I felt like a teenager again after Ian Maxwell went all bah humbug in Sky row over mic'd up Hibs boss Nick Montgomery

Record Sport's Michael Gannon reckons the SFA didn't need to take the ball away altogether after the innovative idea collapsed at the last minute.

It was a phrase that used to drive us nuts back in the days when we only had four television channels and teenage boys were sent into a state of frenzied excitement when one of them showed a foreign movie with a wee red triangle in the top corner.

Except for viewers in Scotland…It tended to be on the Beeb when a belter of a show was due to be on at prime time, but us north of the border had to wait an extra few hours as we were getting to see some local programme about an Elgin granny who’d knitted a new cottage or something.

And perhaps that was why some folk got excited about the prospect of something being screened only in Scotland this week. The promise of an added dimension to the Edinburgh Derby with Hibs boss Nick Montgomery mic’d up during the action, cranked up interest from the neutrals as well as the armchair diehards.

But then Ian Maxwell went all bah humbug and pulled the plug. In fairness to the SFA chief, he sits on these IFAB rule maker meetings and spotted a few red flags with the plan. It sparked an almighty row with broadcasters Sky, the SPFL and the SFA down the Hampden corridor. Yet it’s hard not to see this whole stooshy as nothing more than a breakdown in communication – that left the armchair fans short changed. The finger-pointing and buck passing doesn’t help anyone but this falling out should be what shrinks and nursery staff would call a teachable moment.

Should Sky, the SPFL and Hibs have told the SFA the big plan long in advance? The idea was in the pipeline for months and it might have been a shout to let the big bosses know, especially when their referee were going to be dragged into the show. But the SFA didn’t need to take the ball away altogether. The conversation should have been, ‘look lads, what’s the script here because there might be some tip-toeing around the rules’. Instead Maxwell and co spat the dummy at being left out of the loop and pulled the plug instead.

They dusted down some IFAB small print, claimed the integrity of the game was in danger, along with their match officials. It was also suggested a mic’d up manager could influence betting markets with the online gambling mob who throw money away during live games when not punting on two flies going up a wall. It seems a bit of a leap when Sky were only going to dip in and out with Montgomery – with a delay to protect him and the game as well.

The Hibs gaffer wasn’t going to be online for the entire 90 minutes. Montgomery is up for anything but he’s not completely insane. He wasn’t going to be giving a running commentary.

Jeez, the man could have talked himself into the sack or the jail if that was the case, especially after that last minute winner for the Jambos. Nah, there would be the odd tit-bit during play and a link up to the commentary box for a quick work while there was a break in the action.

It happens in other sports. Rory McIlroy is the best golfer on the planet and he was happy to have a chat with folk in the booth when he was walking down the fairway at the US Open. It was terrific telly and gave viewers a brilliant insight into the mindset of an elite athlete in the thick of the action. The other night would be the same. Wee Rory know golf is in bother right now with the big LIV split and he’s doing his bit to add value to try to keep eyeballs on his sport.

And that is exactly what Scottish football needs to do. We need to think out of the box – not hide inside it. The SFA’s response should have been to ask how they could help. Listen, the SFA is soft target and it’s not always fair. But they haven’t helped themselves here, especially when the rule they dug out it wide open to interpretation. No one held up the IFAB handbook when Wycombe and Portsmouth did it in League One in England last season.

It worked just fine but down south is different to us in other ways. The FA didn’t get involved for a start and if they did the Football League would have told them to go away and raffle. Our SPFL doesn’t have the balls or the clout. Imagine it was the Premier League – and it will happen at some point. They are so attached to the Sky teat they could demand players and manager’s wear pink tutus if they felt it would boost ratings and the clubs would all give it the Swan Lake.

This was a little bit of innovation the Scottish game could have done with – because God help us, the football game is not selling itself. The Edinburgh Deby might have been dramatic but it’s was another brutal Derek Adams told-you-so example.

The Ross County gaffer was bang on about the quality up here and at a time when the TV deal isn’t great, our cup competitions are hidden on platforms that change their name every five minutes and sponsors are thin on the ground, we need to be doing things a bit different to give us a unique selling point.

The SFA and SPFL need to patch is up and get Sky back around the table and tell them were up for anything to get a shot of the mic to make Scottish football heard properly.

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