Former Celtic winger Bobby Petta believes league restructuring would provide a much-needed boost for Scottish football - but he remains unconvinced by the proposal currently on the table.
The Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League have agreed in principle to a restructuring plan that would see the organisations merge in a 12-12-18 structure.
Rangers have already hit out at the plans and chief executive Charles Green today urged football bosses to reconsider a 14-14-14 format as an alternative.
Petta believes the time is right for change and indicated a preference for the option favoured by Green.
He said: "I think restructuring would help. It would make the league more interesting and it gives other teams more opportunities to play against Celtic.
"But you want to make sure the gap between Celtic and the other teams is less and that there's more competition.
"I think it's going to help but whether it's going to be a 12-12-18 format, I'm not so sure. It looks a bit odd.
"A 14-14-14 would be a bit more even and would make more sense. I think a restructuring of the league would definitely help Scottish football."
However, Petta - who played for the Hoops between 1999-2004 - does not agree with Green's belief that Rangers should quit Scottish football if the 12-12-18 format is implemented next season.
He said: "I don't think it will happen. If it did happen, it wouldn't be good for Scottish football.
"Unfortunately for Rangers, they are in the bottom league and have to work hard to get back on top. I'm sure that will happen.
"But Scotland without those two (Old Firm) wouldn't be good. If you talk about Scottish football, you always think about Celtic and Rangers."
Petta believes the demotion of Rangers to the Irn-Bru Third Division in the summer could make Scottish football a less attractive prospect for potential signing targets.
But he hopes Celtic's success in the Champions League - they will play Juventus in the last 16 - can offset any difficulties in attracting top talent to Parkhead.
The Dutchman said: "Rangers being in the Third Division has had an impact on Scottish football but also on attracting players to come over here.
"It's great for Celtic that they are in the Champions League and they have been able to focus on that.
"It's hard to attract players but doing really well in the Champions League will put Scotland back on the map and anything is possible.
"Hopefully they can keep doing what they are doing and it will be possible for them to get the better players to join the Scottish league."
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