Henry McLeish does not want one issue to be allowed to compromise the wider needs of Scottish football

Football Writer

Thursday 12 July 2012

H ENRY McLEISH yesterday chose to borrow Barack Obama's famous "Yes We Can" slogan as he outlined his hopes and dreams for the future of Scottish football.

Henry McLeish, who published an extensive report on the state of Scottish football, hopes some good can come from the Rangers saga. Picture: Jamie Simpson

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Graeme Macpherson

Given the ongoing panic about the financial state of the game should Rangers newco be consigned to the Irn-Bru Third Division, the buzz phrase adopted by Bill Clinton's campaign team – "It's the economy, stupid" – might have been a more apposite choice.

McLeish, the former first minister who penned an extensive review of the game two years ago, wants the game's stakeholders – the governing bodies, sponsors, clubs, managers, players and fans – to look beyond the Rangers' crisis and the resultant fall-out and turn their attention to trying to bring about positive change. "A nation can't have all its resources absorbed by one single issue to the distraction of all other issues in the game for this length of time," was how McLeish put it. It seemed a bit like telling the captain of the Titanic just to ignore that big iceberg and focus more on trying to make the sail more comfortable for his passengers.Like it or not, the Rangers story is the only one in town right now and money is at the heart of it. Those who wish to see the newco allowed into the first division – and McLeish is among their number – do so because of concerns of the financial devastation many claim will ensue if such a move does not materialise. The others, including many Scottish Football League clubs who will take a vote on the matter tomorrow, believe sporting integrity should prevail regardless of the monetary consequences and that Rangers should start life at the bottom of the heap. McLeish operates, unsurprisingly, with a politican's touch, inferring and suggesting rather than making outright demands or claims. He was sympathetic to the pressures being heaped upon the shoulders of the SFL chairmen and chief executives, asked to effectively solve a mess of the SPL's making, and understanding of the tidal wave of public opinion that insists the morally correct outcome must be arrived at. On the latter front, however, McLeish was unconvinced it was the right way to go. "If you lived in an ideal world, a purist world, that would be fine," he said. "We don't have the luxury of that. You can, in any operation, say I want to be pure, and the maximum punishment is to put them [Rangers] at the bottom of the SFL, that's a valid argument. It's not an argument I agree with but it's an argument that's impacted on a lot of people."All I'm trying to make a case for is the wider issue of Scottish football and what's in the best interest of Scottish football, not what's in the best interest of Rangers fans or Rangers as a club. I'd like to think the 12 SPL chairman and the 30 SFL chairman are aware of that and have supported that."McLeish did not have exact facts and figures to back up the claim that Scottish football would suffer if Rangers were not voted into the first division but his "instinct" was that it would not be good news. "I don't have any empirical evidence to justify it, but in terms of the research I did, there are a lot of clubs in a very precarious situation," he added. "How that would fall if Rangers went into the third division, you can't identify the detailed consequences."But there is an instinct which many people share that it wouldn't be positive for those clubs who are struggling on the margins. We are not like the Premier League in England where they are sitting on a fantastic amount of money. The game in Scotland is currently starved of investment. Much of that has to do with ourselves, we have to put our own house in order. Nobody owes us a living."There will be huge consequences wherever Rangers are but we have to make a decision, take those consequences on board and move on. Nobody should be in any doubt that the game is not in a strong position to accommodate any consequences of a financial nature which are as dire as some people are predicting."The great irony surrounding Rangers' meltdown is that it may finally lead to many of the recommendations made by McLeish in his report finally being implemented. The one-time East Fife player called the saga a "seismic shock" and hoped some good could at least come of it."Every dark cloud has a silver lining," he acknowledged. "Rangers was a seismic shock. But it's made people realise the game is so fragile that a club like Rangers could potentially tip us over the edge. "We've got problems and challenges but we are our own worst enemies. We don't need a year zero. We need common sense, compromise and consensus. But above that we need to accept that no issue should be bigger than the game."

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Henry McLeish does not want one issue to be allowed to compromise the wider needs of Scottish football

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