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The Press Claims That Sevco’s Sports Direct War Is Over. But Should We Believe Them?

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Another day, another statement. This time Sevco is telling the world that it is about to announce an exciting new double retail and merchandising partnership.

The press is being steered towards the interpretation that Sports Direct are now out of the loop.

Should we believe that though?

Either from them or from the Ibrox club itself?

The truth is, we’ve heard this before and before and before and it seems strange that it’s come at this particular time when we’re in the midst of a global crisis.

Would it be crazy to think that Sevco – who are trying to pull Scottish football apart to stop us winning the ninth title in a row – would take advantage of a moment such as this to cut Ashley and his people out of yet another retail opportunity? I wouldn’t put anything past them, and although there might be a chance of peace with the Sports Direct supremo now that King is no longer at the club we shouldn’t count on it.

That club has tried to scam its way through the last few weeks, holding Scottish football hostage, smearing people and making ridiculous demands. I thought sanity might have been restored over there when King departed, but it’s as if nothing changed.

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Their statement talks about the “end of all existing contracts” and this is accurate as far as it goes.

But Sevco had a legally binding “matching clause” deal with Sports Direct, as this site and others, like Phil’s, have discussed before. Unless that’s been terminated – and there is no indication that it has been – then Ashley and his people still have first refusal on the terms.

It is all very strange. Sports Direct should have been an excellent retail partner for the Ibrox club; they are still the biggest outlet in the country and a deal which suited everyone was definitely possible. But respective Ibrox boards have not wanted that.

Even if Sports Direct walk off the field, it is difficult to see how Sevco can match their reach or quality of service.

It’s also unclear who their supposed new shirt manufacturer will be.

None of the top firms will touch them considering the state the club is in, the way the football market looks right now and the mess of legal issues they’ve had to deal with.

The club now has a reputation for causing problems and breaking contracts.

It is a mess, to be frank, with none of the professionalism Celtic brings to bear.

Even in the best case scenario, the club still has to close a multi-million finance gap with Celtic which would exist whether they have a good merchandising deal or not.

And all this depends on the club surviving the current crisis in the first place.

Sevco always heralds every change as the birth of a bright new dawn.

Look around you.

Even our media can’t spin this as that, although they will try.

As Scottish football goes through the current crisis it is important to keep up with developments and the key issues. We are determined to do so, and to keep you informed as well. Please subscribe to the blog.

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