Scotsman deputy editor Alan Young catches up with sports editor Mark Atkinson to look at the weekends sporting fixtures
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman Daily Bulletin for Friday. I'm Alan Young, I'm Deputy Editor
00:15of the Scotsman and I'm joined today by our Sport Editor, Mark Atkinson, to take a look
00:19ahead to the weekend action. Hi Mark.
00:21Good morning, Alan.
00:22Let's have a look at the front page first. And at the end of a momentous week in Scottish
00:30politics we splash on an exclusive poll suggesting John Swinney is already facing something of
00:37an uphill battle as support for Labour surges in the polls. We have a full breakdown running
00:46online and in today's paper but where Westminster voting intention is concerned it shows the
00:56SNP dropping to just 18 seats. It will make for a very worrying meeting inside Bute House
01:04this morning, I expect. And I'll mention at the top of the page there we have an interview
01:11with the new Doctor Who ahead of the new series starting tonight, released at midnight I should
01:18say. But Mark, all eyes on sport now. It's going to be a glorious weekend weather-wise.
01:26Is it going to be a glorious weekend of football?
01:29I think so. I think so. We have an epic match on our hands on Saturday lunchtime, Celtic
01:36against Rangers. The final Premiership Old Firm derby of the season. Three games remain
01:42in the title race. Celtic are three points clear of Rangers with a superior goal difference of five.
01:49The title arithmetically can't be won on Saturday but if Celtic win it is pretty much all but done.
01:57So a huge high-stakes match in the east end of Glasgow to look forward to.
02:03Indeed. And just remind us about the form going into this game.
02:10Yeah, it's flipped. This has been a topsy-turvy title race and I think if we'd spoken, in fact
02:14we did speak a month ago on this bulletin, Alan, ahead of the last Old Firm derby at Ibrox and it
02:19was very much advantaged Rangers. We all said Celtic had to go to Ibrox, storm the fortress
02:25with Norway fans and they got a three-all draw in that game. Since then Celtic have gone on a
02:30good run of form. Their best players have come back to fitness and they look a team in pretty
02:37good shape. Conversely, Rangers have had a couple of damaging results. They lost 3-2 to Ross County
02:43in Dingwall and then three days later went to Dens Park in a sort of very controversial match
02:50that had been postponed twice due to a waterlogged pitch and drew nil-nil with Dundee. And that has
02:55handed the initiative back to Celtic. Had Rangers won those two matches they would be sitting in
03:02pole position and when you get into a title race such as this, when it's tight, every single result
03:08matters and every single dropped point counts and that's where Rangers have shot themselves in the
03:14foot in the past couple of weeks. Their form has tailed off, injuries haven't helped them
03:21but after that resurgent run under Philippe Clement in the first part of 2024, they've
03:28just started to tail off and Celtic have basically regrouped and with a full-strength team now look
03:36warm favourites to land this title. Unless, of course, Rangers can do, for many the unthinkable,
03:43and go to Celtic Park and win a venue that has been very, very cruel to them in recent history.
03:49Indeed. So that's the big match this weekend that we'll all be watching closely but there
03:56will be other games happening. What's your pick of the rest? Well, the European fight is pretty
04:04much done and dusted. Hearts are in third and their games are essentially dead rubber. We do have
04:09a really intriguing match between Kilmarnock and St Mirren which will go a long way to deciding
04:14who finishes in fourth place and gets a better seeding in the conference league next season.
04:23I think the most intriguing match is probably at Easter Road on Sunday, away from the old
04:28frown game. You have two teams in Hibs and Aberdeen, bottom six dwellers I will call them.
04:34They've both underperformed massively this season and I suppose this game will decide who will
04:39finish top of the bottom six. Hibs, going through a complete rebuild, they announced that Lewis
04:45Stevenson and Paul Hanlon, two legends of the club, will leave at the end of the season. That,
04:50I feel, is the catalyst for a summer of revolution, of massive change at Easter Road. You've got
04:56Aberdeen who have a new manager coming in at the end of the season and they've picked up a little
04:59bit under Peter Leevin, their assistant coach, their Celtic coach. So I think that's a game that
05:05is almost a tragic match between those two clubs. That will be interesting to see who can get a
05:10result then. I suppose the play-offs are probably worth a mention. We have Airdrie against Partick
05:16Thistle, the second leg at Fir Hill this evening to decide who will play Rafe Rovers in the semi-finals.
05:22You have the lower league play-offs as well. Inverness, Caledonia and Thistle,
05:26Scottish Cup finalists this time last year. But if they lose to Montrose tomorrow,
05:31they'll be a League One club, which is a spectacular fall from grace. So you'd say
05:37the play-offs probably take just as much importance as the other Premiership matches
05:43outside of the Old Firm game. And of course, across the border, we shouldn't just talk about
05:48the Scottish type of race. You've got Man City and Arsenal going for the Premier League in their
05:52both reactions. Man City are at Fulham at half-past twelve on Saturday and then it's
05:57Arsenal and Man United at Old Trafford on Sunday. So plenty of football today, as always,
06:03to get your teeth into. We're at the business end of the season, the real proper business end,
06:07where the serious transactions take place.
06:27Please do pick up a copy of the paper from me and from Mark. It's bye for now.