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View Full Version : QUICK! Call the doctor, before they do themselves any more harm.



Jack
14-12-2010, 04:51 PM
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

Benjamin Franklin who died in 1790, 200 years before the SPL, is credited with this quote about insanity – as are a few others who died more recently.

I wonder what they would all say about our Scottish Football Association and Scottish Premier League and the myriad of other disorganisations who reign supreme over OUR sport?

The Scottish football authorities discovered they were insane after 8 or so seasons of a 10 club SPL playing each other over and over, getting predictable results and predicable outcomes. They changed the SPL expanding it to division of 12 so it wasn’t quite as much doing the same thing over and over. Alas after stumbling through many years the fans, as well as the authorities, are going insane watching the same games over and over, predicable results an even more predicable outcome.

With the SPLs latest lunacy of reverting to a previous form of madness it must surely be the time to have Scottish Football sectioned under the Mental Health Act 2007 before the fans desert the asylum.

sparky
14-12-2010, 08:31 PM
The Scottish football authorities discovered they were insane after 8 or so seasons of a 10 club SPL playing each other over and over, getting predictable results and predicable outcomes. They changed the SPL expanding it to division of 12 so it wasn’t quite as much doing the same thing over and over.

It's worse than that. A look back at the league history over the last 30 years you'll see they have changed back and forth between 10 and 12 teams five times.

And check out the greater variety of winners and runners up in the 3 decades of 16/18 teams in the top league that we had after the war. Is there a correlation? :hmmm:

Season Size Winner Runner-up
1946–47 16 Rangers Hibernian
1947–48 16 Hibernian Rangers
1948–49 16 Rangers Dundee
1949–50 16 Rangers Hibernian
1950–51 16 Hibernian Rangers
1951–52 16 Hibernian Rangers
1952–53 16 Rangers Hibernian
1953–54 16 Celtic Hearts
1954–55 16 Aberdeen Celtic
1955–56 18 Rangers Aberdeen
1956–57 18 Rangers Hearts
1957–58 18 Hearts Rangers
1958–59 18 Rangers Hearts
1959–60 18 Hearts Kilmarnock
1960–61 18 Rangers Kilmarnock
1961–62 18 Dundee Rangers
1962–63 18 Rangers Kilmarnock
1963–64 18 Rangers Kilmarnock
1964–65 18 Kilmarnock Hearts
1965–66 18 Celtic Rangers
1966–67 18 Celtic Rangers
1967–68 18 Celtic Rangers
1968–69 18 Celtic Rangers
1969–70 18 Celtic Rangers
1970–71 18 Celtic Aberdeen
1971–72 18 Celtic Aberdeen
1972–73 18 Celtic Rangers
1973–74 18 Celtic Hibernian
1974–75 18 Rangers Hibernian
1975–76 10 Rangers Celtic
1976–77 10 Celtic Rangers
1977–78 10 Rangers Aberdeen
1978–79 10 Celtic Rangers
1979–80 10 Aberdeen Celtic
1980–81 10 Celtic Aberdeen
1981–82 10 Celtic Aberdeen
1982–83 10 Dundee United Celtic
1983–84 10 Aberdeen Celtic
1984–85 10 Aberdeen Celtic
1985–86 10 Celtic Hearts
1986–87 12 Rangers Celtic
1987–88 12 Celtic Hearts
1988–89 10 Rangers Aberdeen
1989–90 10 Rangers Aberdeen
1990–91 10 Rangers Aberdeen
1991–92 12 Rangers Hearts
1992–93 12 Rangers Aberdeen
1993–94 12 Rangers Aberdeen
1994–95 10 Rangers Motherwell
1995–96 10 Rangers Celtic
1996–97 10 Rangers Celtic
1997–98 10 Celtic Rangers
1998–99 10 Rangers Celtic
1999–00 10 Rangers Celtic
2000–01 12 Celtic Rangers
2001–02 12 Celtic Rangers
2002–03 12 Rangers Celtic
2003–04 12 Celtic Rangers
2004–05 12 Rangers Celtic
2005–06 12 Celtic Hearts
2006–07 12 Celtic Rangers
2007–08 12 Celtic Rangers
2008–09 12 Rangers Celtic
2009–10 12 Rangers Celtic

dangermouse
15-12-2010, 01:25 PM
In all those years only on two occasions have an OF team NOT been in the top two.

1959–60 18 Hearts Kilmarnock
1964–65 18 Kilmarnock Hearts

Shows how uncompetitive the league is no matter how many teams are in it. A Non OF team has only won the top league 12 times and even then that's only 6 teams Hibs (3), Hearts (2), Dons (4), Killie (1), Utd (1) and Dundee(1)

sparky
15-12-2010, 05:13 PM
So the Old Firm will always be dominant and adjusting league size wont make any difference.

That's what makes statements like this all the more frustrating:
"When we had a 10-team league we had a situation where teams like Aberdeen and Dundee United had successful periods."
Walter Smith 10/12/10
This has been repeated like a kind of mantra by those in favour of going back to 10 teams even though there were so many other factors involved to make the league more competitive at that time. It was the pre-Bosman for a start!

What made Aberdeen and Dundee Utd more successful during these periods? A good manager? A good squad of players? Or the fact that they had BOTH of these and CRUCIALLY were able to hang on to them for more than half a season. The successful Aberdeen team in particular were built on the solid defensive partnership of McLeish and Miller. Any non Old Firm team lucky enough to develop/discover a batch of such players again are guaranteed to lose them sooner rather than later as they seek a big money move to Glasgow (or down South).

What might Hibs have achieved if we had managed to keep the 'Golden Generation' together until now?

Alas it all comes down to money, spread the wealth evenly and you will foster a more competitive league as smaller clubs might then be able to pay their rising stars a more competitive wage.

Start by sharing all TV money equally regardless of league position and split the gate money 50/50 between teams. Then smaller clubs might be able to hold onto their promising youngsters for a longer period and keep the nucleus of a potentially good team together.

Phil D. Rolls
15-12-2010, 06:52 PM
Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.

John Kenneth Galbraith (Who he?)

The weegies think there are only two teams that matter. The fans of other clubs don't buy into that. The weegie answer isn't to have another look at their message; the weegie answer is to deliver the message a different way.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1rSvV5au7t5byz2ahThb2AFRm6yYl7 9FKVhLo6n1C5a9CLwb6

The SPL is not dead, it's just resting.

Heckys Wheel
16-12-2010, 01:18 AM
1985–86 10 Celtic Hearts

:tee hee:

sparky
16-12-2010, 04:48 AM
1985–86 10 Celtic Hearts

:tee hee:

I'm too young to remember that season, but I here it was a close finish.

Heckys Wheel
16-12-2010, 07:27 AM
I'm too young to remember that season, but I here it was a close finish.

It was. They lost out on goal difference.

We took the point off them that lost them the league.

lapsedhibee
17-12-2010, 10:13 AM
1964–65 18 Kilmarnock Hearts



1985–86 10 Celtic Hearts




I'm too young to remember that season, but I here it was a close finish.


It was. They lost out on goal difference.

We took the point off them that lost them the league.

And in the earlier season, 1964-65, Willie Hamilton :not worth (a former Hearts player) scored the single goal at Tynecastle that lost them the league. Shame.

seamus88
17-12-2010, 10:23 AM
It was. They lost out on goal difference.

We took the point off them that lost them the league.
What happened last day off that season??

:thumbsup::greengrin:dunno::party: