The SFA is passing the buck on goal-line technology. Celtic should call their bluff.

Just the other day, we got a comment from the SFA on one of last season’s smaller – but still very real – scandals: disallowed goals that would have been sorted in an instant if we had goal-line technology. It’s not the biggest scandal, not by a long stretch, not when VAR itself is the bigger disaster. But it’s another example of how crap the system is and how little interest there is in making it better.

The official word from Hampden – from Michael Mulraney himself – is that goal-line technology is just too expensive. Over a million quid, apparently. That’s the price tag he’s put on it, with each club expected to stump up £100,000.

Now let’s break down what that actually means.

First off, I don’t buy that number. It sounds suspiciously inflated for what is, when all is said and done, a very basic bit of tech.

If they’ve genuinely been quoted a million quid, they’re talking to the wrong people. Goal-line technology is used all over the world – in leagues richer and poorer than ours – and you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere it costs that much.

But let’s say – just for argument’s sake – that this figure is accurate. Even then, a million quid is not an obscene amount of money in the context of Scottish football. Mulraney makes it sound huge because he wants to hit the clubs for £100K each. But the bigger question is this: what exactly is the SFA spending its money on?

Where does that budget go, if not to improve the running of the top flight? Because there’s no sign of it being spent on making the game better or the organisation more credible. Are we seriously meant to believe that the suits at the top – the ones who appoint national managers and then decide when to sack them – are earning their keep? Because from where I’m sitting, the whole thing looks like a bloated gravy train.

And while we’re on the subject of money, let’s talk about where the game is right now. It’s never had more of it.

Sure, our TV deals aren’t glamorous, but they’ve never been spread across so many platforms.

To watch Celtic right now, as a season ticket holder, you need a Sky Sports subscription for away games, Premier Sports for the domestic cups, and TNT Sports for the Champions League. And even Scotland games, which used to be free-to-air, are now behind a paywall. So don’t tell me there’s no money in the system.

The SFA, as the national association, should be providing the basics. Mulraney says they’re willing to do it for their competitions – well, why not for the rest? Why is this being punted off to the SPFL and the clubs? It’s pathetic. What are these people for? What is the SFA’s purpose if not to represent and support the clubs?

If they don’t want the Scottish top flight to have the highest standards, that’s shameful. At the very least, the SFA should be reaching into its vast reserves and coughing up half the cash. I’m not saying clubs should get off scot-free. But a 50/50 split? That’s fair. And it makes the decision easier for the clubs too.

Now, because I’m a lefty and I love a bit of redistribution, let me break this down for you. Here’s how you make up the £500,000 club share.

Start with the clubs who shouted the loudest for it. The Ibrox lot were banging the drum for goal-line tech at the tail end of the season, practically demanding it. So, let’s see how serious they are when we send them a bill for £150,000.

Celtic were the other big voice in the room. No surprise – these things impact us directly, especially in tight title races. So, we find £150,000 too. That’s £300K between the two of us. Add £500K from the SFA, and that leaves £200K. Divide that between the other 10 clubs – a mere £20,000 each.

That’s if you believe the £1 million price tag in the first place. Which I don’t.

And that’s money all the clubs can find, if only the governing body does its share. But I don’t think the SFA gives a toss about raising standards.

If they did, we wouldn’t be saddled with the cut-price version of VAR we’ve got. A version that barely works, cobbled together on the cheap by people whose first instinct is to spend less and think smaller.

That’s the problem with Scottish football. The people in charge aren’t up to it. They think small, act small, and dream small because they are small.

We are not blessed with visionaries or leaders at the top. The standards we put up with reflect that. The failure is theirs – but the acceptance of it is on the clubs. If we want change, it’s the clubs who have to make it happen.

Either change the leadership, professionalise the whole shebang and bring it into the modern era – or don’t complain when this is all we get.

This is put-up-or-shut-up time.

We get the standards we’re willing to tolerate.

And the clubs – the ones who ultimately control this game – continue to allow Mulraney, Maxwell, Doncaster and the rest to run it. Honestly, these are men you wouldn’t trust to manage a coffee morning, never mind a professional sport. So, if we want something better, we’ve got to demand better. Otherwise we’re never going to get it.

So let’s start here; if they really are going to insist that goal-line tech will cost £1 million, Celtic should send their cheque in first; £50,000 more than the estimate, to be cashed on the condition that the club across the city coughs up the same and the governing body itself meets the clubs halfway … call their bluff and see how they react.

That way we at least get the debate going. That way we find out what’s what here.