Yesterday Inverness Caley Thistle came out with a highly aggressive statement, strangely it stopped short of naming names as it shared a number of tear-jerking claims over bullying.
Effectively it left every Championship club open to accusation. Despite incredible levels of bullying ICT still managed to vote against the proposal from the SPFL board then quickly banked the cheque for finishing second in The Championship.
So far it has been very much a one way street with the cabal of losers at Hearts, Stranraer, Partick Thistle and Falkirk lining up to back the call from Ibrox for an independent investigation.
Today Dunfermline provided some balance, the first of the silent majority with Scot Gardiner of Caley Thistle the clear target. Gardiner’s CV includes spells at Ibrox, White Hart Lane, Dens Park and Tynecastle.
In a lunchtime statement Dunfermline chairman Ross McArthur told his club supporters:
It is not only regrettable but extremely embarrassing, that I have to provide this statement following the release of accusatory comments in a Club Statement made by the Chairman and CEO of Inverness, I am sadly now left with no option but to put the record straight.
The individuals have been very careful not to mention me by name, but their intended target is clearly apparent.
In life, you stand and fall by your reputation and your actions, and I thank the very many people from other clubs who have contacted me since these “leaked” WhatsApp messages first surfaced, to offer their support. I like the company I keep.
Since the SPFL director’s resolution was first issued, a number of clubs in the Championship would confirm it is the behaviour of Inverness that has continually been aggressive and confrontational. However, no one felt it necessary to win points in public, as robust conversations take place in the normal course of a competitive business like football.
Turning to the “allegation” regarding the information that was conveyed by me to Inverness FC, on Friday 10th April 2020.
As confirmed by their own leaked What’sApp message group, I clearly did so as Dunfermline Athletic FC Chairman and NOT as an SPFL Board Member (as was expressly agreed and verified, before the call with other Championship clubs).
It most certainly wasn’t a threat, simply a potential consequence of their action not to back the SPFL resolution currently put in front of them, in favour of a counter resolution which was being mooted at that time.
This resolution would effectively have the same consequence as a “null and void” conclusion to the league season, but the SPFL central distribution monies would still be provided to clubs on their current standing. This was not going to be acceptable to Dunfermline Athletic, Alloa Athletic, Greenock Morton, Queen of the South and Arbroath.
Tomorrow all 42 SPFL clubs will vote on the Ibrox proposal to have an independent investigation into the vote to decide the four divisions based on average points per game.
