Should rangers be allowed time off to prepare for uefa cup..

[The modfather]

thus meaning the spl being extended?

Its scandalous how come the spl expect rangers to play 4 games in 8 days (one of which being the biggest game in the clubs history in a long long time). The sfa have now said they are willing to move the scottish cup final to allow the season to be extended which, is pretty sensible as Scottish involvement can only be a good thing.However, it remains to be seen whether the spl will grant this

[Stone Cold aka Doags Bs]

I

[The modfather]

Since posting the sfa have now backtracked and the spl have stated that rangers will not get a break to prepare

[John A]

Yes they should cancel the Dundee unt. game to give Rangers a bit of time to prepare for the final but not at the expense of the Scottish cup final.
The cup final is the supposed showpiece match of the season and to move it to a midweek would take a lot away from the occasion but more importantly to Queen of the South this match is as important to them as the Uefa cup final is to Rangers and as they will not have played a competive match for 3 weeks before the final to delay it any longer would be wrong, they might as well play it at the start of next season if this goes on any longer!!

The biggest problem is the fact that we have 3 (SFA SFL SPL) different organisations running senior football in Scotland it was bad enough when we had 2 but since the SPL came in to being the whole thing has become a joke, it seems as if nobody from these organisations is in contact with each other to try to sort out problems that we have now.

It could only happen in Scotland

Why not either keep the SPl with 12 clubs playing each other twice then split and the top six play each other twice (this would suit the tv companies who crave 4 old firm league games per year) and the bottom six play each other twice total of 32 games each instead of the present 38 or increase the top league to 16 teams playing each other twice total of 30 games each.

Get the league cup games over by the end of October as it used to be and free up more dates in the Spring for other postponed games and Scottish cup replays.

[4th gen Suthen']

I am no fan of Rangers but I think they should, at least, get the Saturday before the Uefa final off. Suppose they can't expect any more than that and I know how difficult/impossible it would be to squeeze the fixture in......

Of course, some will say the SPL did not help Celtic, why should the help Rangers...Celtic might say just that.

So, if that is the case, and by not helping Rangers this time it is all evened up........does that mean the NEXT time one of the OF is in a european final they WILL be able to help and no favouritism can be accused.........only in Scotland.

AND, if it was Celtoc in the final I would be saying the same thing.......

[4th gen Suthen']

Did not know JohnA was posting at the same time as me! he writes much sense.....would love a 16 club league but the TV companies definitely need their 4 OF games....that is what it is all about, that is what they pay the money for.

No way should the Scottish cup final be moved.

I also see in the paper that Celtic DID have a game shifted in 03 to give them time to prepare...no recollection of that.

[daftdog]

Time for the Gers to forget about the league.

Go for the European Trophy, as they don't come around often enough to not make the best of the chance. Celtic know a fully rested Rangers team would win the league and i can see their point in taking advantage of that, but every other team in the league as well

David Murray should sit down with Walter and just decide to put out the reserves on Saturday, better still, stick the under 19's on the park as reward for winning their league already. Lex Gold and Co have made a mockery of the SPL aims and objectives, so time for the gers not to disappoint Mr Gold.

"Build a league competition with standing and recognition throughout Europe". Eh.. I don't think so
"Represent and safeguard the interests of its members". Eh.. I don't think so

Is it not in the interests of the clubs inside the SPL who get the UEFA Cup places, to ensure that ANY scottish club in that competition get all the help they need, as after all, the more points gained the more cup places we could get and the more positive media the SPL would get.

Lex Gold had the nerve to bask in the glory of the Scottish clubs doing so well in Europe at the beginning of the year. Well sorry pal, if Rangers can't field a full strength on the 14th of May, you will be getting all the credit for that now as well and i don't think you will want it.

Anyway, i hope those God bless Lex Gold t-shirts ll the Celtic staff wear under their everyday clothes are keeping them warm

[Hume]

I agree Rangers should be allowed the weekend off before the UEFA cup final, but NOT if this requires a further extention to the season, which it undoubtedly would.

Yes, Celtic got the Dundee game postponed before Seville in 03 with Dundee's approval but the season was not extended and they fulfilled all their fixtures by the original end date.

Rangers can't do that so they shouldn't be granted Saturday 10th off. Simple as that. We can't inconvenience five or more teams, simply to appease one.

Everyone seems to say the SPL are doing F all to help Rangers but no-one is actually putting forward any viable solutiuons. The Scottish Cup Final should not be moved and if the SPL insist all three top six fixtures end on the same day /night then there is no room for manouvre. I've got sympathy for the SPL here, a first, but there really is no best solution, only one which inconveniences as little people as possible

Even Walter is at it...everyone in Scotland should be doing what the can to help Rangers. Cheers Walter, just the same as you did when you pi$$ed off on Scotland.

Perhaps the lines to the song should be changed from 'no-one likes us, we don't care' to 'no-one likes up, we're goin to start greetin'.

Maybe if Rangers has dealt with Hibs and Partick at the first attempt there would be a bit more free time for them to have a day off.

[Hume]

Why not either keep the SPl with 12 clubs playing each other twice then split and the top six play each other twice (this would suit the tv companies who crave 4 old firm league games per year) and the bottom six play each other twice total of 32 games each instead of the present 38 or increase the top league to 16 teams playing each other twice total of 30 games each.

Heard this on Radio Scotland on Sunday and was surprised all the pundits agreed with it. Do we really want to be denying a team the chance to qualify for Eupope via the league but casting them adrift after only 22 games. There could be easily as little as 3 points between say 3rd and 11th at that stage.

The split is a joke, full stop. I don't care how much excitement there might be to come in the last two weeks this year - it is fundamentally wrong. As an example, this year Aberdeen, ok just happens to be my team but we all take more interest in our own team don't we, were about 9 minutes away from finishing in the bottom six. A win at Fir Park will mean 3rd place is still a posibility on the last day/night (whenever that may be)

This problem would only be compounded by having a split after 22 games.

The split is a joke - any format in which the team that get relegated can finish with more points than the champions * is a joke.


* in theory

[Mary G]

How many other countries have two cup competitions? I can think of only two.

If we had one, as is the norm, then there would be time earlier in the season to play more league games mid-week. We could get a good swathe played before the poor weather sets in. That way, when we need to adjust schedules at the end of the season, eg for a good European run, it would have virtually no impact on others.

There is often congestion at the end of the season, to play matches delayed by bad weather December to February. This year we had postponed matches after Phil O’Donnel’s death. And three teams were still in Europe after Christmas. These three factors have all contributed to particularly tricky congestion this year. But most years we hit some form of scheduling difficulties. These would be virtually eliminated if we just had one cup competition – as happens in most countries.

The League Cup belongs to an era when there was a lot less European football. Now that we have European competitions that play mini-leagues (as opposed to straight knock-out as it was in my youth), there is no space for this competition in my view. I know that it is a pity – there is history, etc – but Scottish football needs to adjust, and prioritise. If we want to do well internationally – and that goes for clubs as well as the international team – then we need to have one Cup competition. That seems good enough for most other countries anyway.

[Ranald]

Did not know JohnA was posting at the same time as me! he writes much sense.....would love a 16 club league but the TV companies definitely need their 4 OF games....that is what it is all about, that is what they pay the money for.

The rest of the clubs in the SPL are also pretty keen on having the OF come to their place as many times as possible as well so they wouldn't be too happy with a 16 team league either. Remember that the SP in SPL actually stands for Self-Preservation.

I agree Rangers should be allowed the weekend off before the UEFA cup final, but NOT if this requires a further extention to the season, which it undoubtedly would.

Yes, Celtic got the Dundee game postponed before Seville in 03 with Dundee's approval but the season was not extended and they fulfilled all their fixtures by the original end date.

Rangers can't do that so they shouldn't be granted Saturday 10th off. Simple as that. We can't inconvenience five or more teams, simply to appease one.

Everyone seems to say the SPL are doing F all to help Rangers but no-one is actually putting forward any viable solutiuons. The Scottish Cup Final should not be moved and if the SPL insist all three top six fixtures end on the same day /night then there is no room for manouvre. I've got sympathy for the SPL here, a first, but there really is no best solution, only one which inconveniences as little people as possible

Even Walter is at it...everyone in Scotland should be doing what the can to help Rangers. Cheers Walter, just the same as you did when you pi$$ed off on Scotland.

Perhaps the lines to the song should be changed from 'no-one likes us, we don't care' to 'no-one likes up, we're goin to start greetin'.

Maybe if Rangers has dealt with Hibs and Partick at the first attempt there would be a bit more free time for them to have a day off.

I agree with all of this and I think that if the SPL could fit in another postponed Rangers game before the end of the season then they would.

[Ninja Mania]

The spl or sfa should have tried to help rangers as much as possible in the situ they find themselves in,
but truth be told here...... NOONE ever expected a team playing such a crap style of football to go so far in the uefa cup, did they. So in that respect I think that all future games be it cup or league, should be cancelled untill Rangers have got the uefa cup out the way, and maybe had a week or 2 off to get over it all, and maybe a long weekend away just to get their tans topped up, and then maybe we could finish off all the remaining games in our league and cup. Its just a thought.
OR they could just stop their wingin and moanin, and jeest bloody get oan wae it. Some oh us have holidays booked yeh know, and coo,s too feed, and sheep tae lamb, and silage get in, and not forgetting a life to live.

Do it the hard way and prove how good you,se really are.

[4th gen Suthen']

This is a real good thread and debate....just what DavieP had in mind when he created the forum?

[giantredwood]

Did'nt Rangers get a game postponed on their request earlier in the season after the Lyon game while Aberdeens request to have their game rescheduled was turned down. So the 'gers have contributed to their own situaton. For Uncle Walter to come out and say that no one in Scotland will help them is a bit rich when he quite happily abandoned the national team in the middle of one of the best qualifying campaigns any of us can probably remember. If Rangers are as big a club as we are all sick and tired of hearing they are, then surely they should have a big enough squad to cope with whatever the season holds.

On another note, I''m not convinced that the cancellation of Zenit's matches before the final will be an advantage to them. It might just break up the teams rythmn.

[Hume]

Did'nt Rangers get a game postponed on their request earlier in the season after the Lyon game while Aberdeens request to have their game rescheduled was turned down.

Yip. I don't actully recall the reason given by the SPL for not accepting our request, if there was one. Might have been that the opposition didn't agree, which I accept.

Anyway, the results in the games you mention were 0-3? to Lyon and 4-0 to Aberdeen against FC Copenhagen so not sure where that leaves the debate over having games postponed?