Time for an EBT mea culpa from Scotland manager

Alex McLeish is busy preparing for his first game as Scotland manager this weekend.  It is a gig he will be delighted to have, now that he has confirmation HM Revenue & Customs are on his case for tax due when Rangers paid him through an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT).

The reach of the Rangers’ EBT recipients runs deep in Scottish football.  The Scotland manager is employed by people who were promoted during an EBT recipient’s presidency, who refused the SPFL’s request for a review into the EBT scandal.  And, his performance will be reviewed by EBT recipients now working in the media.

There are others active in the SFA and the media who had nothing to do with EBTs, but many of these people have been friends for over 20 years.  They will not be so indiscrete as to embarrass a friend by suggesting their actions brought our game into disrepute.

The consequence for Rangers were absolute.  The consequence for the recipients will vary from an inconvenience, to financial ruin, but we have had no candour from any of them, no mea culpa.  I have no axe to grind with McLeish, and I prefer some recipients who work in the media to several former Celtic players, but blindly ignoring their role in the biggest story in Scottish football in half a century discredits us all.

Alex, you are Scotland manager, sit down with a journalist you respect and tell him how wrong this sorry business was.