What do YOU make on League Reconstruction?

[CaleyThistle]

I would rather the league's stay as they are for next season rather than rushing the 12, 12, 18 idea with the ridiculous split. That gives over a year to get some sensible ideas on the table to discuss. What is the point of going from bad to worse and driving away even more fans from the Scottish game.

 

We've had just about every alternative idea put on the table (some more than once) over the last few years and this is the ONLY one which looks like getting sufficient support to allow change to happen.

 

Sadly the media (and those who form their opinions based purely on the info provided therein) have turned this into a single issue debate, and it is far from being that.

 

Convenient how they all but ignore the fact that fans asked for the following...which is being delivered....

 

More variety in opposition

Improved Promotion, relegation & Playoffs

Merging SPL/SFL

Fairer Financial Distribution

Improved Governance (Accountability)

A more Democratic Structure

Change from 4 leagues to just 3

 

What's also conveniently ignored is the fact that fans have pretty much wanted rid of the 12 team league with top/bottom 6 split since the day it came in to force.

 

If all clubs stuck to their guns on the "No change unless I get what I want now" stance, then it would never happen because it takes 11 clubs to change it.  What we have in this proposal is a realisation among the SPL clubs (apart from Ross County it would seem) that they were at a stalemate and without agreement on the league structure then all the other good stuff fails to materialise.  The 12-12 to 8-8-8 structure was the only setup that ticked enough boxes for enough clubs in order for a viable proposal for change to be put on the table.

 

Why/How have they suddenly found this common ground?  I think the way the league has played out on the park this season has a lot to do with that.  What we have is a situation where 3 of the clubs in the top half of the league which is giving up a bit of their "share" are those with the lowest budgets....so they are still going to be financially better off anyway.  Clubs at the lower end, some of whom consider themselves "big" clubs, were/are going to lose out financially, but with the revised financial distribution they don't lose out by quite so much.  They've also realised that any one of them could end up in a relegation battle, so it makes sense to ensure they are better protected financially if that happens.

 

That, IMO, is why some think that this could be a one off opportunity (and I agree)....not to get a specific league structure, but to get a administrative setup that's not held back by a minority in future.  League structure doesn't matter right now and with a more democratic organisation running the game, if it it doesn't work then it can be looked at and changed by the will of the majority...which is how it should be.

 

All that aside though, you have to ask yourselves if the majority of fans really are against the idea, or if they really care what the setup is.  I don't think any club got more than 150 people along to a meeting about it (we only managed about 40)....even the Scottish Football Survey which could be completed as and when a person so wished got a response rate of under 5%.of Season Ticket holders across the country.  Frustrates the hell out of me that fans come on forums, facebook, twitter etc demanding a voice and demanding they be listened to....but when they get the opportunity, they don't take it.  Ironically, these people effectively expect the SPL to make decisions based on a lower minority than currently exists with the 11/1 voting structure!!!

 

Completely agree with your last point but my main issue is the fact all teams go back to 0 points in the middle of the season? What If you have a good start to the season, lose your best players in January and are terrible there onwards. Really is a shambles this proposal IMO

[Caleyjag157]

Thing is, it hasn't been proved it doesn't work. It just didn't in switzerland and for a variety of reasons. As various people have already said, the reason for change NOW is that there is a window to alter the voting structure that won't be there in a couple of years if we sit on our hands. The status quo will have been restored and the west coast city dwellers will be happy. So it has to be now, or never really. It's always going to happen that change will bring some kind of uncertainty, but that's no reason not to change. So change now, and then if the league is as bad as some are predicting (although I fail to see how) we at least have a voting structure that allows us to tinker with it.

I thought the voting structure was remaining 11-1 even if reconstruction goes ahead. If that is the case then how does that benifit Scottish football?

[gingerjaggy]

The voting structure will go if reconstruction is passed as it will become all 42 clubs and not just the 12 SPL clubs voting so yes the 11-1 will disappear that will be as all the clubs will be under one body and not two which is at current

Edited April 5, 2013 by gingerjaggy

[CaleyD]

Thing is, it hasn't been proved it doesn't work. It just didn't in switzerland and for a variety of reasons. As various people have already said, the reason for change NOW is that there is a window to alter the voting structure that won't be there in a couple of years if we sit on our hands. The status quo will have been restored and the west coast city dwellers will be happy. So it has to be now, or never really. It's always going to happen that change will bring some kind of uncertainty, but that's no reason not to change. So change now, and then if the league is as bad as some are predicting (although I fail to see how) we at least have a voting structure that allows us to tinker with it.

 

 

What is the rush to get this through for next season. It has already been proven that the 12 12 18 model with the split does not work. The whole situation is crazy there is just over a month till the end of this season and you have teams who have no idea what league they will be playing in next season. As I said before there needs to be a clearout of the the top dogs in Scottish football and strong characters who know and love the game brought in to guide Scottish football forward and make it stable and stronger for the future.

 

It's actually not true that it didn't work in Switzerland either. It served them well to begin with (as change often does with anything) and, just like many other smaller countries, reached a point where it got stagnant and needed something fresh....just like the current setup has done in Scotland.

[CaleyD]

Completely agree with your last point but my main issue is the fact all teams go back to 0 points in the middle of the season? What If you have a good start to the season, lose your best players in January and are terrible there onwards. Really is a shambles this proposal IMO

 

What you have to remember is that the middle group of 8 is a "play-off" scenario, and what other play-off scenario do you know of where it doesn't start from a level playing field?  It's not possible to keep any points as you have teams coming from two different leagues and those coming up from the lower division will have considerably more points than those coming down from the top one.

 

It can also work just as much to a teams advantage as it can it's disadvantage...if you have a poor start to the season you could be sitting in the bottom two or three places facing certain relegation or a 2/3 game play-off.  With the split like this, you have a chance to get yourself sorted out and push on for a return to the top 12 in the new season.

 

People may not like or agree with it, but it is logical and fair to all teams as they know exactly how things are to be played out, there's even competition with all teams playing each other equally home and away before and after the split and a team has to effectively finish 13th to be relegated.  Under the current setup it's 12th and if you just introduced play-offs it could be 10th, 11th or 12th.  In effect, it gets rid of the current situation whereby teams start the season with a mindset that "11th is good enough for survival"....hopefully that is reflected on the pitch (as it has been this season) by teams going out to win games instead of going out "not to lose".

 

The fairer financial distribution also offers a bit of stability, allowing teams room to go out and play more attacking football whilst protecting then to a certain extent should it not pan out and they do find themselves in that lower group.

 

The new setup makes sense of having a split, giving it some purpose over and above making sure there's an acceptable number of games.  Of course, like every setup, you can come up with scenarios where it might not be ideal...but for the majority of teams there's something to be played for all season long.  Good starts, bad starts, indifferent starts....they can all effect teams whatever the league setup.  It's for clubs to make sure they avoid the pitfalls and with the financial pitfalls being lessened, it should hopefully encourage them to be spending beyond their means through shear desperation to stay in the top league.

[CaleyD]

Thing is, it hasn't been proved it doesn't work. It just didn't in switzerland and for a variety of reasons. As various people have already said, the reason for change NOW is that there is a window to alter the voting structure that won't be there in a couple of years if we sit on our hands. The status quo will have been restored and the west coast city dwellers will be happy. So it has to be now, or never really. It's always going to happen that change will bring some kind of uncertainty, but that's no reason not to change. So change now, and then if the league is as bad as some are predicting (although I fail to see how) we at least have a voting structure that allows us to tinker with it.

I thought the voting structure was remaining 11-1 even if reconstruction goes ahead. If that is the case then how does that benifit Scottish football?

 

The board under any new setup would be made up from representatives of all leagues.  The level of votes required for different things would also change and move into line with the more acceptable practices of any other business setup these days.

 

How does the change benefit Scottish Football?  You no longer have a very small minority dictating what happens with the whole game.  As it stands we have an SPL that can effectively be held to ransom by any two teams who might choose to block change.  Since the SPL all but controls the games finances then they effectively control/dictate what happens in the rest of Scottish Football.  The new setup gives all 42 teams (41 as Rangers are currently only associate members and not entitled to a vote) a proportionate voice in all league matters, ensuring decisions taken at any level are (for the most part) not negatively impacting on anyone at any other level.