Aberdeen and McGhee are also feeling the heat and are ready to bend over for the old scum.
Willie Miller backs Old Firm's SPL TV rights bid
Jul 15 2009 Exclusive by Scott Mcdermott and Hugh Keevins
WILLIE Miller is ready to back the Old Firm's plans to buy the SPL's TV rights and accused Sky and ESPN of trying to run Scottish football into the ground.
Aberdeen's director of football last night refused to oppose Rangers and Celtic's idea to step in and hijack the TV companies' bid of £65million for five years of coverage.
Miller believes the Glasgow sides wouldn't attempt anything that would have a negative effect on our game and insists the broadcasters' offer is virtually unacceptable.
Aberdeen, like most other SPL clubs, planned their budgets for the new season around their original Setanta agreement, which was valued at £125million.
After the Irish firm's much-publicised collapse, Sky and ESPN have offered a much reduced package for Scotland's hard-up clubs.
But Miller can't understand why they're offer is so low - as it would only have a detrimental effect on the quality they would be broadcasting.
Speaking last night from the Dons' pre-season training camp in Austria, the former skipper reacted to Record Sport's exclusive story. He said: "I don't know enough about their idea yet. But they're obviously not happy with the situation - no one is.
"If they can find a solution which would help themselves and Scottish football, we would welcome it. It's a trying time but whatever we end up with, we'll have to deal with it.
"It's left us with a big financial headache at Aberdeen but we have to try to cope. Sky and ESPN have to understand if the deal they're offering is that low, it'll seriously affect the product they'll have to show. So their offer doesn't really make sense from their point of view as it will screw Scottish football into the ground.
"If we accepted the deal it would make it difficult to bring new players into the league to make it better. We also wouldn't be able to ensure that we'll have big crowds at our games.
"It's a double-edged sword and I hope they look at that and we get a decent deal off them. Most clubs have factored the old deal into their budget and anything below that will mean clubs cutting their cloth accordingly.
"If the Old Firm try to do something on their own I don't think they would do it to the detriment of the other teams. We're all in this together, as a whole and we all just want a deal for Scottish football.
"The collapse of Setanta has left a huge gap in our budget. It's made a massive impact on what Mark McGhee can do in terms of bringing players into the club - certainly until we know what's happening.
"If we get the same deal from someone, it would be great but it's not looking that way at the moment."
