Sid Collumbine, the East Fife chairman, has criticised what he has described as the "bullying" of Roy MacGregor during Scottish football's reconstruction debate but has backed his counterpart at Ross County to stay resolute.
The Dingwall club hold the fate of the 12-18-18 proposal in their hands after chairman Stewart Gilmour announced that St Mirren would be voting against the scheme. In the 11-1 voting system, another 'no' vote from MacGregor, who has fundamental concerns about the proposed mid-season split's effect on season ticket sales, would be enough to veto the reconstruction plans.
Supporters of the scheme have been canvassing hard, with Stephen Thompson, the Dundee United chairman, stating: "I feel strongly that Monday's meeting presents all of us with an opportunity for change that is simply too good to miss."
Collumbine believes that MacGregor will come under even more pressure to join the 'yes' camp in the coming days as the vote nears but insists that a "flawed" reconstruction is doomed to failure. "It is bullying, there is no question about that," said Collumbine. "But [Gilmour and MacGregor] are both honourable people and strong people and I would expect them to stick to their guns and listen to their supporters.
"I think reconstruction will be off the table by the time the SPL meeting ends on Monday. I am all for coming together, but not for rushing something through for the start of next season when there are many questions to be answered. You can't move the goalposts at this stage, it is unfair."
Collumbine is steadfast in his insistence that East Fife will not vote for the proposals, even if the plan scrapes through the Scottish Premier League vote and goes to the Scottish Football League for consideration next Friday. Having seen the finer details, he is adamant clubs in the second and third division will be cut adrift and is not surprised that, at the last SFL meeting, there was a 14-14 split among the member clubs.
"I keep hearing people say: 'This is not about ourselves, it is about looking after Scottish football," said Collumbine. "I beg to differ. A lot of clubs in the first division were against reconstruction until they saw the zeroes on the page. Just like the SPL, the clubs are all living above their means.
"Reconstruction might save one or two clubs up there, but they will discard the second and third division and that is a major flaw. Make no mistake, they are looking after themselves and this is a takeover rather than a merger."
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