this appeared in my twitter feed this after:

Top Six Next Year @TopSixNextYear

Still reckon ICTFC and Ross County should merge.

Who's daft idea is this?

Okey, we no top six, but we're no bottom either.

The Staggies are holding their own for a time.

What sort of nonsense is this? ... has any of this been bantered about?

Cheers all

Wee Gussie

I'm sure some down south would think ICT, Ross Ciunty, Elgin and Aberdeen should merge to form North of Perth FC. At least it would save those poor wee clubs travelling time.

A poll on this please

I took a Canadian pal to an ICT v St Johnstone match in Perth and he was pretty shocked at the whole experience and the lack of value for the fare on offer. We discussed Scottish football at length after the match and it was interesting to hear his views, coming from a North American perspective. His thoughts included clubs from across Scotland merging - not just ICT and Ross County. He also suggested if we could get to a situation with 16 'big' clubs and a top tier - with no relegation - the standard of the 'product' would improve. The smaller clubs would be feeder clubs for the clubs in the top tier - much like the set up in the NHL and other American sports. He also suggested it would be good to have some clubs included from the north east and north west of England too. This isn't going to happen in the near future, but I think some aspects of this will happen at some point. As we all know, football is ruled my money, unfortunately.

I don't think the American model is relevant. The vast size of the USA and Canada makes the UK model impractical - they are different because they have to be. I think that for most of us the motivation and pleasure of supporting a local team is to feel we belong in some way. Yes, we want to be entertained but we also want to dream. Supporters of small clubs enjoy success all the more when it comes both because it is unexpected and because we feel more a part of that success. It is important therefore to keep the club local and maintain the identity which allows us to belong.

As a season ticket holder in North America, I tend to agree with DoofersDad rather than TSNY ..... in terms of a merger, one is enough for us, and I can tell you without a doubt there is no way "local" rivals Toronto and Montreal would merge in any sport !!!!!

There are a lot of good things in MLS and given the financial situation, rules about squads and salary caps, with incentives to encourage youth development may be relevant to any shakeup of Scottish football, but having no relegation, and assuming a smaller number of clubs would lead to increased quality is not correct in my opinion.

A lack of relegation is good financially for MLS clubs, but after 6 seasons of watching Toronto FC float around the bottom of the table and never seriously challenge for the playoffs, it is terrible for the fans. The spectre of relegation may just have made management more serious about putting a winning team on the park.

As for mergers, well its not really on the cards in MLS which is slowly expanding (so it doesnt go boom or bust like the last incarnation) ... yet you have a weird situation where you have teams all over the continent but you also have a couple of teams actually playing in the same stadium !!! (LA Galaxy and Chivas USA). I fully expect Edmonton and perhaps Calgary to get in in years to come, and there is talk of another team in New York as well as a desire to get something off the ground in Florida which has no MLS representation yet .....

If Scottish football could learn anything from MLS its the slow and steady development of the league - even if it means a teardown and rebuild (like MLS had to do), fiscal policies being put in place, salary caps, a focus on youth development etc .....

Just noticed who Chelsea's opponents are tonight. Didn't know much about them but some interesting parallels with our own club which made me think about this thread. Seems to be a lot of similarities - apart from the youth development side of things! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Nordsj%C3%A6lland

We played against F.C. Nordsjælland in a friendly out in Denmark. Top notch stadium.

The ICT 6 know a fair bit about Nordsjaelland and their bonny wee stadium. Especially the alcoholic refreshments. And we drew 1-1 against them in 30+ degrees.