Scottish premier league.

[From Despair To Where?]

Just a bizarre appointment really, I'm amazed they didn't go back to Postecoglu, given he was available when they sacked Rodgers. Having said that, O'Neill did well as caretaker.

I can't see how he can survive. Celtic are a shambles behind the scenes at the moment though, because all things being equal, they should be walking the league with the squad they've got.

[South Coast Royal]

Good result for Rangers which makes it the most competitive it has been for years at the top of the league with now 3 teams in with a chance.

[From Despair To Where?]

Thing is, Rangers are an absolute mess off the field as well. It's very rare for both Old Firm clubs to be like that and I really hope Hearts can capitalise.

[Dirk Gently]

Stranraer may lose their lucrative 5th round cup match at Ibrox because of a cock-up in the 4th round replay.

We can confirm that an appeal has been made to the Scottish FA regarding the eligibility of goalkeeper Lyndon Tas.
Agreement had been reached with Hamilton Academical for Josh Lane to feature in the Scottish Cup 4th Round on Saturday, but this was refused for the rearranged fixture on Tuesday night.
With only one goalkeeper in our playing squad, we acted quickly in good faith to recruit a goalkeeper on loan with help from Heart of Midlothian.
Scottish Cup competition rules state that where fixtures are rearranged, any new player must be registered by the date of the original tie, unless signed on an emergency loan.
The question was raised as to whether the signing of Lyndon qualifies as an emergency loan, and we are deemed to have breached that regulation.
We will have the opportunity to present our case and provide mitigation to the panel in due course.

Shame - the income from that match would have made such a massive difference to them.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Has O’Neills’ jam sandwich become devoid of jam? Two defeats on the spin
Great result for Hibs, the bouys ‘catholic brotherhood’ from their rival city.

Shaping up for a decent climatic season end

[Clyde1998]

Has O’Neills’ jam sandwich become devoid of jam? Two defeats on the spin
Great result for Hibs, the bouys ‘catholic brotherhood’ from their rival city.

Shaping up for a decent climatic season end

Rangers drew as well, albeit recovering from 2-0 down.

Just looking at the pre-split fixtures and it appears Hearts have the easiest run on paper:

Hearts (60 pts)

1. 28 Feb - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
2. 14 Mar - Kilmarnock (A) - 11th
3. 21 Mar - Dundee (H) - 9th
4. 4 Apr - Livingston (A) - 12th
5. 11 Apr - Motherwell (H) - 4th

Rangers (56 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Celtic (H) - 3rd
2. 15 Mar - St Mirren (A) - 10th
3. 21 Mar - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
4. 4 Apr - Dundee Utd (H) - 7th
5. 11 Apr - Falkirk (A) - 6th

[/list]
Celtic (54 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Rangers (A) - 2nd
2. 4 Mar - Aberdeen (A) - 8th
3. 14 Mar - Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. 22 Mar - Dundee Utd (A) - 7th
5. 4 Apr - Dundee (A) - 9th
6. 11 Apr - St Mirren (H) - 10th

Post-split we're looking at (obviously we don't know dates, but the Old Firm is usually the first weekend):
Hearts

1. Rangers (H) - 2nd
2. Celtic (H) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (A) - 6th

Rangers

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Celtic (A) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. Hibernian (H) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Celtic

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Rangers (H) - 2nd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Hearts having both Rangers and Celtic at home could be vital, but Motherwell look impressive at the moment and Hibernian would want to have a say in the title picture with Hearts being there.

[windermereROYAL]

I watched the Livingston vs Rangers game today, it`s astounding that they give virtually the whole ground to the away fans, It makes sense I suppose regarding ticket sales, but it`s an home game pretty much when the Glasgow clubs come visiting.

[AthleticoSpizz]

I watched the Livingston vs Rangers game today, it`s astounding that they give virtually the whole ground to the away fans, It makes sense I suppose regarding ticket sales, but it`s an home game pretty much when the Glasgow clubs come visiting.

imagine the likes of Elgin, Forfar etc when the ‘gers were thrown down the pyramid

[Sutekh]

Has O’Neills’ jam sandwich become devoid of jam? Two defeats on the spin
Great result for Hibs, the bouys ‘catholic brotherhood’ from their rival city.

Shaping up for a decent climatic season end

Rangers drew as well, albeit recovering from 2-0 down.

Just looking at the pre-split fixtures and it appears Hearts have the easiest run on paper:

Hearts (60 pts)

1. 28 Feb - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
2. 14 Mar - Kilmarnock (A) - 11th
3. 21 Mar - Dundee (H) - 9th
4. 4 Apr - Livingston (A) - 12th
5. 11 Apr - Motherwell (H) - 4th

Rangers (56 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Celtic (H) - 3rd
2. 15 Mar - St Mirren (A) - 10th
3. 21 Mar - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
4. 4 Apr - Dundee Utd (H) - 7th
5. 11 Apr - Falkirk (A) - 6th

[/list]
Celtic (54 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Rangers (A) - 2nd
2. 4 Mar - Aberdeen (A) - 8th
3. 14 Mar - Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. 22 Mar - Dundee Utd (A) - 7th
5. 4 Apr - Dundee (A) - 9th
6. 11 Apr - St Mirren (H) - 10th

Post-split we're looking at (obviously we don't know dates, but the Old Firm is usually the first weekend):
Hearts

1. Rangers (H) - 2nd
2. Celtic (H) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (A) - 6th

Rangers

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Celtic (A) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. Hibernian (H) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Celtic

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Rangers (H) - 2nd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Hearts having both Rangers and Celtic at home could be vital, but Motherwell look impressive at the moment and Hibernian would want to have a say in the title picture with Hearts being there.

Really hate the stupid “split” idea, what’s the point in it other than denying attendances to the strugglers but then the Scottish football pyramid isn’t the most intelligently designed.

Think it all should be scrapped and that Rangers should just play Celtic 36 times to decide who wins the league while the order clubs have a league to work out the other places.

[Stranded]

Has O’Neills’ jam sandwich become devoid of jam? Two defeats on the spin
Great result for Hibs, the bouys ‘catholic brotherhood’ from their rival city.

Shaping up for a decent climatic season end

Rangers drew as well, albeit recovering from 2-0 down.

Just looking at the pre-split fixtures and it appears Hearts have the easiest run on paper:

Hearts (60 pts)

1. 28 Feb - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
2. 14 Mar - Kilmarnock (A) - 11th
3. 21 Mar - Dundee (H) - 9th
4. 4 Apr - Livingston (A) - 12th
5. 11 Apr - Motherwell (H) - 4th

Rangers (56 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Celtic (H) - 3rd
2. 15 Mar - St Mirren (A) - 10th
3. 21 Mar - Aberdeen (H) - 8th
4. 4 Apr - Dundee Utd (H) - 7th
5. 11 Apr - Falkirk (A) - 6th

[/list]
Celtic (54 pts)

1. 1 Mar - Rangers (A) - 2nd
2. 4 Mar - Aberdeen (A) - 8th
3. 14 Mar - Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. 22 Mar - Dundee Utd (A) - 7th
5. 4 Apr - Dundee (A) - 9th
6. 11 Apr - St Mirren (H) - 10th

Post-split we're looking at (obviously we don't know dates, but the Old Firm is usually the first weekend):
Hearts

1. Rangers (H) - 2nd
2. Celtic (H) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (A) - 6th

Rangers

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Celtic (A) - 3rd
3. Motherwell (H) - 4th
4. Hibernian (H) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Celtic

1. Hearts (A) - 1st
2. Rangers (H) - 2nd
3. Motherwell (A) - 4th
4. Hibernian (A) - 5th
5. Falkirk (H) - 6th

Hearts having both Rangers and Celtic at home could be vital, but Motherwell look impressive at the moment and Hibernian would want to have a say in the title picture with Hearts being there.

Really hate the stupid “split” idea, what’s the point in it other than denying attendances to the strugglers but then the Scottish football pyramid isn’t the most intelligently designed.

Think it all should be scrapped and that Rangers should just play Celtic 36 times to decide who wins the league while the order clubs have a league to work out the other places.

I mean its not amazing but the only other options involve less teams and 4 x fixtures per year or adding 6 sides most of whom won't be at the required standard to allow a simple H/A fixture list.

It's obviously been done to try and ensure 4 Old Firm games as that is the only fixture people outside Scotland care about - would be great if Hearts were to see it out though but you just feel that one of Celtic/Rangers will nick it in the end.

[Winston Biscuit]

St Johnstone, Inverness and Ross County have been up in the Prem a bit in recent years so you could deffo make it 15 clubs in the SPL.

Dunfermline, Morton & Partick all have decent stadiums. bigger than some current SPL stadiums

[Sutekh]

Surely if you have a division larger than 10 clubs you eventually get more sides that can make a game of things which surely is better for the game up there as a whole. If sides improve they should build bigger fan bases and become more of a threat to the Scottish trophies.

In Scotland it’s always the same old story. This is the first season in about 45 years where there might be a different outcome for the league title, even if it is just Hearts from the other big city.

[From Despair To Where?]

Ay I refer to my response the last time this was raised.

I don't think going to a 2 League system will make any difference. You'll just have a league that stratifies in a way that mirrors the current set up and it's not just the Old Firm that want to maintain 2 home games against both against Celtic and Rangers.

There's also already not enough money coming into Scottish football outside the Old Firm so I'm not convinced diluting the league will make it any more attractive to broadcasters.

If you look at other countries with similar populations, they also have 10 or 12 club leagues.

On the point of broadcasters, if you move to a 16 team SPL, Sky lose 2 Old Firm matches a season, cut what they pay for the rights and everyone loses. It was changed in the 70s because the 2 League system was dreadfully uncompetitive.

Also, the split works because it keeps the season alive for more clubs. Rangers and Celtic are usually miles ahead but it leaves 4 clubs in a head to head fight for European football.

It's the same at the bottom. You have clubs in direct competition for the relegation places. Just about every fixture matters.

Remove that and you get a lot of dead rubbers for the last 4 weeks of the season.


They've had the split for 25 years and the 4 division set up for 50 and despite what we may think down in England, although they reconsider reconstruction every few years or so, not enough teams agree on any one solution to vote through change. It's a compromise solution but one that works for the most people.

They're not going to vote to reduce it to 10 teams because that means 2 clubs voting themselves from the top table. Teams like Livingston, Ross County and Hamilton before them have been SPL clubs because there are 12 teams in it and they've all stayed up and been relatively competitive.

Reducing numbers will make it an even more closed shop.

[Stranded]

Old Firm derby ends in a 2-2 draw which must have been celebrated most loudly by Hearts fans.

Hearts have a 6pt lead over Rangers and 8 over Celtic (though the latter play Aberdeen in their game in hand on Weds).

3 of Hearts last 4 games before the split are against 9th placed Dundee and then the bottom 2 (Motherwell the other) - they will fancy their chances of winning all of those and potentially opening up a larger gap before the split.

Hearts should host Rangers post split but travel to Celtic

[Dirk Gently]

Auld firm Cup match ends in violence and chaos after penalty shoot out and pitch invasion. First match for ages where there's a full away allocation as it's the cup.

General media reactions is one of surprise and outrage - and criticising the two clubs (not for what happened but for not commenting on it yet!)

Would be a much bigger news story if a block in the centre of Glasgow hadn't burnt down later the same afternoon.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Delightful scenes to see Celtic humbled at Dundee U

C’mon Jamboes, get it over the line

[Clyde1998]

Delightful scenes to see Celtic humbled at Dundee U

C’mon Jamboes, get it over the line

It increasingly feels like this could be the year...

[leon]

Delightful scenes to see Celtic humbled at Dundee U

C’mon Jamboes, get it over the line

It increasingly feels like this could be the year...

This and Spurs getting relegated and it might be a half decent season. Apart from Arsenal obvs.

[Stranded]

Delightful scenes to see Celtic humbled at Dundee U

C’mon Jamboes, get it over the line

It increasingly feels like this could be the year...

Rangers will win it on GD - they and Celtic will then proceed to sign Hearts best players (or they will move to England) - Hearts will then finish 6th next year.

[Winston Biscuit]

yeah I still feel Rangers will just pip them to the title.

IIUIC after the split Hearts will play at home to Rangers and away to Celtic