Who do you want as the new SPFL Chief Executive?

 

It's a straight vote between these two.  Personally I think that others should be allowed to apply for the position.  Ideally I wouldn't have Donkey or Longmuir any where near the job.  But if I HAD to choose, i'd go for Donkey.

 

What does everyone else think?

It's been reported that Longmuir is about to get a £100,000 bonus from the SFL. Good to see the lower leagues are awash with cash......

Trouble is, it's all through a media lens.  I'm not sure exactly how good a job a person does based on their remit.  For instance, I believe Doncaster was there to obtain as much money for the SPL as possible.  That obviously means getting Rangers on board.  The sporting integrity bit was down to the clubs and the SFA.  So, was Doncaster actually being criticised for something not in his contract, i.e. fairness and 3rd Division, rather than finances and 1st Division as he put the case for?  I also don't think it was his job to detail the sharing of the cash.  So, if he gets the TV deals, then Celtic take it all, leaving other clubs with beans, is that his fault if other clubs then crash?

 

Just to emphasise, I'm not saying Doncaster has done a good job.  But is his remit finance, marketing or fair play?  I don't think I have enough facts for a judgement.  Possibly, a spokesman is needed to sell our game more (an Ally McCoist/Gordon Strachan-media friendly larger-than-life optimist).  After all, last season was the most exciting in years.  Then let the moneymen take a backseat, getting deals based on that media presence.  At the moment, I don't find PR taken seriously at all.

It's been reported that Longmuir is about to get a £100,000 bonus from the SFL. Good to see the lower leagues are awash with cash......

 

Not quite as it seems that nobody other than Longmuir and Ballantyne knew about this "Bonus".

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/reconstruction-talks-disrupted-bumper-bonus-2014841

 

Also some chat going round that Ballantyne is in line for a similar pay-off and that it was only added in to the contracts of both men in the last few weeks.

If the rumours going around about bonuses are true then it is utterly shameful. That is enough to keep a Highland League club running for a year. Its a bit disgusting when some of our biggest clubs in Scotland are in administration and would bite your hand off for that money.

A 10k bonus is a fair whack, 100k is just disgusting. Greed, it pervades every walk of life. Longmuir can kiss goodbye to his job now. ...But was the "bonus" a sly pay-off?? he must have known some things

I wonder if the bonus could have been triggered by growing the SFL's revenues.....which would have easily been achieved simply because Rangers were in the SFL, not because of anyone being particularly good at their job.

It's being referred to as a bonus, but apparently it's actually a severance payment.  There has always been allowance for such a payment in the contracts, but the fuss seems to be that Longmuir (and possibly Ballantyne) increased the level of payment due in the contract without telling the rest of the SFL Board.

 

If true, then apart from being morally questionable given that they knew the SFL's day were numbered, what kind of setup allows two people to change their contracts for self benefit without it needing sign off from elsewhere?  Especially hypocritical when you consider there was an expectation that the SPFL would pay it and Longmuir's favourite line when dealing with the SPL over reconstruction was "Due Diligence" as he was worried about any surprise liabilities coming from the other side.

 

As I said, if true, then this is not incompetence, it's corruption and he shouldn't even be considered for the CEO position at the SPFL.

 

Also, as a bit of a side point....

 

My understanding is that the SPL (as a company) is remaining in place and just being rebranded and restructured into the SPFL.  If that's the case then there's no position to be filled as Doncaster is the CEO of that company.  Surely they can't just ask someone to reapply for their own job in that manner?

 

 

My understanding is that the SPL (as a company) is remaining in place and just being rebranded and restructured into the SPFL.  If that's the case then there's no position to be filled as Doncaster is the CEO of that company.  Surely they can't just ask someone to reapply for their own job in that manner?

 

I'm not too clued up on employment law issues but I was thinking the same thing myself!  Although, I would ideally want other candidates to apply as well as I am far from happy with either of the candidates. 

 

Before I even read about the 'bonus' and the contract situation for Longmuir, I wasn't wanting him near the top job.  Now I am certain.  His pro Sevco agenda does not sit well either. 

 

If it's out of these 2, then Donkey it is for me!

Edited July 1, 201312 yr by CapitalCaley

My understanding is that the SPL (as a company) is remaining in place and just being rebranded and restructured into the SPFL.  If that's the case then there's no position to be filled as Doncaster is the CEO of that company.  Surely they can't just ask someone to reapply for their own job in that manner?

 

Sounds like a TUPE situation.

Wouldn't be TUPE as it's the same company (same company number etc) and not another entity taking them over or transferring of the business.  It's effectively a change of company name and all the SFL Clubs had to apply for membership (SPL Clubs didn't).

Two Under Performing Executives

On the commercial front I actually don't think there's much that Doncaster can be criticised for.  Considering the environment he's had to operate in, I think he's probably done a pretty decent job all in all.

 

Where he's not so hot is when it comes to communicating with the press/media, and I'm of the opinion that's not his job anyway and should be a task undertaken by an organisations PR Dept and/or Chairman.

 

Can't speak too much about Longmuir and he seems to have done an ok job of keeping things ticking over at the SFL.

 

Where he's really let himself down is with his disruptive and often, IMO, poorly thought out attempts at de-railing the restructuring process....showing many signs of being a man massively out of his depth when it comes to accepting, handling or driving change.

 

Even setting aside the recent stuff in regards to the bonus/severance payment, I don't see him as being the person capable of undertaking and/or succeeding as CEO of an organisation that now has responsibility for the entire professional game in Scotland.

 

In summary....let's keep Doncaster, but please do the guy a favour and let him concentrate on what he's good at and leave the press/media to someone better suited to that task.

I'm disgusted----------no more to say !

I am NOT surprised!

Wouldn't be TUPE as it's the same company (same company number etc) and not another entity taking them over or transferring of the business.  It's effectively a change of company name and all the SFL Clubs had to apply for membership (SPL Clubs didn't).

 

I'm fairly sure it is still TUPE, because the SFL Co basically agreed to transfer its operations over to SPL Co, regardless of the legal technicalities of how they actually implement that transfer.

 

 

 

Edit to add this from a recent article in the Herald:

 

"Billed officially as a merger, in reality this will involve the larger, more commercially driven Scottish Premier League subsuming the SFL given the company running the SPFL will still be the Scottish Premier League Limited and it will have the same company registration number. Under TUPE employment law, the SFL staff – six of whom are full-time – will be transferred over to the SPFL but what roles await them is unclear".

Edited July 2, 201312 yr by Yngwie
Additional info

The thing that worries me about Longmuir is his desire to have Old Firm Colts in the Lower Leagues. Terrible patronising idea.

 

Wouldn't be TUPE as it's the same company (same company number etc) and not another entity taking them over or transferring of the business.  It's effectively a change of company name and all the SFL Clubs had to apply for membership (SPL Clubs didn't).

 

I'm fairly sure it is still TUPE, because the SFL Co basically agreed to transfer its operations over to SPL Co, regardless of the legal technicalities of how they actually implement that transfer.

 

 

 

Edit to add this from a recent article in the Herald:

 

"Billed officially as a merger, in reality this will involve the larger, more commercially driven Scottish Premier League subsuming the SFL given the company running the SPFL will still be the Scottish Premier League Limited and it will have the same company registration number. Under TUPE employment law, the SFL staff – six of whom are full-time – will be transferred over to the SPFL but what roles await them is unclear".

 

 

Yeah, that would explain what's to happen with the staff coming over from the SFL....it doesn't explain why Doncaster should be expected to re-apply for his own job though.

Again I'm pretty sure its an employment law thing. If anyone is being made redundant (and one of them will be) then you've got to draw up a "pool of selection" of all the people who might be suitable for any positions that exist and then have a fair process to choose who stays and who goes.  If you don't meticulously follow every last detail of the prescribed process then it is considered unfair dismissal, which means lawyers, tribunals, out of court settlements etc. 

Doncaster got the job.

F*ck off! Well that's the SPFL screwed up before its even started.

Edited July 4, 201312 yr by djh222