Neil Cameron today became the latest hack – and there are only a select few of them – to attack the SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan. His is by far the most insidious of the three major pieces that have been written on the man. Gordon Waddell’s was so sophomoric it was almost funny. Chris Jack was a slavering poem to the greatness of Dave King and so easily ignored. Cameron is smarter than both of them, but that, of course, is nothing to brag about.
What makes it the worst of the three is that Cameron tries to sound reasonable although the intent is the same; to get a man who nobody has actually levelled a proper allegation at to hold a press conference in which he denies it.
But denies what exactly?
The issue over the alleged conflict of interest has been asked and answered by the SPFL itself. They are not interested in examining what they know is a non-issue. The clubs are silent because they recognise this for what it is; shit-stirring with a rancid tax cheat’s hand on the spoon. And because they won’t do what Sevco is howling for, which is hold an inquiry into nothing at all, the only issue is this alleged Private Eye nonsense.
Cameron wants this guy to sit there in front of the media and answer the question “So, how much do you hate Rangers, then?”
(I hope Cameron is at least grateful that I correct his own quote here; his question was “Who much do you hate Rangers?” If you think standards have slipped on certain titles blame their editor in chiefs, who in this case is Cameron himself.)
And you have to love that.
You have to love how brazen it is, and how ridiculous the whole idea would sound if this was any other club making the allegation. Not that isn’t ridiculous coming out of Ibrox, but that club has been up its own backside so long now that you half expect this stuff from them, as Dave King’s bonkers press release yesterday ably demonstrated.
This is all the worst kind of cobblers and it would be hilarious how animated these people suddenly are by transparency at the governing bodies if it didn’t stink to high heaven instead. I spoke with one of the Resolution 12 Requisitioners this morning, and he reminded me of how these snivelling cowards backed away from the Offshore Game report and refused to even look at the evidence they had uncovered about what happened in 2011.
I repeat what I have before; until someone makes a specific allegation – and not repeat tittle-tattle that appears in Private Eye – then there’s sod all to see here. Cameron brings up the notion of “innocent until proven guilty” as if there was an actual crime here; all we have is the blatant smear-job being attempted by a man who is himself a proven liar and crook. No-one has alleged that MacLennan is not up to the job or that he has acted in any way that compromises him … all this comes down to is pitiful mud-slinging.
Cameron is the latest to write that Sevco “won’t let this go” but he’s the first to actually bring up the fans in the point, saying, “Many of their supporters will back them as it will be seen as having a go at the evil Scottish football bosses who tried to destroy their club.”
This is paranoid rubbish, of course, but I wonder exactly what Cameron is getting at? Is he suggesting that the fans will stage protests? Launch one of their famous campaigns of intimidation? Against who? Who exactly is the target here? The SPFL? Celtic? MacLennan himself? I can just see the meeting of shaven headed goons where they get in a fight and punch the ever-loving life out of each other as they try to decide who to send the letter-bomb to.
It’s not funny to joke about it, but seriously; what exactly are they going to do? What dreadful punishment are the Sevconites going to enact on Scottish football this time? Because all their bluster has worked so far, hasn’t it? Whyte remains free to pursue his “business interests”, Green continues to live in splendour, counting their money with those fabled “big Yorkshire hands”, the other clubs of Scottish football continue to thrive in spite of threats to boycott which never come to pass and Big Mike Ashley is getting ready to coin in it all over again.
Even Allan McGregor is back at Ibrox, with a fat contract, and all’s forgiven.
These people are absolute bullies and the SPFL deserves credit for standing up to them up until now. Let them do their worst. I don’t believe, and I never have – and the proof of it is that I do this under my own name – that Ibrox “retribution” is something to be feared; I think they are essentially a gutless shower, the lot of them, when faced down.
Their media lackeys will continue to do their bidding, but that aside this is all just blowing smoke.