FORMER Scotland Under-21 manager Rainer Bonhof has taken a swipe at the SPL clubs who would not allow Rangers to remain in the top flight.

And the former German international has insisted that the decision spells the end for Scottish football.

Newco owner Charles Green had launched an 11th-hour plea to try and keep the Ibrox side in the SPL, but his words fell on deaf ears. It now remains to be seen what comes next.

"The only certainty is that the whole of Scottish football is in the grip of a crisis that will affect all clubs. To me, deducting points and allowing Rangers to stay in the SPL was the most sensible option," said Bonhof. "This is a decision that could have big consequences for everyone – including the national teams.

"The big pull for players who are not Scottish going to play in the SPL is the Old Firm. I can only see that the league will suffer badly if Rangers are not in it.

"For the good of Scottish football, a sanction should have been worked out that would still have kept them in the SPL.

"Lots of people have asked me about it in the past few months. To many people, it is an incredible story and one that is quite unimaginable.

"Rangers – and Celtic too – are famous throughout the football world. They carry a lot of weight and it is extraordinary that this can happen."

Bonhof believes that the events of the past four months will handicap Scottish football in all shape and form for the forseeable future.

"I think that you need to have a strong Celtic and Rangers," he said. "You want them to be playing in the Champions league or the Europa League because that grooms players for the demands of international football.

"Now you have the prospect that Rangers won't play in Europe for at least three years and they are probably going to play at the lowest level in Scotland.

"It has big repercussions for everyone. Like many teams they spent money that they did not have and now it has all caught up with them.

"They have to be seen to be punished but I don't know how sensible it is for the whole of the country to be penalised."