Improving Scottish Football
Improving Scottish Football
Podcast about the TV Deal, league re-construction, playing style, plastic pitches, analytics, and fan experience. If you want to see Scottish football grow and develop, then this podcast is for you. Out every second Monday.
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Why not just had 2 division in SPFL Scottish Premiership - 20 team Scottish Championship - 22 team No more split,no more play off relegation. Just make a play off for 3th,4th,5th,6th place in championship.The Celtic or rangers winning streak might be end. And Create Scottish Super Cup. Why too difficult ?????
Thanks for commenting. Scottish top flight used to have 18 teams in the 1970's and it resulted in teams like Cowdenbeath and Arbroath playing in it. There's arguably not the strength in depth.
Cheers from Germany! I'd prefer a 14-14-14 system. I don't know if I would split the leagues into two groups of 7, just because you'd have one team with a bye on the last day of the season. A SPL with 16, 18 or 20 teams would water down the level of competition. There'd be a good chance that both Celtic and Rangers would have a few wins with 10 or more goals.
Sounds good!
Can't believe Doncaster is still here..gtf
aye
The lack of confidence in the direction of the Scottish media rights is very concerning to me as a Hibs fan in the U.S. I was hopeful to see more games on and now I’m concerned that there will be even less available than there already is on the American broadcasting platforms. Enjoy your break and I’ll be looking forward to the next season.
Cheers Kyle!
Only content we get in the US is paramount plus or to buy the clubs own tv. Even the Scottish cup nor league cup is on ESPN plus. SPFL should have their own channel, pay content for a year and watch any game of your choice.
@@matthewmcgurk4282 100%
Couldn't agree with you anymore mate. Doncaster doesn't fill me with any confidence. He is on ridiculous wages and appears to be doing so little. Scottish football deserves better. Enjoy your break with the family, your channel is one of the best out there in terms of what I enjoy. See you next season. All the best.
Thanks mate.
Kieran, enjoy your break. Thank you for your work in bringing such a wide variety of people together with the same goal of improving football in Scotland. I for one will be here when you come back for your second season.
Thanks Scott, much appreciated.
Thank you and congratulations Kieran on your first season. Your content has improved my understanding and appreciation of the Beautiful Game and how it works in Scotland. All the best over the summer and bring on the Euros!
Thanks Aaron. Much appreciated mate.
If you want to improve scottish football, Scotland needs to be annexed by Croatia :D (HAJDUK ŽIVI VJEČNO!)
One thing that stands out is that we Croats are generally very competitive. We like to compete in everything. We have competed between ourselves since our young age. Every game at school, home or playground is a serious competition. That is how we are raised, to compete and not to give up. Also, we learn the importance of high performance, so even if you lose, make sure you give the best you can. You will be then treated as a winner. Another thing is that we do play multiple sports since young age. Even if the kid is not meant to be a professional athlete, he will go and train some sport. Sport is part of our culture. it's healthy, and it's important to learn how to lose as well as how to win. Sport is a foundation for all of our goals in the future. The importance of being a team player, sharing, protecting, being healthy, etc. Last and most important is that we have a strong education in sports. Kids start to train early in the school. They are very young when they start to understand the tactical part of the sport. They are educated to be proud of the national sport legacy, which is strongly involved in parenting and comes from home, school, and club. So the magic juice is: competitive nature + education + to be proud.
it is simple, we love play football
18 team format 34 games no split, English style playoffs, Scottish Cup League Cup and National Team games, televised on BBC, new tv deal for £650m-£800m shared revenue, domestic: 50% viewership 25% merit points 25% facility fees, international: 100% revenue shared, £5m-£10m start of the season, better sponsorship partners, better marketing and investment, fix the 2-3 club rule(so that owners with 2 or more clubs can own a stake in a club)
i like it
@@ImprovingScottishFootball thanks mate
Scotts are same mentality like us ❤
Happlo Group I Dinaric 🧬
I don't see any issue with the 14/14/14 (7/7) split. 1 change though, postponing 1 game on matchday 25/26 would allow all clubs to play on the last day of the season. Obviously it would need to be match where both teams were on either side of the split and mathematically couldn't cross the split
This was great, bit at this point I'm furious. Scottish football is shooting itself in the foot on so many levels. Madness even the journalists are interested in clickbait. It's tragic that normal people need to question this and try help improve but that's where we are.
yep
Could you send me a postal address please because I would like to send you an analysis of football.
Hi, first drop me an email at [email protected] so I know you're not a crazy person who's gonna turn up at my house ;-)
Is that a Scottish Wildcat on your tee? I like that! Also, love the cat in the background.
It's from Clynelish distillery :-)
Thanks again for having me on the show. I really enjoyed it!
🙌
Brilliant podcast. Callum makes brilliant points. I want to see more investment from the SFA, better training facilities at our top clubs, a better TV deal and a minimum criteria to play more young Scottish players. Nothing worse than seeing some jobber from Stalybridge or Oxford getting to play in our top league. The latest Scotland v NI result does tell us something about how complacent we can be.
Cheers!
As a Croat, I can honestly say that Ian's feedback on the differences is spot on. - We are a SUPER competitive nation. No matter what we do, we try to beat everyone else at it, every day. No exceptions. - No matter if you're doing PE, you're at a local pitch with your friends, you're training at your club or playing other teams. There's only one rule - winner stays on. So as a kid, you're willing to do ANYTHING just to beat the older guys and finally get a chance to stay on the pitch for the next match. That just builds you up as a competitor from childhood. - We're really patriotic. We understand we're a small nation, we don't have the best standard of living and we went through hardships in recent history so everything we do, we put our hearts into it and sports are the best way for us to show the world who we are. That's why our national team is sprinting in the 120th minute though they can hardly stand on their own feet. - We're very vindictive and stubborn people. We love nothing more than when someone insults or underestimates us. It literally feeds that fighting spirit within us and makes us believe we can beat ANYONE at ANYTHING. As a reminder, check what was the first thing Modric and Rakitic commented after beating England in 2018. It wasn't "Yey, we're in the WC Final". - Our genetics are good - we're often tall, physically strong, quick, agile and, therefore, good at sports. That helps more than you know. - We're a pretty educated nation and one that has a culture of coffee drinking at caffe's for HOURS each day, speaking with friends about football in a way that goes WAY beyond the standard "Did you see that goal" or "Yeah, he's a cracking player". We discuss tactics, player movements, pressing styles, the history of football, how a player would fit into another tactical system etc., which is why Ian was mentioning kids asking detailed tactical questions at the age of 13. - We have a strong sense of family and unity when our national team is playing. For 4 years, people from Zagreb and Split can't stand each other but when the national team is playing in a WC, we'd destroy anyone who would say a bad word about one of our cities, players or our country. It's like 2 brothers who constantly fight but God forbid anyone else touches the other brother :) And in conclusion...as people, we're very passionate maniacs who would give you their own bed if you needed a place to stay at but who would also take EVERYTHING you own if you backstabbed them after :)
Are you able to do a pod for Squad size caps that other leagues have. Which include youth & honegrown quotas involved. Would be great to hear why we don't have anything in our leagues, especially the Prem.
Yep - will try and cover this. Will be taking a Summer break, so will try and tackle it in season 2 :-)
@@ImprovingScottishFootball Excellent, enjoy your rest 🍺
I think in terms of be traceing the history of scottish connections around the world from Torpedo Moscow, international Argentina, the first international line up of said country. Motherwells Copa del rey win etc
Rellay enjoyed this, but his statement on matchday tickets being a massive income for the non OF is just rubbish from soly OF fans. Shame someone so smart oet biast in the way
We just are 😉
Croats are not only good in football, but almost all the sports. Even if you look at US football, 3 legendary coaches are Croatian descent, Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, player Rob Ninkovich, etc. I don’t want to get of the subject of teams. I think there are multiple reasons for Croats to be good at sports. Overall in my opinion, their hard history, wars, survival, toughness they inquired, maybe after all this year’s it turned in to genetic advantage? Remember, Croats did not and don’t mix to much. Even the once leaving out of Croatia kinda stick with their heritage. Also being a small country, their national pride is huge. Playing for Croatia is life achievement, and they all give all they got. Even though life in Croatia is not western Europe like, people live well, even they complain all the time. Also priorities are different, family, friends, sports, religion, work is last…LOL. Anyway, it is amazing how this small country can make such a big impact in the world of sports. Somebody should research it and sell the genetic print. LOL Cheers!
Since the guy already touch my heart, speaking about Hajduk......the only thing I have to say, its a shame and this kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZYCuu7SnnJWoh9I.htmlsi=CxC27G4-GqlRzMRO
and BTW, football is not our sport No. 1. Comes only at No. 3. 1st one is waterpolo, 2nd is or was basketball (that department is now owned by our eastern neighbors due to Croatian stupidity), football is at No 3. sharing that spot with handball.
very simple. has nothing to do with genetics or nationalisms. Croats are individuals with strong family feelings. Ready to put everything on our children And of course, juha! Juha, or soup is the only difference between Scottish and Croats.
Croatians were always great at football,but we had unfortune to live in two Yugoslavia since 1918. The moment we get rid of that genocidal states,croatian fooball flourished.
Why is, not why are? Scots need English lessons?
Enjoyed hearing from Graeme today. As a Canadian fan of Scottish football, I've struggled to watch matches and generally feel part of the football community. It is becoming clear to me that the message and outreach for the sport is faltering in your own country let alone internationally. Without knowing the details of the TV sponsorship agreement, I feel that a web based subscription model should be considered. One subscription fee would grant a viewer access to a drop down menu of all the PPV streaming of matches. A national pregame show to introduce and hype another great Saturday afternoon of football then the viewer can click on a match of their choosing. A half time and end of match show to recap all the other matches played to round out the day. Allow those games to remain available for viewing for a week and restart the process the next Saturday. Create a moderated comment section for fan engagement as well.
I refuse to pay for Sky and cancelled 2 years ago. I would gladly subscribe to a Scottish football Web channel though. Only thing to consider though is that it would need to be at least £20 per month with say 200k subscribers to be provide only a little more money than Sky currently do. If it could get 350k+ then it would be brilliant but I do not see that happening.
Cheers Aaron. Thanks for contributing.
I know the difficulty of Graeme’s profession, my younger brother was a journalist for The Sunday Post and The Times for years. In general in my opinion Scottish football is suffering because of its lack of expansion and a nonexistent PR into other countries. The SPL must reconstruct the league for a start. They must do everything they can to get a TV deal that will benefit all the clubs but most importantly, they must drive change with the clubs and if possible the government to start producing home grown talent at grassroots, better product, better viewing, more marketable. Completely agree with Graeme in that we sell our game as raw retro style 70’s 80’s football. The amount folk I speak to in England who hate the EPL as it’s plastic American style sport.
Cheers Michael. Thanks for commenting!
This 12 team league is killing us this is why theirs crap money here and the other clubs who want to play a lowblock who is going to pay money to watch that they are the reason ower legaue is tagged a farmers league
Spot on mate. League reconstruction, pyramid fully opened and restructured. Squad size cap with U-23 quota part of it for every league down to tier 4. What we need in our prem is to make the title race a 3-4 way race. 3 ways to do that; 1 give the other clubs billions (never going to happen). 2, squad size cap with U-23 & homegrown quota attached. This will ensure all the clubs are playing to an equal rule and also stop the big 2 from buying bloated squads of foerign talent, which gives them an advantage over the rest. 3, manufacture a league structure that makes it harder for the OF to enter the last few games with huge points gaps. A change to a 16 team Prem, with play-offs after each team has played each twice. Play 30 games, then HALVE every teams points total. Top 4 then play 6 more games. Middle 6 play another 10 games and the bottom 6 play another 6 games. Or do the same setup in a 14 team league but split after 26 games. Split into groups of 4-4-6. 2 automatic relegations. Make the Championship 16 teams and have a typical promotion play-off where 2nd-5th play 2 leg semis and the winners play a final at a neutral venue. Make a day of it. The key factor to take our game forward is to make the title race about more than the big 2 teams. The only way to do that is to manufacture a competition that gives other clubs a chance and is as equal as possible. It needs to be a competition that players and mangers want to be in and feel they could win one day. I would also like the league cup to be 2 legs after the groups with a 1 off final.
If you want to improove scottish football sfa need a revamp start with neil doncaster he couldnt careless about scottish football me personaly i would like a scotsman in charge and var needs to go as a celtic fan am sick of it
Yep!
We are small country but good in football 👍
If there were only 2 old firm league games a season they would become more desirable for the broadcasters to bid for so would the drop off in money be that great? I would also redistribute the position place money more evenly to make up for the lost revenues from this for the smaller clubs as the top two get Champions League/Europa League money for finishing 1/2. Any team that currently finishes bottom 6 at the moment isn't guaranteed 2 home games against them anyway so it shouldn't be relied upon. It needs to be 18/20 top league to facilitate one Home and Away game only. Playing the same teams potentially 6 times a year is a terrible set up and should be stopped, I have spoken to many people on this and not one person has said they like the current set up. An interesting stat here is if you play the old firm 4 times a season and lose all of those games (Which isn't uncommon even for the other top six teams) then you are basically starting the season 24 Points behind. In the past 5 years the average points between 3rd and 2nd is 21.8 and the average points between 3rd and 1st is 33.4 and in one of those seasons the actual difference was 11 points 3rd to 2nd and 20 points 3rd to 1st . In that scenario there would potentially be a 12 Point difference to the team in 3rd so they could have finished 2nd if there were not 8 games against the Old Firm a season! Now this is all hypothetical of course but your question on how to improve the league is directly linked to how competitive the league is and how the fans perceive their chances for the upcoming season. I am sure you have heard many fans outside the Old Firm stating that they are playing for third on the opening day of the season. This unfortunately is the reality of every team in the Scottish Premiership (Outside the Old Firm) due to the number of time each team has to play them. And no doubt people will say well just play better then, the reality of this is that the Old Firm have been receiving European money for so long which dwarfs any TV or prize money in the Scottish game that it makes it almost impossible to compete over 8 games with them. The closest effort in doing this was the Vladimir Romanov Era at Hearts where they pushed but that was a bit of a debacle behind the scenes. It did prove one thing however, if you throw money at the problem it can be done but it is not in the best interest of any Scottish team to do this for a prolonged period as was seen at Hearts. And despite all of that Celtic still won the league and got straight to the Champions League Group Stages with the associated cash for doing so which dwarfed any money spent at Hearts anyway!. By reducing the number of times playing each other to twice may not change the result in the end but it would be much closer. There are numerous seasons where this might have resulted in a different winner or second place. So back to the original question on how to improve the league depends on who you are doing it for, the old firm or the rest of the teams? If it is for the Old Firm then continue to play 4 times each and you will get the same results but in a different format If it is for all the other sides the play each other twice in an 18/20 league and the results will most likely be the same but it will potentially be much closer and more exciting for all the other fans with at least a small bit of hope that a shock can occur because that is a pipe dream playing 8 times against the Old Firm. Also there are no reserve leagues and no plans to create them! I don't disagree about the B Teams comment though.
Thanks for commenting John. Some good thoughts in here!
What do you think of what the Belgians do? They play there normal season, home and away once. Then after the regular season, they halve everyones points totals, so if you fonished after 30 games with 64 points, you start the play-offs wth 32 points. It removes any huge points gap and for Scotland would make the title run in way closer and more exciting because 3 or 4 clubs would be mathematically in with a shot at title. I think we could do that in a 16 team league. Play 30 games, split into a top 4, mid 6 and bottom 6. It would create a lot of drama like it does in Belgium and also bring in more money and interest. Just a thought.
Personally 20 teams in the premier is best, more variety of games and more chance of the smaller teams having something to play for. Clubs like Ayr, Raith, Dunfermline, Falkirk, ict, Morton, Patrick, Dundee utd potentially Airdrie are well supported clubs and would bring something to the league. The divisions bellow that's where I'm not too sure how it would work
Cheers Kris!
I'm from Croatia, and one of answer is like boris8077 said.... We believe. every child , every granny . all nation is in state of trans... second... Zlatko Dalić is great shrink. he can see who is in which state of mind , and mange his team very very good... Distribution of power and strength... WC matches are not short distance running it is a box match in 12 rounds... and lastly .... We like to compete with everyone... Win or lose , WE ARE NOT AFFRAID !!! Zlatko is a man who can pump your confidence , and put right words in right time to increase already big motivation....
Greg mentioned about staggering the start times to allow supporters to enjoy more than one match on a Saturday. Here in Canada we have Hockey Night In Canada with three games staggered with an early Eastern game, a Central game followed by a later Western game. Granted Canada has multiple time zones but the concept could work in Scotland. In fact, you could even open a stadium early to allow local supporters to watch other matches on large screens. A good atmosphere can be created with a large crowd watching together.
Cheers Aaron - thanks for sharing
Croatia love you ❤❤❤❤
I could listen to paul fir days on end too. Great that he is batting fir the fans. We need more people like him involved.
100%
When you ask why Croats are so good in football, but we are not only good in football, then you have to understand one thing. In 1991 when Croatia was on attack around 1,500 Croatian man stand up against 40.000 man, around 700 tanks and armed vehicles, all aviation that JNA had and all armed vessels they had and send them in Vukovar. And they were surrounded with out any possibility to get any armor or any kind of help. What they did? They stood till the last bullet. Many others will just surrender to save their lives, but we are not that kind. And this was not first time in our history. And that is way Croatian sport is in that level. And this is not only football.
Great interview Kieren. In my view the SFA are culpable for the demise of our game. From the 80’s onwards they sat back and did nothing about the teachers strikes, failed to take notice from similar sized countries such as Denmark or Croatia, failed in restructuring the voting system within the leagues and generally failed to even adhere to any continuous improvement within our game. The reality is, that they know that per capita Scotland is one of the highest supported countries in Europe which has basically in many instances kept clubs afloat. If Paul wants any help I’d be happy to help him in any way for what it’s worth. Hopefully we can hear a lot more from Paul.
Thanks Michael!!
The most damaging changes to our game in Scotland was done on 1975. A small few clubs out self-interest above the game in Scotland and broke away from the 18 team 2 tier setup. They wanted a division for just a few of them to keep most the money. They also put an end to the shared gate receipts. So they literally killed 20+ clubs through relegation and the competitiveness suffered as a result. Add in the 80s teachers strikes affect Once the good players from the 70s and 80s had retired, we were left with no quality. The only way back now is a long one.
@@jacksonbow2766 yep agree
I have an analysis of how to score and not concede a goal, how do I post it to you?
18-team league is perfect. We keep talking about money as if we are ever in a million years going to get to a stage where we can compete with alot of other leagues by keeping teams out for the sake of another old firm. The truth is we have 18 good clubs, the more competitive the league is the better the product on the park gets, attendances would go up and there would be more variety. 16 team league is the more realistic option I admit but 3 groups in a split is one of the worst ideas ive ever heard. would rather just 2 groups in the split, 37 games may look strange but its still essentially the same. home and away the league then a third game with half the league. The desire for the games to be an even number isnt worth anything
16, 14 and 14 16 play each other twice then split into 3 groups 6,6 and 4. Top 6 play to win plus the other 1 potentialy 2 europa and conference league place. Middle 6 play for the final conference league place and maybe a buy into a later round of Scottish or league Cup. So 7th conference league and 8th get scottish cup or something . Bottom 4 is plus top 2 from championship. All start with 0 points and bottom 2 teams get relegated to championship. 4th in the group plays a playoff against the top 6 on championship. Championship 14. Each play each other twice. Top 2 play in the premiership group then split 6 and 6. Winner plays play off. Bottom 2 relegated and 3rd plays a play off against 3rd in league 1. League one 14. Play each other twice split top 8 and bottom 6. Top 2 promoted 3 playoff. Bottom 6 plus Highland and lowland league winners make a bottom 8 play each other home and away bottom 2 get relegated.
I am Welsh but love following Scottish football. I also follow the Welsh league system and i think that needs a shake up too. Trouble is our best sides play in England. I have never understood why there are so many leagues of 10 teams, I would like to see an expansion.
Thanks for following!
Only thing that sounds garbage...is european place fpr a team muxh lower and of a lower standard..means we lose coefficient points effectively..
Yep fair point!
I’d increase the SPFL from 42 clubs to 48 clubs & reconstruct to either a 16-16-16 setup or a 18-16-14 setup. Everyone plays each other twice home and away, no split! Would make the leagues more competitive & more valuable also less repetitive
Good suggestions!
@@ImprovingScottishFootball i think that 16-14-14 setup might work if everyone plays each other twice, no split
@@ImprovingScottishFootball reconstruct the league so there's no split cause the split is boring & saw teams in the bottom 6 have more points than someone in the top 6.
Croatians excels in most other sports, not just football.