The debate around extending the Scottish Premiership is one that seems to come around more than once a year.
We had it during Covid as clubs, like Hearts and Partick Thistle, adversely affected by the league being cut short called for league reconstruction. But it has been a thing since before then and has repeatedly been brought back up since.
Clubs currently have to play each other four times and there is a feeling it is a bit too repetitive for managers, players and fans alike.
Another argument is it solve another important issue by allowing managers to more readily blood younger players as there would be less pressure on each individual fixture and more breathing space in terms of relegation fears and jobs being on the line.
Ultimately, there are plenty of pros and cons and they’ve all been argued here and there over the years.
Livingston boss David Martindale calls for extended Premiership
Livingston have just been relegated to the Championship so manager David Martindale could be accused of having ulterior motives when it comes to his views on this.
But he insists he is on record as saying the same when they were in the top flight.
Martindale feels there are enough good teams to make up a bigger Premiership and it would take away some of the pressures on the bottom six bosses and also make things more exciting for those involved.
He said: “I’m back in the Championship now after six years coaching in the Premiership, so I don’t think there’s many other managers in Scotland better qualified to comment on this.
“People will say I’m only saying this because we’re in the Championship now, but I’ve been saying this since we were in the Prem and I said the same thing at a lot of the meetings during Covid when we were talking about promotion and relegation.
“Do I think there’s enough quality to make an 18-team Premiership at the moment? Yes, I do.
“Would that make the jobs of the teams outside the so-called big six, who should be up there based on their budgets, easier and a lot more competitive? Yes, it would.
“There would be less chance of getting relegated and playing a team twice instead of four times would be better.
“We had a great game at Ayr on Saturday, but I’ll play them four times in the league this year and does that excite me as a coach? Not really. I think it becomes a bit mundane and I think fans feel the same.
“But if we’ve only got one chance to come down to Ayr it will be more exciting, it’ll make for a better atmosphere and more variety for the players and punters.
“You’d get a better chance of winning games with a bigger league, less chance of relegation percentage wise, and I think it would lead to less risk-averse football.”
Extended Premiership would make it easier to develop younger players
Martindale is one of those of the opinion that a bigger top flight would make it easier to develop young players.
An argument against is that it would create dead-rubber fixtures but the Livi boss insists that is exactly the sort of environment where youngsters can be brought in, with less pressure on them.
He added: “It would help bring younger players on. The points are still very important, of course they are, but they’re maybe not as life and death as at the moment.
“And it really annoys me when I hear pundits talking about how there would be all these dead-rubber games. What is that?
“If it’s a game where I maybe can’t move up or down, I try new things, I put new players in, blood young lads from the academy. You could do that in those games. Could I have done that at Ayr United on Saturday? Probably not.
“I’m nine games into a season and I’m talking about not being able to bring a young player in. That’s wrong. That’s a big problem in Scottish football.
“Look at the Prem. How many young, dynamic Scottish midfielders under 23 are there making a real impact? There’s Lennon Miller and David Watson, but other than that?
“But there are loads in the Championship who would benefit from playing week in week out against better opposition at big stadiums.
“I think there’s a huge debate needs to be had and the sooner Scottish football wakens up to that idea the better.”