Taxi For Regan and Doncaster

AM I the only person in Scotland who has, chipping away at the back of his mind, the thought that this terrible summer of rain and more rain is maybe God'sway of punishing us for the sins of the SFA.

That's just a thought, one I suggest which has as much worth and as little sense as most of what has been written or said about Rangersgate.

Ah! Rangersgate. How much longer must we suffer the death throes and agony of the fall of the House of Orange? Will nobody come along to sort it out? Has anyone in Hamlin kept the 'phone number of that Pied Piper chap? If so, can we get it, get him to Hampden - but this time - pay him for sorting-out our 21st century rodent problem?

Today's newspaper stories about Morton chairman's Douglas Rae's letter to the other 29 SFL club chairmen is a shockeroonie. We now know, from Mr Rae and his Clyde counterpart, that Regan is a bare-faced liar who is using threats and intimidation to get his way.

We also have the situation whereby Neil Doncaster is being heavily implicated in unauthorised moves, contrary to rules and regulations, to try to parachute that entity I and others have dubbed I Can't Believe It's Not Rangers - the Charles Green-led successors to Craig Whyte's Rangers (CWR) into SFL 1.

Add the failure of the governing body to at the very least put President Campbell Ogilvie on "gardening leave" due to his having the benefit of an Employee Benefit Trust from David Murray's version of Rangers and it is clear: the positions of the three principal "blazers" within Hampden are severely compromised - they must be taken out of the front-line pending a full enquiry into on-going events.

The time is now upon us when the Scottish Government, UEFA and FIFA MUST step in and sort out this whole mess, otherwise Scottish football's governance has been fatally wounded.

I can see no means whereby ICBINR can be allowed to operate as a football club in the new season. There are already too-many outstanding issues:

 The EBTs

The dual-contracts

• The terms of the Murray to Whyte sale
• The Ticketus issue
• The "conflict of interest" involving Duff & Phelps
• The whole Duff & Phelps administration period
• The sale to Sevco  - was it legal?
• The status of Sevco as regards succession
• The outstanding football debts
• The players' contracts and their freedom of movement
• Who gets any compensation for players moving?
• The international clearance issue
• What is Whyte's position - floating charges anyone?
• Who takes Rangers' place in the SPL?
• Sevco/ICBINR's status with the SFA?
• What league will ICBINR play in if they get in?
• Can ICBINR be allowed to play given current SFA/SFL rules?
• What is the situation with the SPL's TV deal without "Rangers"?
• What is the position as regards the SFA punishments of CWR?
• Can these punishments be applied to ICBINR?
• The position of the SPL inquiry into dual-contracts etc, given these took place under David Murray's Rangers. Since DMR became CWR which is now ICBINR - what is the relevance of this inquiry?

Can all these issues be settled between now and the start of the season? I think not. The 41 senior clubs in membership of the SFA and either the SPL or SFL can be ready to start on time, if a prompt decision is made as to whether Dundee or Denfermline Athletic replaces Rangers in the SPL and the due teams - Airdrie United and Stranraer are promoted to fill the vacancies in SFL1 and SFL2. It might not be ideal, but, SFL3 could run with only 11 clubs for the new season, we would have football.

A dispensation could be allowed, whereby ICBINR plays the idle SFL3 club each week, pending resolution of the outstanding issues; however, decisions have to be made soon and I do not believe these can be made without some outside input - too-many Hampden honchoes are implicated in sharp practice.

We are in a hole - it is past time we stopped digging and shouted for help.