So Farewell SPL + SFL! Long Live SPFL! Record-Breaking Amounts of PR Guff Expected!

The Scottish Premier League is no more. Equally the Scottish Football League has gone. Both have been replaced by the super, new, improved Scottish Professional Football League!

Or have they …

(For that, see my next post!)

I feel though that the passing (apparently) of these famous and historic names should be marked, by referring to the following extracts from the SPL website.

It is fair to say that the power of the combined SPFL to create meaningless PR guff and tosh has increased exponentially as a result of the changes!

Advertisement

What’s Wrong With Scottish Football? There Are Far Too Many Teams

So, barring last-minute changes (and we know Scottish football can provide them when needed) reconstruction is off for now. Bearing in mind Neil Doncaster’s views expressed before the SPL vote it is not simply postponed but it is back to the drawing board.

This settles the biggest questions in football here for now. Rangers will play in the 3rd tier (as opposed, under reconstruction, to playing in the 3rd tier!). The Ibrox fans will not face the dispute they might have had with Mr Green if he was seen to take what they view as the tainted SPL shilling. The decision also means that the bonuses due to Mr Green and Mr Stockbridge for getting their team into a different league will stay sitting in the overflowing Ibrox vaults.

It also means that Cliftonhill, home of Albion Rovers, won’t get the chance to welcome Rangers in the league. So my plan to have a seat amongst the Rangers fans to ask them what they think of Murray, Whyte and Green will need to be postponed.

Carson’s Thoughts on League Reconstruction

Carson posted this yesterday.

Bizarrely the plans for reconstruction might unite fans of all teams – on the basis that everyone thinks they are rubbish!

And, as an aside, people will have noticed the Albion Rovers influence on the glorious result for Annan Athletic at the weekend? Jim Chapman, the manager, is a former Rovers player and manager!

And as a second aside, Carson found a couple of posts in moderation yesterday, but not through censorship of conflicting views, but through use of a couple of words which failed to pass thru the filters.

Now, Carson, the floor is yours.

—————————————————-

In reference to those seeking league reconstruction , one thing sticks out , before the mighty Rangers had their financial troubles there was no mention of reconstruction , it seemed to be a wee sweetener for the sfl clubs to shoe horn Rangers into div 1 with sanctions , correct ?

Re-Structuring of Scottish Football – The Wrong Answer to the Wrong Question? Guest Post by mcfc

I’ve been thinking about reconstruction and what I would do if parachuted into Hampden. Here are a few suggestions that Mr Doncaster et al are free to act upon. Although, further advice will be charged at my usual rate of pies and beer!

The first problem I see is that the SFA/SPL/SFL execs are caught is the classic exec conundrum – things are going tits up on their watch and things must be turned round quickly and dramatically without losing face – or their jobs. Their instinctive solution is dramatic re-structuring – WRONG.

You see it in big organisations all the time. Re-structuring lets you start at year zero, resetting all the inconvenient measures and metrics. But does it create a better business– usually not – but often the execs responsible move on before reality bites again.

The key questions for the execs are

• how did we get in this mess
• what did we do
• why didn’t it work
• what are we not understanding
• where will our current trajectory take us
• what is a reasonable and realistic alternative outcome?

Neil Doncaster Predicted Doom and Disaster for a Larger SPL – Now He Wants a Larger SPL

I have commented before on the poor record of Mr Doncaster and his crystal balls.

Neil Doncaster prepares to make another prediction of gloom and despair

I am very grateful to DonsTalk.co.uk for providing a more recent example, which is particularly relevant to today’s announcement from Hampden, copied below.

He is clearly a man not afraid to be swayed from his position by events!