Credit Crunch - Meltdown

[ian1964 10,386]

WHO, in their right mind, seriously expected bigger attendances for this week�s Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-finals?

 

I reckon that every paying punter should have been given a gold medal.

 

Rangers v Falkirk pulled in more fans than watched Premiership contenders Liverpool at Wigan on Wednesday.

 

The following night Celtic and Dundee United, with Scott MacDonald scoring the decisive penalty, above, drew a bigger crowd than the midweek Portsmouth- Aston Villa match despite live, terrestrial TV coverage.

 

Set against the bigger picture, the Co-op Cup is an irrelevance. It lost its sparkle the moment its winners were denied a place in Europe but in these dire financial straits football needs every thin dime it can get.

 

We should be on our knees thanking the insurance giant for its continued support of our game.

 

For over a year, the SFA failed to hook a sponsor for its own flagship Scottish Cup before Glasgow entrepreneur Willie Haughey stepped in to save it. Football sponsorship will be the first casualty as the multi-nationals battle for survival.

 

Be in no doubt, this game of ours is in a bad way.

 

Every club in the country is in uncharted water.

 

This is no ordinary credit squeeze and those who believe we�ll still have 42 senior clubs standing by this time next year need counselling.

 

Even Carol Vorderman would struggle to make sense of Hearts' balance sheet

 

Face facts, there will be no government bail out of Scottish football.

 

In the current financial climate it will be every club for itself.

 

When we see Sir David Murray is prepared to jeopardise Rangers� title hopes by selling one of his best players in mid-season then we should all recognise the gravity of the situation.

 

This week there was talk of Livingston players striking after their wages failed to appear in the bank on time.

 

It was a carbon copy of events at Tynecastle earlier in the season.

 

Even Carol Vorderman would struggle to make some sense of Hearts� balance sheet as owner Vladimir Romanov continues to pile up the debts.

 

But if Livi and the Jambos were the first to show signs of distress, they won�t be the last. With sounder leadership in the past, Scottish football would be in better shape to get through this, but we�re reaping what has been sown for decades.

 

Take that poor Hampden surface the other night.

 

Those criticising the groundstaff or stadium director David Kells are missing the point.

 

The pitch is poor because the amateurs of Queen�s Park are the only people who have the right to use it.

 

Everyone else, including our international football team, pays through the nose for the privilege.

 

We shovelled millions of pounds of taxpayers� cash into rebuilding the ground but then we allowed Queen�s to keep the title deeds.

 

You honestly couldn�t make it up.

 

It might be called the National Stadium but it no more belongs to the nation than Harrods does.

 

In a deal that would make the eyes water the SFA originally agreed to pay �£22million over 20 years for office space and use of the pitch!

 

Not that the SFA ultimately represents the biggest threat to Scottish football.

 

That distinction goes to the SPL, a private members club which is clearly no longer fit for purpose. Their manifesto promised to foster youth development. FAILED!

 

They're doing their best to sink Scotland's World Cup hopes

 

They promised supporters a better standard of football. FAILED!

 

Better value for money? FAILED!

 

Their only success was in driving clubs into the hands of banks through the 10,000 seat rule.

 

Currently, they�re doing their best to sink Scotland�s World Cup hopes by kicking off the SPL season just days before George Burley�s boys travel to Norway.

 

Well done Lex Gold, take a bow.

 

There is so much wrong with the game you wouldn�t know where to start, but start we must.

 

It�s several weeks since SFA president George Peat promised a major review of Scottish football.

 

Independently chaired, it was to include all the relevant parties for the common good of the game.

 

Since then we haven�t heard a cheep. If this was a throwaway soundbite to earn Peat some kudos he should be strung up. We don�t have time on our side.

 

Half empty grounds and mudbath pitches will be the least of our worries unless Hampden�s sixth floor gets its act together.

 

More than a decade ago Fergus McCann told us Scotland couldn�t support more than 20 senior football clubs. There�s every chance he�s about to be proved right.

 

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