It should be Grimsby up north for Killie and St Mirren after Covid chaos at Celtic Park
GRIMSBY became the first English club to be sanctioned for breaching Covid rules this week.
You can bet their case will have been pinned to the dressing room walls at St Mirren and Kilmarnock as they prepare for D-Day in their appeal against the SPFL’s forfeit decision.
That the League Two side were hit with only a suspended fine of less than £5000 by the EFL for causing three fixtures to be postponed after breaching Covid rules won’t have gone unnoticed.
The Mariners’ punishment is a drop in the ocean compared to the penalties meted out to the Buddies and Killie.
Between them they had the same number of games cancelled due to virus outbreaks – and were subsequently told to forfeit the fixtures by an SPFL independent panel. With a £40,000 fine on top.
Their appeal will be heard by the SFA today.
But if last month’s sanctions weren’t startling enough at the time then what has followed in the weeks since has surely left the SPFL high and dry with their decision. Or Dubai and dry to be precise.
Simply put St Mirren and Killie couldn’t have wished for better timing for their appeal to be heard given the background of the Celtic winter break clusterfauxpas.
The whole sorry mess emanating from the ill-advised trip to the UAE has played right into the hands of those preparing a defence in Paisley and Ayrshire.
Let’s face it you don’t need to be Harvey Specter to build this case. Celtic might argue they never broke any rules by heading out on a five-star trip to the Gulf Tiger.
But the cold, hard truth of the sunshine break is that it was wrong and mistakes were made out there. In this year of all years their state-of-the-art training facility in Lennoxtown should have sufficed.
The Covid chaos that has enveloped Celtic Park since their return is proof of that.
Had they not had the reserves of .. well reserves .. in their squad then Monday’s Premiership clash with Hibs would no doubt have fallen victim to their carelessness. Which brings us back to St Mirren and Killie.
Both clubs breached protocols which led to games being cancelled of that there is no denial. Yet put side by side with the Hoops’ howler then their misdemeanours look tame to say the least.
Infringing social distancing rules on buses and at pre-match meals. Players from St Mirren also shared cars to and from training.
Mistakes made in the course of their work. In contrast to images of Celtic players strolling side by side around the pool area of a five-star hotel in Dubai. Of their manager and captain enjoying a pint by the poolside barely half a metre apart.
The SPFL sanctions imposed on the Buddies and Killie is a ‘sledgehammer and nut’ approach to a very delicate situation.
Not only does the heavyhanded penalty deprive two clubs of the chance to win vital points it’s also hugely unfair on the other clubs round about Motherwell and Hamilton who were the beneficiaries of the point awards.
One look at how tight the bottom end of the table is tells you all you need to know about the precious nature of every single point.
It’s that old phrase again. Sporting integrity. The catchphrase of the summer.
Clubs are learning as they go along as can only be expected in any unprecedented situation. Mistakes have been made, standards have slipped and players have blundered.
Down south Grimsby were fined for their mistakes which included players congregating in communal areas at their training ground, car sharing and, bizarrely, former boss Ian Holloway playing darts with his squad.
The EFL’s response hit the bullseye. The SPFL’s decision, in contrast, was anything but oche. And it needs redressed.
It’s that old phrase again. Sporting integrity. The catchphrase of the summer