Ross County manager Derek Adams believes a bigger Premiership would help raise quality of Scottish football
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Derek Adams believes that reconstructing the Scottish football pyramid could help raise the quality level.
The Ross County manager made headlines last weekend when he launched a scathing attack on the standard of the Scottish game, saying his former side Morecambe were 100 times better than the Staggies’ display against Dundee.
He also bemoaned the negativity in teams’ styles of play, which he has since elaborated on as believing is a result of fear of ending up in a relegation battle.
Livingston manager David Martindale spoke during the week of an expanded Scottish Premiership potentially leading to a better product, and Adams agrees it could be a good change.
“It would help the flow of the game,” he reasoned.
“At this moment, the quality between so many teams is similar and it’s small margins to win games.
“If the league was expanded, you would see a bigger space between the bottom teams and the middle teams. That would help us.
“Finances are the biggest problem. Teams don’t want to give up the finances you gain from being in a 12-team league.”
There have been proposals put forward in the past to expand the top flight and restructure the pyramid.
The most obvious opportunity to do it was when the 2019/20 campaign was ended early due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, that opportunity passed without any major development.
If reconstruction does happen, Adams thinks some teams in the Championship would not look out of place in the Premiership.
“I think it would make it more open,” Adams said.
“Teams that play more expansive are those with more resources and better players. The others are all of a muchness and we’re trying to get the best out of them.
“We have got to look to the bigger picture.
“Look at the Scottish Championship. There are a lot of teams that would compete very well. I think (a bigger Scottish Premiership) would help the product.”
