Mark Burchill has offered an apology for his disgraceful comments on Radio Clyde with regards to Nathan Oduwa.

To recap, his Clyde 1 statement went thus:

"We've got to remember here; there is two players involved in this. Kieron Gibbons is a young, talented Scottish footballer who has signed for a Scottish club. Nathan Oduwa is an English footballer who has not signed for a Scottish club. So we are dragging someone over the coal who is one of our own, who is a player who could possibly play for Scotland in the future."

His apology went this:

"I would like to apologise to Nathan, Rangers and anyone else offended by my use of such clumsy words.
"The point I was trying to make was that Kieran is likely to play his entire career in Scotland. Nathan, on the other hand, is signed for an English club and will probably return to Spurs at the end of the season.
"Of course, nationality has nothing to do with it. I wish Nathan all the best for the rest of the season and hope this draws a line under my unfortunate use of words."

Well Mark, I'm afraid I just don't buy that "apology" and I don't believe the SFA should either

Put simply, there is no defence for his Radio Clyde Statement. It reeks of xenophobia and anti-English racism, not to mention a healthy disrespect for the beautiful game.

As it stands, he has still not condemned the tackle, and still not explained satisfactorily why the duration of Oduwa's stay in Scotland is any sort of excuse for Kieron Gibbons brutal tackle that could have ended Oduwa's career.

The time that Oduwa spends in Scotland should be cherished by all football fans north of the border, as he is an entertainer that has the potential to become a superstar, like his current teammate Gedion Zelalem.

Do players in Scotland really want to teach talented players a lesson by breaking their legs? Are we going to compound such a disgraceful attitude by excusing this if a player is English?

If the SFA do not take action, then it sends a message to all Non Scots that they are fair game, particularly if they are English. It will also confirm the suspicion that Scotland is turning in to a parochial and xenophobic backwater that does not deserve talent to grace our shores.