McLeod has no regrets over war of words with SPL

Celtic chief executive Ian McLeod claimed yesterday that he had no regrets over his comments during the club’s feud with the Scottish Premier League.

The clubs have reluctantly accepted the date of April 27 for the final Old Firm showdown of the season after Strathclyde Police’s advice.

But the atmosphere between the Glasgow giants and SPL chiefs is still simmering after McLeod and Martin O’Neill’s accusations of bias during the last week. The Celtic chief was angry that they will have to play Rangers in a possible title decider just two days after returning home from their UEFA Cup semi-final second leg tie in Boavista, but he was far from remorseful after today’s Hampden Park meeting.

“I don’t think that this makes the club look silly at all,” said McLeod.

“If you are in a position when you feel there is a high sense of frustration about the fact that you have two days to prepare for a very important match and your competitors have seven days, then that frustration is going to show.

“There was a fair degree of sympathy for that and I don’t regard it as a botched operation at all.

“We felt we had very legitimate concerns and we had a strong argument to have the match played on a different date.

“If I didn’t believe that then there would have been absolutely no point in pursuing a re-vote through the SPL. Certainly with the number of discussions I have had with a number of clubs there appears to be a growing level of support and sympathy for the Celtic view.”

“However, Strathclyde Police indicated a strong preference for week 34 and that was the first time unequivocally Celtic have seen the police view. As soon as that was apparent to us there was absolutely no way we were going to challenge that,” said McLeod.