Morton vs Accies Sat 27th April 2013

The penultimate match of the season takes Accies to Greenock for a league game against Morton. A few months ago this looked like it could have been a massive game for both sides. At the time Morton's title challenge was strong while Accies were perilously close to the relegation play-off battle. As it happens, it might now be viewed by some as a meaningless end of season game. However, Morton still have their pride to play for and Accies can still finish in 3rd place.

Last week saw the team's 5th victory in what has been a fantastic April for the fans, players & new management team. The big question is can they round off the month with yet another win on Saturday? The confidence levels are certainly high and the players all look relaxed and incredibly fresh. In addition our record against Morton recently has been excellent.

Morton on the other hand will surely find it difficult to get motivated for this one. The disappointment of losing the league is bound to have had an impact on their players - will it be a negative or positive impact?

Looking to the Accies team, it's hard to imagine that there will be many changes from last week's squad. Louis Longridge must be pushing strongly for a start after impressive perfomances as a substitute in the last 2 games. I also wonder if the manager might be tempted to give a couple of the younger players an opportunity?

Accies women back to business

Accies women have had a busy start to the season so far having already played 3 league games with mixed results. An opening day 2-2 draw with Forfar Farmington, a 7-0 demolition job on Falkirk Ladies and a 5-2 defeat to Rangers sees Kevin Murphy's side go into this weekend's league game with 4 points on the board.

Sunday will see Accies return to the John Cumming Stadium in Carluke where they will host a talented Aberdeen side. The premier team are looking to pick up there second victory of the season as they try to build on their relatively decent start to the SWPL however there will be one noticeable absentee in the Hamilton lineup with Helen 'Dibsy' Tempelton having suffered a broken leg during an Accies development team game on Tuesday night at Glasgow Green. 

She now finds herself on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. It's a devastating blow for the team but the dedication of the player and the club will be second to none on the long road to recovery. 

If you are looking for a game to watch on Sunday come along to the John Cumming stadium for a 2.15 pm kick off where you will be treated to a high intensity match between two talented and committed sides. Look out for Helen 'Dibsy' Tempelton's weekly column  in the Daily Record online, where she details the life and times of a professional female footballer in Scotland. 

Accies vs Raith Rovers - Sat 20th April 2013

Next up for Accies is a home match against our closest rivals in the league Raith Rovers. The remarkable month of April will see Accies ultimately play 7 league games. So far it's been going pretty well - with 4 wins and 1 draw under the belt and 13 goals scored and 3 clean sheets in the process. The winning streak was halted on Tuesday night at Livingston with a slightly disappointing 0-0 draw, however there is a confidence in the team at the moment that can hopefully see them get back to winning ways on Saturday.

Our opponents Raith Rovers also come into the match on the back of a 0-0 draw at Firhill where, according to media reports, a fine performance from them delayed the league championship winning party for Partick Thistle. They've had a very respectable season under the leadership of their promising young manager Grant Murray. With only 3 games remaining I'm certain they'll be looking for a victory in order to give them a chance to overtake Accies and secure a 5th place finish.

Accies will still be without the suspended Page while Ryan is now free from his suspension. Hendrie and Longridge both made claims for a starting place with fine substitute performances at Livingston. Given that this will be the 6th game in 18 days for the players it might be appropriate to bring in some fresher legs. 

League restructuring?

If league reconstruction is the answer, it must have been a pretty daft question.

Scottish football has been thrown into disarray by the SPL decision the day before yesterday to reject the latest proposals for league reconstruction. The SPL voted 10-2 in favour, but their rules require a majority of 11-1, so the proposals fall, before they have even been tested by the requirement for 75% of SFL clubs also voting for them.

If the reactions to this seem disproportionate – anger shown to the dissenting clubs, St Mirren and Ross County, and Aberdeen Chairman Stewart Milne looking close to tears when interviewed on television after the vote – so too were the warnings issued before it.  We were told that the package of proposals was not negotiable or divisible, that there was and could be no ‘Plan B’, meaning failure of the proposals meant reverting to the status quo, and that restructuring had to be voted through for the end of this season – it couldn’t wait for a season (which would be normal practice) to allow everyone to consider the detail and get used to the idea.

So what’s all the fuss about?

To external observers the restructuring proposals seem bizarre.  Three divisions of 12, 12 and 18, with the top two divisions splitting into three divisions of 8 each (with the points tally wiped clean) after 22 games.  It seems contrived, but it’s a copy of a model that’s been tried elsewhere (Switzerland) and abandoned for not working. The details are so bizarre that they invite the suggestion they are designed to distract attention from the details that really matter.

I think this is about money. And I don’t mean the extra payments being redistributed below the top flight, important though that is to clubs like Accies. I don’t believe that’s what Stewart Milne was so upset about. The SPL clubs desperately need a new sponsorship deal, and a lucrative TV deal with SKY. I suspect these depend upon the new structure being in place for next season, and without it, many SPL clubs will see significantly reduced income next season (and some of them are sailing very close to the wind before these cuts - including Aberdeen, Hearts, Kilmarnock and Dundee at least). This would explain the urgency about putting the new structure in place this year, and would explain why we have no information about any new sponsorship deal, nor projections of SPL income, nor any valuation of the SKY deal for next season. This is only a hypothesis, but it’s the only one that fits all the known facts.

We clearly have deep-rooted problems in the Scottish game. The long term trends are all the same, over several decades – falling attendances, falling income, poorer performances by our national team, poorer performances by our clubs competing in Europe, and fewer top-quality players being developed or exported abroad.  We are seeing clubs’ debts rising, greater incidence of insolvency events, and the threat of several clubs going out of business altogether.

We introduced a new league model in 1975, we’ve been tinkering with it ever since, and all of the downward trends have continued. When we examine these problems now, do we really think league restructuring is the answer?

Simplifying governance into a single body would be a step in the right direction (these proposals don’t actually do that, but at least they would merge the SPL and SFL, which is a start).  Reducing the number of clubs sharing the game’s funding would be another (this is what is really meant by having fewer senior clubs).  Other possibilities include considering summer football, more artificial surfaces, indoor football, greater emphasis on youth development, more family-friendly policies, and new media deals.  But before we can agree on solutions, we need to agree on exactly what the problem is we’re trying to fix. We don’t seem very close to that, despite Henry McLeish's endeavours, and as things stand, league restructuring is at best just a disguise for other reforms.

How does this impact specifically upon Accies?  Our Chairman Les Gray expressed his reasons for voting for the proposals as being about a greater share for Accies of Scottish football’s collective income from sponsorship and TV deals, and better chances for Accies to reach the top flight – in the past eight years we have never been lower than fourth in the SFL, which means we would have permanently been in the second division of 8 after the proposed split. These are good reasons for Accies to support the proposals: they clearly favour us in the short term, but are they in the best interests of the game as a whole, or indeed Accies in the longer term?

Our financial situation may be more secure than many debt-ridden SPL clubs, but it is still precarious. Les has called a summit of first division clubs for next Monday, and that can surely only mean an SPL2 proposal on the table.  Will a group of the larger SFL clubs be able to quit the SFL and form a second tier of the SPL? Will that leave the rest of the SFL cut off from any top level funding coming into the game?  Can this be accomplished without civil war breaking out in Scottish football? A lot of questions need to be answered.

Livingston vs Accies (x2) - Sat 13 and Tues 16 Apr 2013

Another double header, this time away from home against Livingston.  First of all, well done to Livingston for their dogged determination to succeed in making entry to a game against Accies this season cost only £5.  I do hope they will be rewarded big crowd.  Accies go into the first game showing their best form of the season, having won their last 3 games and 4 of their last 7.  Livvy are not far behind with 3 wins in the last 7, and will have some confidence, having taken 4 points from the 2 fixtures between the teams played at NDP earlier in the season.  Accies will be without the suspended Devlin (for the first game), Fisher and Neil continue to have injury worries and Canning was taken off after 77 mins on Tuesday as a precaution.  Lets hope that spine of the team is not too badly hit by these doubts and the suspension.  Lee Kilday to come in to the squad?  It seems to me to be a possibility, as cover if nothing more, but he took a knock at one point in the U20s game vs Aberdeen on Wednedsay (which we lost 4-1, although it was not, apparently, a 4-1 game!) and there is no info at time of writing as to his fitness.  For once we have no worries up front, with some strong competition for places, although I can't see any change to the May, McShane and McKinnon combination, despite pressure from Brophy and Ryan.  Accies have every reason to be confident going into these games and I would like to think we can collect 4 points out of 6.  A 4th place finish to match last year might be on the minds of Neil and McAvoy - I reckon it's a long shot, but not wholly out of the question.     

Dunfermline ramifications

Further to last month's blog post Dunfermline on the Brink, the Court of Session has today confirmed that Dunfermline are in full administration.  The league table has now been updated to include the 15 point penalty Dunfermline were given by the SFL the day before yesterday.  Dunfermline face a further penalty of 10 points and a fine of £150,000 if they fail to exit administration by a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) by the start of next season.

First of all, is this fair? The SFL has no "points tariff", no fixed penalty (unlike the SPL) for clubs going into administration. Dunfermline are the fifth SFL club to enter administration, and only the second to suffer a points deduction - Morton and Clydebank in 2000 received no points penalty, nor did Livingston in 2009, while Dundee were docked 25 points in 2010.  Much is made of it being Dundee's second offence, but it was their first in the SFL, as they were in the SPL when they first went into administration in 2003.  The fact is, the SFL take breaches of rules very seriously, and have a record of issuing draconian punishments - when Accies were penalised 15 points in 2000 for failing to fulfil one fixture on time, it seemed excessive (I don't think I was biased, especially considering the context of Morton and Clydebank that season).  In this instance, a penalty of 10 to 15 points was widely predicted, but is it just?

It's hard to fix a penalty for this sort of thing.  It isn't "cheating" to manage your financial affairs badly, but it could be construed as a deliberate means of obtaining an unfair advantage. The added penalty for an administrative delay into next season is more difficult to understand, even more so the financial penalty ("you've spent beyond your means - here, have some more debt").  The same financial lack-of-logic applied to the fine Accies received in 2000. Bear in mind that if Dunfermline fail to achieve a CVA, and go into liquidation, further penalties may await them.

Second, what is the impact on Dunfermline, Accies, and the rest of the SFL?

Dunfermline are now favourites for the play-off place (I discount the possibility of their automatic relegation, as I can't believe Airdrie will pick up the nine points, at least, they would need.)  If they go down, it will impact on them financially, but if they stay up it's hard to see them competing effectively next season.  Further pain, in financial and footballing terms, awaits them, assuming they can survive at all (my bet is they will, but it's not a certainty at the moment).

As of today, Accies have avoided the play-offs, unless Dunfermline successfully appeal their points penalty.  That won't happen, judging by precedent.  Airdrie's inevitable relegation has been postponed, but surely not for long.  Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath's contest for the play-off place has been joined by a third club, and my guess is both of them will be saved at Dunfermline's expense.

It's sad to see these events overtake Dunfermline.  Even sadder is the knowledge that this will not be the last such instance.  We all know that many other Scottish clubs - such as Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock and Hearts - have been living beyond their means and have large debts, arguably unmanageable.  Football clubs rarely disappear altogether - see Soccernomics for a full discussion of this - and no Scottish club has done so since Third Lanark, nearly half a century ago, but this may be of little comfort in the times ahead.

There was a young man from Limerick (AKA Stuart Taylor)

This blog post is contributed by Ian Todd.

The discussion of who might replace Billy Reid has thrown up many names with ex assistant manager Stuart Taylor not surprisingly amongst them. After leaving Accies he joined Qatari club Al Khor Sports Club as coach last year. Not for long though, as in January 2013 he was announced as manager of Airtricity League Club, Limerick FC on a three-year deal. To many in the Irish media who had been listing some well-known figures this was a surprise appointment.

The vacancy at the club was also a surprise as then manager Pat Scully had secured the club's first promotion from the Irish first division in October 2012 after some 19 seasons out of the top flight. But having done so the club and Scully parted company with no real explanation being offered buy either side. It appears that Scully did not fit the profile to take the club forward and they were looking for someone who had a background in developing youth and their Academy.  Step forward Stuart.

Not only is the club looking to develop its youth system but it is currently having the former Limerick greyhound track, Markets Field redeveloped into an 8000 seater, Astroturf stadium courtesy of local boy and Ireland’s richest man JP McManus, to a rumoured tune of 5 million Euros. In the interim Limerick are playing their homes games at the 26,000 Thomond Park Stadium home of Munster Rugby.

Well how is Stuart doing? Remembering the Irish league starts in March through to October, Limerick have played 7 games so far. Under Stuart they have managed 4 draws, 1 win and 2 defeats. After last Fridays 2- 2 draw with Dundalk, a game they led 2 – 0 until the last 20 minutes when Dundalk came back and scored two goals in 7 minutes, they currently sit in a respectable 8th place in the 12 team League. I would imagine that to finish the season secure in the division in a similar league position after 19 years adrift would be considered by most as a success. So what’s the likelihood of Stuart being in the running for the Accies job? Well given he is less than 6 months into a 3-year deal I can’t see Accies paying the necessary compensation. This assumes Stuart would want to leave and given it is his first season with a progressive club on the up I’m not so sure he would be interested. We will just have to wait and see.

And here’s one for the pub quizzers amongst you. Who was Limerick’s manager the last time they managed promotion in season 1991 – 92. You may be surprised with the company Stuart keeps.   

If you want to follow Stuart’s progress here is the link to Limerick’s official site http://www.limerickfc.ie/

 

Ian Todd