FFS, just when you see a little hint of sunshine amidst the black clouds engulfing Scottish football, and naively believe that people might actually have done the right thing, you are doubled-over with an eye-watering boot in the stones.
I'm a cycnical bastard at the best of times, but I have fought to restrain this characteristic in recent days as I genuinely wanted to believe that there is salvation for the game in Scotland. Deep down, I've pretty much known that I'm kidding myself on and sticking my head in the sand, but I've been able to live with that as I sought to convince myself that all clubs at all levels would be afforded the opportunity to do what they felt was best for their clubs and their divisions. It now seems that this is all fairy-tale bollocks, without the happy ending.
A stitch-up is what it is. It is now impossible to escape that conclusion.
The occasional bright spot being irrevocably snuffed out is making this entire process all the more demoralising. At least if they'd fucked us over from day-one, we wouldn't have been deluding ourselves into thinking that maybe, just maybe, things would work out in an almost palatable manner.