I know it’s very easy to answer the above question with something like: ‘here’s 50p – go and phone someone who gives a ****’ (because we’re Hearts fans jealous that we’re not involved!), but you surely can’t deny that the league title race between Rangers and Celtic possibly coming down to the last match is at least of some interest.
What was previously looking like a landslide victory for the poorest Rangers side I can ever remember has now turned into an exciting head-to-head with Celtic that really could go either way now, and indeed you’d probably have to say that Celtic are slight favourites given the goal difference situation.
However, that could all change depending upon how St Mirren decide to approach their match with Rangers this coming week. As Hearts fans only too well, the Buddies are past masters at assisting in dramatic last-day-of-the-season turnarounds (aye ok, well they did it once!), with their disgraceful ‘here you go guys – fill yer boots’-type performance at Love Street in 1986 that allowed Celtic to snatch the title from Hearts’ grasp on goal difference that year.
And while we’re threatening to touch on the intriguing world of footballing conspiracy theories, it’s interesting to note the role that Jimmy Calderwood and Aberdeen could have in this week’s decisive fixtures. Jimmy C (and his assistant Jimmy Nicholl) came in for a considerable amount of stick a few years ago when his Dunfermline side capitulated 6-1 at Ibrox to allow Rangers to sneak the title from Celtic on goal difference. ‘Tango Man’ is well known to be a closet (or perhaps not so!) Blue Nose and therefore this result did have a certain amount of suspicion attached to it, although I was always quick to point out that Celtic’s 5-0 win away to Kilmarnock that same day had more of an unlikely ring to it in all honesty.
This time around though, neither Old Firm side can boast the sort of talent that they had back then. Hammerings of the rest of the sides have been few and far between this season, and even in those games where the winning margin has looked comfortable, you can bet your bottom dollar that for at least some part of the match, either Rangers or Celtic will have struggled, and on many occasions will have been aided by a bit of luck or a dodgy refereeing decision. We’ve seen many examples of both lately as the pressure has intensified in recent weeks.
So if there were to be any major thrashings this week in any of the fixtures (particularly those on the last day involving Dundee United and Aberdeen), then more than a few eyebrows would be raised. Both last day fixtures look to be in the ‘frought with danger’ category, even if neither of their opposition have anything particularly tangible to play for.
For example, if Celtic were to hammer United, you’re definitely going to get people pointing the finger at Craig Levein and co, perhaps for attempting to get back at Rangers for the injustices they were dealt at Ibrox last weekend. United are a side who have built from the back and are extremely difficult to score goals against, so a sudden flood in Celtic’s favour on Thursday are definitely going to have people asking questions of them. I’m struggling to see this happening though.
Then there’s the equally, if not more intriguing prospect of the Aberdeen-Rangers fixture, which could prove to be a pivotal match on more than a single front. This has traditionally been the most hate-filled fixture in the country (outwith the Old Firm derby) since the ’80s, and despite Calderwood’s alleged links to Rangers, you’d find it difficult to see any Aberdeen side simply turning up and going through the motions in this fixture. If anything, it’s difficult to see this poor Rangers side (who are close to running on empty) getting the win that they’ll need to have any chance of winning the league there, so like United, the sheep are definitely going to come in for some criticism if they end up getting well beaten by Rangers on Thursday night.
It will also be very interesting to see what happens off the park at Pittodrie too, as given what happened in Manchester last week with the Rangers fans, you’d have to think that any serious crowd trouble there could have major implications for that football club. This fixture is known for the trouble it can attract and you can bet your bottom dollar that the neds amongst the Aberdeen support will be doing all they can to incite a reaction from the followers of their opponents in an attempt to get their club into serious trouble. Bearing this in mind I’d suggest that the police presence in and around the Aberdeen area on Thursday night will be considerable!
Whatever happens though, let’s hope that the headlines on Friday morning are all reporting on the football side of things rather than the sort of stuff we’ve been reading about since last Wednesday. Regardless of your own personal feelings about particular clubs, football violence involving Scottish clubs is not what we want to see, and hopefully what happend down south is a wake-up call that will encourage some positive action on that front in the near future.
As for who will actually win the SPL title though, I’m afraid I really can’t pick a winner. As mentioned above, Celtic are probably the slight favourites now, but I do think they have the most difficult fixture yet to play in United at Tannadice, even if I do think they are a better team than Rangers. And regardless of what happened at Ibrox last week, I simply cannot see United giving Celtic anything less than a very difficult game up there.
That said though, I was reading this morning that the last time Celtic won the league at Tannadice, it was the late Tommy Burns who scored the winner for them in a 3-2 win, way back in 1981. Is that a spooky omen perhaps, given that Burns tragically passed away this week? Stranger things have happened.
An interesting week in prospect…
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It’s all relative though. The OF take it for granted that they’ll be challenging for the league every year, so even a narrow win there isn’t necessarily seen as a great achievement for them….a good one yes, but not always great. If Celtic do win this week then they’ll be going on about how great a comeback it’s been, etc, but in actual fact the reason they’ll have won is that Rangers have simply been found out for what they are – rubbish! The fact that Celtic aren’t much better is a cause of concern for their fans…..and possibly even more so for clubs like Hearts because we know that’s now three years that we’ve had a great chance of winning this goddam league!
Serious question then MrH. Do you think that with a proper manager (not naming names, just a conventional manager) that an SPL title win is feasible for Hearts next season? Or would you be happy with an improvement on this season? (i.e. top 6 finish, possibly Europe, cup run, etc)
dont think your assertion that rangers are rubbish and Celtic not being much better is far wide of the mark Mr H ,, Celtic have been crying out for better quality players in key positions for some considerable time now and the fact that it has went to the wire against a sub standard rangers team only proves the point in hand ,, if the suits at CP cant see it now and strengthen accordingly then we could very well struggle if rangers spend their new found wealth wisely ,, Hearts find stability in a competant manager and Motherwell and Dundee United progress as expected next year ,, as far as our great come – back is concerned ,, I will be honest and say that it would never have happened had rangers not paid the price for their extended run in Europe ,, a case of history repeating itself when looking back to Seville ,, however ,, I and All of the Celtic support will take it on the final day and be grateful for the chance of retaining it ,, regardless of circumstances in the 37 games preceeding it ,, you had better believe it !
I’ll answer SJ question. It is VERY unlikely that Hearts (or anyone else outwith the OF) could win the SPL. Getting within 30 points when each of them are neck and neck is an achievement – and when one of them is way ahead of the other, probably getting within 20 points of the leader is an achievement. Lets face it – they each have the resources to have a better quality squad than us – plus they are always likely to spend these resources much more efficiently than Hearts !! I think its an exaggeration to describe the OF as “rubbish” this season – the only thing that has changed (as far as I can see) in recent years is that they seldom thrash anybody now (5-0, 6-0 etc) – erm… well… except Hearts that is !!!
That is kind of my point with the question SH… as you may have guessed it was a leading one. If Celtic and Rangers were that bad, then neither would be as far ahead as they are in the SPL from the rest of the pack, Rangers wouldn’t have got to a UEFA final (yes OK, they were very lucky to get there… but they still did it), Celtic wouldn’t have got to the last 16 of the Champions League, etc. The point is that even with those supposed “rubbish” teams, they still manage to divvy up all the honours between them as usual. Hearts are a long LONG way short of that (and still were under Burley no matter what anyone says… strength in depth was always an issue). Because of the refereeing “standards” as well, any team would have to be significantly better than both of the ugly sisters – not just a bit better – to stand any chance. Not trying to be negative, but I see some Hearts fans (on other forums) talking like all we need is for Mark McGhee to sign on and we’ll make a challenge to the SPL title next year. It won’t happen.
No I can’t see us challenging for the league coming from where we are just now, but I don’t think it would take an awful lot for teams to generally be as good as say Rangers have been this year. There are many factors in Scotland that affect the gap between the OF and the rest (we’ve discussed them before – things like the biased officiating and teams never truly believing in themselves, etc), but when you’re talking about simply the teams here, I honestly believe that the likes of Dundee United are probably as good at the moment. The problem is that they just don’t know it, and when they get afternoons like they did at Ibrox a fortnight ago, it only goes to cement that mentality. It’s my belief that the next non-OF SPL winner will have to be considerably better than the OF to do so and i concede that no-one looks capable of being there just yet. My point is though, that Hearts COULD have been there by now had they allowed the Burley era to progress as it had begun – they had a team there that was better than the rest for those first ten games – had they built on that then who knows where they’d have ended up? And as for the “rubbish” description of Rangers, it’s maybe one that’s relative to where they were – they are certainly well-drilled and organised, but they have no football in that team whatsoever.
well ,, the definitive answer is Celtic lads ,, and while I,m over the moon ,, I,d just like to say thank you to your site editor Mr H for guiding me along the right path in terms of civility ,, and I sicerely hope Hearts find stability next season and are up there again challenging ,, thanks for the banter in the season just ended and I look forward already to next season and a completely new ball game ,, kind regards to all at Hearts Vital ………..
thanks WB…….enjoy your win while you can…….the Jambos are sweeping all before them next season!
Always loved your humour Mr H ,, thanks to you ………..
I’m deadly serious….