TD could survive I agree, but it isn't going to for reasons I will provide at the end of the season .

Personally I think there is a real danger in making the clan size smaller. At the moment it takes a massive amount of effort to put together a clan with no real weak links. FSE only managed it because I was stupidly active and have pretty much the entire team either on facebook or I have their mobile numbers. Same goes for TD. One of the challenging things about the clan system should be to test the strength in depth of the clan. Take D&C as a case in point, if they were to put out:

Arc: osullivan34
Reg: the_tornado/kilimanjaro
Orig: whocares8x8
Carom: destiny
Power: lethal_lure

then this would be an almost impossible team to beat unless TD put out Aled, Tyler, Lyle, Me and Dave. The test is the 'second seed' players in each game type and how they perform. If you reduce the size of the clans then it will be very easy to put a super team together (or 2) and there will be very little competition. The way I see next season shaping up so far with the current system in place there are 3 teams that I believe could really challenge for the title with no out-and-out favourite, something that hasn't happened for a while.

That's true, but over the balance of the season the balance will even out.

The way you say it, you're assuming that the likes of D&C will put out their strongest team every fixture - Which they wouldn't (I hope )

There would be more competition in the sense that there will be several "super teams" around. However, it's a good point that those who don't have these players would go down in flames. The gulf between the top and the bottom would become greater, although it already is fairly far apart.

There is more potential for dynamic formats with quicker games, rather than the drawn-out sets we have at the moment. Not sure if that would be an improvement or not though. Will have to be discussed more.

An idea I've been contemplating (although I have no idea how the logistics would work) is a kind of American Football - esque draft pick.

If it does go down the road where clans have to cut down on their players, then the 'new free agents' could go down this route to try and spread the talent a little more evenly

Why not just go for all players in a hat and draw the teams so all clans would have a random selection of players

I do like the idea of smaller clans for something different but unless you do something about how clans are created nothing will really change.

You don't want to completely destroy current clans though, especially ones that have friends and a little commoradie

Yes but if you want to revamp clans and stop super clans it would do that.

Unfortunately, a draft system won't work here logistically. Also, players will just leave if they're unhappy with their teams. There's nothing that binds them (whereas currently most still have friends on here that they're accountable to).

Well you are always going to get the top clans and the bottom.

Maybe if a rule was made that ensured that frames were shared evenly between all members of the clan, that would limit the affect of 'super clans'.

It'd be hard to do with things such as inactivity, but if the competition was restructured to incorporate a latter stage (say split the league into two groups at the end) and then say that a player has to play 60% of the teams games to be eligible for that stage.

Any problems would be hard to stop without introducing an abundance of rules, as it is at the moment the league is pretty lightweight and easy

Steve you are a good man, if u kicked players out (as bad as that sounds) i know u would recommend them to other teams, if need be. and also about 12-14 that seems fair, also i suppose im ok with 10 players... then if it was 10 reliable trusty players, u wouldn't have to worry bout them not being online..that a small opinion from me for now..

Love this idea and Daveys idea of players playing twice.

If i had the time and this new low player clans went ahead i would possibly make a clan actually as it all sounds good to me. Although as people have pointed out it would be even harder due to reliability and everything else.

If we do get the so called "super clans", we could split into a division one and division two system (if we have enough clans). We could decide on which division clans are in based on preseason games and then at the end of the season have a system similar to NBA playoffs. The top teams from each division qualify for the finals. That way we don't have huge victories/defeats every week but the smaller clans still have the playoffs to play for. Just a thought, don't know if this would work

P.S I just found out I am a free agent, willing to play any game type if anyone's stuck for players

Edited at 12:22 Tue 25/06/13 (BST)

i also would run a clan if they was made smaller..

NBA style leagues definitely sounds like an interesting idea!

The main concern I have with less players would be clans neglecting the guys who can't play week in and week out (I.e. the guys who have work commitments) - which is why I think the numbers shouldn't be lowered too drastically + everybody has periods of inactivity, don't want to put too much of a strain on captains to field a full team.

If we could try and create a few different proposals and see what everybody is in favour of?

Thats why i suggested players are allowed to play twice in the same fixture steve

could maybe bring in a rule to say players are allowed to play twice in the same fixture but not in the same game type..

Lol, good idea then

But...You'd have to limit the amount of times you can do it or the amount o f frames each player could play then, otherwise I can see situations where clans would just play their best players twice and not give the other guys a chance.

yer there is that problem but i can honestly say we dont really see that now.. like anger i could of put the same 9 out each fixture who i know could win there games.. same with you and seb ive seen teamsheets you guys put out that are far from the best but we do it to give everyone a game.
It the players choice if they wish to play under a captain who only plays his best.. gives abit on incentive to improve your game maybe too..

I don't mind if its decreased, maybe not too much as pirate said due to activity and players may feel unhappy that they get fewer games but those in pool clans might enjoy the break.

Clans shouldn't be increased as its high enough as it is with plenty of games.

Sometimes i feel people might not make a clan because they feel its hard work or they get negative feedback but during my time here, particularly when i ran Assassins + Hustlers (before D&C) i found it to be quite easy until i had to fold the clan. Just takes Willpower and Determination and your halfway there.

Just wish more people would have ago at running one, Worse case scenario they don't pass the friendlies but at least they tried

Loving the speech, inspired me to start a clan