Like it or not, in the eyes of SPFL clubs, Doncaster is virtually the perfect man at the top
REGAN and Doncaster. Doncaster and Regan. In the minds of Scottish football supporters, the men at the helm of the SFA and SPFL have spent the last seven years fused at the hip. The Siamese twins of ineptitude.
As out of touch as Cameron and Osborne. As hopeless as Laurel and Hardy. And, to Celtic and Rangers fans, as shifty as Bonnie and Clyde.
The truth, as ever, is a little more complex than that. Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster were always more of a Blair and Brown than a French and Saunders.
Outwardly, relations were civil. But the sixth floor of Hampden, where the SFA and SPFL share office space, has been the scene of a turf war for years. Two bodies who should be working together for the greater good of Scottish football have been engaged in a bare-knuckle boxing match. And on Thursday afternoon, Regan fell victim to a straight knockout.
There were good reasons why the SFA had to part company with their chief executive.
He oversaw four unsuccessful qualifying campaigns and two sacked managers. He made critical and naive strategic errors in his one-track pursuit of Michael O’Neill as the next Scotland boss.
He allowed a number of key sponsorship agreements to expire without renewal. And, in a quest to fill the financial void, he omitted to mention to the nation’s biggest clubs — or his own board members — that the new Scotland boss would be dragging players halfway round the planet to play Peru and Mexico weeks before important Champions League and Europa League qualifiers.
A failure to consult SFA sidekicks over the games in Lima and Mexico City might strike some as a trifling affair; trumped up to justify a lynching.
In reality, it sums up why Regan’s reign ended in a litany of failure. And Doncaster remains safe as houses at the helm of the SPFL.
Regan’s relationships with the biggest clubs was arm’s length at best.
He never seemed overly concerned by what Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen or anyone else had to say. He made a powerful enemy when he rejected a Parkhead request for an independent inquiry into the Rangers saga. Organising end-ofseason Scotland games in Mexico and Peru without taking account of the impact it would have on Celtic’s European aspirations was never the smartest career move.
The late Jim Farry learned to his cost that, in any club, it’s usually wise for the man in charge to stay onside with the wealthiest members.
Taking over as chief executive in 2007, Gordon Smith wanted to be more than a nodding dog. He sought the autonomy to shape and mould the association and pick the Scotland manager himself, taking the flak if it went wrong. Setting his sights on O’Neill, Regan clearly wanted the same.
The trouble with this is clear. It’s not what the clubs want.
The football public might think Doncaster is an abject waste of £200,000 a year. To the chairmen, he’s virtually the perfect chief executive. A bulletproof vest they pay handsomely to absorb the shrapnel of public opinion, allowing them to duck beneath the parapet.
Most importantly, he does what he’s told without complaint.
Doncaster is an impotent chief exec beholden to the clubs. To say so is no insult; merely a simple statement of fact. The SFA and SPFL are members organisations. And the members expect to call the tune.
Doncaster gets this and accepts it. Clubs give him their orders and he gives them back what they want most: revenue.
Last week, the SPFL extended their sponsorship deal with Ladbrokes until 2020. Around the same time, members of the league board were being wined and dined by Sky Sports, the week after enjoying the hospitality of BT Sport in London.
The anticipated outcome of a prolonged charm offensive by broadcasters is the most lucrative broadcasting deal in Scottish league history. To obtain exclusive rights to Scottish football, Sky and BT Sport are likely to offer significantly more than the previous record of £31million-ayear agreed with Setanta in 2008.
Will that silence the Bin the Blazers brigade? No chance. Plenty are pushing for Doncaster to follow Regan out the door, with Leeann Dempster of Hibs taking on one of the key roles. Forget that, it won’t happen. Allies of Rod Petrie rarely prosper. Not in the SFA. Certainly not in the SPFL.
While Regan was hemorrhaging sponsors, Doncaster was lining them up. And in Scottish football, money talks.