In my work, I am an IT guy. If I was to re-build a server with old and broken components, it’s not going to work. The same applies to Scottish football. While, in principal, I agree with restructuring, I feel that rebuilding with the same old broken components isn’t going to help very much.
The old broken components that I am referring to are the people who run the SFA, SFL and SPL. At the moment, it seems impossible that our football club can be treated fairly. We are continually the victims of match changing honest mistakes from referees so will playing against more teams less often change that aspect of it ?
Take the most recent SFA complaint that has been directed to Neil Lennon, he will have a case to answer for swearing at an opposition player. The opposition player has admitted responding in an equally ‘offensive’ manner so why is it only Neil Lennon who has a case to answer?
Why did the fourth official not pick up this terrible language that both parties used? Why was it only taken from TV microphones when TV evidence supposedly cannot be used? Why does TV evidence only seem to apply now and again?
In the past, I have written on these pages about bad decisions that have gone against us and I will probably do so again but I don’t want to go into that today. I’ve used that recent example to show that regardless of the number of teams in the league, the rules will probably be applied differently depending on what team you happen to represent – hardly an improvement of the game.
Instead of restructuring the whole game, I think it’s time for the various governing bodies to be restructured and perhaps merged into one. Will this happen? I hope so but also doubt it, why would a very highly paid member of the SFA, SPL or SFL want to merge the three bodies? If they do, the chances are that two of the three highly paid folk would no longer be in a highly paid job where they do not have anyone to answer to – regardless of how often they make mistakes.
Like a lot of blogs I write, I am full of questions but don’t always have the answers. In the case, I don’t even think that I have any viable suggestions on how to improve football in Scotland. All I do know is that it’s going to take quite a long time.
As an example, we seem to have referees who are perfectly capable of making mistakes but are not capable of rectifying these mistakes. Using the St Mirren game as an example, would you be less annoyed about the penalty given against us for a dive that took place outside the box if the ref was able to come out after the game and admit that he made a wrong call?
I would certainly be much happier to accept mistakes if they could be rectified. Using the same match, the more I watch the Victor Wanyama foul, the more I find it difficult to see how a red card was the outcome of it. Perhaps the referee in question genuinely does want to treat Celtic more harshly than other teams, perhaps he just isn’t very good at his job.
Allowing him to fix such decisions would be one way of improving the game in Scotland.
Another thing that I think is not helping is the lack of competition in the top flight. In Europe, Celtic have had to be at the top of our game. If not, we would be embarrassed. In the SPL, we don’t need to be at the top of our game.
Yes, the players are professions and well paid ones at that. Yes, there is a management team who are also well paid to motivate the players but I can understand why it might be difficult for players to get motivated for a match that they don’t have to be on top form for – hence the poor league form.
We have been hearing a lot about a lack of Rangers being the reason for Celtic’s poorer than expected form, I don’t buy that at all, as I said above, I think it’s a lack of competition. Back in the 90’s when Celtic were pretty dire, nobody kept harping on about how everyone and their dog should bend over backwards to help out Celtic.
Perhaps for a country of just over 5 million people, we have too many football teams? Given that, over the last few years, we have had had quite a few teams entering administration or completely going under, maybe we should be looking at say 2 professional leagues or even 1 pro league with more than 12 teams in it.
Of course, I don’t know how to fix Scottish football, I barely know how to fix a puncture on my bike, I am just a fan who pays a lot of money for a product which is not value for money. I have had my season ticket for Celtic for so long that I can’t see me giving it up but the crowd numbers over the last few seasons are showing that something must be done to improve things.
If you’ve got any thoughts on how it should be done, leave them in the comments box below and here’s to a possible title party this weekend.
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2 Leagues of 14.
28 teams to the entire country, that’s enough.
Extra stadia stripped to re-furb stadia being used going forward.
Existing stadia ground sold to SFA / Gov. to build more regional academies.
I have all the answers !
Oh aye, kick the govan mob out for CW still being in charge 😉
Much as I agree with you that we don’t need three governing bodies you need to watch what you wish for. Merge them all and you have one body with one person in charge. So one decision maker, appeals made to the same body and you know that Mr Ogilvie won’t be keen to give up his post, FFS anyone with a shred of decency would have gone already!
Well said Stevie, The word TRUST is paramount to me in life, if you had a girlfriend or boyfriend (ahem) that proved through their actions & words that you couldn’t TRUST them, it’s not going to work,it would be broken beyond repair.
Certainly in my life, i find it impossible to be around people who break your trust! Regan,Doncaster,Ogilvie & Longmuir have broken,i believe the trust of football fans in this country, there are too many examples to mention but i will say this, from day one of the Rangers scandal & it is a scandal,we have not heard a single thing condemning Rangers from the sfa,spl & we even had longmuir say no league cups would be taken from Rangers,this before nimmo smiths verdict? The sfa & spl would not have allowed the new club to start at the bottom if they had their own way,it was the fans who got them to impliment their own rules?
F***n disgraceful? The HMRC verdict ( being appealed i know) & nimmo smiths £ 250,000 fine for a club that no longer exists has sickened me totally, as i say & i think i can speak on behalf of tens of thousands of fans across many clubs, these men,Regan Doncaster,Ogilvie & Longmuir have lost the TRUST of the fans in the game here,they have to go!!!! Sickened is the only word i can find that expresses my feelings just now! These men are a disgrace! HH!
I think the glaring answer to Celtics attendances is the cost of season tickets.it stands to reason.there are 30 thousand supporters turning up at 500 pounds, half that price for the year and attendances will again be at capacity.a full Celtic park will add the atmosphere back into Celtics game.you could still charge the same money for the champs league.celtic would not lose money and at the same time again thrive to have the best supported club in the world.comon Celtic half the ticket prices.double the attendance figures and the wages will be paid
Two bodies are required. One to govern the game the other to run it.
The SFA are the former, the leagues the latter (as a single body).
The SFA’s role is to protect the game’s integrity, the SPL’s is to provide a product that is commercially succesfull by being entertaining at a reasoanable cost that does not impinge on sporting integrity. (No TV deals that depend on a club not being relegated or going bust).
The Leagues provide a service to their “customers” – the supporters and clubs up their customer relationship game at all levels commensurate with their income.
The SFA provide a service to both leagues and club “customers” via policies and procedures properly carried out on club licensing, refereeing, disciplne and provide assurances via those properly managed routes that the league competitions are fair.
The SFA do so by closely examining then publishing financial data supplied by clubs to gain a licence (the latter they have just embarked on to be fair) and split the supply of referees, which is the SFA job via recruitment and training from the performance monotoring which is the customers (i.e leagues) responsibility.
The transformation from an Autocratic Culture where no one (SFA or Leagues) is answerable to anyone to a Service Culture is done by methods similar to market testing used to transform government organisations from being authorities to service providers.
Basically all stakeholders get together to define what kind of service is being delivered and (key) how and by whom the delivery will be measured. It is called Service Level Agreements in the market testing industry.
Delivery is measured and penalties imposed where the level falls short. The SFA charge the leagues for what they provide and the leagues pay when satisfied levels are met or withold payment if not satisfied.
The SFA then would be free for example to obtain referees from anywhere to satisfy their customers, breaking the incestous relationship that currently exists leading to the deterioration Neil Lennon complained about and could pay for professional referees for games with big money at stake.
It is not the personnel that need to change per se, but their thinking and attitude towards what they do.
Getting all stakeholders around the table though will be difficult although the latest to emerge from the ongoing Rangers fiasco suggests the SFA can no longer resist a root and branch examination of their role and purpose in the Scottish game.
Dead easy to fix. Stop pandering to the tribute act and accept Scottish football does not need a new, and arrogant club. The only people that need the tribute club in the top flight are their own tribute support. The crowds are dwindling, but there are a thousand reasons for this and none are related to them.
This country and the SFA have been riddled with the handshake brigade for long enough, and as a “paranoid Tim” I for one am sickened by it. By the by I have had two treason tickets for twenty seven years and the only way I will give them up is I discover that my club are complicit in any way in fast tracking them to the top flight. God bless Craigy Whyte!
Spot on regarding the regulation of Scottish football. Apart from being rotten to the core so many different footballing bodies in one small country is absurd.
Can’t agree regarding Celtics lack of motivation. Indeed if players can’t be motivated to play for Celtic they aren’t fit for the jersey. Ultimately its a managers job to get motivated players on the park and the management team have accept responsibility.
We pay a lot of money to watch Celtic. Our players are easily best paid in the league, they have the benefit of the best sports science available and the best training facilities in the country.
Lack of motivation is simply unacceptable.
If only Gerry, but I fear the days of playing for the jersey are long gone. There are no players today who would run their hearts out for peanuts after a hard weeks work far less the love of the game. Pampered little primas the lot of them sustained by money grabbing incompetents at every level of the sport, nationally and internationally. Guys like us are, sadly, dreamers who can only rely on memories for motivation. I do empathise with your opinion though.
H H
The club has to lower the price of admission. 29 quid is far too expensive to watch the SPL (it is too expensive to watch any football match!). 25 quid for a father/child under 16 ticket sounds fair. All cup games (except Europe should be included in the season book). What about concessions for the unemployed/pensioners, as well as Under-16s. Celtic need to remember their roots. Many people suffering in this terrible economic climate are the very same people the club was built for. Generations of their families have supported the club and ensured the club’s success. They have been priced out of the game. Time to give something back, Celtic.
There is too many clubs and too many supporters wanting to hold onto long gone history to consider the embrace of change, Edinburgh could have one challenging team (if Hibs/Hearts merged), Dundee , Lanarkshire, Inverness, Falkirk area etc all have multiple teams with small supporter base. Newco could merge with Partick Thistle. We could have a competitive novel / interesting top ten no problem but there are many out there who are content moaning about their under performing team who they would rather see bust that merged
” the baws bust “A great saying, if your like me you’ll remember how to repair it.
Unlace it, take the bladder oot, stick the rubber patch on it, put it back in, lace up and reflate. A bit like what the governing bodies are trying to do with our game.
But reality is once the modern baws burst you throw it away and get a new one, what the governing bodies should be doing.
In Nirvana I wouldn’t give a monkeys who the governing body would be as long as every team was treated with dignity, fairness and respect. Tinkering round the edges is never going to lead us there what is needed is the BIG BANG theory which like the modern baw would mean throwing it away and getting a new one.
New body, new people, new rules, new league set up, new teams (getting rid of at least a third of current clubs) and new badge (only kidding).
Will the new baw get brought on or will we stick with the old bladder???? Who knows.
Hail hail
Jimbo
Don’t knock the old bladder ba’. I am very proud of the lumps on my head!
H H
dont you think our support is dwindling because of the way the green brigade is getting hounded by strathcydes finest and also our club is not doing enough about this issue
“You can understand why it might be difficult for players to get motivated for a match” Is that a joke ? ? Is not playing for the famous Celtic Fc and playing in front of thousands of fans every week enough to motivate you as player ? ? Even if the title was won a month ago….Celtic FC have an obligation to entertain the people who pay the players wages !!! I think its shocking that some players have no idea about this concept ….its nothing short of a disgrace…..there are too many players with there heads up their own backside !!!! As for changes to Scottish football am bored to tears with playing the same teams 4 x a season !
Hail Hail ! !
Yes; too many teams.
Look at the East between Dundee and Aberdeen.
They could form their own league.