Source: Team_Talk
Laszlo proposes route to reform
The big freeze prompted Hearts boss Laszlo to propose a radical overhaul of the national game, involving the Scottish Premier League becoming a 14-16 team division and the return of the winter break.[LNB]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.[LNB]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.[LNB]And he insists copying that model can be achieved, with the Japanese having already done so.[LNB]He said: "From 1985-87, I was in Cologne and I saw a lot of Japanese with the cameras.[LNB]"They had permission to take pictures from every part of the stadium.[LNB]"They got back to Japan and they reformed Japanese football.[LNB]"They built everything the same as it was in Germany: stadia, facilities.[LNB]"I saw one guy at Fortuna Cologne, he came in the dressing room and took a picture of the toilets![LNB]"Now, the Japanese league is one of the best in Asia.[LNB]"The Japanese have been to the World Cup a lot of times."[LNB]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."[LNB]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.[LNB]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.[LNB]"The players suffer; you have a lot of accidents," said Laszlo.[LNB]"It can be in the afternoon in Aberdeen minus-five, six, seven, eight.[LNB]"The ball doesn't have the elasticity, the pitch cannot be 100% clear for football or the muscles of the players."[LNB]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.[LNB]He said: "You must reorganise everything; you must reform. But for reform you need reformers.[LNB]"You need reformers who say, 'I take my flag, I go at the front and you must follow me'.[LNB]"If you are a reformer, you make a lot of enemies but you have development."[LNB]The big freeze has decimated the Scottish fixture programme of late, leading to an enforced winter break for many lower league clubs.[LNB]"Everybody suffers at the moment," Laszlo said.[LNB]"You can't train. A lot of teams don't have an astrodome.[LNB]"The First Division teams are on a holiday but in the papers the league is on."[LNB]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.[LNB]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.[LNB]"Steven MacLean is an Edinburgh guy and wants to come here, but the market is free."[LNB]McLeod's agent was quoted on Thursday saying the Charlton forward's proposed move to Hearts was dead.[LNB][LNB]
