SPFL will move with the herd, isolating angry losers

We received clarity from Uefa on some important issues yesterday and not on others.  Access to the Champions and Europa Leagues next season will be granted only on sporting merit.  This finally nailed hopes of the Null and Void Loyal.  If a league was declared void, its standings and results would not hold, so no sporting merit could be determined.

If Newco want access to the Europa League qualifiers, they need the SPFL to award a winner and second place, despite their protests.  Our old pal Cognitive Dissonance must keep them awake at night.

It is clear from the Uefa statement they have listened and tried to accommodate several scenarios.  Where titles are close, like Italy, where Lazio narrowed the gap on Juventus to a point, Uefa suggest a play-off system could allow chasing teams to make up the difference.  AZ Alkmaar trail Ajax on goal difference but the Dutch league is expected to call a halt to the campaign as early as today.  There are no truly satisfactory closures this season, least of all for Celtic, who will be denied a title winning game.

What we didn’t get was a hard deadline on when teams have to be nominated for European competitions.  After discussions with Uefa, the Italian league extended this season’s Serie A to 2 August, so we know for sure the European draws cannot take place until after that date.

I expect we will see European leagues synchronise their moves; there will be no incentive for any radical undertakings.  Those without rabid losers will be first to call time, the SPFL will move with the herd, as it should.  Then those who called for independent investigations into why the SPFL acted the same way as the rest of Europe will look like the angry losers they are.