Furious Albion Rovers manager Sandy Clark has slammed the BBC's 'really poor journalism' after a planned comedy skit for football show A View From The Terrace was cancelled following a fan backlash.
Presenter Duncan McKay was last week announced via a press release as the club's 'new manager' for the Lowland League match with Hearts B. Clark was said to be stepping aside for the day.
That was quickly changed to 'providing a helping hand' to the management team as fans vented fury at the development on social media.
By Saturday, it was announced that McKay had been 'relieved of his duties' and filming was now scrapped. And Clark didn't hold back in blaming the BBC for making a mess of their original statement.
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He told the Daily Record: "The BBC totally messed up with some really poor journalism. It was basically fake news, putting stuff on that wasn’t agreed. That was the issue. I pulled it right away as soon as I saw how they promoted the situation.
“I genuinely try to help everybody. People in the media, people who do podcasts or students. That’s what I was trying to do with this situation, trying to help out what is a comedy programme.
“It is not a programme I watch but I was trying to help them. The conditions we put to them were very simple. I said that Duncan could join the management team for a day.
“He would have had access to little bits and pieces, but he wouldn’t have been on the pitch, he wouldn't have been in the dugout and he certainly wasn’t picking the team or anything like that.
“It’s nothing against the guy Duncan, he was just doing his job. It is him that has suffered the most because I was happy to go along with what we agreed and it had to be done within our conditions, because getting three points was our priority.
“I’m too professional to let anything get in the road of that. But the way this all came across and the amount of phone calls I got asking what the heck was going on created a bit of hassle for us on Friday, but it was no hassle on Saturday.
"A person or persons at the BBC messed up and the sad thing is there will be no repercussions. That’s the bit that annoys me. Saturday was just a normal day and it went well for us."
Rovers ultimately won the game 3-0 with Clark in the dugout.
Approached for comment, the BBC said: "We’re delighted that A View from the Terrace will be featuring Albion Rovers in the popular Put A Shift In section of the show.
"Duncan McKay enjoyed his behind-the-scenes experience which was arranged with the club. He was given a great welcome and audiences will be able to see his feature next week on the BBC Scotland channel."
