SPFL face post split fixture chaos

Recoba

Recoba

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OH MY, i wonder if anyone with half a brain may have anticipated this when they released the fixtures for us to have home games against the sheep, Hearts, Hibs and the tims all at home first.

SPFL face post-split fixture chaos as Rangers have already played rest of top six at home twice
If the top six stays as it is then two clubs will have to travel to Ibrox three times this season.

    • Rangers will have played all five of their rivals in the top half of the Premiership twice at Ibrox this season.



      But Graeme Murty’s side will be due two home 
games after the split, which could force two teams to make a third trip to Govan.

      The SPFL almost certainly won’t have an imbalance in the Old Firm derby meetings while Aberdeen would be outraged at the prospect of another Gers away game as they battle for second place.
    As it stands that would leave Hearts, Kilmarnock and Hibs facing the prospect of a third Ibrox clash with the latter two the lowest ranked based on their final position last season.

    Former Rangers boss Walter Smith hit out at the SPL in 2010, claiming the club had suffered a decade of unfair treatment when it came to post-split fixtures.

    On seven occasions in the first 10 years of the format Gers played a top-six club away from home three times and only once at home, although in two of those seasons it was balanced out with three home games against another side.


    In a Q&A at the start of this season SPFL secretary Iain Blair said: “I have been doing this job for almost 19 years and unfortunately there is no such thing as a perfect fixture list.

    “Our aim is to produce the best and most balanced set of fixtures.

    >
“The most important thing is to try to ensure clubs finish the season having played 19 games at home and 19 away. Unfortunately to facilitate this some clubs will need to gain one home game and some will need to lose one to ensure balance.”
 
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A subject that was discussed on here a few days ago funny it make the papers eh

Reason it has happened is Hibs received the 12th place team schedule which was Inverness CT
 
I'd be surprised if we didn't get Hibs and Kilmarnock at home with the rest away (possibly our most onerous outcome?).

Scottish Football is farcical though - might as well put Brian Rix in charge.
 
jaws73 said:
I'd be surprised if we didn't get Hibs and Kilmarnock at home with the rest away (possibly our most onerous outcome?).

Scottish Football is farcical though - might as well put Brian Rix in charge.
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Based on the format it should be those 2 we might even get a 3rd team either Aberdeen or Hearts for a 3rd time making 20 home 18 away if that was the case

it is not just about us but the fixture make up of the other 5 sides
 
The split is just a half-arsed attempt at what the MLS have.

Ideally what a split should be is:
  1. A regular league where you play each other twice for some fans cup.
  2. Then split happens and the points are then set to zero.
  3. The teams that finished bottom during the regular league play each other to stay in the division, with the top teams playing for the championship title.
That format sounds like absolute madness, but that is what a split should involve.

I'd prefer it if we just had a 18-20 team league, playing each other twice.
 
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I knew this would suddenly become an issue when two teams had to come to Ibrox three times. The split has always been a farce, but there has been no outrage until it's a farce that might benefit Rangers. Although we'd be better off with extra away games given our home form...
 
Heard a wee bit synde last night Hannah trying to talk up the positives for the scum

No mention of the goal drought. They really are there fir the taking if we can take care of our business
 
_DON_ said:
The split is just a half-arsed attempt at what the MLS have.

Ideally what a split should be is:
  1. A regular league where you play each other twice for some fans cup.
  2. Then split happens and the points are then set to zero.
  3. The teams that finished bottom during the regular league play each other to stay in the division, with the top teams playing for the championship title.
That format sounds like absolute madness, but that is what a split involve.

I'd prefer it if we just had a 18-20 team league, playing each other twice.
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In a league like ours, where you could predict at least four of the top six, the first half of the season is a waste of time with the above format.
Do the same but keeping the points from the first half is a necessity for me.
 
_DON_ said:
The split is just a half-arsed attempt at what the MLS have.

Ideally what a split should be is:
  1. A regular league where you play each other twice for some fans cup.
  2. Then split happens and the points are then set to zero.
  3. The teams that finished bottom during the regular league play each other to stay in the division, with the top teams playing for the championship title.
That format sounds like absolute madness, but that is what a split involve.

I'd prefer it if we just had a 18-20 team league, playing each other twice.
Click to expand...



Its a copy of what the Swiss league were doing at the time
 
rangeral said:
A subject that was discussed on here a few days ago funny it make the papers eh

Reason it has happened is Hibs received the 12th place team schedule which was Inverness CT
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I remember making a similar point at the time.
However, was Hearts’ need for away fixtures at start of the season also a factor?
 
rangeral said:
Which is?
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A revamp of the rules to ensure it can't happen again perhaps.

The inclusion of the following proviso....


At no stage in any tournament will the fixture list be allowed to be perceived to benefit Rangers. All fixtures must ensure celtc are not disadvantaged to allow them to complete end of season tours of Japan.
 
George Goudie said:
Rest assured the outcome will not benefit Rangers.

This is the publicising of the possibilities .... only to prepare us for the inevitability.
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As the report states we will have played all of the other TOP 6 twice at home before split so to play two sides again at home for a third time means we are benefitting this time.

This scenario was always on the card as we were given Dundee Utd's fixtures on promotion to top division (at a time when the Arabs were NOT a top 6 side).
 
barrheadbear said:
As the report states we will have played all of the other TOP 6 twice at home before split so to play two sides again at home for a third time means we are benefitting this time.

This scenario was always on the card as we were given Dundee Utd's fixtures on promotion to top division (at a time when the Arabs were NOT a top 6 side).
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Read my somewhat light hearted response above. It clarifies what I should have added to my post.
 
tazzabear said:
I remember making a similar point at the time.
However, was Hearts’ need for away fixtures at start of the season also a factor?
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Interesting regrading the Hearts fixtures but it was a different situation basically they got their planned fixture schedule and made the alterations were needed i.e fixture reverse

Hearts v Motherwell 12th Aug was reversed with 2nd December game at Motherwell with Motherwell's 2nd trip to Hearts as planned on 27th January
 
Jesus Christ.

Ian Blair says for 19 years he's been trying to give teams 19 home games and 19 away .

Here's an idea Ian, used the world over , tends to work.

Have two divisions in Scotland, A and B.

Division A has twenty teams, play each other twice , hey presto , 38 matches with 19 home and 19 away .

Division B 22 clubs giving them 42 matches and guess what Ian Blair - yep, 21 home, 21 away.

Three up three down, introduce playoffs same as down south for a fourth promotion/relegation spot, market the game properly , do your fcking job and stop looking off " we must have four old firm games". Look at the bigger picture for once.
 
The split is, and always has been stupid.

It's depressing that this only becomes relevant when we're at risk of taking advantage of it, for once.

The headline should really be that the entire concept of a split is flawed, rather than whining at one particular possible outcome of it.
 
Recoba's Miracle said:
  • Former Rangers boss Walter Smith hit out at the SPL in 2010, claiming the club had suffered a decade of unfair treatment when it came to post-split fixtures.

    On seven occasions in the first 10 years of the format Gers played a top-six club away from home three times and only once at home
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As Paisleyprod said previously, it wasn't called "fixture chaos" when we were the ones suffering from this.

The split is an absolute mess. An embarrassment designed to accommodate the greed of the diddy clubs wanting two grabs at our fan's dough.

So, suck it up diddy clubs until we finally get shot of this shit league set up.
 
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dont like the split but maybe we should split half way through the season and play home and away again. i like the idea of expanding to 18/20 teams but is that really going to add anything to what we already have
 
George Goudie said:
A revamp of the rules to ensure it can't happen again perhaps.

The inclusion of the following proviso....
At no stage in any tournament will the fixture list be allowed to be perceived to benefit Rangers. All fixtures must ensure celtc are not disadvantaged to allow them to complete end of season tours of Japan.
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I like your response :D

In truth it shouldn't happen but it has due to the fact the fixture make up of 1st 33 games have now imbalance

Rangers v Hearts - 2 at Ibrox 1 at Tynecastle - Rangers v Hibs 1 at Ibrox 2 at Easter Road but that hasn't happened this season both Hearts and Hibs have visit us and them twice pre split

Same happened last season with other sides
 
Nucky said:
Wot date do the split fixtures get announced ?
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Probably 9th April maybe earlier which would help

Split happens on weekend of 7th April

Post split dates

Post-split dates 2017/18
Fixture round 34 - weekend of April 21
Fixture round 35 - weekend of April 28
Fixture round 36 - weekend of May 5
Fixture round 37 - midweek of May 9
Fixture round 38 - weekend of May 12
 
An absolute joke of a scenario and just typical of the SPHELL, why don't we just go back to playing each team twice - home and away and leave it at that.
 
Awaits Graeme Murty press conference

'Throw whatever you like at us, we have the best away record in the league'
 
barrheadbear said:
As the report states we will have played all of the other TOP 6 twice at home before split so to play two sides again at home for a third time means we are benefitting this time.

This scenario was always on the card as we were given Dundee Utd's fixtures on promotion to top division (at a time when the Arabs were NOT a top 6 side).
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Do the fixture ‘positions’ persist for more than one season?

If so that could explain a lot as Hearts, Hibs and ourselves will presumably all have been given expected bottom 6 fixture lists in spite of all of us being predictably top 6 sides.
 
Scottish Football.

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Starting Anew said:
Do the fixture ‘positions’ persist for more than one season?

If so that could explain a lot as Hearts, Hibs and ourselves will presumably all have been given expected bottom 6 fixture lists in spite of all of us being predictably top 6 sides.
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I think it's all based on the previous season. It's just too imprecise to be considered a fair system.
 
Neil Doncaster is ultimately responsible for this. That man they're grooming for the SFA gig
 
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