Furious Mark Warburton has hit out at plans to close the Champions League door to Scottish clubs.
Fresh from moaning about Alloa narrowing their pitch for the second half of the season the former city trader has turned his guns on UEFA after news emerged that plans are afoot to alter the format of the Champions League.
Warbo has never managed in the top flight let alone take a team into Europe but that didn’t stop him from moaning about the plans being drawn up by Bayern Munich chief executive Karl Heinz Rummenigge
“If that is the process that has been started I think it’s a very dangerous one,” Warbo warned. “I can understand from a commercial perspective that certain huge clubs have been out of the Champions League for the last couple of years and smaller clubs have been in the Champions League for the last couple of years.
“They will say they are not maximising an opportunity but it’s a competition. If you’re a small-time club and you have a fantastic year and you recruit well and you train well and you qualify then I think you should get the rewards. The moment you take that away you devalue any competition. It’s a Champions League so the champions of the respective countries should be in it.”
Comically Warbs added: “It’s not just about Rangers (absolutely, with one win in 25 matches prior to liquidation the revamp has nothing to do with the dead club or it’s heavily indebted tribute act). It’s about the whole ethos, the whole idea of it. The fact is if that you look at the Premier League there are some massive clubs that don’t qualify. Teams that come fifth and sixth don’t qualify. This year it could be Manchester United and Chelsea.
“They are two of the biggest clubs in Europe, but they won’t qualify and possibly smaller-time clubs will do. But that is just the nature of it. It is all part of the competition and rewards teams for doing well.
“If you take that away, if you are going to focus purely on the top clubs, it will be like having a league without promotion or relegation. I think you will devalue the competition. I think it would be a great shame if that was to be the case.”
Warburton’s thoughts on Financial Fair Play, clubs operating under a going concern in their accounts and his thoughts on sectarian singing are unknown.