Oh, and....the flexible part is a trial this year so we'll see how successful it has been

over the course of the next few weeks. Suggestion is to expand it if successful, which I am guessing would mean to replace the fixed winter break by allowing the teams themselves to decide how long they break for vs fixture congestion. That's a very Dutch thing to do - consensus, or the "polder model" is a very big part of culture here (and bloody annoying sometimes).

The Dutch teams also play fewer games which helps this setup of course. 34 league games (plus playoffs), one cup competition and, let's face it, the clog teams are out of European competitions very quickly these days.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Feb 27, 13:57:01