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At the end of an award fight, two boxers hear a bell and simultaneously raise their arms in triumph, one with hope and the other with expectation.
Later, you have a champion pointing at his belt as confirmation of his superiority and you have a beaten man pointing at the champion’s bloody face as confirmation of his moral victory. “I lost, but look at his status.”
This is where we are with the SPFL now. Neil Doncaster and his board saw an opponent on Tuesday, but suffered some damage in the process.
The chief executive has spoken of a “resounding result” and President Murdoch MacLennan has mentioned a decision made by an “overwhelming majority.” But the fact is, 13 of the 42 clubs Doncaster represents have serious doubts about what’s going on and want an investigation into his regime’s corporate governance.
Thirty-one percent are many shots, many superior shots, many right hands. It is not enough to put the champion on the canvas, but it is enough to reveal his weakness. And now, apparently, the rival wants a rematch, if the Rangers’ statement has anything to do with it.
In victory Doncaster and MacLennan had adopted a new conciliatory tone, the former speaking of “healing divisions” and the latter mentioning that he had taken “careful note of the concerns of the minority”, but if an olive branch somehow It was widespread, there doesn’t seem to be many interested at the moment. “Time is a great healer,” said Doncaster. You don’t want to be too presumptuous about it.
‘Off the coast of normality, far from the land’
In the past few days and weeks, these are some of the words that member clubs have used about the SPFL’s governance and its relationship with the governing body. “Messy”. “Absurd”. “A distressing lack of trust and confidence in leadership.” “False and incompetent”. “Arrogant and aggressive”. “Outrageous”. “Divisive and accusatory”. “Disdain and defensiveness”. “Selective and condescending”. “He singularly failed in his primary duty of caring for a member.” “A sad accusation from those who govern our game.” “The SPFL seems to have said goodbye to their senses.”
On the other side of the argument, the language has been, to use the word of the month, robust. The clubs have been criticized by other clubs for having hidden motives. The Rangers’ legendary record was deemed “without a hint” of evidence to support his call for suspensions.
The Ibrox club was said to have a dark agenda that started and ended with null and void the season and denying Celtic a ninth consecutive title. Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer, three clubs that will now be relegated, were scrapped as organizations that were only acting in their own interest.
There have been reports of threats and against threats, bullying and against bullying. The statements were brandished like swords. It is difficult to say how many slanderous or defamatory claims were made in some of these letters, but there were many. The lawyers reportedly fainted at the idea of getting a share of the action.
From where we are, adrift on the coast of normality, it’s a long way back to the mainland. Doncaster and MacLennan tried to calm things down with their words on Tuesday. “Come on, we all have a drink, everyone calms down” was the essential of what they were saying, but the temperatures are so high now that they found another discharge.
On Tuesday night, the Rangers went again. “A management culture that not only fears accountability and scrutiny, but actively campaigns against it is not healthy and generates continued mistrust,” was the Ibrox talk. “It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish. The status quo cannot be sustained.”
That sounds like a club that’s not going to do that Homer Simpson thing of disappearing backwards into a hedge. How can they? To retire now would be to lose face and more or less confirm that they were not as serious about highlighting the flaws as they said. Additionally, they have won the support of a dozen other clubs and may feel a moral obligation to keep fighting.
‘Considerable support in SPFL realpolitik’
Thirteen clubs is an old and fair protest vote in a Scottish football context. Three years ago, Celtic attempted to shed light on the inner workings of the Scottish FA by calling for an independent investigation into “the events that led to the liquidation of Rangers Oldco and the governance issues stemming from those events.” It was a totally legitimate call. There were many unanswered questions, and they remain unanswered.
As for the failure of governance, what the Rangers have said about the SPFL in recent weeks, Celtic said about the Scottish FA in 2017. Not as strongly, for sure. Not with an additional demand for the suspension of any personnel, that is true. But his case was passionately discussed and the episode became extremely bitter at times. Eventually, in part, it led to Stewart Regan’s departure from his post as executive director of the Scottish FA.
Celtic wanted an investigation into the association’s transparency, accountability, and leadership. Whether it was a sense of mischief against his friends down the Hampden corridor, a genuine desire for openness, or just a move to keep Celtic in the political game, Doncaster endorsed them.
It’s safe to say that the Celts weren’t impressed with the support they got from their colleagues. Not many, if any, came out publicly to support the independent review, which failed. This time, 31% of the league has endorsed it. In the realpolitik world, that’s a sizable number and Doncaster will know it.
‘Chutzpah needed to improve things’
Scottish football missed an opportunity to examine itself three years ago and has now lost another opportunity. Eliminate bile and all club warfare and ask a simple question: can we do better than this? If a neutral party put it to the vote and asked the club’s leaders, players and supporters to answer yes or no, what would the result be like?
Can we do better? The answer, surely, would be a resounding yes. This is the problem, however. When you try to lift the hood to take a look at how things are done, what some want to know first is who is doing the lifting and why. What is your agenda? Who are they acting on behalf of? What are they really trying to do?
That mindset stifles progress. Protect the status quo. Clubs have the gift of making a radical change to the game if they want to, but they don’t want it, or they don’t want it enough. People like to talk about change, but not many are brave enough to make it happen.
Six years ago, Barry Hearn gave an address in Hampden that has remained in the legend. “I am not an expert on Scottish football,” he told his audience of club presidents, CEOs and managing directors, “and listening to his [financial] it doesn’t seem like you are either. “
That caused a nervous laugh from the crowd. Hearn knows about the color of money. This is a man who once succeeded in selling after-shave products with photos of billiard players in the bottle: Eau de Tony Meo, Essence of Terry Griffiths.
“I am selling dart fields for a sport that is not visible to the naked eye,” Hearn told them. “I tell the world, ‘You must get involved in this.’ I can sell live fishing. Live fishing! I am good and you are not good enough.”
Scottish football would spontaneously catch fire if the fearless Barry was in charge, but some of his chutzpah is desperately needed. “You saw the operation in the clothes of a King, even if you are poor,” he said. “All I can see is a disaster. There is no optimism. You go around looking at your shoelaces and people [broadcasters] are taking advantage
“The fact that you have a Scottish Premier League without a sponsor [that is now the situation again]Do you know how long you would work for Barry Hearn if that was the case? You wouldn’t have time to take off your coat. You’d be in the parking lot. “
Six years have passed and the same attitudes prevail now as they did then. Will it be different in another six years? Again, remove the bitterness and ask: Can we do better than this? “Sometimes you get stuck in your own butt,” Hearn said in his direction from Hampden. He is right.
So many words have been spent in the past few weeks, but that line remains the case. Scottish football is still trapped in its own butt.
