The SPL in 2010 and beyond...

[Hakim Sar]

Was speaking to a yambo last night who's said that when super jo johansson scored yesterday a lot of fans didn't grumble and moan but simply had a sarcastic chuckle then upped and left.

So it leaves me wondering what will happen next year if certain clubs have a bad year this season. say hearts have a stinker of a season... this could have serious implications on season ticket numbers. what do hearts do if they only sell 8k seasons and then have another gash year of cost cutting and utter non entertainment?

If the old firm support gets more apathetic and their crowds drop to 30-40k outwith old firm games what would it mean to them? rangers are in no position to have 10k shaved from attendances.

If we finish 3rd what will our attendances be?it's been a long time since u looked around Easter road and didn't see a single empty seat! Hopefully incentives like hibs reunited work but I'm afraid every clubs attendances depend on the overall quality of the league.

2010 could be make or break time.

[Hibbyradge]

Romanov will invent an incentive.

Like the "last year in the old stand" rouse which worked so well for him last close season.

Maybe it'll be the "Push for the title" slogan next year, or "the big adventure"!

[Hakim Sar]

I would also like to say that if the spl became more introverted and really focussed on youth development I would be more than happy to continue supporting my club for the 10-15 years it would take to build teams of home grown players.... but do others share the same patience?

some sort of reform needs to happen combining a fundamental shift to acadamies, schools (as mentioned with smelltic this week) and education and some sort of rebranding for a new spl that is more attractive to the paying customer

[Jim44]

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Was speaking to a yambo last night who's said that when super jo johansson scored yesterday a lot of fans didn't grumble and moan but simply had a sarcastic chuckle then upped and left.

So it leaves me wondering what will happen next year if certain clubs have a bad year this season. say hearts have a stinker of a season... this could have serious implications on season ticket numbers. what do hearts do if they only sell 8k seasons and then have another gash year of cost cutting and utter non entertainment?

If the old firm support gets more apathetic and their crowds drop to 30-40k outwith old firm games what would it mean to them? rangers are in no position to have 10k shaved from attendances.

If we finish 3rd what will our attendances be?it's been a long time since u looked around Easter road and didn't see a single empty seat! Hopefully incentives like hibs reunited work but I'm afraid every clubs attendances depend on the overall quality of the league.

2010 could be make or break time.

My God, don't you just wish that Rangers, Celtic and Hearts could turn the tide and start exerting their authority and return to their former glory where they permanently belong. Then we could all relax.

[Barney McGrew]

It could be really interesting to see what happens from next year onwards.

Rankgers are screwed, and if they don't get to the Champions League or Eurpoa Cup group stages next year, they'll be in an even worse position. The only thing that might bail them out is if Murray finds a buyer.

Dundee United might really start to struggle soon IMO. Word is that minus Thomson senior, the other members of the family don't have as big appetite to throw money behind them. If Levien gets the Scotland job, they'll be in even deeper doo doo.

Hearts are gubbed. If they don't go down this year, then they'll go down next. That's if they manage to survive at all, given they've got a £17m odds loan that's due to be be paid at the end of January, so they'll be punting anything that can get them money as soon as the window opens.

Motherwell seem to have got themselves a decent manager and are going down the route of young players and loan singings. The crunch for them will come when they start to pick up injuries and suspensions, because past their first XI they don't look to have a lot of depth to their squad.

Other teams will consolidate their poisitons. St Mirren seem to be good enough to stay up, Falkirk will get themselves out of trouble, which leaves only Hamilton and Killie in the dogfight with Hertz. I fear for Killie if they go down, still big debts and will disappear entirely if they get relegated.

Where does that leave us then? In a pretty good position to kick on I think. The financial hardship we've gone through has put us in a pretty safe place, we've finally got a manager with ability who won't clear off at the first opportunity of another job, and we're building a good squad. If attendaces continue to grow and we can keep bringing the young players through, we'll be laughing.

[PaulSmith]

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It could be really interesting to see what happens from next year onwards.

Rankgers are screwed, and if they don't get to the Champions League or Eurpoa Cup group stages next year, they'll be in an even worse position. The only thing that might bail them out is if Murray finds a buyer.

Dundee United might really start to struggle soon IMO. Word is that minus Thomson senior, the other members of the family don't have as big appetite to throw money behind them. If Levien gets the Scotland job, they'll be in even deeper doo doo.

Hearts are gubbed. If they don't go down this year, then they'll go down next. That's if they manage to survive at all, given they've got a £17m odds loan that's due to be be paid at the end of January, so they'll be punting anything that can get them money as soon as the window opens.

Motherwell seem to have got themselves a decent manager and are going down the route of young players and loan singings. The crunch for them will come when they start to pick up injuries and suspensions, because past their first XI they don't look to have a lot of depth to their squad.

Other teams will consolidate their poisitons. St Mirren seem to be good enough to stay up, Falkirk will get themselves out of trouble, which leaves only Hamilton and Killie in the dogfight with Hertz. I fear for Killie if they go down, still big debts and will disappear entirely if they get relegated.

Where does that leave us then? In a pretty good position to kick on I think. The financial hardship we've gone through has put us in a pretty safe place, we've finally got a manager with ability who won't clear off at the first opportunity of another job, and we're building a good squad. If attendaces continue to grow and we can keep bringing the young players through, we'll be laughing.

Now that could be interesting, of course though they owe the money to themselves and don't need to worry about it.

[Barney McGrew]

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Now that could be interesting, of course though they owe the money to themselves and don't need to worry about it.

I also forgot to say that, IIRC, their safety certificate for their deathtrap main stand runs out at the end of this season and is unlikely to get reissued without major works being undertaken.

Just as well they're swimming in cash to be able to pay for it.

Aberdeen could be the dark horses that could appear in the mix too. If they ever get their new stadium built, then it will remove a lot of the debt they have. They'll need to get shot of McGhee to progress as well though, he's a liability.

[Hakim Sar]

It started off with millionaires buying football clubs. then billionaires buying football clubs - BUT would the ultimate rich tycoon toy not be to own and sponsor a league and flush it full of cash, allowing them to buy up the worlds top talent (unless creating a false market) and then allowing for more demand from the viewing public. bigger attendances, more money, bigger stadiums, more money and then global domination branded under your own name.

And where does said tycoon get his money back? Maybe sky would be desperate to attach themselves to such a successful set up and pay top dollar to the owner of the league. the media rights value would be self sustaining.

Why can't there be a Scottish oil 'oligarch' call jimmy mcabramovich fae leith :(

[Ed De Gramo]

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It started off with millionaires buying football clubs. then billionaires buying football clubs - BUT would the ultimate rich tycoon toy not be to own and sponsor a league and flush it full of cash, allowing them to buy up the worlds top talent (unless creating a false market) and then allowing for more demand from the viewing public. bigger attendances, more money, bigger stadiums, more money and then global domination branded under your own name.

And where does said tycoon get his money back? Maybe sky would be desperate to attach themselves to such a successful set up and pay top dollar to the owner of the league. the media rights value would be self sustaining.

Why can't there be a Scottish oil 'oligarch' call jimmy mcabramovich fae leith :(

We don't need the hassle and unpredictability of having new rich owners. We're a proper family run club and our clubs future is looking pretty good compared to other teams who have a sugar daddy dabbling with affairs

[Dashing Bob S]

I expect to see Aberdeen finish the season strongly.

[ancient hibee]

Hearts finances next year will depend on the league cup this season.