SCOT GARDINER who has been the CEO at Inverness Caley Thistle since April 2019, has put himself at the centre of the controversy that has blown up this weekend around SPFL’s voting to end the season in the lower divisions and to agree that the same can be done in due course in the Scottish Premiership should it not be possible to play out the season.
This as the SPFL Chairman Murdoch MacLennan explained is the ONLY way that would allow the payments to be made to the SPFL clubs. We have reported on MacLennan’s letter that he sent to all the clubs today.
The SPFL proposal would mean that Dundee Utd would be Champions in the Championship but Celtic would have to wait until either the games are played or as seems likely, the decision is taken that this season has to end as things stand, with Celtic 13 points clear at the top of the table, before they could be confirmed as Champions.
The BBC in Manchester last month mentioned a super computer that predicted the likely outcome of all leagues across Europe when play was suspended due to the coronavirus global crisis. Celtic were 98.87% certain to win the league and if you remember the mood in the Rangers camp prior to the coronavirus kicking in, they had well and truly thrown in the towel as far as this season was concerned.
You can however understand that they are reluctant to concede anything to Celtic, especially as in doing so they know that Celtic will be the first club to reach 9-in-a-row for the second time and will have a shot at the magical ten next time round.
But if no games can be played and that is a decision that needs to be taken then Scottish football – like every other league around Europe – will need to find a way to press the re-set button to go again. That means dealing with this season that is 79% completed and with Celtic clear as runaway leaders at the top of the league.
If no football can be played there are only two options. Declare as outlined by the SPFL at the end of last week or go for the doomsday Null and Void option, which wasn’t even on the table last week due to the horrendous financial consequences for the game.
It remains well and truly off the table despite the best efforts today from a Sunday Mail writer.
Null and Void would be like this season never happened at all and broadcasters, sponsors, supporters and other interested parties could all be entitled to their money back. No wonder it wasn’t even considered as a viable solution by the SPFL Board.
It was pushed by a series of ex-Rangers players over the last month, and don’t for a second think that this was not coordinated. But it failed for the very clear and obvious reasons and was out of the conversation until today when the Sunday Mail reasoned that because of the dispute between the Rangers and the SPFL the only viable alternative left was to null and void the season. Remarkable really.
Earlier today we questioned the ongoing relationship between Celtic and Parks of Hamilton in supplying the Celtic team bus and thousands of you have been voting on that today to send a clear message to Peter Lawwell. We also really need to have a conversation about Celtic’s media partner on The Celtic View – the publishers of Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Maybe we’ll do a Poll on that one next week, too much is happening today.
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