Misinformation, misinformation and more, misinformation.
When Stewart Milne started his little rant yesterday about namesake Gilmour I had to have a little chuckle. To blame the St.Mirren chairman for killing reconstruction was more than a little rich after siding with Celtic back in October to block a proposal to change the voting rights in the SPL from 11-1, to 9-3.
The irony is if he hadn’t blocked this change, then his precious reconstruction would have been voted through yesterday with a 10-2 majority.
But that was then, and this is now. Scottish Football has once again managed to launch itself into civil war, through mis information, bickering and no leadership.
It all started last fortnight, when Sevco favorite comedian Charles Green wandered into St.Mirren Park. This resulted in, and I’m still scratching my head to the connection, reports from Celtic minded sources that Gilmour had fallen into bed with Sevco. Bear in mind that Gilmour had already voiced concerns about the reconstruction back in January, and then think who has most to gain by Scottish Football descending into chaos, and then look again at where the statements came from. Maybe, just maybe, Green knew by attending that game that he could get his compliant media to run with a story that started the new Scottish civil war?
Then lets look at why St.Mirren claim to say no.
The press, and Stewart Milne have made this out as a vote against 11-1, which we will come back to in a minute. However, in their statement St.Mirren made a number of points. 11-1 was 3rd on their list. Points made include, fans dont want it, league system has been tried and failed elsewhere, season ticket sales will be affected (all before the 11-1 vote bit!), fixed rules for 3 years, u21 rules, season start dates and on and on they went.
Now, according to Celtic and Aberdeen, a last minute concession was made on the 11-1 voting rules. St.Mirren and Ross County rejected to even consider this. The refusal to accept the change has been jumped on by the anti-sevco fans as proof of a St.Mirren/Sevco relationship. But, lets look through the histeria, and look at the facts.
At the last minute, Celtic and Aberdeen agreed to change all voting on ‘future league reconstruction to 9-3’, if the vote passed. However, that is not what St.Mirren and Ross County were complaining about. They had both asked for complete changes to the voting rules. St.Mirren made the statement:
In the proposed rules the voting structure is remaining, in all items that are of importance
Read that again and pay attention to the phrase ‘in all items that are of importance’
This would include TV rights, rule changes, as well as future reconstruction. Not just reconstruction. We can then look further at the ‘new proposed league’. Wasn’t there also a proposal to fix the league for THREE years? So, I ask, just what good would the 9-3 rules on reconstruction make anyway, seeing as they couldn’t be voted on for 3 years?
But to me, probably the most sort after answer to a question is this:
What exactly were the benefits to the 12-12-18?
Competitive football? This seasons SPL and SFL1 have been hugely competitive.
Sponsorship? What, where, when and how much? No figures have been released.
TV Deals? Doncaster has already said our current (undervalued deal) is still in place for the next 4 years.
Fans? It is not what the fans want as has been proven by survey after survey.
And it isn’t just me asking those questions… this is what Roy MacGregor of Ross County asked when he said:
“What benefits do the SPL see in the new proposals? This is the million dollar question, and one which has not been fully answered by anyone.”
Misinformation has been used in Scottish Football for the past generation to force clubs to toe the party line. The same misinformation was used to keep a Rangers going for years while they traded insolvent. The misinformation allowed a club that was liquidated to even be considered for an SPL place. The misinformation then allowed the new company to gain a place in the bottom tier without fulfilling any of the requirements, over more deserving clubs. This misinformation has again been used throughout the season to allow Sevco to sign players beyond their resources, raise money on the back of a share issue which looks like finishing in chaos and ultimately kill reconstruction hopes.
Now the misinformation continues with Stewart Milne threatening Armageddon next season (where have we heard that before, and how fun has Armageddon been this season?) and blaming St.Mirren for killing Scottish Football.
If a rudderless ship crashes into an iceberg, it is the captain that is to blame. The irony is that yesterday Celtic came out and praised the contribution of the one man who has been steering Scottish Football off course for years. He started the Armageddon catch phrase last year and has done nothing to unite the game. If an organisation is failing, the first thing to fix is the leadership, and that should start at the door of Neil Doncaster.
Until that is done, Scottish Football shouldn’t even consider making changes that will plunge the game to new lows.
If the SPL is so competitive (which is a strange choice of words given the gap between 1st/2nd and 11th/12th) and the TV deal is really in place for 4 more years, why are Doncaster, Lawwell and co so desperate to rush through reconstruction for the start of next season? Why couldn’t this be brought in for the season after, giving all clubs some clarity?
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that money is the deciding factor here. The TV deal had an opt out based on Rangers not being in the SPL, and the SPL currently has no sponsor. Furthermore, crowds and TV viewing figures have dropped like a stone and, like it or not, the one Scottish league attracting worldwide press coverage (and TV viewers) is the third division. The SPL need one of two things: 1) a single governing body to take advantage of Rangers in the TV/sponsorship money; or 2) an SPL2 that includes Rangers.
It’s good that St Mirren and Ross County had the guts to stand up to this corruption and greed (otherwise known as “sporting integrity”).
Interesting to see the anti-Rangers stance again on this blog. Like it or not, this is all due to the financial implications of clubs “listening to their fans” last year (why the change of heart for the reconstruction I must ask?). The latest accounts will make for interesting reading and should give all fans the information they need about the state of the SPL.
Btw, who are Sevco? As far as I know they don’t exist. If this really is a Scottish football blog written by a St Johnstone fan and not just another anti-Rangers hate site, you could gain more credibility by siding away from cheap and inaccurate slurs of other clubs and stick to reporting the facts.
“the TV deal had an opt out based on Rangers not being in the SPL”
On a blog post called ‘misinformation’ this is a prime example. As recently as last night Neil Doncaster revealed there is no such get out and the deal continues on as before.
Sevco, are The Rangers Football Club – they changed their name. Judging by the latest from the world of Whyte maybe I should be calling them Sevco5088?
But this blog is about misinformation, and an anonymous poster posting misleading information kinda makes my point!
It is well known that the previous Sky deal was conditional on a set number of Old Firm games. The SPL have clearly negotiated something for this season with Sky and THAT deal is unchanged with the reconstruction talks (the “current” deal is unchanged). It doesn’t mean that this is the same deal as 2-3 years ago. Ask yourself why they are desperately pushing reconstruction through? Money. And why don’t they have the money now?
“You guys just watch what happens in the coming weeks and months” – Stuart Milne. Interesting words…
I actually think there is a good message behind this article and something that could have resonated well with all fans (including Rangers fans). Unfortunately, you have blurred the message with an agenda. There is no football club called Sevco, yet you give it great airtime because you want to have a dig. That’s a great shame, because Rangers fans on a whole agree that this reconstruction fiasco has been a shambles, one built on a flawed concept and a ridiculous split. This kind of blog-plus-agenda is why Scottish football is on the rocks. There is an opportunity for fans to come together and make the game better, but this will never happen as long as these sly digs are made. In that respect, I kind of feel sorry for you.
I also don’t understand why being an anonymous poster should influence opinion on what I say. In the crazy world of the internet, why should I put my name out there?
Good insight Steven.
What I don’t get is there are good guys at clubs like Caley and St Johnstone and DUFC.
Why did they not speak out like Roy Macgregor yesterday.
Its a dirty Machiaevellian business round that table.
And who is (are) Doncaster’s puppet-master(s)?
St.Johnstone had said that while they disagreed with many points, the money being offered to the 2nd 12 was too good to say no too. Steve Brown is realistic and realises that we’ll be back there at some point.
What they haven’t said is WHY it had to be now, and WHY it had to be 8-8-8-18
Preparing to fail I’d say
exactly what they are doing.
I remain bamboozled over this entire episode.
The few things that appear to be clear are these:
1. Very few supporters were keen on the idea of the 8-8-8 split.
2. Mysteriously, ten clubs didn’t seem to consider that factor to be important.
3. Stewart Gilmour has angered the other chairmen in a way that Roy McGregor hasn’t.
4. Attendances at most SPL grounds have held up very well this season, taking into account the general economy.
5. Pro-Sevco forces (including Longmuir, Gilmour and others outwith Ibrox) have been desperate to derail reconstruction.
Whatever else emerges from this mess, I maintain that the malign influence of the Rangers corpse is still contaminating every debate and discussion. For as long as Sevco cling frantically to the ever-decreasing prospect that they can somehow be beamed up to a higher level, suspicion and mistrust will abound. Fortunately for everybody who cares about football, the likelihood is also increasing that the Sevconians will soon follow their Rangers predecessors into oblivion. It might then be possible for all of the remaining clubs to assess the reality of their circumstances.
As far as misinformation is concerned, I agree with the general thrust of your argument. But Gilmour himself deserves as much criticism as anybody else for that particular problem. All he could offer to the assembled media yesterday was a repeated “No comment” as he stormed out of Hampden. That alone is enough to scotch the idea that he was powerless to publicise his objections to the proposals.
This is the same Gilmour who was incandescent with rage last year when the SFL clubs refused to vote Sevco into the First Division. There is every reason to be suspicious about the motives and actions of this Rangers supporting chairman, even if it’s not currently clear what he hoped to achieve, and it’s pretty clear that most SPL chairmen now hold him in very low regard. Perhaps that’s because they’re better informed than the rest of us and have a pretty good idea of idea of what his real agenda has been!
Agree with all of that, other than the bits about Gilmours agendas. The buddie fans I have spoken to are convinced he is acting with a geniune concern for St.Mirren and no one else.
The league system was designed to fail from day 1. Longmuir helped that on its way. Why? That is the million dollar question… As you said, as Sevco are heading for oblivion it can’t be to help them, can it?
http://www.blackandwhitearmy.com/off-the-park-news-archive/1909-standing-firm
This is an excellent read for those worried about the sevco/st.mirren link
Scottish football needs reconstruction, but 12-12-18 was never the right plan. It’s a flawed system that failed in other countries resulting in huge drops in ticket sales (precisely what needs to be improved in Scotland).
The real question here is why did 10 SPL teams push so hard for reconstruction to happen in time for next season, against the wishes of their own fans? That is the misinformation. The excuse of “it’s best for Scottish football” doesn’t wash with me.