More Piss From The Men Who Have Pissed On Scottish Football

HERE we go again, the SPL has shut-down for January, so, in an effort to body swerve having to attend games in the backwater of the SFL, the opinion-formers in the mainstream media, in particular the A Team of the Scottish Football Writers Association, the intellectual "fans with lap tops" division of the Tartan ARmy are taking to writing what we in the trade call "opinion pieces".

This will prove difficult for a bunch of ne'er do wells who have, by and large, never had a self-generated opinion in their puffs. Over the week-end we have been told that an agreement is on the way, between the SPL and the SFL, which will foist a three-division 12-12-18 league set-up upon us, perhaps as early as next season. This apparently is the preferred option of those leaders of our game with huge waistlines, even bigger egos and pea-sized brains, the Hampden "blazerati".

So, the men whose inspired leadership, financial genius and football knowledge has led Scotland to hitherto unplumbed depths in international standing and has made Scottish football a standing joke across the football world are being entrusted with digging us out of the hole they got us into in the first place. Haud me back.

The fans don't want the proposed set-up, overwhelmingly they want a two-division set-up, with at least 16 clubs in the top flight. Such a system worked very well for years, but there is no going back to it.

Let's be honest, in the current economic climate, which is likely to continue for a few years, there are only two clubs in Scotland with the fan base to finance full-time football - this was the case in the golden era, post-World War II, when football enjoyed attendances they can only dream about today, it is even more obviously the case today. The rest, instead of struggling to finance over-inflated full-time squads, should be adopting the junior approach, cutting back to tight, small squads - perhaps with a Champions League-stylke cap at 25 players, ideally mostly part-time - the small number of full-timers employed primarily as development officers, going out into the local community to "sell" football. The clubs need to insist the players work harder and are paid less; this is the only way to survive.

Let's be honest too in what we can afford in infrastructure terms. David Longmuir, the SFL Chief Executive, insists Scotland must safeguard the continuation of all 42 clubs. Frankly DAvid, this is bollocks. Most of the clubs in the bottom half of the senior game are literally bottom feeders, they contribute little or nothing to the overall success or continuation of the game here.

The wee teams have a right to continue, but, they have to, in my view, re-invent themselves as community clubs, playing in regional leagues, with a priority towards making LOCAL boys fit for, if they have the talent, higher things.

We certainly need as many clubs as we can get, we need as many people as possible playing football - what we do not need is a set-up of 42 senior clubs. I still think we should be looking at a maximum of 24 

teams, playing in one national league, of two 12-club conferences of equial standing, trying to qualify for the Scottish title, which could, after the preliminary conference stage of home and away games, 22 fixtures, revert to some sort of Champions League-style knock-out format, playing down to a Scottish Superbowl at Hampden, to find the national champions.

The smaller teams, playing in regional competitions, in a pyramid with the Highland League, EAst of Scotland League and juniors, should be charged with young player development and there should be rugby-style "associate club" agreements between the 24 national league sides and the regional ones.

Then, we might have a chance of seeing Scotland prosper again. But, going to 12-12-18 and the same-old, same-old, with merely hast4en the day when football dies a lingering death in Scotland.

I have seen Scottish football's view of the future - and it will not work.