'SPL intervention not needed in Thomson case'

Doncaster met the media to trumpet the good news of a four-year contract extension with ball suppliers Mitre. Inevitably, though, he had to deal with an altogether grimmer issue and set out the SPL's position with regards to Thomson. The 20-year-old is currently suspended by the Tynecastle club and now expected to be sacked after fresh allegations emerged of lewd, libidinious and indecent behaviour towards under-age girls on the internet - the charge to which he pleaded guilty and was fined for last week and after which Hearts insisted they would retain his services.

Hearts are understood to have met with the player and his representative in Edinburgh yesterday, but the outcome of that meeting wasn't divulged, presumably to allow the club's majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov to have the final say. Doncaster was at pains not to provide one more emotive response on the subject of Hearts' employment of an individual who has been placed on the sex offenders' register for five years. "What the right decision is, has to be a club decision," he said. "The clubs have been very, very clear that the role of the league is not to interfere in decisions that are made by clubs in relation to players. We apply the rule book and it is extremely clear that decisions on players are made by clubs. Ours is the same policy that exists in leagues all round the world. No league, to my knowledge interferes with any decision-making process that's taken by clubs about individual players, for whatever reason. There are some leagues where they hold the players' registrations, and that's a bit different. But in a traditional league like ours, south of the border and all across Europe, the decisions, whether players are released, sold, transferred, that's 100 per cent a club decision."

Thomson's conviction as a sex offender is one more desperate development in a Scottish game that in the past year has appeared cursed to generate dreadful publicity following the parcel bomb, death threats and assault Celtic manager Neil Lennon had to live through in the second half of last season. Yet, the predictions that the seemingly savage nature of the Scottish game could only have a negative impact on the brand are hardly borne out by the reality, a point highlighted by Doncaster. "Ultimately the proof of the pudding is in the eating," he said."It is always a concern when you are in the news for the wrong reasons but it is a real pleasure to be here for the right reasons. To be announcing a new four-year deal with Mitre and (sorts retailers] ACA Sports demonstrates the hard work to commercialise the real interest in Scottish football has been successful.

"I hear a lot about how Scottish football is regarded but, when you think we have Clydesdale Bank, William Hill, Coca Cola, Thomas Cook and Mitre, these are big players and the fact they have an appetite to work with the Clydesdale Bank Premier League demonstrates how we are regarded by major companies across the world is rather different from how we sometimes see ourselves."

The self-flagellation has not been helped by the inability to reach agreement on a full series of improvement plans for the top-flight game which have league reconstruction at their core. There is no prospect of reaching the required 11-1 majority on the two leagues of 10 proposal pushed by the SPL hierarchy or the 14-team league idea championed by Kilmarnock's Michael Johnston and Dunfermline's John Yorkston and seemingly supported by Dundee United's Steven Thompson. With no chance of a vote before the start of the season, the 12-club set-up would appear to be with us for the next two years. Not necessarily, Doncaster maintained.

"The answer to (whether the status quo will remain for the next two years] depends on what you end up putting forward," he said. "Clearly, if you are looking to contract the league it is more difficult to do that once you have started a season. If you are looking to expand it, it's easier. If you want the status quo, in terms of the size of the division, you are somewhere between the two. There remains a real appetite for change in Scottish football and that is demonstrated most clearly by the unanimous approval of some pretty wide-ranging changes at the SFA agm.

"We can take that as a cue and I think if you ask the vast majority of people whether play-offs would be a good idea, a financially stronger second tier would be a good idea, or whether a pyramid would be a good idea, these are pretty obvious improvements. It is very important then we put forward a package of measures that does receive very popular support - because we do need 11 votes - and we will continue to work in the weeks and months ahead to try and bring forward that package."

'SPL intervention not needed in Thomson case' - Neil Doncaster