This is getting ridiculous
By: Ian Rose | January 30th, 2008If there is anywhere in Europe that needs a winter break (Scandinavia aside), it’s Scotland. The rain/snow/sleet/etc in the winter, especially up north, is ferocious, and one needs only to look at the list of recent postponed matches to get an idea for how bad it has been:
Motherwell v. Celtic
Motherwell v. Caley Thistle
Hibernian v. Gretna
Aberdeen v. Dundee United (League Cup semifinal)
And the list goes on. Aberdeen is being especially punished, since they and Rangers are the only two teams still alive in four competitions (league, Europe, league cup and Scottish cup) and they are having injury worries. The weather only looks to be getting worse, and the SPL’s answer has been not to reconsider the idea of a winter break, or at least have a meeting of teams to discuss the issue, but instead to wait until the very last minute possible to call off matches. In today’s case, it was one hour before the start when the pitch at Fir Park was ruled unfit for play, sending buses of Hoops fans eager for not only a match but also a Phil O’Donnell tribute back to Glasgow.
Something must be done. The teams are going to have serious fixture congestion, which will impact on Scottish teams’ performances in Europe. The fans are being completely screwed by repeated late call-offs. Some say that a winter break might not solve the problem, since the worst weather is as likely to hit in February as January, but whether it’s pitch protection or another solution, something needs to be done or the SFA risk looking even more incompetent than they actually are.
Category: Scottish Premier League
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Comments
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Just out of curiosity, why doesn’t the SPL have a winter break? Or the EPL for that matter? Even with various cups, tt’s not like you guys have more games to play than any other league. In fact, since the SPL has only 12 teams, that’s fewer league games to play.
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United States
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The SPL plays 38 matches, just like the EPL, due to the utter weirdness that is the SPLIT. (It’s coming, so it will soon be time for annual split explanation post time). Frankly, I don’t know why we don’t have a winter break. Like I said, I’d much rather play through the winter almost anywhere other than Scotland - the weather is awful in January. But the SFA isn’t considering it … yet.
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United States -
Hardly a dramatic list to cry about - and Scottish Football suffering in Europe… give me a break pal
Although Scotland have their own parliament and you are fighting for your own independence…. I can’t wait for you to get but we have to bide our time… Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom along with England (me), Wales and N Ireland!! and being part of the Unions that are football in MY sweet kingdom…. football is a tradition during these climatic times. Always has been always will be.
As the climatic conditions on our planet are changing, most of it is caused by the ’super-power’ and as the ’super-power’ is telling the rest of the world to get its own house in order - the ’super-power’ is 10 years late in its on thinking!!!!
On that note - you can forget about ‘winter-breaks.’ In about five years time, Scotland won’t even have a ski-ing industry.
Help yourself by cutting your Co2 emissions!!!
KTBFFH
PS Birds in SE London are singing in the morning and in the evening in January when they should be somewhere else …….. imagine how they feel!!!
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United States -
You’re right. You … got me. Global warming is, in fact, worse than the fixture congestion problem. If I, in any way, suggested otherwise, I apologize. To be clear to future readers, I also consider pandemic disease, religious extremism and the exploitation of children to be far more important issues than fixture congestion. Since none of those things are the topic of my blog, I guess I’ll just have to stick to talking about things that are at least somewhat relevant to the forum in which they are presented. Keep fighting the good fight, mate. More power to you.
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