Rangers' Mark Warburton backs 16-team Scottish Premiership

Forum 8 years ago

Rangers' Mark Warburton backs 16-team Scottish Premiership

Rangers manager Mark Warburton thinks Scottish football would benefit from a 16-team top-flight, but his Celtic counterpart is sitting on the fence.
Ronny Deila says expanding the Premiership would bring with it negatives as well as positives.
League restructuring has reared its head again as an agreed three-year period of stability comes to an end.
"The gap between the top of the Championship and Premiership is not the same as down south," said Warburton.
"Up here, the gap is much narrower and you can afford to have a competitive 16-team Premier League.
"I keep being told about the financial climate, but sometimes it's short-term pain for long-term gain.
"Right now, it's not working. I keep being told about problems with the national game, I keep being told that radical measures are needed; well, there might be some short-term pain."
While Deila's reigning Scottish champions again lead the Premiership, city rivals Rangers hope to join them in the top flight next season.
They lead the 10-team Championship ahead of Hibernian and Falkirk, whose chairman, Doug Henderson, and manager, Peter Houston, both recently went public in support of bigger leagues.
Warburton said Houston had spoken "very well, very wisely" about restructuring, with the Rangers manager insisting that teams should only benefit from any changes on "sporting merit".