Cinch And The SPFL Should Not Be Hiding Behind Celtic’s Title Win To Avoid Upsetting Ibrox.

There’s a story in The Record today that says that SPFL clubs were relieved that Celtic won the title, because they feared that an Ibrox triumph in that competition, followed by a subsequent refusal from their club to use any of the cinch branding might have brought about circumstances where the sponsor tore up the contract and forced them to a tough decision.

That “tough decision” would have been about whether or not to sue the Ibrox club in court, as part of a class action. I honestly can’t see why any club would believe that this was a tough decision.

It should be more or less automatic.

Frankly, I don’t know why this debate is still going on.

That should have been proposed and seconded months ago and the very clear threat sent to Park and his board as to what would happen if cinch pulled as much as a penny from the deal.

All this pissing about plays into Ibrox’s hands. It is gutless and could plunge the game into anarchy.

It will impact on every commercial deal that the league signs going forward, and if there are actually doubts amongst the clubs that this requires robust action then the people running those clubs are pure fools who deserve everything they get.

Instead of acting they are breathing a sigh of relief that we won the title so that they don’t have to think about those kinds of decisions, but this weakness, this spinelessness, is what Ibrox has long relied on.

I cannot believe that this nonsense has been allowed to drag on for the duration of this campaign, and even now people are dithering over what to do.

The Ibrox directors should have been removed from the SPFL board two years ago. Their club should have been told, publicly, that a refusal to fulfil their obligations under the sponsorship deal will result in their losing any of the fruits of that deal.

Their refusal to co-operate with a second SPFL sponsorship agreement was another warning that they believe they can do what they please, and if they are allowed to other clubs have no cause to abide by signed contracts either.

Celtic’s title win – however pleased cinch are with the publicity – should not stop these other clubs from doing what has to be done. Ibrox’s behaviour in relation to this contract will have long term consequences unless they are dealt with robustly.

Frankly, it is embarrassing that clubs are now hiding behind our triumph as an excuse for not doing so. I cannot believe that there is so little stomach for a fight amongst them; this is an existential issue for those clubs at the bottom of the game.

It is high time that they started to act like it.