THE SPFL are to be applauded for seriously examining a radical revamp of the League Cup which could, if approved, see new regionalised group stages getting underway at the beginning of July.
Such an innovative move is just what Scottish football needs to flourish. The proposal could potentially generate greater interest among supporters who do not currently turn out in significant numbers for the earlier stages of the knockout tournament.
The change may also enable the governing body to secure a sponsor for more than just the semi-finals and the final, as was the case in the season just ended when the QTS Group came on board.
The 69-year-old competition has been without a long-term commercial partner since the Scottish government ended its involvement two years ago. A dramatic departure from the present format may help tempt a major company to lend its support.
It will, however, be interesting to see how the new League Cup, which could be rolled out as early as next year, can be squeezed into an already congested fixture list. It certainly couldn't just be tagged onto the front of the existing schedule.
It has been suggested an earlier start would enable a four week shutdown in January, when the winter weather is at its most severe, to be reintroduced. That would allow players to take a much-needed rest.
But would Scottish champions Celtic, who aspire to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages at the start of every season and succeeded in that ambition in the 2012/13 campaign, be content with that arrangement?
The last 16 of Europe's elite club competition kicks off in the middle of February. Would the Parkhead club be prepared to return to competitive action, after several weeks of inactivity, just a fortnight or less beforehand? Doing so would surely compromise their chances of success.
There are currently rounds of the League Cup and the Scottish Cup which are played in early February, too. It will, no doubt about it, be a complex process getting any change pushed through.
A move to summer football has been talked about for years in this country and there have been growing rumblings about it in the last few months. Its champions believe, with some justification, it would help to increase crowds and improve the standard of our national game.
Yet, aren't the days when clubs played through the winter months and then took the summer months off long gone anyway? Isn't the sport effectively a lucrative 12 month a year business now as it is? Don't we actually already have summer football as things stand?
Scotland scrapped their way to a 1-1 draw in a fairly brutal encounter with the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin at the weekend in a vital Euro 2016 qualifier in the final match of the season. The date of the fixture was Saturday, June 13, 2015.
Charlie Mulgrew and Leigh Griffiths of Celtic were both involved, in the side and on the bench respectively, with the national squad. They had each played for their club against KR Reykjavik in Iceland in the second qualifying round of the Champions League in the opening game of the season. The date of that fixture was Tuesday, July 15, 2014.
There was, then, a staggering 11 months between their first and last competitive outings. It is hardly any wonder the national team's showing in Dublin left a great deal to be desired.
Far too much is being demanded of our leading players. There isn't enough time for them to adequately recover. It is detrimental to their form not to mention damaging to their physical wellbeing.
Gordon Strachan has stated there is no such thing as a close season for top players now. He is, as with so many things, absolutely correct. It is a concerning situation which has to be taken into account and rectified in any future shake-up of our existing structure.
AND ANOTHER THING . . .
DAVE King's appeal to Rangers supporters last week to show the same level of backing for the Ibrox club as they did before the 2012/13 season after they had been placed into the bottom tier of Scottish football raised a fair few eyebrows.
Having been beaten 6-1 by Motherwell in the two legs of the SPFL Premiership play-off final at the end of last month, there was limited enthusiasm for buying season tickets among even the most ardent follower. As for shifting 45,000 of them? King was having a laugh wasn't he?
However, the appointment of Mark Warburton as manager and club legend Davie Weir as his assistant will guarantee there is a sizeable uptake in the weeks ahead.
Bringing in Warburton, the former city trader who lead Brentford to promotion in League One in the 2013/14 season and then into the Championship play-offs in the campaign just ended, is an interesting move which has met with widespread, if not universal, approval.
Being in charge of Glasgow club will be a huge step up. Both the pressure to succeed and the scrutiny he will be under will be far greater than at Griffin Park. But his highly impressive curriculum vitae certainly suggests he will handle the role with aplomb.
The arrival of one of English football's hottest managerial properties in Scotland will add an element of intrigue to the forthcoming season and, crucially for Rangers, put a fair few bums of seats.
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