it went to a 14 teaam league we would still have a split but would even out the home away 3 times arguement, but the more teams in the league the less they can help the lower division apparently.

Another equation would be to work the tv deal, and put 10% OR what can be agreed aside for helping the lower leagues. That would be better for the game as a whole, rather than the self interest of the chosen ones.

Anyway dont know of a league with a split ofhand, but there are a few, but the likes of the dutch have play offs between teams after they finish, ie Ajax finish second but have to play Sparta Rotterdam finishing 5th to find out who will play in the champions league, even though their may be a 40 point gap between the league placings. thats a lottery that rewards failure in my view, but not if i supported Sparta. Only an example by the way - no idea where Sparta are in the league

If we just finished top six like we should have we could have avoided all this!

[/quotw)

Also out of interest does anyone know of any other leagues that use a split format? I don't know of any.

The Belgian Pro League uses a split system which believe it or not is more confusing than our one.

Read this and then honestly awnser if you understand it

[/quotw)

Also out of interest does anyone know of any other leagues that use a split format? I don't know of any.

The Belgian Pro League uses a split system which believe it or not is more confusing than our one.

Read this and then honestly awnser if you understand it

To be honest it doesn't seem to be that bad. There are 16 teams and they all play each other twice home and away. After those 30 games they split into three groups, the top 6 who again then play each other twice home and away and then the next split is 7th to 14th place also playing twice home and away. The final split is between the team in 15th and 16th place (this is the bottom two teams) They play each other 5 times which i presume is a best of 5 kind of thing similar to the playoff systems they use in America for Basketball etc. Now five times is a bit much against the same opposition but i presume thats so they get the extra remaining games to make it worth while. It would also guarentee that the worst team went down. Am i right in thinking that once the split has been made everyones points goes back to 0?

The Belgian Pro League uses a split system which believe it or not is more confusing than our one.

Read this and then honestly awnser if you understand it

I read it and understood it a a bit, but was unsure about the 2 bottom teams playing each other 5 times.

This describes the format much more clearly :

A play-off phase is then played from March to May. The top 6 teams from the regular season enter the play-offs 1, with each team playing their opponents twice. The point system in the play-offs 1 is the same as during the regular season, except that each team starts with half of the points they won in the regular season. Number of points are rounded up to the nearest integer. At the end of the play-offs 1, the first-placed team becomes the champion of Belgium. If some teams are level in the ranking, half points are first withdrawn from their total points if applicable before other criteria are taken into account. Teams ranked 7 to 14 after the regular season enter the play-offs 2, with teams ranked 7th, 9th, 12th and 14th entering the group A and teams ranked 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th entering the group B. In each group, each team plays each of its 3 opponents twice. The winner of each group plays the final game in two legs, to determine the winner of the play-offs 2. The winner of the play-offs 2 then plays a home and away game against the worst-placed team from the play-offs 1, which should qualify for UEFA Europa League. If the team from the play-offs 2 wins, it replaces that team in the European competition. Team ranked 15th and 16th after the regular season enter the relegation play-off. It consists of 5 games between the 2 teams. The 15th-placed team starts the play-offs with 3 points and the 16th-placed team with no point. The loser of the relegation play-off is relegated to the second division. The winner of thay play-off enter the Belgian second Division Final Round with 3 teams from the second division.

A bit of a farce for a league but i bet it keeps the season very entertaining.

The Belgian Pro League uses a split system which believe it or not is more confusing than our one.

Read this and then honestly awnser if you understand it

I read it and understood it a a bit, but was unsure about the 2 bottom teams playing each other 5 times.

This describes the format much more clearly :

A play-off phase is then played from March to May. The top 6 teams from the regular season enter the play-offs 1, with each team playing their opponents twice. The point system in the play-offs 1 is the same as during the regular season, except that each team starts with half of the points they won in the regular season. Number of points are rounded up to the nearest integer. At the end of the play-offs 1, the first-placed team becomes the champion of Belgium. If some teams are level in the ranking, half points are first withdrawn from their total points if applicable before other criteria are taken into account. Teams ranked 7 to 14 after the regular season enter the play-offs 2, with teams ranked 7th, 9th, 12th and 14th entering the group A and teams ranked 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th entering the group B. In each group, each team plays each of its 3 opponents twice. The winner of each group plays the final game in two legs, to determine the winner of the play-offs 2. The winner of the play-offs 2 then plays a home and away game against the worst-placed team from the play-offs 1, which should qualify for UEFA Europa League. If the team from the play-offs 2 wins, it replaces that team in the European competition. Team ranked 15th and 16th after the regular season enter the relegation play-off. It consists of 5 games between the 2 teams. The 15th-placed team starts the play-offs with 3 points and the 16th-placed team with no point. The loser of the relegation play-off is relegated to the second division. The winner of thay play-off enter the Belgian second Division Final Round with 3 teams from the second division.

And people say our split is confusing

From my understnding you can finish second bottom in the league and still get into Europe?