DANNY SWANSON insists the ‘shambles’ surrounding the SPFL’s decision on ‘calling’ the Premiership has failed the league’s footballers.
The forward was one of seven players told they would not be getting new contracts at St Johnstone following the premature conclusion of the campaign.
The 33-year-old now faces an uncertain future in the game as clubs up and down the divisions discuss the practicalities of kicking off next term amidst the coronavirus crisis.
And the former Dundee United, Hearts and Hibs player claims the political shenanigans behind the scenes have had a major impact on careers on the pitch.
He said: “It took so long to tell us. Just end the league, because we weren’t going to get back to playing.
“Just end it so boys could get the opportunity to go and speak to clubs and clubs know what they’re doing next season and what league they’ll be in.
“I just thought they were taking so long. I don’t think they care about St Johnstone and stuff like that, it was more about the big clubs.
“We were getting messages from the PFA and I was thinking, ‘this is meaning nothing to me, just make a decision. All this is a lot of rubbish, just make a decision and give us a chance to sort our futures out’.
“It has totally [let the players down].
“After lockdown started you could see how big an impact it had on the whole world. We were never going to finish this season. So scrap it.
“Make a decision and stop running around in circles. We’re picking up our phones every morning thinking, ‘what’s going on today? It’ll be next week, next week’. Shambles.”
Swanson admits he has sympathy for former club Hearts following the decision to relegate them with eight games remaining, but he reckons it was the right choice.
He added to Sky Sports: “I thought give Celtic the league, they deserved it. Obviously, I felt sorry for Hearts but you couldn’t say give Celtic the league and not relegate Hearts.
“You want Hearts in the league but they had to do something and make a decision."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel