YAWN!!!!! That was my immediate reacton to the earth-shattering news that the think tank at the top of the Scottish Professional Football League are thinking of, once again, re-arranging the deckchairs on fitba's version of The Titanic.
“Jumping the shark” is an idiom popular in the entertainment business, marking the moment in the development of a TV series, when the writing team loses the plot completely and gets desperate; it evolved from a 1977 edition of 'Happy Days' in which The Fonz jumped a shark while water-skiing. The SPFL lang syne jumped a whole shoal of sharks.
I appreciate, it would suit the butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers who run the 40 Diddy Clubs to convene a whole series of meetings, focus groups, workshops and the like over the next few months, to give the impression that they are serious about doing something. Yes, the guys from the real life inspiration for Invertottie Howkers, Wellgather Lilac, Glasgow Breengers and Kilnockie FC want to appear relevant; But it would save us all a great deal of time if they simply bowed to reality, left it up to the adults in the room and invited the representatives of The Old Firm to decide what they wanted, then rolled over to let the big boys rub their tummies in gratitude for passing their decision on the nod.
For all the excesses of the two clubs' fairly-large lunatic fringe, the Diddy Clubs will seemingly far-rather exist on crumbs from their table than force through the changes which would level the Scottish Football playing field – it makes for an easier life. This is one of the reasons why, the SPFL's rules allow two clubs, acting together, to block any changes.
They had a chance for meaningful change when Rangers went tits-up in 2012, only Aberdeen stepped up and offered handers to Celtic to stave-off a revolution.
A return to a ten-club top flight might be on the cards, who knows. Some want to turn the clock back 50 years to a 16-team top flight; but we will probably need to await the outcome of the current take-over moves down Edmiston Drive way, before there is any clarity. However, I reckon, we will see another roll of adhesive dressing applied to the rather wounded beast that is Scottish Firba, rather than the life-saving surgery which is required.
Mind you, all hope is not yet lost, but I expect recovery to be a long-drawn-out process. Meantime, here is something to ponder – I've got a little list:R
Here's a breakdown of American-owned clubs in major European leagues:
Premier League:
Arsenal: Owned by Stan Kroenke
Aston Villa: Owned by V Sports
Bournemouth: Owned by Bill Foley
Chelsea: Owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital
Crystal Palace: Majority owned by three U.S. investors
Fulham: Owned by Shahid Khan
Liverpool: Owned by Fenway Sports Group
Manchester United: Owned by the Glazer Family
Everton: Owned by the Friedkin Group
Serie A:
AC Milan: Owned by RedBird Capital Partners (Gerry Cardinale)
Atalanta: Owned by Stephen Pagliuca
Genoa: Owned by 777 Partners
Monza: Owned by Gabelli
Udinese: Owned by the Saputo family
Ligue 1:
Le Havre: Owned by North Americans
Lyon: Owned by North Americans
Marseille: Owned by North Americans
St. Etienne: Owned by North Americans
Strasbourg: Owned by North Americans
Toulouse: Owned by North Americans
Other Notable American Ownership:
Wrexham AFC: Owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney
Birmingham City: Has US investors including Tom Brady
Burnley: Owned by ALK Capital
Ipswich Town: Owned by ORG, BPSP and Avenue Sports
West Ham: Has a minority U.S. Investor
Leeds United: owned by 49 Enterprises Global
That list includes 14 English-based clubs; add The Old Firm, Manchester City, Newcastle United and maybe a couple of other foreign-owned clubs and you have the basis of a viable breakaway league, bankrolled by mainly American money and owners who recognise the money-making potential of a league run on North American professional sports lines – with an all-powerful Commissioner, really good media deals, and a CBA (Combined Business Agreement).
Such a league makes far-greater business sense than an SPFL or even one of the English Leagues, hide-bound by well over a century of tradition.
Mind you, if the Big Two did depart into an American-style Superleague, be it largely British or even pan-European, we just might get a really-competitive Scottish League from the teams left behind. Without the big two distorting the finances and the toxic presence of their lunatic fringes, why, those left behind might start favouring native talent and Scottish Fitba could rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of the pull-out to supposed greater riches that the Bigot Brothers have long coveted.
Of course, it might be, The Old Firm are quite happy to be big sharks, swimming in a shallow pool filled with easily-devoured food, in which case, there will be no shark-jumping any time soon and the slow decline of Scottish Fitba will only speed-up.
But, past deck-chair re-arranging has me fairly certain, any changes made will be largely cosmetic and will go nowhere near far enough.