Strong leadership can help end SPFL war of words, claims Young

East Fife boss Darren Young reckons a firm statement from SPFL chief Neil Doncaster is the only way to stop the tit-for-tat verbals in Scottish football.

The former Aberdeen midfielder believes it requires strong leadership for the game in Scotland to stop being viewed as a laughing stock.

Several clubs have made critical statements over the last week, surrounding the matter of an independent investigation into the SPFL and the manner of the season in the lower leagues being ended.

All of this has painted Scottish football in a negative light, which Young attributes to the rush to finish the season.

However, he hopes a firm decision from Doncaster could allow clubs to move on.

Young said: “People have said their piece and whether it’s going to stop there, probably not. For me, it’s got to come to (Neil) Doncaster and say ‘this is it, end of’.

“For me, he’s got to come out and say the season has ended and this is what’s happening.

“If we get a start-back date, he can turn round to clubs and say ‘this is what we’re doing’. It should be a case of moving on – I don’t think there’s anything we can do to change it now.”

Young’s East Fife were not directly disadvantaged by the decision to end the season, despite being in with a chance of making the League One play-offs.

He added: “We’d been in the play-offs for most of the season. When the lockdown came, we ended up being out of the play-offs – we’d been out of them for five days all season.

“It was frustrating and I think it’s an extra £2,500 for finishing up a position. We’d have loved to continue but at the end of the day it is about health. It just seemed to me a bit of a rush job.”