Given the doomsday language of the past week it’s hard to know whether Scotland’s referees should start games by blowing a whistle or asking for a minute’s silence.

There’s calls for government bailouts to help clubs who are on the brink of extinction. There’s grim forecasts of many institutions going under unless Holyrood steps in and saves the game. Somebody, somewhere might even have mentioned Armageddon.

Football needs to help itself. As the Scottish government contemplates what, if any, financial support it gives to aid football’s recovery the denizens of Holyrood are entitled to turn the question back on the SPFL and ask what the game itself is doing to help out those clubs most in need.

More than 80% of television and sponsorship revenue goes to the top 12 clubs as it stands. The other 30 clubs, the ones most in fear of their future, are left to live on less than 20%. Before the tax payer bails out football why can’t the biggest clubs do their bit to help out the smaller clubs and redress the revenue imbalance? It’s not an unreasonable question to ask. That money would make a difference in these straitened times.

Of course, the Premiership clubs are also in peril. In response to talk of redistribution of wealth they’d likely cite the case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Changing the financial model would only shift the problem. Maybe, but football has known, as we’ve all known, that coronavirus was going to return in the winter months and that the possibility of fans in stadiums was always precarious. Some clubs still spent regardless.

Celtic shelled out millions on a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder and two strikers, Rangers bought two strikers. Meanwhile, others tried to help themselves by selling. Motherwell, Livingston, Aberdeen and Hearts all lost valuable assets. That money will serve them well in the crisis. If there is to be a bailout – and it remains a big ‘if’ – then it should be saved for those clubs who really are in jeopardy and not before the SPFL does something to confront the financial inequality in its leagues, if only as a temporary measure amid a storm.

Edouard will be just fine

Neil Lennon said striker Odsonne Edouard was “fresh” and “itching to play” against Riga on Thursday night. It’s not how it looked. Edouard appeared flat all evening. Having been left out of the squad for the Livingston game last weekend there is now speculation surrounding him. Is he unfit or is he just not that interested anymore? Does the big man want away?

In fairness to Edouard he’s never displayed any tendency to do what might be called a Dembele or a Morelos. That is, to have his head turned by interest from elsewhere and to become petulant in the process. He might be not firing on all cylinders lately, but he still has five goals in seven games for Celtic this season.

He’s also had to endure two long treks with France Under-21s this month, to Sumqayit in Azerbaijan and onwards to Gori in Georgia. The smart money is on him reviving himself pretty soon. This weekend wouldn’t be a bad time. Celtic host a confident Hibs team that took a point off Rangers last time out. This is a dangerous one for Neil Lennon’s side.

Raging Rangers have no case

Steven Gerrard’s team were thoroughly convincing in their excellent victory over Willem II on Thursday. The club’s response to the Scottish FA charge brought against Gerrard? Not nearly as compelling.

The notice of complaint issued against the Rangers manager centred on his reaction to Ryan Edwards’ tackle on Morelos a fortnight ago. Edwards went unpunished by Kevin Clancy, the referee, on the day. “I’d be very interested to see what the decision would have been from the officials had the shoe been on the other foot and it was Alfredo who had made that tackle,” said Gerrard afterwards.

Rangers’ statement called the notice of complaint “bizarre”. Hardly. It was entirely predictable. Anything that alleges refereeing bias, intentionally or otherwise, normally attracts the attention of the Hampden disciplinarians. It’s neither “perplexing” or “baffling” that Gerrard has been pulled up.

The club reckon that the SFA are guilty of “flawed and inaccurate” interpretation of Gerrard’s comments. His hearing will be on 8 October. Before then, there is the trip to Fir Park on Sunday. If Celtic’s game against Hibs is a trappy one for the champions, Rangers’ contest with Stephen Robinson’s side is no less difficult. Motherwell might have exited Europe, but their domestic form is showing definite signs of life now.

Give thanks for Shanks

Micky Mellon must have been counting the minutes until Lawrence Shankland was fit again. The striker’s gorgeous finish against St Mirren on his return to the team was a reminder, not that it was needed, of his vast worth to Dundee United. Over the course of last season, and in the early games of this season, Shankland has played five games against Premiership opposition and has scored in four of them. A guy like that almost guarantees you a decent season.

United are at Hamilton on Saturday. Brian Rice’s team are a bit of a curiosity at present. For all the talk about their plastic pitch and the advantage it gives them they’ve lost all three of their games on it this season. Their two wins have come away from home.

Only Celtic on opening day have given Hamilton a hiding, though. They’ve lost three games by a goal. If it’s another tight one, that’ll suit Shankland. He’s normally the boy who delivers in such circumstances. You’d need a boffin’s brain to figure out the number of winners he’s delivered in his still burgeoning career.