Saturated with Football on TV

Speaking ahead of their cup game at Inverness, on Sunday with a 1230 kick off, he said,

"It's definitely not as glamorous for the spectators as it used to be. I remember FA Cup and Scottish Cup ties 25 to 30 years ago, they were the big games on the television. You would gather around the telly for these games and the cup final but there are so many games on television now, we are saturated with football.

And then there are the silly kick-off times. Games used to be all played at the same time, everybody went to the games on the same day. Now it is all over the place."

Both points are well made. For the manager of a major club to state that "we are saturated with football" smacks of a club biting the hand that feeds it but he's right. The four quarter finals are spread from Saturday to Wednesday and the competition is the poorer as a result. The drama of simultaneous games (played at 3pm on a Saturday) is built partly from hearing scores from other grounds and the changing fortunes which develop during the afternoon. We are in danger of turning our game into a toy for the TV scheduler and the fans that turn up at the ground will merely provide the background for the show.

His second point about the "silly kick-off times" is also valid. Celtic fans have to get to Inverness on a Sunday in time for a lunch time start. St Johnstone fans will have a late return journey on Wednesday following the 8.05pm kick-off that the BBC has set.

Once again the fans lose out.