It seems the SPFL changed tack last evening: from bullying clubs to playing the victim. As in always the case, the mainstream media gave them space and opportunity to do so. Until last evening, the SPFL was trying to make clubs fall in line with an open letter asking evidence from Rangers which they have already pledged to do before the EGM while simultaneously leaking word out that this independent investigation can be shot down by proxy votes by clubs that will not even wait for Rangers’ evidence.
However, last evening something changed. Maybe it was from all the failings right down from the SPFL’s sham Deloitte investigation being called out by me amongst many others to no one taking kindly to the top brass of the SPFL laying down the law. Still, the SPFL after many years is being held accountable by a majority. Media from the rest of the world are laughing at the incompetence of the SPFL, and their credibility is at an all-time low. So, last evening we saw an emerging pattern where puff pieces on how we are all misunderstanding the SPFL and we should all give them space started coming out. Oh, and also Neil Doncaster came out of hiding from wherever he was holed up for in the last few days.
Neil Doncaster’s Past
A small pause before I continue with this as I would have to write more about what Neil Doncaster did yesterday further in this column. In case you start feeling sympathetic for him even a little bit, remember that Neil Doncaster has been ruining Scottish football for a decade now. An important part from an earlier article is listed below
”Back in 2010, the referees called a strike due to the SFA’s failure of providing them safety amid threats in various places following an incident instigated by the then Celtic chairman John Reid, manager Neil Lennon and centre-forward Gary Hooper over an incident at Tannadice. They publicly blamed Dougie McDonald for a penalty U-turn that went on for months which, subsequently, led to outrage among the fans, thus, threats and allegations.
Doncaster, at that time, could have dealt the situation in a better way as he instead pointed the finger at the match officials questioning their decision for taking a stance amid safety fears.
“There is a right way to go about it and simply calling a strike is the wrong way. It has to be preceded by some conversations about concerns and no-one has come to us with any concerns.”
See how he refuses to take accountability? We will come to that.
Changing Propaganda And How It Looks
Neil Doncaster in a supposed hard-hitting Q and A with Keith Jackson (yes laugh along with me) griped about how he (or rather the small remaining staff at SPFL) is being harassed by calls and emails. In fact, the heading of this supposed hard-hitting piece is ”Neil Doncaster lifts lid on the vile abuse and threats SPFL staff have suffered in wake of season-ending vote.”
Does that sound like hard-hitting journalism to you or doing everything you can to maintain limited access with the top brass at SPFL? Well, you decide that, but in the meantime, I have some questions.
First, as Neil Doncaster is complaining about the shortage of staff, maybe he should not have furloughed so many of the SPFL staff and instead taken a salary cut. Doncaster, after all, takes home a whooping £388,000 which is more than the Prime Minister and Chancellor combined. So, yes limited sympathy to him as he (or the SPFL) is the one responsible for his limited staff. Also, if anyone has received any vile abuse, that is to be condemned of course. But why not report it to the police? When Record asked him the same politely, he dodged and did not answer. So tar all legitimate protest with some isolated abuse he might have received in the same brush seems to be the strategy at hand.
As I mentioned earlier about accountability, there seems to be none in this man. What do you do when some people are willing to to do everything to shrink from responsibility?
The Independent Media
There were two further puff pieces about Doncaster and the SPFL this morning. I could have linked them here but chose not to as it does not really add anything to the conversation. So is anyone in the mainstream media calling them out? Anyone asking Doncaster about all the hundreds of inconsistencies and why they feel they deserve any trust from the public or clubs? Anyone asking MacLennan if bullying a few clubs whose interest they are supposed to protect (like all clubs) is proper or not? No off course not!
What we get is Q and A that MacLennan does with himself and hilariously reported by outlets like the Daily Record with no fact-checking or anything of that sort.
Hard-hitting Q and A with Neil Doncaster turns into puff pieces where the SPFL brass can give their side of the story without any pushback. No one in the media asks them what Ewan Murray pointed out. ”So Neil Doncaster doesn’t know the cost of the SPFL’s Deloitte investigation.. whilst urging clubs not to spend an unknown – but he knows it’s high – amount on another one.”
At this point, the SPFL playbook is working to perfection with a subservient media even though I and everyone else can see the glaring holes in everything. No wonder, they don’t feel the need to change anything or actually sit down with outlets which might challenge them even a little bit.
