Sevco are becoming increasingly desperate in their attempts to convince the world that Scottish football is run by the dual forces of evil that is Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond.
The theory has long been held by extremist Ibrox message board Follow Follow where former Ibrox non-executive director Chris Graham was a regular contributor until his unfortunate loss of a blazer.
Last week the Daily Record was presented with the blockbuster yarn that SFA non-executive director Gary Hughes once referred to fans at Ibrox as the great unwashed.
Today it is the SPFL that are under attack with the news that their chairman, Murdoch MacLennan has become a non-executive director in an Irish company that where Dermot Desmond has a 15% shareholding.
Which goes a long way to explaining why Sevco have scraped just two draws and nine defeats against Celtic since Brendan Rodgers became hoops manager.
The Record reports:
SPFL bosses insist league chairman Murdoch MacLennan is not compromised in his role despite being head-hunted by a business with links to Celtic supremo Dermot Desmond.
Record Sport can reveal MacLennan has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Dublin based Independent News and Media PLC – an Irish media giant which is part owned by Desmond and his long term associate Denis O’Brien.
News of his role at INM comes just days after Rangers chairman Dave King demanded a top level SFA probe and the immediate suspension of director Gary Hughes after it emerged he had referred to Ibrox fans as ‘the great unwashed’ in a magazine article 12 years ago.
But, while the position of Hughes still hangs in the balance, SPFL top brass are adamant that there is no need to for them to investigate MacLennan’s links with Desmond.
It’s understood chief executive Neil Doncaster was made fully aware of the MacLennan’s new role which came days after he stood down from a similarly lofty position at the head of the Telegraph Media Group in March this year.
In a statement released to Record Sport yesterday an SPFL spokesman said: “Murdoch informed the SPFL Board in advance of taking up a board position with Independent News & Media Group of Ireland.
“This followed him stepping down from his role as deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group. There is no conflict of interest between Murdoch’s role with INM and his role with the SPFL.”
Perhaps next week the Record might like to explain why Campbell Ogilvie’s wife held shares in Rangers (IL) while her husband was chairman of Hearts.
Ogilvie later went on to become chairman of the SFA despite being ‘heavily conflicted’ according to chief executive Stewart Regan as a decade of cheating was swept under the carpet.
