Doomsday?
Commiserations to my Hibs supporting friends on snatching relegation from the jaws of safety yesterday.
It’s an inconceivable scenario for the numpties who run Scottish football, but it will happen. Next season, the top tier in The SPFL will be missing not only Rangers but both Edinburgh clubs as well. Bereft of visits by three of the top five, the financial consequences for everyone but Celtic could well be dire.
Categories: Sport
Quintin Jardine's blog 
Ah yes, but remember the mighty Dundee FC are coming! By far the best-supported team in the Championship (with, importantly, by far the biggest away support), they also bring the prospect of 4 fiercely-fought Dundee derbies. It’s sad to see Hibs fall “downstairs”, but you have to say they are entirely the agents of their own misfortune – the powers that be can’t legislate for the kind of hapless performances that Hibs have turned in this season.
The biggest Fir Park crowd on record, over 39,000, turned up for a midweek cup replay vs Dundee, 50 years ago give or take one or two. Is that travelling support still there? Next season will tell, but I must point out meantime that the four Dundee derbies won’t mean a thing outside that fair city, or have any financial impact on the other ten clubs in the league. You will not find many people in Motherwell drooling over the prospect of two trips to New Douglas Park.
And there lies the heart of my argument. Four city derbies are, IMO, two too many. (Although the probability must be that there will only be three in Dundee.) There is no evidence that the 12-club set-up imposed on us by another generation of numpties, has benefitted Scottish Football in any way. No club other than the Old Firm has won the top league since 1989, a condemnation of its effect on standards. In terms of the quality, financial stability and international reputation of the game, the 12-club system, with its ridiculous split, has clearly been a disaster. It should be torn up, and a 16-club league established. The consequent short-fall in games could be made up by the restoration of a strong League Cup, with a mini-league phase at the beginning of the season. It worked well in the past, before greed took over and t he numpties took control.