Coincidentally I have an element of sympathy for Inverness Caledonian Thistles’ CEO Scot Gardiner today.
I spent the latter part of Easter Sunday up to my elbows in what the Inverness CEO finds himself up to his neck in this morning. Let’s just say my own involved a blocked drain covering my driveway in a rather unfortunate smelling liquid.
Following The Celtic Star’s incredible exclusive – by way of a Celtic source – last night that the Inverness CEO has been offered a job at ‘the’ Rangers after an Inverness no vote, the stench of corruption around the SPFL vote outdid the odour I had to face yesterday. No mean feat I assure you.
At least I could wash it off, Mr Gardiner isn’t going to be as lucky as a quick hop in to some Radox bath foam. Make no mistake Scot Gardiner and ‘the’ Rangers are very much in soapy bubble today.
This Gardiner fellow is clearly someone to be watched, is in concert with the big new club and appears to have an undeclared agenda. Looks like he made a promise and failed to deliver. Time for the owners to step in. https://t.co/plqrCLkTgu
— David Low (@Heavidor) April 13, 2020
Scot Gardiner was brought into Inverness in August 2019 to help steer the club through the troubled financial waters of the very real threat of administration for the Highland club. He must have done a hell of a recovery job then to be in a position where Inverness could put the plight of relegations for Partick Thistle, Hearts and Stranraer ahead of the livelihoods of Inverness employees and players.
A position where they can turn down the approximately £350,000 that would have flooded into their coffers in exchange for the moral high ground of supporting other clubs in their hour of need. That’s what a CEO is for isn’t it? To make those hard financial decisions. Far be it for me to cast aspersions on his thought process, but does the ‘No’ vote make any sense for a club faced with financial meltdown just a few short months ago? I guess the Inverness Board will have the answer to that question.
Douglas Park in particular is now looking rather two faced to say the least. It’s somewhat ironic to be asking for independent inquiries and the suspension of Neil Doncaster based on alleged whistle-blower testimony, when all the time it appears he wasn’t exactly averse to a touch of financial skulduggery himself to influence the outcome of the vote in his club’s favour.
My own issue with a blocked drain isn’t going to result in a financial hit, my filthy investigations have sourced the problem to a cracked pipe in the farmer’s field beside my property. Scot Gardiner and Douglas Park aren’t going to be able to pass on the responsibility quite so easily. For both are up to their neck in it and it’s rising to the nostrils.
The entirety of the 42 member clubs and the SPFL board will be looking for answers on this one. While Park’s position is unlikely to be under threat as the main financial backer in place at Ibrox, I’m not so certain the Inverness Caley Thistle board will be proceeding with a shrug of the shoulders. Mr Gardiner’s decision to apparently put his career prospects ahead of the financial security of his club is bound to come under forensic scrutiny at Inverness, in fact his whole career may be in jeopardy, or he might just get that dream job regardless.
And what of this SPFL vote? Well I’ve been crying ‘compromised’ since Friday evening. Dundee’s position is now open to allegations of corruption. Even if they are squeaky clean, it is clear attempts to influence are indeed a threat. These allegations around Inverness and the ‘Rangers’ is evidence enough that this vote has to be withdrawn and a new proposal brought forward.
Here’s a novel idea, how about a secret ballot all votes cast on one day, all cast between say 5pm and 6pm on Friday this week? Not a ballot where some vote to a requested deadline and the rest vote within 28 days. It’s fairly certain we need to at least try and minimalise the risk of a compromised vote.
I’m not naïve enough to think that club’s won’t try and influence each other’s decisions, but what has happened over the Easter Weekend has gone beyond some twisting of arms, it has opened Scottish football to serious concerns of undue influence and corruption.
A line in the sand has to be drawn and a fresh proposal debated and put to the vote. It’s also something that has to be done relatively quickly but ‘more haste, less speed’ has to be the order of the day. The SPFL have made it crystal clear that prize money cannot be handed out until a solution to end this season is agreed. Scottish clubs need a conclusion to this sorry mess as soon as possible but it has to be sensible and the process transparent.
Reconstruction has to be included in the proposal to have any chance of success that much is clear. The threat of relegation has to be removed and expanded leagues to 14 clubs included in the new amended proposal.
The Rangers are right, perhaps we do need that independent inquiry after all. We could extend its remit from the alleged behaviour of Neil Doncaster and the SPFL, to the Scottish Highlands and the Southside of Glasgow. I wonder if Douglas Park will be quite as vocal in support of such a plan today as he was over the weekend.
It may come as no surprise so far that the mainstream media have of course avoided running with this story so far but others have been quick to pick up on it.
David Low, The Chair of the Celtic Trust and key a financial advisor to Fergus McCann at the time of the ‘Rebels Have Won’ takeover has been talking about the Inverness CEO and his rather compromising position this morning, in response to this article in today’s Herald.
Low responding on Twitter is far more forthright in his views than the Herald appeared to be: “This Gardiner fellow is clearly someone to be watched, is in concert with the big new club and appears to have an undeclared agenda. Looks like he made a promise and failed to deliver. Time for the owners to step in.”
Low then continued in a follow up tweet: “It’s clear The Herald has worked out this is an individual playing politics with the future of his own employer at stake. ICT like Rangers required a capital injection to stay afloat before Covid19 and more so now.”
And there was more from the head of the Celtic Trust in another tweet: “This Gardiner fellow is neither a director nor the company secretary of ICT. The club is in a precarious financial position and has outstanding charges to RBS, BoS and Clydesdale. The accounts are qualified. The directors and the banks should step in here get this sorted.”
Supporters also joined in with their own questions to ask and David Low was happy to point them in the right direction: “If all the chat over the weekend is to be believed, cause to question whether someone is playing the future of ICT against a nice new job at v2.0”
While another Celtic supporter also joined the debate with this question for David Low: “So who decides which way ICT vote the CEO or the board/debtors? Are they looking for league reconstruction along with Dundee and Partick Thistle”
And David Low responded with clarity on the matter – “Gardiner has no legal status. The directors/owners of SPFL clubs with a vote should nor entrust or delegate such matters to those with no skin in the game or responsibility for their actions and who may be looking for jobs elsewhere.”
It seems so far it is taking the Head of The Celtic Trust to ask and indeed answer the questions the mainstream journalists should be asking following yesterday’s Celtic Star exclusive.
“Looks like someone has made a decision which goes against financial common sense and threatens the clubs security, Board need to step in quickly or be held accountable by company law,” Snaffo Taffo noted.
Looks like someone has made a decision which goes against financial common sense and threatens the clubs security, Board need to step in quickly or be held accountable by company law. https://t.co/qwLpbtNBze
— Snaffo Taffo (@SnaffoTaffo) April 13, 2020
One thing I found out yesterday is that mud not only sticks, the smell hangs around long after that clean-up operation.
Scot Gardiner may well find the Inverness Board will be looking for a deep clean of the CEO’s office at the Caledonian stadium and the cause of the lingering stench be removed….Permanently.
Niall J
Support Celtic Youth Development
Help raise money for Celtic Youth Development by joining the £1 weekly lottery and you could win up to £25,000 – just click on any one of the photographs below to join. Lots of our readers have already done so and they’re now doing their bit to help fund Celtic Youth Development that can deliver the stars of tomorrow and beyond. And you might even win a few bob too! And a special thank you to all The Celtic Star readers who have already signed up and are now supporting youth development to give us the Celtic Stars of the future…
Take The Celtic Star’s Photo Tour of Celtic Park and enjoy our stunning photos from inside Paradise RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
