DAVIE MARTINDALE is convinced the thrilling Championship title scrap proves the division’s high fliers ALL deserve a top-flight chance.
The Livingston boss says he is ideally placed to comment on the reconstruction debate after his six years coaching and managing at the Lions as they went up and down the leagues.
Saturday’s win at Ayr saw Livi go second behind Falkirk as they eye an immediate Premiership return.
But Martindale would love to see SIX sides go up to form an 18-team top tier.
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.”
Martindale insists change would also help develop rising stars sooner.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.
“The money doesn’t need to change depending on where you finish. Keep that the same.
“But the commercial income and everything that goes with having Rangers, Celtic and the rest coming down once a season would make a huge difference.
“Clubs like us would get maybe an extra million quid which can be put back into things like academies.
“I think there’s a huge debate needs to be had and the sooner Scottish football wakens up to that idea the better.”
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