Stenhousemuir chairman Iain McMenemy has revealed he laid down a "challenge" to Rangers to convince clubs that their Colt team reconstruction proposal is the way forward for Scottish football.
And while he has reservations about some aspects of the proposition he admits the Celtic backed plan is better thought out than previous attempts to open up the pyramid to top level second strings.
Rangers have suggested that the SPFL move to a 14-14-18 system with the bottom tier opened up to Kelty Hearts, Brora Rangers and Colt teams from Glasgow's big two.
The move would see the bottom tier clubs compensated with payments over the first three years of the change and given a guarantee that 200 tickets for each away match would be purchased at a fixed price.
And while McMenemy has always been wary of the notion in the past, he has promised to keep an open mind on the latest round of talks.
He told The Scotsman : "I’ve been against the introduction of B teams in the past. On each occasion I’ve kept an open mind when it was proposed, but I’ve challenged those putting the suggestion forward to answer some fundamental issues and to prove their case. On each of the previous occasions I have ultimately gone against the proposals as I believe the case hadn’t been made.
"On this occasion, I will once again go into it with an open mind.
"I had a video call with Rangers on Saturday morning and I listened to their proposals. There are some good ideas, and their paper is most definitely more robust and detailed than it has been in the past.
"However, they still have a job to do to convince people that B Teams is the way forward. They need to convince football clubs to support them, and this includes club officials and supporters. I laid that challenge down to them.
"I would ask all clubs to approach the issue with an open mind and to engage with them. This should be a journey.
"They still have a job to do to convince me or the supporters at Stenhousemuir to support the proposals. However, I welcome the debate."
