capt_oats Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 So apparently the clubs weren't informed about the changes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35040077 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeyin Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 No the European place was stopped because of our coefficient. We only have 3 Europa League places. UEFA only note on the matter is at least one must be the winner of a national cup. I'm still pretty sure that, at the time, UEFA handed out a directive that said "secondary" cup competitions couldn't be used to award European places - only the primary one i.e. Scottish Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 The English League Cup winners still qualify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I'd have thought we could allocate European spots across all 3 competitions if we wish. Don't know what the current script is in England but pretty sure Birmingham got into Europe on the back of the league cup. Will be interesting to hear the views of managers and players. I can't think of the Group stage being anything other than a replacement for friendlies. I certainly wouldn't expect Motherell to curtail their break in order to get fully up to speed prior to such games. It will be interesting to see how the pricing goes. If groups are regionalised, a packaged price under £40 to cover 2 home games and 2 away games could be enticing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Les Hutchison is quoted by the BBC as saying "We were not given time to review the impact of such changes on the summer transfer window, the financial impact of a two week winter break when club finances are at there weakest, the impact on pre-season player preparations for the new season and reduced player recovery time. The majority of clubs are run on very tight budgets and need time to review the financial impact of such significant changes." So who exactly took this decision? We are always told by Neil Doncaster that he and his fellow officials don't take decisions but simply implement the wishes of the clubs. Les Hutchison's comment about the financial implications of a 2 week break in January is very well made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellfan1984 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Tbh I'm quite happy if the clubs haven't had too much of a say. They've had 18 years to do something with the Scottish game and failed badly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Agree that some decisions should be taken out the clubs hands to prevent the self preservation that has ruined the game. However you would think all clubs would be consulted regarding impact of winter shutdown and reduced summer break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Fight! Fight! Fight! http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/hearts/1335255-spfl-slam-criticism-from-hearts-and-motherwell-over-league-cup-revamp/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I hate that we seem to be in bed with hearts on everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 I hate that we seem to be in bed with hearts on everything No problem with that providing we're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well Up For It! Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Really conflicting statements from Les and then the SPFL tonight - makes you wonder about internal communication at the club. From the outside looking in, this change certainly seems to have come from nowhere. However, I welcome it. Will be something a bit different. Reintroducing the winter break is also a very sensible in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellfan1984 Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Agree that some decisions should be taken out the clubs hands to prevent the self preservation that has ruined the game. However you would think all clubs would be consulted regarding impact of winter shutdown and reduced summer break. Personally, why? The league should be able to say "this is what is happening, deal with it". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Been reading through the stuff on this and I have to say there is more I like about it than I don't but LH's concerns are valid ones if the communication is/was as he says and you would hope that we were already planning for 2016-17. I'm not keen on the bonus points and I will be interested to see how they determine the draw - will there be a form of seeding and if so will the home/away be random. Certainly think it is worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Personally, why? The league should be able to say "this is what is happening, deal with it". The powers at be surely have an obligation to support not hinder the finance and performance of their key stakeholders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 8, 2015 Report Share Posted December 8, 2015 Only caught the last minute or so but it certainly seemed like Les wasn't being shy in the interview he gave on BBC's Sportsound this evening will be interested to listen back to the whole thing. His issues with the SPFL certainly seemed to be broader than just this one incident. Also interesting to hear Roy MacGregor from Ross County largely back up Budge & Hutchison's point by saying that they hadn't really been consulted much but he did so in a much more measured manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goggles & Flippers Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Ditch the League Cup, re-introduce the Tennent's 6's, play in the Hydro over 3 weeks in January, use the League Cup trophy, get Archie McPherson to commentate. Ban smartphones for the duration and pretend Scotland have qualified for a major tournament. It'll be like 1990 all over again. I'll get my coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wispy Flossy Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Ditch the League Cup, re-introduce the Tennent's 6's, play in the Hydro over 3 weeks in January, use the League Cup trophy, get Archie McPherson to commentate. Ban smartphones for the duration and pretend Scotland have qualified for a major tournament. It'll be like 1990 all over again. I'll get my coat. The winners get a years supply of tennents - the ones with the models on the cans. They were the days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busta Nut Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Let's try start a daft cup, a bit like the Anglo-Italian one they used to have. Teams from both Irelands, Wales, Scotland Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. A big bastard cup thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Let's try start a daft cup, a bit like the Anglo-Italian one they used to have. Teams from both Irelands, Wales, Scotland Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. A big bastard cup thing. Pretty sure that's already known as the Europa League Qualifying Rounds. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Have the detailed proposals been published yet? Often with these ideas the devil is in the detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Seems the announcement about the League Cup yesterday was indeed laying the groundwork for league reconstruction. Copying Denmark by all accounts http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/14-team-premiership-could-be-brought-in-for-2016-17-1-3970519 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelboy Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 The winter break is a stupid idea given that the worst weather can happen any time from the end of November to March. The sensible thing to do is to accept that games in Scotland will be called off every season and have the maximum number of dates available to play them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 The thing with the winter break is that it depends what the point of it is ie: is it to avoid call offs or is it simply to give players a 2 week rest or whatever given the season starting earlier mean you're looking at competitive football running from July through to the following May. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthefringes Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 Seems the announcement about the League Cup yesterday was indeed laying the groundwork for league reconstruction. Copying Denmark by all accounts http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/14-team-premiership-could-be-brought-in-for-2016-17-1-3970519 Worthy of debate on here... All the endeavour to change is very admirable, teams voting to have potentially less games than others? Folly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted December 9, 2015 Report Share Posted December 9, 2015 The winter break is a stupid idea given that the worst weather can happen any time from the end of November to March. The sensible thing to do is to accept that games in Scotland will be called off every season and have the maximum number of dates available to play them. I think the winter break is simply to give players a rest in January, rather than to second guess when the worst weather will be. Games in Scotland can be called off pretty much at any point in the season, given some of the downpours we can get in the "summer" months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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