Stenny chief makes call for clarity on league fate
Stenhousemuir chairman Iain Mcmenemy has called for improved leadership in Scottish football to help navigate clubs out of an impending financial crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Mcmenemy took part in a conference call on Friday in which Scottish Professional Football League officials gave advice to clubs on getting financial help from the state.
But the Ladbrokes League 2 club chairman wants more clarity on the fate of the current season and the payments that are due to fall to clubs when the campaign finishes.
“The calls are quite useful in terms of the very pragmatic issues that we are facing, such as getting a bit of guidance on player contracts,” he told BBC Radio S c o t l a n d ’s Sportsound programme.
“But the bigger picture in terms of how on earth we are going to end the league, there’s not a lot coming out from that and a lot of us want to get to a point where we have some certainty.
“I just feel that, right from the start, we have been following what everyone else has been doing, in terms of the Scottish football authorities.
“We didn’t want to make a decision. We waited till the
happen, as we just don’t know. We will be guided by government and associations.”
The contractual status of players is one of the biggest issues for clubs with the 201920 season increasingly unlikely to be concluded before many deals expire at the end of June.
Celtic’s loan agreements with Southampton duo Fraser Forster and Mohamed Elyounoussi and Stoke City full-back Moritz Bauer are all due to run out in the summer, while goalkeeper Craig Gordon and utility player Jonny Hayes will both be out of contract.
“We can speak with all of them, but in terms of what we can do going forward, we don’t really know what we can and can’t do yet as the season is yet to finish,” said Lennon.
“There are so many imponderables. I keep hearing that word ‘unprecedented’ used a lot. But it’s the perfect word for the situation in which we find ourselves at the moment as there are so many different outcomes and circumstances which could happen.”