NO one likes admitting they are lost. Weâve all took a punt at a crossroads and ploughed on, only to have that growing gnawing feeling weâre going further in the wrong direction. When you start seeing cows rather than buildings it finally dawns on you thereâs nothing else for it, youâll need to go back. Turning round is sore for the ego â but a far better option than charging on into the wilderness. Letâs face it, this new-but-really-the-same Scottish football set-up is heading in the wrong direction. We need to go back. I know the idea of going back to reconstruction talks is about as appetising as a roll ânâ cowpat but whether we like it or not we have to take another bite. Itâs just isnât working. The Premiership is all over before Halloween. Talk about scary. We might as well hold the end-of-season dance this weekend. The title race is over. Not that it ever really started. Same in League One. Relegation is pretty much a done deal in the top division as well. Even Hearts fans know they have more important battles to win. All thatâs left is heavily-weighted relegation play-offs and the scrap to see what teams get to start pre-season the earliest to prepare for a European tie in deepest darkest Belarus. Not great is it? And we canât say it hasnât gone unnoticed. The Christmas decorations will be getting dug out soon and we still donât have a title sponsor. Big companies wonât touch our game with a bargepole. Theyâre not interested and it wonât be long before everyone else feels the same. The one positive from those endless meetings in the last 18 months is we have one body in charge. Itâs as easy to change the format of our leagues now as it is to change the curtains at Hampden, so letâs just do it. Fans have constantly been told we canât afford a bigger top flight but wait and see, it wonât be long before weâre told we canât afford not to have one. It doesnât take the gift of second sight to see whatâs around the corner. Scottish football is heading back down the rabbit hole. Next season we are likely to have a First Division â or Championship in new money â that includes Rangers and Hearts. Dunfermline could be in there too as well as St Mirren or Kilmarnock. Chuck in Falkirk, Hamilton, Dundee and others and itâs going to look like a mirror image of the division above. There will be weekends when attendances in the second tier outnumber the first, which would be bonkers. Scottish football will never have a better chance to have a bash at a bigger top flight again. So letâs just go for it. Ram the top two divisions together and do the same with the bottom two. Have a top 20 and bottom 22. Canât hurt to have a go. Iâd bet there would be a queue of sponsors who put down the bargepoles and get all touchy-feely. The Old Firm would be back. Weâd have derbies in Edinburgh, Dundee, Fife and the Highlands. A 38-game campaign and freedom to play without constant fear of the drop, no split and a proper spread of money. Tempting, isnât it? Ah, but... of course thereâs a but. The undoubted howls of protest. Itâs a leg-up for Rangers and a bailout for Hearts, theyâll say. Well, theyâll need to grow up. Rangers have had two years on the naughty step. Itâs time to let them back in. If we need to wallop Hearts further to appease the rest then we can take more points off them next year too if need be. But what would be the point? Thereâs been enough self-harm in Scotland. Thereâs time to mend wounds and patch up the product. Weâre all in this together. We need to turn round before itâs too late to find our way back. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/michael-gannon-scottish-football-never-2659293 Thoughts?
