Regan Condemnation Leaves Doncaster Twisting In The Wind

Stewart Regan this morning leapt into the Sevco Fixture Fit Up controversy, by attacking the SPFL decision, saying that for the good of sporting integrity all the final day fixtures should begin on the same day.

Perhaps as a direct consequence of this, the SPFL has recently announced that the Hearts – Sevco game will now be moved back to its originally scheduled date.

Regan’s intervention is a body blow to the SPFL’s under-fire leader Neil Doncaster, who is now clinging on to his job by his fingernails as criticism mounts from every corner of the game and it is unlikely to die down, even now, with common sense having prevailed over his original pig ignorance.

Last night, two of the three sides most affected by the calamitous decision to move the Hearts – Sevco match a day ahead of the other games, had already come out strongly against the decision.

Hibs responded through their Chief Executive, Leanne Dempster, and Sevco through their manager Stuart McCall, who said quite plainly that if afforded his team an advantage.

Hearts, who have already won promotion, released their own statement disagreeing with the ruling shortly after the one from Easter Road.

Other clubs were believed to be on the verge of issuing their own when Doncaster’s organisation compounded their mistake with an absurd statement during last night’s live games, in which it is claimed that this situation was “normal” (despite no-one being able to find any past precedent for it) and that it would not impact on other matches.

That statement was perhaps the most offensive ever released by a football governing body in recent years, and for the first time in a long time the media has joined the supporters in wondering whether this guy is fit to be in his current post.

Numerous high profile candidates could easily replace him, and it may now be that the door has creaked open a little for a challenge to be laid down.

Clubs are furious at his string of continuing failures at corporate level – only to be expected when the man at the helm has declared his product worthless – and this anger has only increased in the past 24 hours as the sheer scale of his incompetence becomes ever more apparent.

A new generation of football executives are increasingly unwilling to tolerate these staggering lapses in judgement and Scottish football’s credibility gulf which is not aided by these astonishing mistakes.

In particular, attention should be focussed on two strong women candidates in Leanne Dempster and Ann Budge, who have proved to be impressive on these matters, who’s clubs are ambitious and well run and who appear to view Doncaster with some doubt.

Stewart Regan’s comments come as it the SPFL announces the backtrack, that game in question has now been moved back to its originally scheduled date, completing a humiliating climb down for Doncaster and rendering last night’s statement even more ridiculous.

This reversal must surely cast Doncaster’s future into serious doubt. His removal from post is now a necessity if the game is to move forward.

This man is a joke, and if he stays in his job that joke is on all of us.