should there be a rethink re. play offs

[Benin Dahomey]

as i understand it the playoffs will involve the 2nd vs 3rd teams in the second division and 9th 1st division vs 4th 2nd division. (if this is wrong then just ignore rest of post :) )

so it looks like semis will be

morton vs partick
&
raith (or pos. peterhead or dumbarton) vs one of stranraer, brechin, qos.

so that means that for finishing 2nd, morton or partick will be 'rewarded' with a semi against the toughest other team in playoffs.
my thinking is that finishing second should have some kind of reward (afterall it used to be automatic promotion) so should play 1st division team instead. i imagine most seasons a team fighting for promotion will be a harder game than a team who just spent a whole season trying to avoid relegation. (and anyway, morton vs partick would be a better final, rather than semi)

edit to add: i know it is too late to change it this season but could be something to think of for future seasons

[nach0king]

Yes, the playoffs are ******** and I wish we'd voted against them. (Maybe we did, actually.)

[WillieB]

Maybe the toughest "other" team will be the team that finishes 9th in the 1st division.

Not too sure what the play-offs are all about however I assume it's much the same as England with the winner of the play-offs going up to the 1st division, or just stays there if the team that finishes 9th in the 1st division wins it, the idea to make sure that the team which would have moved up automatically is better than the one which would have been releagted automatically. I assume that the team that finishes 1st gets automatic promotiona nd the team that finishes bottom of the 1st gets relegated automatically.

At the end of the day whoever goes up needs to prove they are better than the rest so if those teams are morton and partick then chances are that if the don't meet in the semis they'll meet in the final.

Is it just coincidence that it's the morton fans who are complaining - worried?

Look on the bright side - when was teh last time Moton contested a semi-final? :D

[nach0king]

Look on the bright side - when was teh last time Moton contested a semi-final?

A few weeks ago, when we lost on penalties to St. Mirren in the Challenge Cup semi final.

That backfired a bit, didn't it? :)

[Benin Dahomey]

Is it just coincidence that it's the morton fans who are complaining - worried?

:D

i'm not worried. like you say we need to beat partick anyway to go up, so i don't care about playing them in the playoffs.

just makes sense to me that it should be the final. the games will sell out either way, but if it was a final between these two teams, and it was a one leg final, you could play it at hampden and get almost 30,000 at it. both teams are capable of taking about 15,000 to really big games if they are a short drive away. (think of dundee unt. at cappielow. 12,000 at it and how many more locked out?)

i know the above isn't really relevant but it just shows that if the sfl had thought about it a bit they could have done better. after all, the meeting was about league reconstruction, and when they came out the meeting this is what they had agreed on. madness.

lets get league reconstruction back on the agenda!

spl (18 teams, 3 down)
sfl (24 teams, 2 up automatically, playoff for 3rd team)

well, it works in england this way, and we could do it with the 42 current senior clubs. have a pyramid system below this

[WillieB]

A few weeks ago, when we lost on penalties to St. Mirren in the Challenge Cup semi final.

That backfired a bit, didn't it? :)

No, I did remember as George Bowie was going on about it on Radio Clyde, just thought you'd be too embarassed to mention it :D That's three Morton fans, you two and Bowie so you now outnumber the PT fans :D


If I remember correctly that's the cup St Mirren beat Hamilton Accies in the final. "Hamilton Accies are in the cup final". Now there's a phrase you won't hear down the pub very often

[Benin Dahomey]

If I remember correctly that's the cup St Mirren beat Hamilton Accies in the final. "Hamilton Accies are in the cup final". Now there's a phrase you won't hear down the pub very often

well, hamilton beat us in the final of the same cup a few years back.

did that just back-fire again? :D

[nach0king]

well, hamilton beat us in the final of the same cup a few years back.

did that just back-fire again? :D

That was my first ever 'Ton game. High five!

[WillieB]

well, hamilton beat us in the final of the same cup a few years back.

did that just back-fire again? :D


No, I only know they played St Mirren in the final a few weeks ago because a couple of the kids I coach in Hamilton were going to the cup final and had to leave my coaching session early. It really broke my heart to see those kids being dragged away screaming and shouting by their parents. I was going to call the SSPCC as it is inhumane to make kids of that age watch Hamilton Accies.

:D

[Benin Dahomey]

great result for morton today...

but i am really convinced now that these playoffs are a disaster. we effectively have nothing to play for till may now, as i can't see us catching gretna but i also can't see us finishing worse than 4th. this system was meant to address the problem of attendances, but how is half a season of meaningless games meant to help attendance.

i know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but how were playoffs ever supposed to be good in a division of ten teams?

[WillieB]

great result for morton today...

but i am really convinced now that these playoffs are a disaster. we effectively have nothing to play for till may now, as i can't see us catching gretna but i also can't see us finishing worse than 4th. this system was meant to address the problem of attendances, but how is half a season of meaningless games meant to help attendance.

i know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but how were playoffs ever supposed to be good in a division of ten teams?


What are the play-offs all about? simple, money. They are an excuse to have a few more meaningful matches at the end of the season - it's all down to money.

[Benin Dahomey]

What are the play-offs all about? simple, money. They are an excuse to have a few more meaningful matches at the end of the season - it's all down to money.

i stole this off of pieandbovril but it sums up my attitude to the play offs.


I seem to remember the consensus was that the play-offs were a bit of a panic measure due to the 1st division losing three well supported clubs and gaining two with smaller supports.

The idea was seemingly to provide a safety net for Morton and Thistle to increase the chances of one or both going up.

If this was their plan then I'm not sure it's working too well because as things stand it would look a good bet that Ton or Jags would go up under the old system, whereas now there's a chance both could be knocked out in the play-offs. They could end up with Gretna, Forfar and Livingston.

the play offs were not about money but about the sfl sh1tt1ng themselves that the second division was going to have larger crowds than the first. it would be hilarious if their plan back-fired, but i don't think i want to watch another season of morton in this division.

[nach0king]

It partially was about the money, at least according to Dougie Rae on Thursday night. He also gave the impression (but didn't explicitly say) that GMFC voted against it:

http://www.greenockmorton.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=2