If Rangers have evidence, let’s see it
The SPFL deserve to be commended for making public their findings from their inquiry.
That said, it left more questions than answers.
Surely the investigation should have been more wide-ranging?
The claims made by Rangers of “bullying and coercing” don’t appear to have been investigated.
It’s not just about the timescale of the Dundee vote changing from No to Yes.
That in itself doesn’t sit right with me. But I’m also interested in why they changed their vote, and who they had conversations with in the fiveday period between the deadline and the Dens Park club changing the way they would vote.
The SPFL needs to cast its net wider. Rangers want a more in-depth inquiry, and want an independent body to look at it all.
They are quite right to ask for this as their claims of bullying and coercing don’t appear to have been investigated.
But will they get it?
Will enough other clubs stand shoulder to shoulder with them to get the 75% support within the SPFL required to get an independent investigation?
It looks like being a tall order to get three-quarters of the clubs to go with them.
That’s why they need to show their hand. Or,at least, a part of it.
What information do they have? Do they really have enough to leave us all concerned about the way game is being governed?
Some people have suggested they are bluffing, and do not possess the “smoking gun”.
Well, Rangers interim chairman Douglas Park and chief executive Stewart Robertson need to prove otherwise.
If Rangers are in possession of factual information that is beneficial to the wider well-being of Scottish football then they need to release it.
To gain support and momentum, they need to release some of the information they have for everyone to digest.
This is an important issue that cannot be swept under the carpet.
But, equally, the state of the overall health of the game in Scotland is concerning.
Some executives have spoken out in the past week about the situation, and used words such as “financial Armageddon” and a “meteor is about to hit the Scottish game”.
It could well be that some clubs go to the wall during 2020 – and I don’t just mean part-time ones.
The financial implications of the coronavirus crisis could be catastrophic.
Aberdeen have announced that they have shelved plans to build their new stadium, and their chairman, Dave Cormack, is absolutely right to make that decision.
He is a self-made man and built a training ground for the club he supports and loves. But he is right to draw a line.
Thankfully, the new stadium project hasn’t started and Aberdeen weren’t left with a half-built stadium.
The next few months – possibly as long as the next two years – will be about survival.
Football as we have known it won’t be the same again for a lengthy period.
The pandemic is here to stay for some time, and we need to continue to find ways to limit its threat.
On that, I’d be interested to find out how many football fans who attended games in Scotland in the first two weeks in March actually got diagnosed with Covid-19 if they think it was because they were at the football.
Maybe clubs could reach out and ask? The findings could be quite interesting and enlightening for the game itself.
But before any of that comes to light, Scottish football – and the game worldwide – needs to work together to get through the challenges ahead.
How the season ends for the Premiership has yet to be finalised, and possible League reconstruction under the leadership of Ann Budge and Les Gray is under discussion.
There are no right and wrong answers during these unprecedented times, but we need to hope that football in Scotland can move forward.
It’s the same for many other leagues all around Europe.
But there does appear to be too many issues hanging over the SPFL, and they need them resolved as quickly as possible.
There is a serious division between the SPFL executive and Rangers, and that isn’t healthy.
It needs to be sorted out and, at the moment, the ball is very much in Rangers’ court.
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This is an important issue that cannot just be swept under the carpet