Keith Jackson: Venues selected by the SFA for this season's Cup Finals are mad

[ian1964 10,370]

KEITH says only in this business would the people at the top go out of their way to make winning trophies even easier for Neil Lennon and his players.

 

 

 

LET’S start by making one thing very clear. It’s not Celtic’s fault. None of it.

 

It’s not Celtic’s fault David Murray sold Rangers for a pound to Craig Whyte in a ruinous bit of business.

 

Likewise, it’s not Celtic’s fault that, as a result, they have been left to operate in a domestic top flight which is only marginally more stimulating than a Miranda Hart box set.

 

No, Celtic can’t be blamed for any of that. All they can do is make the most of it. Pile up the silverware and kill time until Rangers are worthy of more than just ridicule and ready to be taken seriously as a rival once more. Assuming such a day ever comes.

 

But, even so, only here in this nuthouse of a business would the people at the top actually go out of their way to make winning trophies even easier for Neil Lennon and his players than fate has already decreed.

 

Ladies and gentleman, I give you the SFA and its chief executive Stewart Regan.

 

Don’t get me wrong. There is much to admire about Regan’s leadership of the game in this country. For a start, he’s nothing if not reliable.

 

In fact, over the years, he has displayed an uncanny knack for bravely taking on every big issue confronting our game and making a complete and utter mess of it.

 

If there’s a decision to make, Regan and his board will botch it. You can be sure of it.

 

With that in mind, perhaps it ought not to have come as a surprise when it was announced last week that this season’s Scottish Cup Final will be taken to Parkhead.

 

Regardless of which sides may actually end up competing in it.

 

Now you don’t need to be on Ian Black’s speed dial to know Celtic will be odds on to be one of them.

 

So now not only are Lennon and his players winning a league of one but they’re also afforded the chance to make it a double by winning a cup final on their own pitch.

 

Only inside the SFA’s increasingly muddled mind could this possibly seem like a good idea, one that would even get close to passing the sporting integrity test.

 

Deep down even Lennon himself might be left to bristle with indignation if he should end this season clutching a league and cup Double amidst suggestions his side was helped across the finishing line.

 

Again, this is not a mess of Celtic’s making. And let’s be clear here too, Lennon has assembled a side which is miles in front of all the rest. If Celtic do go on to secure another double then they’ll thoroughly deserve it because of the enormity of their domestic dominance.

 

There is, after all, a reason they are playing Ajax in the Champions League this week and that is because they belong in that environment.

 

But – and mark my words here – there will be little snide digs flying all over the place the closer we come to the Scottish Cup Final if Celtic are still involved.

 

In fact, that’s the only thing the SFA got right about this announcement. Making it so far in advance was a smart call as right now it’s not a live issue, merely a distant dream for the teams involved in the early rounds.

 

But the deeper we go into this competition the more ludicrous their reasoning will be made to appear.

 

Especially if Celtic – and maybe even Rangers for that matter – make it into the latter stages. Because the flip side of this predetermined lunacy is that both semi-finals will be hosted at Ibrox.

 

Even if one of them is between, let’s say, St Johnstone and Caley Thistle.

 

You don’t need to have booked a 52,000 all-seater stadium in advance for that one. You could hold it in a phone box in Dundee. Sorry, that’s me being facetious. But Tannadice would do just fine.

 

Regan and his cohorts though do not appear to have given consideration to things such as geographical common sense or even just plain old sporting fairness.

 

All of it has been ignored in an empty-headed rush to make another baffling decision.

 

And let’s take it a step a further.

 

What if the other semi-final is between Rangers and Celtic?

 

Now that very thought ought to be keeping Regan up at nights because if he had stopped to think this through he would surely have realised the prospect of an Old Firm showdown, either in a semi-final at Ibrox or the final at Parkhead, will cause him a living nightmare.

 

Yes, it might seem far off in the distance right now and Regan will doubtless be hoping this perfect storm does not come to pass but if it does then the SFA will have some serious explaining to do.

 

Fans of both clubs will quite rightly demand to know his thought process because one of these sides will go into this meeting – the first Glasgow derby since the Rangers meltdown of 2012 – hugely disadvantaged and with one almighty chip on its shoulder.

 

And that’s all this potential powderkeg of a fixture would need.

 

Short of building a new purpose-built stadium on the dark side of the moon and the sanctioning of a midnight kick-off, such a coming together of this furious twosome, complete with a 50-50 split of tickets, would represent a security dilemma the scale of which has not been seen since someone stole Dawn French’s play piece.

 

And Regan’s SFA will have added to this volcanic volatility by making a decision which ranks right up there beside his most baffling contributions to date.

 

If the worst-case scenario should unfold over the next few rounds, this one might make “let’s give Levein another go” seem like one of their better ideas.

[26th of foot 5,824]

Oh dear Jacko, I suspect der Peter might confine you to the naughty step alongside Nuremberg Hugh.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

no doubt the sfa just decided that the biggest stadium should get the final.

 

but celtc shouldn't be getting a home game if they ake the final. keith is right it's just crazy to hand them another huge advantage.

 

indeed if rangers make the semis the same applies.

 

just hav it at the opposite stadium and if it's an old firm game toss a coin like they used to do.

[calscot 0]

Celtic are not blameless, they not only voted Rangers out with the reason that, "they only do what's best for Celtic FC" which pretty much translates to eliminating the only competition so they get a free run at the championship and the CL money, but they also intimidated the other clubs to do so also. They are guilty of a huge conflict of interest and abusing their position to get a easy league when they should really have abstained.

 

Had they done so and not influenced the other clubs and we were still kicked out, they could assume this blameless role and have a clear conscience - blithely playing in the lesser competition that was forced upon them.

 

However, they consciously and nefariously chose and and went out of their way to create the shit league they are in and they now revel in it.

 

Rangers and Kilmarnock are the only innocent clubs in this respect.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Another coward and bully, frightened to name Celtic as pulling the strings of The SFA, but rather absolves them of all guilt. Then ridicules the easy target, us. Find a backbone Keith and do your job, tell the readers what's really going on in the corridors at Hampden , or has your reorientation sessions included optical realignment?

[SteveC 150]

wtf???

 

 

"Fans of both clubs will quite rightly demand to know his thought process because one of these sides will go into this meeting – the first Glasgow derby since the Rangers meltdown of 2012 – hugely disadvantaged and with one almighty chip on its shoulder.

 

And that’s all this potential powderkeg of a fixture would need."

 

"chip on our shoulder" somewhat understandably as victims of attempted murder PLUS the biggest threat is them not coping if they aren't 5 goals ahead with a few minutes remaining!

[amms 0]

wtf???

 

 

"Fans of both clubs will quite rightly demand to know his thought process because one of these sides will go into this meeting – the first Glasgow derby since the Rangers meltdown of 2012 – hugely disadvantaged and with one almighty chip on its shoulder.

 

And that’s all this potential powderkeg of a fixture would need."

 

"chip on our shoulder" somewhat understandably as victims of attempted murder PLUS the biggest threat is them not coping if they aren't 5 goals ahead with a few minutes remaining!

 

I think he means whoever is the 'away' side will have the disadvantage and a chip on their shoulder.

 

For me this is an interesting development, the press being openly critical of Regan and admitting this gives Celtic a huge advantage. Whilst we've always known that I don't think i've seen it written in the press before.

[barca72 440]

While you're watching the left hand what is the right hand doing? I wouldn't trust that guy for a second. Wait a week, you'll see.

[biggordy 0]

For starters, Jackson didn't need to do the piece.

I read it as another attack on the clowns at the sfa.

Who's on the sfa I ask myself?

Why, it's Peter "I'll stay out of anything which could lead to a conflict of interest" Lawell, and the rest of the gang who are only there to look after number 1.

What their true reasons are?...Nobody knows bar themselves.

In my opinion the guy doesn't go any further because there are zero facts to say exactly who is pulling the strings...we can only guess.

Strip the whole thing back to the appointment of Regan and the previous connections he had with Lawell.

This, my fellow Bears, is what Regan is being paid to do.......However. try proving it and that's why no newspaper can print such things.

[RANGERRAB 3,252]

It's a much better article than the usual by Jackson but if he avoids the real question which the mhedia should be asking which is how Celtic & Liewell have managed to get into a situation where they're virtually running Scottish football.

Regan is liewell's SFA puppet & Doncaster is Liewell's SPFL puppet. Liewell & Regan worked together previously at Coors of course and was it not the case John Reid's son at recruitment firm Nolan Partners was instrumental in getting Regan the SFA CEO position? and was anyone else interviewed for the position ? If not why not ? And also how many positions does Liewell currently hold in both the SPFL & SFA? Am I the only one who thinks that's not a good thing for Scottish football? Shouldn't the mhedia be asking these sort of questions or are they afraid to do so?

Whenever we get around to appointing our new CEO I'd like to think he(or she) will ask these sort of questions as well as finding out the details of the secretive SKY deal Liewell & Doncaster struck last summer. It's disgraceful no one in the Scottish mhedia has even attempted to look into this murky deal. Why is that?