What impact has five substitutes had on Scottish football?
- Published
The allocation of permitted substitutes has increased in recent years
The first full Scottish football season of teams being allowed to field up to five substitutes is now over - and Peter Grant, for one, is not happy.
The former Celtic and Scotland midfielder told BBC Scotland's Sportsound he thinks it leaves too many players kicking their heels waiting for an opportunity from the bench.
So what impact has five substitutes had on Scottish football - and the destination of silverware and relegation disappointment?
What has changed?
First, though, a wee history lesson.
Substitutes in association football have been around since the nineteenth century - but only initially for players who failed to turn up!
Scotland were the opponents for the first ever use of a substitute in international football, when Wales' original goalkeeper failed to arrive in 1889.
Substitutions during matches were not added to the Laws of the Game until 1958, but the number permitted steadily increased until three became the norm from 1995 onwards.
The pandemic changed all that in 2020, though. In a move to reduce the impact of fixture congestion caused by Covid-19, world governing body Fifa allowed competition organisers to allow for a maximum of five substitutes.
The Scottish Premiership returned to three at the start of the 2021-22, but that was reversed mid-season, with teams able to name up to nine players on their benches, amid concerns over isolation measures.
Concussion regulations now allow for one more additional change, with the opposing team given the opportunity to match that.
Celtic top of the table again
Judging from statistics supplied by Opta for Scotland's top flight, it is perhaps too early to say whether the five-substitute rule can decide the title race.
This season's champions, Celtic, had the most goals by substitutes with 24 (21% of their 114 total), followed by runners-up Rangers with 14 (15%) then fourth-placed Heart of Midlothian (16%) and St Johnstone (24%), both with 10.
However, Rangers also finished second behind their city rivals the previous season despite their substitutes having the greatest impact with 15 goals overall (19%) ahead of Celtic. Eight goals off the bench for Ange Postecoglou's side was a mere 9% of their total and only the seventh most potent in the division.
Meanwhile, Celtic's 14 goals (18%) in 2020-21 were not enough to prevent Rangers taking the title with their 11 (12%) - and both were bettered in percentage terms by St Mirren's (nine goals, 24%).
However, only scoring two goals from substitutes, Kilmarnock this season and when suffering relegation in 2020-21 - and Aberdeen when finishing third bottom in between - perhaps goes some way to explaining their relative struggles.
Could the five subs rule be increasing the chances of players being earmarked as impact players?
All five of midfielder Scott Arfield's league goals in his last season at Rangers came from the bench. Meanwhile, Israel winger Liel Abada netted four league goals as a substitute and he was also among the replacements when he notched Celtic's second in the Scottish Cup final win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
360% rise in use of five subs
The effect of the five subs rule has, though, been pretty dramatic in overall terms.
Teams used five or more subs in a game 176 times in the season just finished - up from 48 in the previous campaign and 70 in 2020-21.
Not surprisingly, goals by substitutes have reached a new high of 100 (15% of all Premiership goals scored).
That is 20 more than the next highest season - 2007-08. Interestingly, that campaign was the last to feature three Scottish teams in European group stage action until 2022-23.
The lowest amount of goals scored by substitutes in a campaign in the past 18 top-flight seasons was 49 in 2008-09 (9% of all goals) and 2018-19 (8% of all goals).
One factor that affected the last campaign was the World Cup, which halted domestic competition for around six weeks from mid-November and meant the final games of the season (Scottish Cup final and Premiership play-off finals) took place in early June.
It could also have a knock on effect into 2023-24, with a shorter pre-season and an earlier finish to accommodate next summer's Euro 2024 finals.
'Far too many substitutes'
Former Celtic player and ex-Norwich City manager Peter Grant
Whether it's youth football, whether it's senior football, there's too many players standing at the side not playing games. I think it should be back to the three subs again. I definitely wouldn't have the squads as big as they are. That starts with the first team.
The amount of guys I see standing at the side of the pitch at youth games is incredible. I don't know where they are going to get their opportunities. We're losing so many players by not playing games of football, it's frightening. Kids will just get fed up not playing. There's too many of them sitting on the bench.
Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller
When it first came in, I thought 'why?' I didn't agree with it at the time, but now it's just become the norm. There's two sides to it - I think it definitely benefits a bigger club with a bigger squad and more strength in depth. You can basically use near enough your whole squad on the bench.
What it allows the big clubs to do is to have cover in all areas. Rangers and Celtic can have four or five attacking options on their bench. But a positive thing is that it allows you to have younger players on the bench as well and, if you are winning 2-0 or 3-0, it gives you the chance to blood these players and give them opportunities if they are ready.
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell
Everybody focuses on the benefits for big clubs, but I am slightly different. I actually think that, depending on our game plan, if we are asking players to expend a lot of energy maybe in a deeper block to try to nullify spaces and shut down areas of the pitch then sometimes I've got a feeling that it can work to our advantage as well.
Making five changes and getting five fresh players on the park can actually be beneficial.