bdu98196

Prefer to avoid any Championship clubs and maybe Thistle, Falkirk & Cove - Least then there is a slim hope in the next round we may get a big team and TV game which would be much needed income (especially with no fans) Fully expect it'll be Alloa or someone from our League Cup group just to give a bit of variety!!!!

Given his age and history, if there is some money coming our way I'd say its time to part ways and will also remove a high earner off our limited budget. Generally we will be in the same position as most clubs in the Championship (if not Scotland) - unless going for a title or fighting off relegation and you have the budget to strengthen then players will be available to leave for any fees or if they are high earners. Moving back into lockdown has moved the prospect of significant fan numbers in stadia further away again so now its trimming accordingly to survive throughout. I'd expect some exits and at best loanees to replace if not more youngsters get game time

Slating a manager who has his name in history for bringing the highest level trophy that ICT has ever won and then mocking him for joining a club in a division higher than your own (and probably has more chance of still being there next year than your own) epitomises seething!!!

Great excuse for the ICT band of Yogi 'haters' to get even more riled up.........

Short term anyways, its likely that apart from the elite level sports, then the number of professional sports persons will significantly reduce including footballers as they will need to get 'regular' jobs to pay bills and do sports part-time. A club like ICT, in a lower league in Scotland may get enough revenue to have a mix of full/part-time but player may need to accept even lower wages. There will be plenty clubs in much worse positions financially. Overall the standard of football will drop and clubs will be fielding a mix of youngsters and those willing to play for the limited cash in budgets. For most the ability to field 11 players will be a challenge, being competitive is another hurdle - but there will be clubs throughout the country trying to cut budgets/overheads and costs.

This. Unfortunately not many seem to be grasping this scenario. By which time its likely there will be less clubs still viable and for most just being able to field 11 players regardless of competitive ability will be seen as an achievement. There are significant costs of restarting football including player testing (estimates are £3-5k per wk per club), updating facilities such as changing rooms and corporate areas for 'social distancing' and that's irrespective of whether fans are allowed in - most Scottish clubs cant afford this as they are struggling to even keep the light on in their empty facilities!!!

Anyone thinking beyond a top league is being naive. The only reason to reconstruct right now is that Hearts will have TV appeal and they get Edinburgh derbies and if somehow Dundee could be raised up and ICT it would help having a top tier with - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highland, Dundee, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire derby games - hence the addition of 4 teams to 16. This is what would be needed to get the maximum cash income to those clubs and the game as a whole - its likely social distancing will continue for some time so in addition to the new TV deals alternative streaming & revenue will need to be sought. This is about self preservation at the top, with the others hoping they drip feed some of the money back down the leagues There is little talk of lower leagues because its pointless spending time setting up for 40/42/44 clubs as the reality of the situation is that many smaller teams may not survive and certainly not be able to run until football is back with supporters - which will not be any time in 2020. ICT are fortunate to be near the top of the Championship and have some (small) appeal for the Highland derby games - but realistically no clubs in the Premiership will care whether lower clubs survive or not - much the same as the big retail chains dont give a fluck about smaller shops. Ultimately if the Scottish football fans want the level of clubs we currently have in existence then its their responsibility to start supporting local teams instead of 'glory hunting' to the OF or only top flight - as this will unlikely happen then everyone just has to be accepting of the consequences

As yet there is no announcement and plan in place for lower leagues to return to football and still ongoing how the Premiership will return (even for next season). Football for ICT may will still be months away, might not even be this year - so the club may yet have serous decisions to make regarding ongoing contracts and players. Dunfermline release 17. ICT players on expiring contracts will lapse and I'm sure those remaining will be expected to take significant cuts or leave. All clubs will be looking at financial survival with the idea of putting 11 on the park something to focus on when a definitive restart date is presented - whether its a competitive 11 will be secondary.

Until there is clarification on any restart, league structure and what income the club may have going forwards, it has to be assumed none of these guys will get new deals for now. Perhaps if furlogh is extended by the government the club may offer to keep players contracts active until such time as there is more clarity allowing them to at least get the government payments - but that may not guarantee they are in the longerterm club plans. Once things are resolved the club may only then revert back to any still local and interested with offers.

Same as being a team leader or manager in any other non-football (real world) job. People can't have an issue with this considering the extra duties involved in terms of being a club ambassador; attending both commercial and public functions as a representative, not to mention community and charity work.

Contract not being offered or renewed is different to being released or terminated - once the contract expires he is already a free agent so no need to 'release'. This is different to Warren in many ways as he had a valid contract and was told to leave and the club spun media stories to help force him out. I'm sure there will be other players not getting contracts renewed at this stage by ICT and many other clubs, only once there is a defined path to restarting football do clubs need players and I'm sure there will be a significant pool all desperate for clubs at that stage. Those on contracts extending beyond this summer are a commitment that clubs will have to try maintain or renegotiate terms for deferrals or reductions.

Anyone know who the 15 selected panel members are? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52359232 Given Dempster who I would consider as one of the top 5 or 6 influential club representatives has quit immediately suggests the lack of actual support this idea has from those with the greatest control.

We build by allowing those on higher wages who's contracts expire unless they take cuts to fall in-line with our tighter wage structure, play more kids and sign less journeymen. Its pretty obvious logic - the strategy has to be based on Championship football as its the only certain scenario and in the background the club have to look at all out of contract players who may be available and work out a strategy for who we have and who may come in that fit our financial profile. Its likely that not only us but a lot of clubs will have even smaller budgets next year due to the losses from Covid-19 - therefore the players will have to accept less or the quality will drop. For clubs with big backers such as Hearts or Dundee they may be less affected if the benefactors decide to support in the gamble of promotion - IMO given our position I think this season was our gamble and due to circumstances outwith the clubs control its backfired.

There will be no reconstruction, the ship has sailed and any bargaining position of club lost through the vote results. Fear and financial desperation has forced clubs into making a short term decision for immediate funds over forcing issues for a long term redevelopment of Scottish football. Unfortunately while fans may complain about the structures, TV deals etc its the clubs we all support and finance that have sold us all out IMO. There can be investigations, recriminations and even legal challenges but if the SPFL board had any capability they would have made sure that there were caveats in the voting criteria that prevented this and that the final result was binding based on the previously agreed majority acceptance criteria.

If they expand then why's only 2 up from the Championship fair? Yes, as an ICT fan its positive news but the play-offs contain 3 clubs from the lower league, therefore although we would right now have 1 round of games less both Dundee & Ayr (as it stands) have every bit as much chance of getting promoted - therefore it has to be 4 teams up from the Championship. This has TV implications with only 2 OF games but otherwise I think there will be too many votes against. From the BBC The resolution requires 10 of the 12 top flight clubs, eight of 10 in the Championship, and 15 of the 20 clubs in Leagues One and Two combined to pass. Likely to object Prem - Rangers & Hearts (there may be one or 2 mid table thinking about top 6, extra prize money & 2 OF games) Champ - Dundee, Ayr & PT L1 & L2 - Falkirk, Airdrie, Montrose & Stranraer / Elgin & Cowdenbeath This will need more transparency around the restructure I think before some clubs will vote to end the season as there will still be some thinking about promotion while others will be delighted based on finances to just get any cash in that they can. Hopefully as fans we will get to see the results as to how all the clubs voted

I have no idea on the actual answer but are players at the top end actually PAYE or are they direct PSC (Ltd companies) or via Umbrella companies (run by agents or sports management companies)?

Perhaps they should be asking the fans advice, its clear the authorities are unsure. Maybe those who pay for the game should be given a chance on the outcomes - can be done through clubs, fan groups and even subscriptions with clubs taking the position to the table of the league bodies and voting that way. It may not be clean with different countries/leagues voting in alternate ways but that's where the overlying decision from UEFA for consistency across Europe will come in to collate those views and present in a transparent and public manner.

Unfortunately that's not mathematically certain, as yet no team in Europe has won their league - not even Liverpool. Simply handing over a title could result in all sorts of legal battles and compensation, relegation similar. Hearts have already said they would contest in court, every other team top and bottom affected would do the same (across Europe) - it will be an unprecedented mess. The only way to decide is play out the games (unlikely), get all member clubs in those leagues to agree majorities on the final placings (unlikely) or void the whole lot. The SPFL have already set a precedent by only awarding partial prize monies to Celtic/Rangers/M'well based on top 6 positions with all others equal split - therefore acknowledging there are as yet no finalised places. Therefore from a Rangers or Hearts position it means that there is an acceptance the league places can still change and unless mathematically certain (like the 3 top 6 teams) no other conclusions can be drawn.

Given the latest chat of 13wks of restrictions up to 6 months then this is looking increasingly likely - unless (like in the HL- which has no real impact if winner or bottom due to no promotion/relegation) teams within a league all agree on the outcome for title & relegation then void can be the only sensible outcome.

Unfortunately given the uncertainty of when restrictions on society will lift and the possibility of football returning I cannot see any way clubs can reasonably justify asking for ST monies. While I appreciate the pre-sale to help through this period, its unknown whether this is til the end of April (as suggested increased from start of April) or for 13 weeks, 6 months or more. Will we ever see this season complete and in what guise will the future season be - compact length, different leagues, reduced games. The challenge is the club will be trying to sell something they don't know the format or structure for making pricing hard to do. Ultimately make the call too soon and what happens if fans pay upfront for the club to fold based on the unclear future for when a regular income may return. Given the position of many fans regrading uncertain times with employment very few would be in a position to buy a ST now or in the next few months until clarity appears.

Looking at the behaviour from much of society its clear they have been rationing common sense for years!!!!

Need games back on soon to divert these idle minds from wasting their time coming up with more crazy ideas of league reconstructions and fanciful permutations. Nothing will change.

As yet Liverpool or Celtic or DUtd or any other club in Europe has not mathematically won their league or been relegated. If (for arguments sake) Liverpool were awarded the title then what would stop Man City and/or others going to court to contest, similar with relegation's and in the case of countries like Spain/Germany/Italy there are some big clubs to contest that had the games played out they could have won. National FA's & UEFA & FIFA wouldn't want this and how long that could all drag on for - it would leave decisions like qualifiers for next seasons CL/EL undecided and the next season competition in limbo. Depending on how long the 'break' is (anything more than a few wks) then expect the season to voided worldwide . For 20/21 see this season reset to game zero (kind of like Championship Manager when it all goes to ****)

https://spfl.co.uk/news/coronavirus-joint-response-group-update-46618 Season suspended until further notice

I agree not many would expect a refund, but for those with less free cash (especially if the are having enforced SSP) and have already invested in a ST might not feel very positive about it. If there was an opportunity to attend games (even just a random ballet where all may be equal) and this was bypassing them in favour of those with deeper pockets it may just drive some folks away - we constantly struggle to keep level ST numbers and increase footfall. Right now nobody other than a committed fan would pay to attend football as its perceived a public event and thus risk. There is an issue on lost revenues, but we will not be the only club or business affected. Controversial opinion time, but given the way the season is going and possibility there may not even be playoffs (Scottish football will likely follow England & Europe for ideas on that) this may yet be the best opportunity for administration and a points deduction to try rebuild.