WRONG TARGET JAMBOS:
COURTING DISASTER
MAURICE MALPAS has accused Hearts and Partick Thistle of spitting the dummy and showing a complete lack of respect for Scottish football.
The Jambos and Jags have gone to the Court of Session to try to stop their relegations to the Championship and League One respectively – or to seek a combined £10million in damages.
The jilted pair have lodged a petition, leading to Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers being served with papers to try to deny them promotion.
The three league winners yesterday issued a no-nonsense statement declaring they are going to fight the case all the way.
Malpas, a Tannadice legend and former director of football at Raith, believes the Jambos and Jags are wrong to single out fellow clubs. The Scotland legend said: “It shows a lack of respect for Scottish football and the rest of the teams in the SPFL.
“I know it isn’t fair on Hearts and Partick Thistle but that is what the other clubs voted for.
“You can understand Hearts and Thistle having a gripe because there were still a few games to play and they still had a chance of staying up.
“The issue is that they have gone and spat the dummy out at the wrong people. “It is wrong they are challenging United, Raith and Cove. These teams haven’t done anything wrong. Why should Hearts and Thistle have a bite at them? If they want to go to court then go to court.
“If they are trying to get their league status retained then they should go and take on the SPFL itself rather than drag individual clubs into it.
“They would have looked a lot better if they hadn’t made it personal and gone after the three teams they have.”
While Malpas has sympathy for the duo facing the drop, he insists United, Cove and Raith did not put them down – a majority vote of all senior clubs did.
He said: “It is not just down to Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers.
“I don’t see them going after any of the Premiership teams – a lot of them voted to end the season and against reconstruction. The league-ending decision was taken after a vote and was decided by all 42 teams – how the season should end and how the leagues should
be decided. Hearts and Partick Thistle
BY SCOTT BURNS sport@dailyrecord.co.uk never voted that way but they have spat the dummy out because it has not gone their way.
“They are now trying to do whatever they can to save themselves.
“Everybody else in their position would do the same thing but to come out and try to deny other teams is bang out of order.
“It was decided on by a majority and it is wrong they are trying to stop other teams from getting promoted to save themselves.”
The ex-United star believes it is wrong that two teams who have had a nightmare on the pitch are trying to deny others who have warranted promotion.
While League One winners Raith were a point above Falkirk, United were 14 clear and Cove 13, having both played one more game than their nearest rivals.
He added: “Dundee United had a great season and deserved their promotion.
“They were top of the Championship all season and were the best team in the league. The circumstances with Covid-19 meant a decision had to be made on the season.
“You might argue that Dundee United were one of the winners because they have got promotion. But if the season had continued, they were well clear and would have won the league outright. It was the same for Cove Rangers.
“OK, Raith Rovers and Falkirk were a lot closer. But to try to deny United and Cove is bang out of order.”
Hearts and Thistle were still hoping to get a reprieve via league reconstruction but that was quashed last Monday.
Malpas reckons that was always going to be pie in the sky – although he believes clubs should have helped each other more after the Covid-19 issues.
He said: “It is a sad day because I thought clubs would have come together.
“I don’t think anyone wanted to see the season finish the way we did.
“We couldn’t get the games played and you are not going to scrap the best part of a season for two or three months.
“OK, we could have got reconstruction but, let’s be honest, people in Scottish football don’t want it. Most league clubs don’t want it because they know it’s likely to hurt them. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
“A lot of people were naive, thinking we were going to vote for change because of the pandemic. But it just isn’t going to happen. Any time we go to a vote it is a no.”