Taskforce is sunk if wee clubs drown so Hearts get a lifebelt
It has been over two weeks and counting since the SPFL taskforce set sail.
The good ship reconstruction is already heading for the rocks and in real danger of becoming … marooned.
From the moment Hearts owner Ann Budge agreed to get her hands on the helm, this latest revamp set a course for self interest and made it every man or woman for themselves.
As we speak, there’s little to report from 15 individuals charged with finding a model for reconstruction.
That’s despite all the talk of urgency and need for action when this lower league all-sorts of an armada was assembled.
Too many cooks for a start, that’s the first worry.
A list of names for names’ sake appears to be a bid to placate the clubs at the bottom end of the spectrum and provide an appearance of collective consensus – but just watch this space.
Already there are noises of a 14-14-14 set-up for next season approaching some sort of an accord.
If that is the case, and it appears to be, then what about the pledge from the reconstruction taskforce to protect sporting integrity and ensure there was no relegation.
Three leagues of 14 would relegate Clyde, Peterhead and Forfar and with that any integrity or fairness would become man overboard.
League Two champions Cove Rangers would also be denied promotion despite winning the title by 13 points and would the bottom suffer league. another season in On that basis alone, a three league format should be automatically taken off the table – but we will wait and see.
Budge can deny this all she wants but her favoured 14-10-10-10 set-up is all about self-preservation to save her club from the drop. Who can blame her? She is a fan of a bigger league for one campaign as the perfect band aid to cover this season’s wounds, of course she is.
Partick Thistle would also be spared the drop into League One and again it would be another selfish positive from 14-10-10-10, if you are able to dispense with any pretence of taking approach. the sporting-integrity The reconstruction panel must ensure no club are adversely affected by the potential changes – and if that pledge is to be carried through then it’s with a heavy heart that I suggest no reconstruction can happen. Whenever the R word is spoken, every club outside the Old Firm assess what’s in it for them. How can they claim a bigger wedge of the redistribution of income from the top flight? But the reconstruction crew must appreciate that to maximise the value of the Premiership then four Old Firm games on the league fixture list needs to be cast in stone. We are running out of time for any meaningful change to the le league system fo for next season, whenever that may commence. What can be done though is fo for the pyramid system to be demolished and forfo professional full-time clubs to start their own revolution and cast themselves free of the parttime, 300-attendance clubs. Only clubs of genuine senior credibility should be the decision makers if our game is to move ahead. The status quo will continue, the committee will argue their way through the next few weeks and all sorts of chicanery will take place to ensure the bigger clubs get their way. Allowing the likes of Budge to put her oar in on a reconstruction to save her own club is the conflict of interest which would make Captain Birdseye blush.
Whenever the R word is spoken, every club outside the Old Firm assess how to claim a bigger wedge of income