I never like to return to a subject two weeks in a row, but it’s time for Scottish football to hammer Rangers for bringing the game into disrepute.
Any other club would have been fined heavily by now for the scurrilous and scandalous allegations they’ve thrown around, like the pennies which used to be flung at an old wedding scramble.
The unhinged behaviour from those at Ibrox is a deadly threat to the cohesion and fabric of our game at a time when it’s facing a challenge to its very existence.
I’m not a fan of the way television football broadcasters call the shots in our game but with a new TV deal starting in August, which could be a financial lifesaver for many clubs in the current crisis, the Ibrox club seem unconcerned about starting a conflagration which could burn the whole football house down.
The SPFL board, though, look like they’ve had enough of this stooshie, in which Rangers have alleged coercion and bullying along with their demands for an enquiry into the running of the SPFL, and the suspension of the chief executive and its legal counsel.
With a new £160 million TV contract on the table which may be the difference between life and death for our game, those charged with running our football would be right to be nervous about the reaction of paymaster, Sky television.
I’ve written recently that we should try to wean ourselves off TV money but that would be a long and tough process.
Frankly, it’s as likely as Mike Tyson’s proposed comeback, at the age of 53, ending in anything other than disaster.
With the new TV agreement kicking in this August, our clubs and the SPFL board face potential Armageddon if it is threatened in any way.
Rangers may think that the rest of Scottish football are engaged in a plot to hand Celtic a ninth title in a row, which they are almost certain to win anyway, but that’s frankly bonkers.
The ‘smoking gun’ evidence in their 200-page dossier presented on Thursday – which they hoped would blow the lid off an SPFL board they think is out to get them – turned out to be the equivalent of alcohol-free beer.
The SPFL board are engaged in a battle to protect the safety and income of the game.
That income will be the difference between keeping the Sheriff officers from the door of clubs all over the country when the bills can’t be paid and watching the managers desk and tactics board disappear into a removal van.
Rangers might be happy to see Scottish football crash and burn round their ears.
But I’d say to them, it’s now up to you to decide whether you want to pursue a scorched-earth policy for which Scottish football will never forgive you or come to the table like mature adults and call a halt to this civil war.
As a well-known former journalist who the Ibrox club employed might say: “It’s your call.”
