Where do we go from here

[Double entry]

Well now we know, Dundee in SPL, Airdrie in div 1, Stehousemuir in div 2 and New Rangers in div 3.

But where does that leave Scottish football?
Leaderless, over administered and seemingly without a coherent plan to take the game forward.

In my view we need one organisation running Scottish football, the removal of the three present chief executives and the bringing in of somebody with experience but untainted by the fiasco of the last three months.

An agreement on the fair (not equal) sharing of the sponsorship pot and a one man one vote system.

All other ideas and suggestions welcome for debate.

But despite all this I am going to enjoy County in the Premier League

[ReluctantHero]

Firstly, I’m glad this thing has come to some sort of conclusion. And although Sevco have received favourable treatment in being fast-tracked straight into Division 3, it is a lot more palatable than been voted into Division 1 or even the SPL.

With regards to Dundee being promoted, I don’t think the irony is lost on many people. One club that has gone into liquidation being replaced by another that has served penalties for going into administration relatively recently. I think it was the only option available though, unless the SPL wanted to progress with 11 teams.

It just beggars belief that it was allowed to get to this stage, with under two weeks until the start of the SFL season. If the rules were applied fairly, instead of trying to bend them at every possible opportunity, then this would have been cleared up at the start of pre-season.

However, if it wasn’t for consistent pressure applied by normal football fans, with absolutely no help from the mainstream media, then “sporting integrity” would have been totally ignored. Therefore Joe Public has played a blinder in this.

I think this makes long term change in the league set up now inevitable. I see that Mr Regan has tonight been given the dreaded vote of confidence and Mr Doncaster is doing his best to ride out the storm, but I don’t see either hanging about for very much longer.

I think the current SPL teams will use the absence of Rangers to push through changes which will be better for the game, including more equitable distribution of TV revenue etc.

However, all that is for another day. Just now I am just glad we have football to look forward to again. I previously said on this forum that I would not be back to another Scottish Football game if Rangers were voted into Division 1. Therefore I breathed a huge sigh of relief at the outcome of the various meetings over the last week. For me personally, this saga has cast a huge cloud over what should have been a brilliant pre-season, so I’m just glad it is over and I can get back to supporting County.

C’mon the Staggies

[Slatefordstag]

Change the voting structure asap! Like tomorrow if possible make it 8-4 or something and then re-introduce the shared gates they had a good few years back now!

Its playing field levelling time.

I'm a bit young to fully understand how much an effect scrapping the shared gates had, but the old Arab at work seems to think a lot!

[Chewbacca]

The problem is that you need to get in someone who completely understands Sport and Football businesses but who can take emotion out of making decisions and act objectively for the good of Scottish Football.

It's the objectivity that causes the issues in sport, those that are interested and have the knowledge to do these roles, will always have leanings towards one or another team/club/group. Those that do end up in these roles often end up leaning towards these or over compensating the other way (scared of being called biased), both of which is not condusive to well run Governing Bodies.

This also goes for SPL Board vs SFL Board vs SFA Board, it wouldn't matter what happened, the SPL would have continued to preserve the cash cow situation that they have gorged off for ever if this Rankers fiasco hadn't happened. They wouldn't have bothered about sporting integrity, the good of Scottish Football as a whole etc.

I don't really know if I have a point here, probably that change is needed, the whole thing needs to be made fairer, but they need the think very carefully about who comes in at the top of any proposed merged body or we'll end up going back to self preserving, greed that we have seen since the SPL was formed!

For me Money is the source of all evil in sport, it goes against the very nature of it and is detrimental to equal, fair, accessible competition. I have a worrying feeling that we are about to find out how good we had it in the SFL where the distribution of money was fairer, the teams a more even standard, and the games more accessible to the general punter. Not to say I'm not looking forward to it, but I doubt it will be as enjoyable as this year.

[Five Minutes from the Ground]

(07-17-2012 12:05 PM)Chewbacca Wrote:  The problem is that you need to get in someone who completely understands Sport and Football businesses but who can take emotion out of making decisions and act objectively for the good of Scottish Football.

That was meant to be Stewart F Regan.

[staggie34]

Pyramid system needed from league down to minor leagues such as Highland League or West Of Scotland League. For too long have poor teams finished bottom of Div 3 and stagnated whilst decent teams like Spartans and Annan couldn't make the step up.
Plus if some SPL clubs have based their financial forecast around playing the Old Firm 4 times a season then they should pay the penalty for their lack of foresight. We need more support for scottish youngsters and academies rather than buying cheap tat from Latvia.
Hooper was one of the most lauded players at Celtic, they bought the guy from Scunthorpe! In the big scheme of things, he is pants. It has taken the Rangers fiasco to open some peoples eyes on just how crap Scottish football has become.

or on the other hand......

Forget the rest and just enjoy County giving them all a shock this year!