Former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness believes a greater emphasis on youth in the Scottish Premier League can reinvigorate the game. Wyness, who resigned as Everton chief executive last summer, insists the SPL needs to modernise in order to attract investment and talent.

"There's got to be a differentiation between the SPL and the other leagues in Europe," Wyness told BBC Scotland.

"The way to do it is to make it a youth showcase league for the whole world." Wyness was appointed chief executive at Everton in 2004 after a three-year spell in charge at Pittodrie.

He was the driving force behind Everton's plans to build a new 50,000-capacity stadium for the Toffees in Kirkby. But he resigned from his post in July 2008 because of a conflict with retail tycoon Philip Green's involvement at the Merseyside club. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound programme, Wyness said the top-flight in Scotland needed urgent reform to ensure its survival and suggested a plan which could require teams to field more youth players. "It may mean going as far as having eight players under 25 in the team," said Wyness. "It would make us the showcase for youth and you would get all the major scouts, big interest and try to get all the TV deals working upwards again. "Everybody that's young in Scotland and around the world would get the chance to come and earn a chance to get into teams quickly. "This is all about trying to give young players a chance. I think fans have always wanted to see kids come through the ranks. "Certainly, if there was some real talent coming in from around the world as well, it would make it a very attractive proposition. "It would give the SPL a real point of difference and get some excitement going in."

So his grand plan is to make the vast majority of players over 25 obsolete in the SPL? Well though out.

So his grand plan is to make the vast majority of players over 25 obsolete in the SPL? Well though out.

 

half baked nonsense eh? What the fuck kind of sponsorship and TV coverage is a youth league going to attract?

could be a streak of realism though. flog em all to english clubs when they hit 25 as that's when they get to big for their spl boots anyway.

 

though i agree it seems a bit hair-brained. don't see why tv money would increase and wouldn't make the league more competative.

What do we do with players over 25 who are unsellable? Offload them on frees? Our youth policy will need to be the best in the world to sustain something as ludicrous as that which Wyness is suggesting.

i'm all for promoting youth in scotland but come on.....!

 

talk some sense man!

Bad idea but nice to see someone looking at other ways of changing the league other than sticking some extra teams in it from the league below.

 

Hopefully it'll spark a wider discussion.

One of the main problems here is that certain positions ie defenders and goal keepers dont mature until over this age. 

 

This idea is going no where.

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee believes the two Dundee clubs should merge and that inviting Irish sides to compete in the Scottish Premier League would re-invigorate Scotland's top-flight. (Daily Express, Daily Star)

 

from BBC gossip.

 

Has anyone seen the articles?

 

Seems as farcical as Wyness' idea, IMO

It was part of McGhee's article in the Sunday Herald at the weekend. It may still be up on the Herald site.

Merging of the Dundee clubs is not too shabby an idea, but fuck the Irish, one club in the SPL is enough.

Fair point, well made.

Merging of the Dundee clubs is not too shabby an idea, but fuck the Irish, one club in the SPL is enough.

 

Two, surely?

Merging of the Dundee clubs is not too shabby an idea, but fuck the Irish, one club in the SPL is enough.

Both are terrible ideas

Merging two clubs with supports c6000 will not make a club with a support of c12000, it will make a club with a support c1000

Even if the new Dundee club magically started pulling in bigish crowds they would be no bigger than us, hibs or hearts and certainly wouldn't offer any more of a challenge to the OF than Utd do at the moment

It was part of McGhee's article in the Sunday Herald at the weekend. It may still be up on the Herald site.

 

 

Christ, are we playing UTD at the weekend ? Sounds like the sort of piss McGhee comes out with for the away dressing room pin board.

Predictably, he's pissed off both Levein and Scott:

 

Dundee United and Dundee have, for once, joined forces – but only to reject Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee’s ideas for the game.

 

McGhee’s views included the merging of the two Dundee clubs – as well as teams from the Irish leagues joining the SPL.

 

But his comments were met with bewilderment at both Tannadice and Dens Park, with managers Craig Levein and Jocky Scott far from thrilled.

 

United manager Levein, who is also director of football, flatly rejected the possibility of clubs with such illustrious histories joining forces. As someone who lived through Wallace Mercer’s ill-fated attempt to merge Hearts and Hibs, he knows the depth of feeling against it.

 

He said: “It’s simply not feasible for two clubs with the great tradition of United and Dundee to merge.

 

“It’s not viable because both clubs have their own identity and nobody would want to lose that. There’s a great depth of feeling for both teams in the city and that’s a good thing. We saw at the recent derby, even though it wasn’t even a competitive game, what it meant to supporters and players.

 

“But as for mergers, maybe Aberdeen could merge with Peterhead or Celtic and Rangers could join forces then? It’s not going to happen.â€

 

Levein would have no opposition to the Dundee teams sharing a stadium, but knows it would require significant council funding.

 

He added: “If the council had the money and we all could afford it, it would be great to build a 20,000 all-seater stadium in the city to share. That would be sensible.

 

“Both our grounds are probably a bit past their sell-by dates.

 

“People relate to their stadiums and it would be a wrench to move.

 

“But it has been shown in the past – with Arsenal for example – it’s the team which is the most important thing.

 

“But other than a ground-share, the idea of merging is a total non-starter.â€

 

McGhee’s comments also angered Jocky Scott, whose Dundee club has spent heavily in a bid to get back to the SPL.

 

Scott, a former Aberdeen manager, has no time for the idea of Irish clubs leapfrogging over the Division 1 teams.

 

McGhee angered Dundee once before this season, in the build-up to the League Cup tie which was won by the Dark Blues.

 

Scott said: “What Mark said about the Irish clubs coming in is very insulting to the teams in the First Division.

 

“Mark should know how good the clubs are at our level because he watched us beat his team a few months ago.

 

“He’s right about the SPL bringing in more clubs, but we’ve got plenty in Scotland of the standard required.

 

“We don’t need to go elsewhere to get them.

 

“As for mergers, that will never happen.â€

 

For a relatively intelligent seeming chap, McGhee can't half come out with some shite.

For a relatively intelligent seeming chap, McGhee can't half come out with some shite.

 

Indeed. What a fucking stupid thing for McGhee to suggest.

FFS Sake Jimmy, stop talking shite.

maybe Aberdeen could merge with Peterhead

 

I like it.

 

I was reading the Football rich list the other day and the guy who owns Peterhead is far far too high on it for owning a team as small as Peterhead. Add into the mix the Dons "fan" at Dundee (who'll be out of a job in the new Dundee United United team) and we have ourself a mighty rich board to play with