Season should be played, says LMA chief

BILLY BROWN anticipates there will be a backlash from bosses against ‘unfair’ plans to potentially cancel the Scottish football season and honour current league positions.

The former Hearts and Hibs assistant, who now serves as chairman of the League Managers Association [LMA], plans to hold talks with coaches at all levels of the game in the coming week amid the current shutdown.

However, he has balked at the idea of calling off the campaign with immediate effect and dishing out trophies, promotions and – potentially most damaging of all – relegations based on the standings as of March 13. And he has urged those in the corridors of power to canvass the opinions of managers, insisting they are too-often ignored.

The 2019/20 calendar could be scrapped in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, in which case Celtic would be declared champions and Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers would win promotion. Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer would be relegated.

Brown said: “My opinion is that would be unfair and I would have thought the majority of managers would be against that plan. I think it will be an unpopular idea – and the wrong decision.

“The season needs to be finished. Granted, Celtic are going to win the league, but Hearts are only four points adrift with eight games left. This isn’t a personal thing because I worked there, but how can you relegate a team who could have survived?

“Dundee United are likely to win promotion, but what about the teams below them still vying for promotion? And all the teams that would have real financial problems if they are relegated?

“I don’t blame, for example, Neil Lennon calling for Celtic to get the title. But they’ll win it regardless and there are a lot of other issues to be taken into consideration. Do we kick Brechin [bottom of League 2] out of the SPFL and threaten their survival?

“I’ll be talking to managers over the coming week and the consensus will become clearer. But the opinion of the managers should be considered,

“My view is the season should be completed behind closed doors. It’s not what football should be about, you need a crowd atmosphere – but I think it remains our best solution.”