THE unanswered question hung like the smell of cordite after a desperate shoot-out.

The extent of the mayhem in a room on the sixth floor at Hampden could be judged by the reactions of the major gunslingers. Some sped away, not trusting themselves to give an eye-witness account of the bloodletting as the Scottish Premier League clubs failed to push through reform.

Stewart Gilmour, chairman of St Mirren, perceived by the majority to be the villain of the piece, sprinted from the building with a posse of pressmen in pursuit. He was angry but largely uncommunicative.

Others were incandescent and highly communicative. "I do believe, and I think it's been shown today, that the 11-1 vote was just used as a smokescreen to protect other people's interests," said David Southern of Hearts after a change had been offered to the voting protocol of the SPL to accommodate the reservations of St Mirren.

Whose interests, precisely? "I wouldn't like to talk about agendas but it was very clear today that despite what was said seven days ago about 11-1 being the reason to not see this through, the actual concession made during the meeting which changed the vote from 11-1 to 9-3 [under the new plan], when it got down to the bit that particular club stepped back from it," said Southern in an obvious reference to Gilmour, who spoke long and hard last week about his opposition to 11-1.

Stewart Milne, the Aberdeen chairman, was even more blunt. "St Mirren have got to go and pose themselves the question: Why are they prepared to put the rest of Scottish football in jeopardy just because of their own selfish interests which they have been unable to explain in reasonable terms around the table. I do not think anyone in that room could understand the logic and reasoning behind where they currently stand."

Roy McGregor, chairman of Ross County, was also criticised. "I am very disappointed in Ross County as well. It was stressed to Roy today that he has a responsibility that goes beyond Ross County. He has a responsibility as part of the SPL set up and to the wider interest of Scottish football," said Milne. "Roy has given his reasons that he is not prepared to back it at this stage." But the question remains of why St Mirren baulked at a proposal they had agreed to in principle on two occasions.

Henry McLeish, the former first minister and author of the report to the Scottish Football Association on how the game must be changed, spoke on Sunday of Scottish football being "riven by mistrust" and yesterday's decision has merely increased that sentiment. It would be an unusual day if the Rangers question did not surface in any discussion on league reconstruction. Were the Ibrox club part of the "other people's interests" alluded to by Southern?

The general view last night was the status quo would be adhered to, but this seems unlikely with various plans already being discussed. A conspiracy theory that the collapse of reconstruction allows the introduction of an SPL2 falls at a series of obstacles. Charles Green, the Rangers chief executive, has stated repeatedly that he has no wish to be involved with the SPL. While he might change his mind, informed sources within the club baulk at Rangers being parachuted into a higher league without proper preparation.

There is a view held by influential people at Ibrox that the three-year plan to the return to the top league in Scotland should be adhered to, and with minimum spending. Any substantial investment would be made then and the club could be sold on.

There was manoeuvring within Scottish football last night for a Plan B, but SPL2 is thought to be a strategy further down the alphabet. It cannot be ruled out. "I'm not going to make any predictions about the future. The clubs were at pains to stress today that this was what they wanted to focus on. There wasn't a desire to look at any other proposals," said Neil Doncaster, the chief executive of the SPL.

He would not comment on the motives behind St Mirren's change of mind but said pointedly: "That was certainly surprising to me and to most other people in the room."

Did St Mirren give a reason to other members? "It's right that you direct that question to the clubs involved," said Doncaster. Gilmour last week emphasised his opposition to the 11-1 protocol but in a major concession yesterday this was offered to be changed to 9-3 with a review of any new league system being reviewed in two or three years. So that can be ruled out as a barrier to change.

The St Mirren chairman also said in a statement that he did favour the break of the two top-tier division into three leagues of eight. "Another concern is the hard line taken by some in certain areas, like season start date, home-grown talent, under-21 rules," he said then. These, though, would hardly seem to form rocks on which a plan agreed by the vast majority should be allowed to founder.

The reasons for St Mirren dissent may become clearer with the probability, verging on certainty of the emergence of further reconstruction plans.

Time is of the essence, though. Both Milne and Southern were last night adamant that Scottish football was staring into the abyss. "This is going to have major implications for Scottish football and these are going to start flowing through in the short term. We are going to see other implications in them medium term. It is going to potentially seriously damage the game in the long term," said the Aberdeen chairman.

He added: "There is insufficient money coming into Scottish football. This provided us with the opportunity to get more money into the game. If we cannot show faith in Scottish football, why would external sponsors show faith in Scottish football?"

The SPL faces next season without a sponsor and with television rights holders looking for an improvement in the product and audiences. The introduction of three leagues of eight and play-offs were thought to be attractive if only because Doncaster could sell the revamped SPL as a shiny new product.

He and his board have to come up with plans that can be implemented. Another fusillade of six-shooting over permutations will now ensue. Doncaster has his hopes. But he thought he had agreement four months ago. He must wait for consensus to ride into town. There's more chance of a shotgun marriage as clubs grab the best deal as they prepare for the worst in terms of revenue.