Sponsor Scottish football? Right now, you wouldn’t sponsor the SPFL’S bus fares
The news that Partick Thistle and Motherwell received “advance payments of £150,000” each in season 2016/17 surely doesn’t look good for the SPFL.
It throws up a lot of questions. And the one that smacks me in the face is why, then, couldn’t another option have been tabled ahead of the Resolution vote on April 10?
Clubs were given little more than 48 hours to decide whether or not they called the season there and then to allow them to receive their final payments at a time when they needed it most.
Back then, I never agreed with that time frame, and I’m even more against it now.
There should have been an option to give clubs an advance on their earnings from the SPFL and wait a little longer to decide on how to judge the season.
When several clubs were on the brink of financial meltdown, it was obvious they were going to vote to receive their payment. Was there really any other choice?
‘ There wasn’t the need to put a gun at the head of any club and it’s still very messy
Neil Doncaster was on national radio yesterday afternoon to give his version of why the scenario last month is different from the scenario three years ago.
The SPFL chief executive put forward a very convincing case, but I still think there should have been more room for negotiation.
There wasn’t the need for a gun to be put to the head of any club.
I just can’t accept that was the only viable option.
Overall, it is still very messy. The past month has been a car crash.
Until Rangers present their evidence against Doncaster, Rod Mckenzie and Murdoch Maclennan, there is still going to be a lack of clarity, and the game will be unable to move on.
It may well come to a head this week, and that should give us a clearer picture of the whole situation.
Well, let’s hope so. The sooner it is cleared up the better.
There has already been an investigation by the SPFL into the Dundee “No” vote. But when you really study that, it was little more than a diary of events. There wasn’t enough meat on the bone.
The Scottish game isn’t doing itself any favours, and I’ll go back to an important point I have made in the past few weeks.
We still don’t have a new sponsor for the SPFL.
For the financial health of the game, a partnership is required to boost the bank balance for the benefit of all 42 member clubs.
But, right now, unfortunately, you wouldn’t sponsor their bus fares!
Apart from the case against the SPFL from Rangers, there is also league reconstruction to be sorted out.
I’m not in favour of a 14-team top flight. I wouldn’t want to change the current format when there is already so much uncertainty about when football will be allowed to resume. Do we really need more confusion? If you want to look at restructuring the set-up, then do it over a period of time and with a clear vision of where Scottish football is going and also a clearer picture of the financial health of the game.
Do not do it in the middle of a pandemic. Do not do it when some teams have already been relegated under unfair circumstances.
Do it properly and with every possible scenario studied in fine detail.
The whole country is upside down due to coronavirus, and we don’t know when and how this will reach a satisfactory conclusion for the nation.
The last thing the SPFL needs is for another decision to be rushed through. That would be madness.
One thing is for sure. The past month has been full of allegations of bullying and improper behaviour, and other twists and turns.
Maybe, just maybe, though, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
■ I met up with Michael Robinson in Spain last year, and he said his health wasn’t too great.
So,for him to have passed away last week at the age of just 61 was a sad, sad loss. He was far too young.
When he was at Liverpool, he was a fine footballer and also a terrific person. I thoroughly enjoyed his company.
He carved out an excellent career for himself in the Spanish media when he hung up his boots.
It is to his great credit that his professionalism made him one of the most-respected people in that industry, and the tributes from Barcelona, Rafa Nadal and Cesc Fabregas spoke volumes.
My thoughts and prayers have been with his family all week.