Blackpool given permission to speak to Dundee United manager Peter Houston Houston is now in contention for a switch to the Npower Championship after United paved the way for talks to take place. The former Scotland assistant coach, 54, has been manager at Tannadice since December 2009, when he initially took over the reins from Craig Levein on a caretaker basis. Success in the Scottish Cup and a third-place finish in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League saw Houston installed as United boss on a permanent basis six months later. St Mirren have handed a trial to teenage Legia Warsaw striker Patryk Mikita. The 19-year-old will train with the Paisley club this week with a view to signing a loan deal until the end of the season. Boss Danny Lennon told the club's website: "We have been offered Patryk on loan until the end of the season and we have been advised that he is capable of playing in the SPL. We will run the rule over him this week and make a final decision at the end of the week. Rangers chief executive Charles Green has urged football bosses to reconsider a 14-14-14 format as an alternative to the current league reconstruction plans being discussed. The Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League have agreed in principle to a restructuring plan that would see the organisations merge in a 12-12-18 structure. A vote could take place later this month and, if approved, the new format could be implemented as early as next season. Green last week hit out at the plans, which would see Rangers remain in the bottom tier of Scottish football for a second season, albeit the potential time-frame for a return to the top-flight would remain the same. And the Ibrox chief now wants his favoured option to be considered, claiming the vast majority of Scottish football fans do not want the 12-12-18 structure. He said in a statement on Rangers' website: "The recent widespread debate on the reconstruction of Scottish football has been welcome and I am glad that Ally McCoist and myself have contributed and helped stimulate discussion rather than watch everyone sleepwalk into a solution that very few, if any, football fans across Scotland want. I am fully aware that the interests of fans and the duties of directors of football clubs, who have to balance books, do not always align. However, it seems absurd that, when most fans are so implacably opposed to the 12-12-18 model, their views are being cast aside. To be absolutely clear, it would have been easy for me, on behalf of Rangers, to support this model. There is no model on the table that offers our club a potentially quicker route back to the highest echelons of Scottish football. However, I believe that while all clubs have to look out for their own interests, the greater good of Scottish football cannot be ignored. I would like to set out what Rangers believes to be a workable way forward that may appeal to fans of all clubs. First, we think any reconstruction should be implemented not next season but the following season so that every club knows what it is playing for at the start of the season. Secondly, we believe that further consideration should be given to a 14-14-14 model, which can be constructed in a way that ensures there is no loss of games but will deliver greater competition through the leagues, particularly with the implementation of play-offs. I cannot understand why this model has been so readily discounted when fans are clearly looking for larger leagues. I know there are various opinions regarding splits in such leagues but they cannot be any more complicated than what is now being proposed.