HERE we are, in the final, dog days of a fairly desperate season and, as has been the case for much of the past ten months, the excitement isn't coming from on the field, but from inside Ibrox. It's pathetic.
Is there nobody in Scottish football, or even in Scotland, capable of sorting out the on-going embarrassment which is the interminable fight for the black soul of "The Establishment Club"?
Has football now reached the stage where it is the plaything of dodgy businessmen, foreigners seeking a profile in this country and the frankly deluded?
I am none-too-bothered about the machinations of the power brokers in the EPL - I long for the day that over-inflated house of cards crumbles; but, I do care when I see the damage which the Ibrox in-fighting, the Hampden hatreds and the posturing between SPL, SFL and SFA is doing to the People's Game here in Scotland.
Way back, just after the radar set which couldn't detect Craig Whyte's wealth was first found to be faulty; when the Sheriff's Officers, the Lawyers and the Accountants were queuing-up to get into Ibrox, I said that the SFA should not allow any club named "Rangers" or claiming any rights to the 140-years of history associated with that name to participate in Scottish football, until the ownership of the club and all the other nonsense accruing from the Craig Whyte months had been sorted-out.
I stand by that assertion. Charles Green has come and (almost) gone; but, still the battle rages. The Chairman has lost the confidence of the board, but clings on. And still the dodgy dealers circle.
I have, through the good offices of the excellent Scottish Government Bus Pas scheme, made use of the Easdale brothers' bus company; I have no complaints about the service offered. But, does the fact they can run a competent bus service based around Inverclyde automatically mean they could run, or help run, a winning football team out of Ibrox?
The fact that one of the Easdales has previously enjoyed the hospitality of Her Majesty the Queen in one of her secure B&Bs is being held against them - hardly surprising given the Whyte year or so.
Having just got rid (if indeed they really have) of one dishonest owner, does Rangers really want another person with a criminal record for dishonesty in business influencing matters from around the boardroom table?
Better to have "a real Rangers Man" such as the oft-touted David King in charge. Yet, surely the lingering doubts concerning King's travails with the South African authorities must make him a dubious candidate for the post of Saviour of the Club and Defender of the Old Rangers Values.
Can nobody sort out the Ibrox mess? Will nobody put that club right? Is the desire really there to put it right?
For a start, Rangers' Associate Membership of the SFL must not be upgraded to full membership, until the remaining doubts and questions are properly sorted out.
I ENJOYED the Chelsea v Benfica Europa League final last night and was particularly pleased for two of the winners, caretaker manager Rafa Benitez, who has been dignity personifed during his short tenure at Stamford Bridge. His successor, if the rumours are indeed true and "The Chosen One" has chosen to return, will never be as classy.
I was delighted too for Fernando Torres, who emphatically proved that old football saw to be true: form is indeed transient, class is permanent; the way he took the opening goal was real class.
But, what about that John Terry - nae class right enough; pushing his way to the front of yet another set of post-final pictures, having taken no part in the actual game. Truly, that guy has no shame, and no class.
Mind you, that makes him the ideal man to be Club Captain at Chelsea, I suppose.
SO NOW, it's the SFL's turn to have their say about re-organisation. Or will this week's Hampden meeting turn into yet another meeting about having a meeting?
Let's be honest, there is now no-way they can properly sort-out and introduce re-organisation before next season kicks off. If they do, it will be badly worked-out, inadequately thought-through and will lead to disaster.
That said, whatever the blazers decide, will be wrong. Forty-two clubs in four divisions is over 20 clubs and two divisions too-many. But, will they listen to reason? Of course not.
Again I say: We're awe doomed, doomed ah tell ye!
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