Laszlo proposes route to reform

Last updated : 08 January 2010 By Team Talk

Laszlo insists Scotland simply does not have the facilities to cope with the current arctic conditions, which he says has resulted in injuries to three of his players.

The Romanian-born Hungarian, who ended his playing career and started as a coach in Germany, believes the Bundesliga is the template Scottish football should follow, both in terms of scheduling and facilities.

And he insists copying that model can be achieved, with the Japanese having already done so.

He said: "From 1985-87, I was in Cologne and I saw a lot of Japanese with the cameras.

"They had permission to take pictures from every part of the stadium.

"They got back to Japan and they reformed Japanese football.

"They built everything the same as it was in Germany: stadia, facilities.

"I saw one guy at Fortuna Cologne, he came in the dressing room and took a picture of the toilets!

"Now, the Japanese league is one of the best in Asia.

"The Japanese have been to the World Cup a lot of times."

Laszlo insisted he was not asking the Scottish game's governing bodies to go as far as photographing toilets but added: "If the facilities are not there for winter football, you can't force winter football."

Laszlo revealed David Kucharski and Arvydas Novikovas had both twisted their ankles at the club's indoor astrodome, while Jose Goncalves aggravated a thigh strain training outside.

All three are likely to miss Saturday's Active Nation Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at Aberdeen, which was given the go-ahead on Thursday barring a dramatic deterioration of the weather.

"The players suffer; you have a lot of accidents," said Laszlo.

"It can be in the afternoon in Aberdeen minus-five, six, seven, eight.

"The ball doesn't have the elasticity, the pitch cannot be 100% clear for football or the muscles of the players."

Laszlo believes Scottish football must resurrect the winter shutdown, something he claims can be achieved if the SPL was to become a 14-16 team division in which clubs only played each other twice.

He said: "You must reorganise everything; you must reform. But for reform you need reformers.

"You need reformers who say, 'I take my flag, I go at the front and you must follow me'.

"If you are a reformer, you make a lot of enemies but you have development."

The big freeze has decimated the Scottish fixture programme of late, leading to an enforced winter break for many lower league clubs.

"Everybody suffers at the moment," Laszlo said.

"You can't train. A lot of teams don't have an astrodome.

"The First Division teams are on a holiday but in the papers the league is on."

Meanwhile, Laszlo admitted he fears losing Steven MacLean to Aberdeen and Izale McLeod to Peterborough because the Hearts board have yet to give him permission to sign them.

Both strikers had trial spells at Tynecastle and Laszlo said: "I have heard that Steven MacLean, he goes to Aberdeen, while Izale McLeod goes to Peterborough.

"Steven MacLean is an Edinburgh guy and wants to come here, but the market is free."

McLeod's agent was quoted on Thursday saying the Charlton forward's proposed move to Hearts was dead.

 

 

Source: Team Talk

Source: Team Talk