Scottish Football 2016/17

Domestic league and cup football
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stakhanovite
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Scottish Football 2016/17

Post by stakhanovite »

I thought I'd start a new topic to kick us off for the new season.

First big news of the season - huge changes to the Challenge Cup.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36483962

Premiership u-20 teams enter in the first round, along with 4 Lowland League teams and 4 Highland League teams.

But the headline news is that in the last 16, the top two teams in Northern Ireland and Wales will enter.

The tournament runs from August until March.
Lorric
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Post by Lorric »

Wow. I don't expect the U20 teams to make much of an impact, but would the likes of TNS and the top NI clubs be too much for second tier Scottish sides? The seeding prioritises them over everyone else as well.

Nice to see proactive changes being made in Scotland. This, the League Cup, the new playoff to the Premier League, and finally a Scottish pyramid system, maybe things are looking up for a setup that's been stagnant for a long time prior to this.

In other news, Neil Lennon is the new Hibernian manager. Maybe he'll get them up and face his old club...
Michael S Collins
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Post by Michael S Collins »

Uhm, err, wow. I'm all for that.

At level 6, St Cuthberts have been denied promotion to the Lowlands league due to stadium criteria. Threave Rovers have accepted relegation to the South of Scotland league however, and will be replaced by Civil Service Strollers (one of the old Scottish Cup early rounds names) and Hawick.

(All we need now is expansion of the top flight, and turning the bottom spot in the Football league from a relegation playoff into automatic relegation, but we're getting there...)
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Post by Lorric »

I think this is a real boon for Celtic. This, together with the UEFA Youth League, could really help serve as a bridge between the youth team and the first team. I'm curious how Celtic will measure up against these lower level senior teams.
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Post by Michael S Collins »

I'm more interested in how it helps a Glasgow side slightly down the road, myself!
stakhanovite
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Post by stakhanovite »

I'll certainly be a lot more interested in the tournament now than I was before. The TV coverage still seems a bit limited for this season, but maybe if it takes off it'll get better exposure. "BBC ALBA, S4C and Premier Sports will all show live matches."
Lorric
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Post by Lorric »

Challenge Cup draw has been made:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36604734

Will be interesting to see if the U20s or seniors get the most teams through.

And Niko Kranjcar had signed a 2 year deal with Rangers.
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Carson
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Post by Carson »

I'm not a fan of B teams. As a Fan of German Club Football i always hope they get beat by "proper" football clubs.
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Post by EarlofBug »

Carson wrote:I'm not a fan of B teams. As a Fan of German Club Football i always hope they get beat by "proper" football clubs.
I completely agree :wink:
stakhanovite
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Post by stakhanovite »

I don't know if it's the start-of-season-optimism, but I'm really looking forward to this season. There's a breath of fresh air at my club with the appointment of Brendan Rodgers, the Challenge Cup is pretty novel, and the European Qualifiers have mostly been kind, bar Hibs who I wouldn't expect to go far anyways. If we get an announcement about expanding the league to 18 teams by the end of the year, it'll be a braw season.
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Carson
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Post by Carson »

18 team top league? Are there good enough teams below the top teams in the 2nd Tier to replace the sides that would fill out of an 18 team League?
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Post by stakhanovite »

Dundee United, Hibs, Falkirk make it up to 15 good teams in the Premiership. Dunfermline and St. Mirren could probably step up, making it 17. Morton, Raith Rovers and QotS are all teams with potential or history. I doubt the Championship would be highly competitive without them, but there's nothing wrong with having a bunch of yo-yo teams to keep the better teams from relegation. Scotland doesn't exactly have enough going right now to have two decent divisions, so focusing on a great Premiership has to be the first goal.
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Post by Michael S Collins »

Season starts in 5 mins with Airdrie v Thistle in the League Cup. I predict 3-0 Airdrie.

Not on TV but Arbroath v Dundee United is in about 20 mins or so.


Also, leagues are like vacuums. Have a top flight of 18, a second division of 18 and a pyramid structure and over time the teams good enough for those positions will take over from those not.


EDIT - Dundee united, not Rangers. I got confused with them mentioning Rangers on BT.
Lorric
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Post by Lorric »

Michael S Collins wrote:Not on TV but Arbroath v Dundee United is in about 20 mins or so.
Actually it is on TV. BT Sport 1.
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Post by Michael S Collins »

Lorric wrote:
Michael S Collins wrote:Not on TV but Arbroath v Dundee United is in about 20 mins or so.
Actually it is on TV. BT Sport 1.
I meant Thistle wasn't, but Arbroath/United *was*. Apologies, run off feet all day with toddler and have a bug!

Thistle are 1-0 up, Doolan. Most of the chances, no killer edge.
Cove lead, but are sadly 2-1 down to Raith.

And its 0-0 at Gayfield Park, which is built right on the North Sea.
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