I’ve heard enough now to believe new probe into SPFL is merited
IF I’m a club chairman tomorrow, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be voting in favour of an independent investigation into the SPFL’s handling of the resolution to end leagues as they stood.
I think there are now enough unanswered questions about the whole sorry episode. They are also being asked by enough different people. The fact Rangers are prepared to fund it removes one obstacle and also suggests they feel they will be vindicated. So there’s nothing to lose.
When it all kicked off a few weeks back, I thought Rangers were only mouthing off because they didn’t get their way. I thought they should let it go.
But the accusations have come thick and fast since. In the past week, we’ve heard Hearts, Partick Thistle, Inverness, Falkirk, Stranraer, Brora and Kelty all have their say. They all believe the way this affair has been handled hasn’t been so much mediocre as pathetic.
I was already swaying towards a fresh inquiry before I heard Neil Doncaster on the radio yesterday and that made my mind up.
One of the first things he said was that the SPFL had done everything 100-per-cent professionally.
But with his next breath, he admitted they’d made mistakes.
So which is it? What mistakes were made? How big were they? I’d like to know this and I’m sure I’m not alone.
One thing I’ll say in the SPFL’s defence is that no one has come up with a feasible alternative to the proposal they put on the table.
But the way it was presented to the clubs and the way the vote was carried out was absolutely shambolic and in no way reflected well on anybody.
We have allegations of undue pressure being put on clubs to vote in certain ways. Doncaster says there were heated discussions but is adamant a line wasn’t crossed. Are we absolutely sure of this?
Rangers’ much-awaited dossier last week alleged a lot of things but didn’t back any of it up with solid evidence.
Before it came out, there were allegations of corruption and coercion but it proved to be pretty thin on detail.
But they are now not alone in having serious reservations about how the whole thing was handled and, more generally, about the corporate governance of the SPFL.
For the game to move forward, there needs to be confidence in those running the game and, right now, we don’t have that.
Throughout this, Doncaster has shown no leadership. From Scottish football’s perspective, zero positive has come out of this so far.
It’s worth noting, though, that pretty much the only SPFL clubs we’re hearing complaints from are the ones who stand to lose out in all of this.
And it has to be said that, with no chance of football resuming any time soon, there’s probably no solution that would keep everybody happy.
How do you end this current season? Null and void? That’s just impossible when you consider Dundee United’s position at present.
Stop it now and call it as it stands? Hearts are raging. Crown Celtic champions? Rangers are fuming.
Can you play games behind closed doors? No. The game without fans is nothing. Nothing will be normal until a Covid-19 vaccine is found.
So for those running the Scottish game right now, it’s an impossible situation.
That said, you can’t tell me they couldn’t have arrived at a better situation than the one we now find ourselves in.
The curious case of Brechin City just about sums it up. I know the official line will be that the resolution that was approved ended the play-offs, which meant Team 42 wouldn’t have to go through them.
But it doesn’t look good when the Brechin chairman Ken Ferguson just happens to be on the SPFL board — especially when Partick Thistle, Stranraer and probably Hearts are going to get relegated.
Those in positions of power surely have to recognise this. It makes a mockery of the muchvaunted pyramid system.
I’m still of the view that all the stops should have been pulled out to ensure no one was relegated. It’s just too harsh.
From a fairness perspective, restructuring the leagues and promoting the top two teams is the best you could hope for.
I get the issues with a 14-team league but I also look at the benefits. The Edinburgh derby would have been saved. You’d have Inverness playing Ross County. That’s the bigger picture.
I know how important the new five-year deal is with Sky. Surely, though, there could at least be a conversation about a 14-team league on the same terms — one that’s actually more interesting? You could certainly try and talk them round.
If Sky had been agreeable — and I think they might — it would surely have changed how the current top 12 viewed the prospect of expanding the league.
But it comes down to TV rights and money and a lack of willingness to share it with another two teams. Self-interest has ruled.
Reconstruction is almost a small detail in the bigger picture, though. Last week was the most divisive I can remember in all the years I’ve followed Scottish football.
All of those involved would do well to remember that, whatever mistakes have or haven’t been made, no one wants to be in this awful situation.