What are your questions for Doncaster

[12th Man]

Where is all of the proposed extra revenue coming from, The Government? Considering cuts in defense, education, hospitals, council staff etc. Where is this magic pot of money coming from.

TV revenue?, In these difficult times who is going to have money to spend on sport on TV, let alone the extra number of viewers required to make things pay their way, even advertising is getting tight across the board. one word could sum up these elusive promises and that is Setanta.

I would assume with in 2 years of a 10 & 12 team league, the TV broadcasters will turn around and say that this is no longer financially viable.

The SPL will then realize that its the fans that support their club through thick and thin and not Television.

Explain how this will improve the chances of our youth becoming great players for Scotland How can our youth be involved when the league is tighter and there is supposedly more money to spend on foreign players, I hope colt teams isn't your answer, as the question wasnt how are you going to help the old firm create great players ? Small clubs dont want colt teams.

Whats in it for you Neil Will you earn more money or less money if this goes ahead.

Edited January 19, 2011 by 12th Man

[Scotty]

I have no questions for him as I believe he has neither the integrity or intelligence to answer them honestly or with any degree of capability.

[dougal]

Neil who is your barber?

dougal

[Jay_7]

My only question for him would be "Neil, with every fan in the country disagreeing with you, will you do the right thing and resign?"

[Johnboy]

My question would be :

Why should someone (Henry McLeish) who was forced to quit politics after an expenses fiddle scandal be charged with the responsibility of coming up with a new league structure?

[Jay_7]

My question would be :

Why should someone (Henry McLeish) who was forced to quit politics after an expenses fiddle scandal be charged with the responsibility of coming up with a new league structure?

The answer to that should be fairly obvious.

Like Graham Bennet, Henry McLeish used to play footie at a low level, therefore it's only natural to give them both a football related job, right? I mean, they played football, so they know absolutely everything about Scottish football inside and out.

[+Gringo]

Why, and how the hell can you possibly lose 5-0 against Wolves?? Useless, completely and utterly useless. :tongue:

[Johnboy]

Michael Johnson of Kilmarnock is talking more sense than anyone else on this programme.

[old caley girl]

Why will 10 team league work this time when it didnt last time? and what is plan b if the tv deal goes down the tubes like it did previously when sentanta went bust?

[+MrCaleyjag]

I wouldn't give him the chance to dodge any question which I could potential pose to him, the man doesn't have the common decency to answer one straight and maybe should go and sit in the House of Commons as his answers mirror that of a politician dodging the answers and getting over his own agenda as he knows he has an audience.

[Johnboy]

Why will 10 team league work this time when it didnt last time? and what is plan b if the tv deal goes down the tubes like it did previously when sentanta went bust?

Good question.

I don't think it would work this time. I'm old enough to remember when the Scottish Premier Division was created back in the 70's, and we went from an 18 team Div 1 to a premier league of 10. I didn't think it did anything for the game at that time, and can't see how it would be any different this time.

We had some terrific games in Div 1 last season, and lots of good away days. If you were to add the current top 4 of Div 1 to the current SPL that for me would make a very attractive 16 team league. There would still have to be a split to avoid completely meaningless games in the middle of the table towards the end of the season.

The ideas of a 14 or a 16 league set up, or even the status quo just has to preferable to another 10 team SPL. Sky TV should not be calling all the shots - they will kill the game off completely as a spectator sport. They're not interested in bums on seats - only in bums in pubs, and armchair sports package people.

.

.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Johnboy

[Jay_7]

What program's on at the moment?

Edit: that's not what I'd ask Doncaster by the way. On second thoughts perhaps I would. It'd be a good test to see how much of a grip he has on reality.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Jay_7

[12th Man]

Why will 10 team league work this time when it didnt last time? and what is plan b if the tv deal goes down the tubes like it did previously when sentanta went bust?

Good question.

I don't think it would work this time. I'm old enough to remember when the Scottish Premier Division was created back in the 70's, and we went from an 18 team Div 1 to a premier league of 10. I didn't think it did anything for the game at that time, and can't see how it would be any different this time.

We had some terrific games in Div 1 last season, and lots of good away days. If you were to add the current top 4 of Div 1 to the current SPL that for me would make a very attractive 16 team league. There would still have to be a split to avoid completely meaningless games in the middle of the table towards the end of the season.

The ideas of a 14 or a 16 league set up, or even the status quo just has to preferable to another 10 team SPL. Sky TV should not be calling all the shots - they will kill the game off completely as a spectator sport. They're not interested in bums on seats - only in bums in pubs, and armchair sports package people.

.

.

Does your memory serve you well enough to remember what teams were involved in an 18 team league at the time of the revamp, attendance figures, who stayed in the top 10 and who never made it back for years, yes I know, I'm not asking much.

[Johnboy]

Does your memory serve you well enough to remember what teams were involved in an 18 team league at the time of the revamp, attendance figures, who stayed in the top 10 and who never made it back for years, yes I know, I'm not asking much.

I've got a brilliant memory...

This was how the top 10 came into being in 74/5.

see here

[MissICT]

When are you gonna f*ck off??

In all seriousness : how can a ten team encourage young blood???

Also, how much money would non-old firm sides gain from tv-rights?

[CaleyD]

I would start with asking him to produce the facts and figures to back his financial claims because from what I can gather nothing adds up........

TV Money

• Claims clubs would lose £1 Million a year from TV/Gate if we increase league size - For a start, half (or more) of the clubs aren't actually making £1 Million a year from TV, so how can they lose it? SPL have a 5 year deal worth £65 Million, that's £13 Million a year. OF take a third of that between them and the rest is divided based on league position and number of games they appear in. Anyone in the bottom 6 is unlikely to be taking home £1 Million in TV revenue.
• What is the new offer being put on the table by SKY-ESPN for a 10 team league and an SPL2? Does an offer actually exist?
• Why, as the only real bidders in the market place, would SKY-ESPN be offering up more money for less games being broadcast to narrower marketplace and, if fans vote with their feet, to fewer people? Surely they want a product that will sell, and a product that will sell is a product the customers want (see listening to the fans below)

Other Money

• As I understand it, the figures for the money going to an SPL2 have been based on the SFL handing over half their income, but only a third of the teams to the SPL. Has this been agreed to, by who and when?
• You talk of "significant" reductions in the financial loss from relegation. Given that ICT lost £1.5 Million from it's turnover and other clubs could conceivably suffer larger losses (it;s not a fixed figure, but one based on club size/revenue of which we are amongst the smaller ones), then where is the money to come from to allow you to "significantly" reduce the burden? What's more, if you are taking away 50% of the SFL income in order to bolster the SPL2 then you have a bigger gap between the finances of the SPL2 and the SFL, will the same financial parachutes be on offer there and where is that money to come from?
• Has any consideration been given to what clubs sponsors & advertisers might think? Are they going to continue to pay what they do to advertise to a narrower market (fewer opposition teams) and potentially smaller crowds if fans vote to go elsewhere through boredom (see listening to the fans below).

From there I would then start delving in to some of the other points which seem to have been overlooked or quickly cast over........

What would be the criteria (stadia, USH etc) for SPL2? Any restrictions on entry make the idea of Play-Offs as an additional money spinner absolutely null and void, they also throw the argument for a more competitive setup right out the window as you're taking the deciding factor for progress totally off the park and placing it squarely into the business side of the operation.

What would be the criteria (stadia, USH etc) for SPL1? Same paints as above.

Following on from the point on qualifying criteria, do you not think that it's damaging enough that we have one point of failure in that regard within the Scottish League System, why would you want to introduce a second? We have all witnessed clubs sending themselves to the wall as a result of speculating on promotion and spending more than they can afford on both the players to achieve that and the infrastructure required to secure entry to the SPL. Many of these clubs suffered during a time when their was far more money in the game than we have at present, so does it not seem like complete folly to be forcing this situation on clubs, especially on clubs far further down the ladder who are even less capable of shouldering the cost in leagues below the SPL where you have stripped out half their income?

Where are the side by side comparisons? If you are so adament that 10 teams is the best, then you've surely done your homework on the pro's and con's of all the other league sizes. People aren't stupid, lay it out there for us in black and white and show us, let us understand for ourselves.

Perhaps the most obvious question of all, why aren't you listening to the customer? Whilst I appreciate there's a market for selling people what they think they want (gimmicks), such things are generally short lived and football is not the marketplace in which to be peddling such wares (even tacky merchandise in club shops is becoming a thing of the past). In order to develop a long term, fincially stable business then you have to give customers what they want. Where would Ford be today if they had ever stuck to the principle that customers could have any colour they wanted, so long as it is black? We have the exact same situation here where you are telling your customers they can have any size league they want, so long as it's got 10 teams in it. A successful business is one which provides it's customers what it wants, a dead business is one which ignores it's customers and quickly finds they have moved on elsewhere....and in this day and age, where football is already on the verge of pricing itself out of the entertainment industry, it's not going to take much to turn away customers to the point where it becomes unsustainable and the quickest route to that end is not listening.

How do your proposals benefit the game as a whole? What does it do to reverse the falling trend of good young Scottish players coming through our systems? If it comes down to a straight up choice between having a system that allows and encourages us to develop our own players, or one which is driven entirely by money, then I know where my vote would lie. Better to have a bit less money and see it being spent developing players in Scotland, than have more money and see it all being spent abroad.

I appreciate the above is probably a waste of breath as we're all preaching to the converted on here, but I do intend to do what I can to push these, and any other questions that people come up with, through the channels where they can be collated with those of other fans and hopefully find their way to where they need to be and are being asked by someone with the balls to demand full and proper answers.

[bdu98196]

Can one part of your anatomey touch another - if so go do the unmentionable!!

Seriously though

How can Scottish football achieve something every other Eurpoean league is failing to do and introduce competitive football and break the malase of their being a monopoly of title winners caused by the Champions League? What is the proposal to reduce the financial gap between domestic clubs and introduce a more level playing field for competitiveness? How is going to 10 teams hoping to achieve this as the situation with having a duo-opoly of title winners will continue leaving 2 from 8 at risk every year, where is the possible breathing space for clubs to introduce younger players and develop technical skills?

[PullMyFinger]

Show us the money.

[Johnboy]

I would start with asking him to produce the facts and figures to back his financial claims because from what I can gather nothing adds up........

TV Money

• Claims clubs would lose ?1 Million a year from TV/Gate if we increase league size - For a start, half (or more) of the clubs aren't actually making ?1 Million a year from TV, so how can they lose it? SPL have a 5 year deal worth ?65 Million, that's ?15 Million a year. OF take a third of that between them and the rest is divided based on league position and number of games they appear in. Anyone in the bottom 6 is unlikely to be taking home ?1 Million in TV revenue.
• What is the new offer being put on the table by SKY-ESPN for a 10 team league and an SPL2? Does an offer actually exist?
• Why, as the only real bidders in the market place, would SKY-ESPN be offering up more money for less games being broadcast to narrower marketplace and, if fans vote with their feet, to fewer people? Surely they want a product that will sell, and a product that will sell is a product the customers want (see listening to the fans below)

Other Money

• As I understand it, the figures for the money going to an SPL2 have been based on the SFL handing over half their income, but only a third of the teams to the SPL. Has this been agreed to, by who and when?
• You talk of "significant" reductions in the financial loss from relegation. Given that ICT lost ?1.5 Million from it's turnover and other clubs could conceivably suffer larger losses (it;s not a fixed figure, but one based on club size/revenue of which we are amongst the smaller ones), then where is the money to come from to allow you to "significantly" reduce the burden? What's more, if you are taking away 50% of the SFL income in order to bolster the SPL2 then you have a bigger gap between the finances of the SPL2 and the SFL, will the same financial parachutes be on offer there and where is that money to come from?
• Has any consideration been given to what clubs sponsors & advertisers might think? Are they going to continue to pay what they do to advertise to a narrower market (fewer opposition teams) and potentially smaller crowds if fans vote to go elsewhere through boredom (see listening to the fans below).

From there I would then start delving in to some of the other points which seem to have been overlooked or quickly cast over........

What would be the criteria (stadia, USH etc) for SPL2? Any restrictions on entry make the idea of Play-Offs as an additional money spinner absolutely null and void, they also throw the argument for a more competitive setup right out the window as you're taking the deciding factor for progress totally off the park and placing it squarely into the business side of the operation.

What would be the criteria (stadia, USH etc) for SPL1? Same paints as above.

Following on from the point on qualifying criteria, do you not think that it's damaging enough that we have one point of failure in that regard within the Scottish League System, why would you want to introduce a second? We have all witnessed clubs sending themselves to the wall as a result of speculating on promotion and spending more than they can afford on both the players to achieve that and the infrastructure required to secure entry to the SPL. Many of these clubs suffered during a time when their was far more money in the game than we have at present, so does it not seem like complete folly to be forcing this situation on clubs, especially on clubs far further down the ladder who are even less capable of shouldering the cost in leagues below the SPL where you have stripped out half their income?

Where are the side by side comparisons? If you are so adament that 10 teams is the best, then you've surely done your homework on the pro's and con's of all the other league sizes. People aren't stupid, lay it out there for us in black and white and show us, let us understand for ourselves.

Perhaps the most obvious question of all, why aren't you listening to the customer? Whilst I appreciate there's a market for selling people what they think they want (gimmicks), such things are generally short lived and football is not the marketplace in which to be peddling such wares (even tacky merchandise in club shops is becoming a thing of the past). In order to develop a long term, fincially stable business then you have to give customers what they want. Where would Ford be today if they had ever stuck to the principle that customers could have any colour they wanted, so long as it is black? We have the exact same situation here where you are telling your customers they can have any size league they want, so long as it's got 10 teams in it. A successful business is one which provides it's customers what it wants, a dead business is one which ignores it's customers and quickly finds they have moved on elsewhere....and in this day and age, where football is already on the verge of pricing itself out of the entertainment industry, it's not going to take much to turn away customers to the point where it becomes unsustainable and the quickest route to that end is not listening.

How do your proposals benefit the game as a whole? What does it do to reverse the falling trend of good young Scottish players coming through our systems? If it comes down to a straight up choice between having a system that allows and encourages us to develop our own players, or one which is driven entirely by money, then I know where my vote would lie. Better to have a bit less money and see it being spent developing players in Scotland, than have more money and see it all being spent abroad.

I appreciate the above is probably a waste of breath as we're all preaching to the converted on here, but I do intend to do what I can to push these, and any other questions that people come up with, through the channels where they can be collated with those of other fans and hopefully find their way to where they need to be and are being asked by someone with the balls to demand full and proper answers.

Great post, CD - Well done Big Man.

You should print that out and send a copy to TB. He might be very happy to raise these questions (and more) on your behalf, with the powers that be.

[WeAreSPL]

My question would be ..............................

Is your hairstyle a time-saving gimmick?

Is it designed so that people are fully aware you are a *****

even before you open your mouth?

[dougal]

Why will 10 team league work this time when it didnt last time?

In what way did it not work last time???

Aberdeen won the European cup winners cup in 1983 and Dundee Utd made a European Cup semi while in a 10 club SPL if i'm not mistaken

I personally would like to see a 14 or 16 team league but that just ain't going to happen now so theres no point continuing to bleat on about it

dougal

[TopSix]

What evidence can you provide to disprove this statement by Ayr United chairman Lachlan Cameron:

?In the grand scheme of things, the money doesn?t flow down properly. There are two teams who run Scottish football, Rangers and Celtic, and everything revolves around them. That is not a league; that is a monopoly. We are the laughing stock of European football.?

[bdu98196]

What evidence can you provide to disprove this statement by Ayr United chairman Lachlan Cameron:

"In the grand scheme of things, the money doesn't flow down properly. There are two teams who run Scottish football, Rangers and Celtic, and everything revolves around them. That is not a league; that is a monopoly. We are the laughing stock of European football."

Once upon a time I'd agree ith you, but its not just Scotland that is suffering now - look at many smaller countries that have a 1 or 2 team monopoly, even the bigger leagues such as Spain - Real Madrid, Barca : Italy - AC, Inter, Juve : England - Man U, Arsenal, chelsea - without any multi-billionaire investment into a singular os set of teams every league in Europe is monopolised due to the Champions League pot of gold.

[PullMyFinger]

Surely then, we should be looking to UEFA to be funding improvements at grass root level to improve the game for everyone?

I believe the SPL2 proposal to be no more than a cash grab by the SPL leaving the teams in the SFL with even less than they have at the moment. Those clubs are a big part of their communities identity.

[MissICT]

I still fail to understand how undemoctraric he is! We have all the information about a 10 team leauge however why is no information about a bigger league been realised?? He is pushing towards a 1 0 team league and is not listening to anyone! Is sky sports and the old firm giving him backhanders?

A real head of spl football would give financial figures of every possibility!

Am no sure if this make much sense but I hope you get the just ( it's late at night)