JUST what the sum of £4million could do for grassroots football in Scotland is incredible, beyond argument.

It could give us better facilities, help coaches get qualifications and give kids an increased chance of making it in the game.

But the SPFL would rather spend that money on trying to target a handful of mindless people who are attempting to get into grounds. What a load of utter nonsense.

Fans are staying away in their thousands from our game and this could drive even more away. We will lose fans again at a time when our clubs need every person through the gate they can get.

There isn’t a lot wrong in our game, but there are better ways to tackle any issues than spending huge amounts of money on an idea that fans have already voiced huge concerns about.

Flares are dangerous and we all accept that. You can’t have people throwing flares about inside Scottish grounds. If it hits someone, they could get badly burned, or worse, and we can’t have that risk.

It is up to the authorities to find out who these people are and take appropriate action against them. If you are willing to take a flare into a football match then you should be prepared to face the consequences.

If you are caught, you are jailed. Full stop. Then the message will get through that you can’t do it and hopefully it will eradicate the issue.

We can’t wait until someone is badly burned before we do something, but it has to be the police, not the clubs, who take the relevant action. The police need to be harder on these people who are endangering football fans at games.

If you are going to a game and you have a flare in your pocket, action is taken against you and the law is applied.

You are only taking it to the game to set it off so the police and the courts need to be a lot tougher here. If you give people a slap on the wrists, it won’t have an impact.

If you are caught, you go to court and you could go to jail. There are police on every gate and there are cameras in grounds so we already have the resources to deal with this issue.

People looking at our game from the outside must be wondering what is going on in Scottish football. We want fans to be photographed before going into games and there are headlines about fan behaviour. People will think it is really bad in Scotland.

There are issues, of course there are, and action needs to be taken. But it is a very, very small percentage of the people who are going to games across the country that are acting in this way.

Supporters are having their pictures taken coming off buses, when they are in pubs and when they are in the stands. Wherever they go, it is cameras, cameras, cameras.

At the end of the day, if you are at a game and you let off a flare, then the police should be dealing with you. These incidents are normally at bigger games where there is a bigger police presence and there are cameras all around the ground.

So the police can identify the culprits, get them out, get them in court and get them jailed, if found guilty. End of story.

There are only a handful of people in a crowd that are involved in these incidents. If you know there are fans who are more likely to be involved, you have the relevant police presence there. You find out who they are and you take the appropriate action.

If enough fans are punished, either with a fine or jail, then the message will get through to these people.

To look put all the responsibility on the clubs is a disgrace. How can clubs monitor the behaviour of their fans?

Clubs across Scotland already do a lot and do their bit.

Thousands of fans follow Rangers, and Celtic, every week but clubs can’t be held responsible for the actions of a handful of fans.

IF you have broken the law and you are caught, then you are barred from the club for five years, 10 years, for life, whatever it needs to be.

We don’t need to spend £4million of public money, this is not football money, on something like facial recognition cameras.

We had the fall-out after the so-called ‘Old Firm shame game’ a few years ago when everyone was having their say about Scottish football and the government got involved.

How many times have incidents like that one involving Ally McCoist and Neil Lennon happened with other managers since? You hear about it in the Sunday and Monday papers and that is it finished.

But because it was the Old Firm, it became a big deal.

Now we have this issue. But I don’t think spending £4m on cameras at the gates will help.

If the Government want to hand over millions of pounds to the SPFL, take it and spend it. But put it into youth football and help us grow our game and make Scottish football better.

We are losing supporters every week and I think we will lose a lot more if this idea is given the go-ahead.

Glasgow Times:

Enigma Nicky is a Law unto himself

NICKY LAW is someone who splits the opinion of the Rangers fans – there are a lot of them who like him and a lot who don’t. The football equivalent of Marmite.

For some fans, when you get something in your head about a player it is very difficult for him to change your mind, unless he is really exceptional for weeks on end.

Law said last week that he had spoken to Mark Warburton about a new contract for next season and I think he is worth another deal.

He was out for a few weeks earlier in the season but he came back against Falkirk and played well, and he has been in the team for the last few games now and shown some decent form.

At 27, he is in his prime and I think he is worth a new deal.

It will be difficult for him to start every game because Mark has got a good squad of players there and if more players come in then, there will be tougher competition and I’m sure Law knows the score on that front.

But I think he could be included in that group and play his part because he is someone who is capable of changing a game.

If he can keep himself in the team between now and the end of the season, he will hope his form will be rewarded with a new contract.

Glasgow Times:

No reason for Nat to feel blue at early exit

NATHAN ODUWA returned to Tottenham Hotspur this week after his loan deal with Rangers came to an end and I am sure the fans will wish him well for whatever lies next in his career.

He wasn’t getting a start and he hasn’t been involved as much in the last few weeks as he was in the opening months of the season.

He was on a real high when he came in, he was showing a lot of skill, bringing something to the team and he was getting a lot of publicity.

Recently, though, he has been on the bench a lot and he has only been getting the odd minutes here and there.

You are not going to learn anything by doing that. He will have benefitted from the first few weeks of the season, though.

I am sure the people at Spurs would have been pleased with him during that spell. But they will have been looking at the situation recently and they will have been getting regular reports from Rangers.

When he was on the bench and not playing, they will have thought about taking him back down south and that is what has happened.

Mark will have spoken to Spurs and explained that it just hasn’t been happening for Nathan recently.

Other players have been on form and didn’t deserve to drop out of the team so it was hard for him to get in the side.

It was better for the player that he went back to Spurs and we will see what the future holds for him now.

Nathan said himself that he loved his time at Rangers and he wished the club all the best. He will have enjoyed his time up here and hopefully it stands him in good stead for the rest of his career.

Your question for Derek Johnstone

RYAN McNEIL from Wishaw asked Derek who he thought would finish second in the Championship this season?

Rangers have got the best squad and have got the momentum behind them so I think they will go on and win the league and it will then be between Hibernian and Falkirk to get second and avoid playing the first play-off tie.

Hibs have made signings already this month and Anthony Stokes will make them a stronger side. Falkirk are certainly a good side as well, but I think Hibs will beat them to second spot this season.

If you have a question for Derek, just email him at dj@eveningtimes.co.uk and we'll print the answer alongside the question.