ian1964 10,724 Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Bill Leckie MERCHANTS of doom are painting it as the day Scottish football went into terminal meltdown. Iâ??ll remember April 15, 2013 as the manic Monday when the gameâ??s biggest chancers got their comeuppance. Weâ??ll start with Stewart Milne, first out of the Hampden traps to read the riot act to the rebel chairmen who scuppered 12-12-18. He had righteous indignation coming out of his wee ears. He clearly holds St Mirren and Ross County personally responsible for any ills that befall the game from this moment on. Yet isnâ??t this Stewart Milne whoâ??s telling us that yesterdayâ??s restructuring proposal was the only option the same Stewart Milne who came out in 1997 telling us the breakaway EssPeeEll was the answer to all our problems? In the intervening 15 years and seven months, hasnâ??t he spent every waking minute overseeing the parallel declines of his club Aberdeen and the league he so bullishly championed? So for this man to decide Stewart Gilmour and Roy MacGregor are somehow the bad guys because they refused to go along with a shuffling of the deckchairs... well, itâ??s simply laughable. Next, Peter Lawwell. The Celtic chief executive was in all the Sunday papers, crowing about how he was going to welcome MacGregor to the Big City, put an arm round his country-bumpkin shoulder and put him straight on how to vote. What a joke. MacGregor may speak softly and live by Christian values, but heâ??s one of the toughest and smartest cookies in football. Had Lawwell himself not been so full of self-interest down the years, heâ??d have seen which way the wind was blowing, changed the 11-1 voting system and made yesterday a formality. Chancer No3? Former First Minister Henry McLeish, banging on to the last about how it was a case of â??change or dieâ? and talking about â??a day of reckoningâ?. What neither he â?? nor any other supporter of 12-12-18 â?? can tell us, however, is why clubs had to accept it or â??dieâ?. While he talks a lot of sense about the need for stronger governance, fairer distribution of finances and a better deal for fans, he canâ??t answer the question I posed in this paper yesterday: Why was the model put before our 42 senior clubs the only one anyone would consider? The spin put on the whole issue is that we can have all the good stuff, the fair stuff, the better stuff â?? but only if we agree to a league system everyone seems to agree is a complete fudge. And so to the Chancer of Chancers. Neil Doncaster. Chief Executive of the Scottish Premier League. Mr Armageddon. Three years ago, he warned us it would be Armageddon if clubs didnâ??t agree to a ten-team top flight. Last summer, he told us it would be Armageddon if Rangers were relegated to Division Three. When 12-12-18 was mooted, he told us it would be Armageddon if we didnâ??t give in to it. Time and again, heâ??s got it horribly wrong. So hereâ??s hoping the next statement we hear from the guy is: â??Armageddon out of here.â? His performance since taking the job has pretty much reflected the organisation he works for â?? not fit for purpose, something Iâ??ve said of the EssPeeEll from the day it was set up. Yesterdayâ??s vote should tell us that itâ??s not just Doncasterâ??s day that is done, but the whole shooting match. Weâ??re told that 12-12-18 would have signalled the formation of a single league governing body, but that should be a given whatever the system. Fact is, weâ??ve come at this whole thing a**e-over-elbow. Give us that single governing body, give us the right people to run it â?? then work on a restructure that actually has a chance of succeeding. Those merchants of doom seem to truly believe the end is nigh now that St Mirren and Ross County have done their worst; but trust me, weâ??ve had a lucky escape. Two clubs have stood up so all the rest who want real, lasting change can now stand with them and make things happen for the good of all the clubs and all the fans for a long time to come. Scottish football has been a Chancerâ??s Charter for too long. The time has come for real football people to seize the day and make a difference. Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/feeds/smartphone/scotland/4889613/Meltdown-for-our-game-More-like-a-lucky-escape.html#ixzz2QZnOnB5N 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve1872 4 Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 They won't like that Rangers v Peterhead advert over in the east end. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barca72 440 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I don't know. After reading this guy's guff over the past couple of years I don't think his last two articles, although fair, are going to cut it for me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMazza 0 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 I don't know. After reading this guy's guff over the past couple of years I don't think his last two articles, although fair, are going to cut it for me. I'm not a fan of Bill Leckie at all, but credit it where it is due, this is pretty spot on. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,724 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 They won't like that Rangers v Peterhead advert over in the east end. I normally never tune in to Clyde1 but I did yesterday, and it was worth it, but the first advert I heard was from BHEAST FC '125 years of unbroken history',sad chunts. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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