Mark Atkinson and Matthew Elder discuss a big midweek card in the Scottish Premiership.
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00:00Hello and welcome to another episode of the Scotsman football show. My name is Matthew
00:07Elder. I'm joined by our sports editor, Mark Atkinson, to look ahead to a blockbuster midweek
00:13of Scottish football. A full fixture card on Wednesday to look ahead to, with one match
00:21in particular catching the eye. Aberdeen versus Rangers at Potaudri could well be the match
00:28of the season so far. Mark, looking ahead, looking forward to watching that match up
00:33at Potaudri on Wednesday night. Yeah, you're right about it being the game of the season
00:38so far in the league. It's always a great fixture, Aberdeen versus Rangers. I've been
00:42fortunate enough to be at a few of them and they are always chaotic and at times hatred-filled
00:49affairs. Aberdeen always reserve the most special welcome for Rangers and their players
00:57and their supporters and you feel this one there's so much riding on at this time. Aberdeen
01:03currently second place on goal difference behind Celtic, six points clear off the Ibrox side.
01:10It would be an enormous victory for Aberdeen to go nine points clear of Rangers at this stage.
01:15Conversely, if Rangers, who have not been that impressive this season, were to win it would
01:21derail Aberdeen and give their own title hopes, I suppose, a shot in the arm. It's one of the
01:26biggest Aberdeen-Rangers league matches I can remember for some time and I think,
01:31as I said out there at Potaudri, they sold the remaining tickets on Monday evening and it's
01:36going to make the atmosphere even more pumped. An enormous night awaits in the North East.
01:43I know Aberdeen have got off to some good starts under McInnes but you probably have to go back
01:47to the Alex Ferguson days of the 1980s when they've been this far into the season being
01:52considered genuine title contenders. Just how impressed have you been with what Jimmy
01:57Tilleen's done there and a lot of these victories that they've been getting, really having to work
02:02hard for them and one goal victories but most of them you could say they've deserved.
02:08Yeah, hugely impressive Aberdeen because I think we've all been waiting for the bubble to burst.
02:14Skeptics, cynics have said, oh Aberdeen haven't had to play anyone of any great note at the start
02:22of the season. They played Hearts and took care of Hearts. They played Dundee United and took care
02:27of them who are some of the bigger teams in the league. They have pretty much overcome every
02:34hurdle that has been put in front of them. The only time they've slipped up this season,
02:38and it would be a bit churlish to call it that, is against Celtic where they were 2-0 down at
02:42half-time. I can't remember the last time I was so impressed with a team's comeback at Parkhead.
02:47They came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-0 and I think that really showed that the minerals of
02:52this team, the characteristics, they've got spirit about them, they're resilient and they've got
03:00real threats in the final third. So much pace in players like Topi Kerskinen, you've got
03:06Duke playing now, you've got Esther Sockler's pace, Kevin Nisbet's finishing,
03:11Jamie McGrath playing really well. There's so many good players in that team. Shaden Morris
03:16came off the bench and inspired the win against Dundee United at the weekend. They've got an
03:20armoury that can hurt Rangers and I think that's what will give the Aberdeen fans lots of belief
03:26that there's goals in this team. We've seen that Rangers are conceding goals domestically.
03:32St Mirren scored at the weekend against them. They're not as robust Rangers as
03:38Philippe Clermont wants them to be and that makes this test for them extremely hazardous.
03:45How much do you fear for Philippe Clermont going up to Petaudry in terms of his status as Rangers
03:50manager? You saw the reaction last week to the defeat at Comarmec and obviously they did bounce
03:59back particularly well in the Europa League. That was a pretty impressive night's work from
04:04them against FCSB. But again, they were back to being quite stodgy against St Mirren at the
04:14weekend and really just crawled over the line in a 2-1 victory. I don't think the fans will react
04:21particularly kindly to another defeat up at Petaudry. They would leave them nine points
04:25behind, probably both them and Celtic, you would have to say, going into November.
04:33It would be a disastrous state of affairs for Rangers to be nine points behind both Celtic and
04:38Aberdeen. That is, of course, assuming that Celtic take care of business at home at Dundee.
04:43But you'll know yourself, Matthew, you watched Rangers play FCSB on Thursday in the flesh and
04:48they were pretty good and they took care of business. I think if they pull out that against
04:53Aberdeen, they've got a good chance. We were having a conversation with one of our colleagues
04:57on the desk who's an Aberdeen fan and we were discussing how many, if you combine a team between
05:02Rangers and Aberdeen, how many players would be in the teams? And I think we still came out with
05:08Rangers by one. I still think Rangers have got the better squad. They're a Jekyll and Hyde team
05:14though and you saw that when they played against FCSB, they were excellent. It's almost like this
05:19team can't go playing every three, four days. They're not equipped to bring out their best
05:23performances on a consistent basis and they've got to hope that they hit top gear. It's not an easy
05:30place to go for Tottenham at the best of times and there's a lot of pressure on Rangers, a lot
05:36of pressure on Clement who, if he was to go nine points behind, I think the questions will be
05:42getting asked, is he in sackable territory? But such as the fine margins of football we're talking
05:49about, if he wins, potentially could kick start the season. They've not been that bad result-wise
05:55but they're not as trustworthy as previous Rangers teams. You can't hang your hat on
06:03them going up there and getting the job done. We're going to learn an enormous amount about
06:07both teams on Wednesday night. We'll find out if Aberdeen really are the real deal
06:12and we'll find out if Rangers can deal with the pressure.
06:16Yeah, it promises to be a fascinating night under the lights at Baton Drouet.
06:21Obviously, we've already mentioned that we've got a full fixture card. Celtic hosting Dundee. I
06:26watched Celtic at Fir Park yesterday and they got a bit of a let-off, two let-offs really,
06:32in the opening exchanges. They would work twice but thereafter there was only really going to be
06:37one winner. Celtic motoring along quite nicely and recovered well from their Dortmund hammering.
06:44I've looked at McEwan making his first start and I have to say he's been very impressive
06:50and potentially pushing for some Scotland call-up. I think Steve Clarke can't fail to
06:57have been impressed by the way he's settled in at Celtic. I know people will say,
07:00oh he's at Celtic now, so that's him getting called up. But I think there's logic in the
07:06argument that you maybe need to go to a club like that and prove yourself amongst that company and
07:12the demands that there are clubs like that and then perhaps that could lead to a national call-up.
07:20Celtic playing a certain style, possession-based style, that
07:26will force McEwan to adapt but he really has and I thought he was outstanding against Motherwell.
07:30Yeah, I like McEwan as well and I think when you're talking about midfield,
07:35Scotland's strongest sector of the team, you need to go and play for a big club before you
07:43earn your stripes or hoops in this case. I think McEwan certainly falls into that category.
07:49I wonder, will he play against Dundee because that's his former club and it'll be fascinating
07:57to see how he deals with that. Dundee were actually struggling a little bit I think
08:01before McEwan left in terms of results but since he has gone there, they've slipped down the league
08:06table and you kind of fear for Dundee a bit, don't you? They took a beating off Celtic last season.
08:13I can't remember the exact scoreline but they were trailing by at least five goals at half-time
08:18in a game at Celtic Park last season and I think that they're one of the most open teams in the
08:23league and that's not a good mix against this Celtic team because as you saw yesterday, when
08:28they get going, they've got goals everywhere, haven't they? Yeah, it was 3-0 but it could
08:35have been more yesterday and they have the luxury of bringing players ยฃ11 million signings off the
08:42bench and Arnie Engels, Adam Ida himself cost ยฃ9 million so there's ยฃ20 million coming off the bench.
08:51Premiership teams just can't cope against that really, against that resource. So you have Engels
08:58and Ida rested for this match tomorrow night so we don't know if Callum MacGregor will come back
09:05or not but I think Luke McEwan would relish playing against Dundee tomorrow and I really
09:11see no reason for him not to keep his place based on his performance on Sunday.
09:18So we're saying Celtic are going to win but the sounds of it, well they'll be warm favourites
09:23to win. What other games have we got coming up?
09:26So, every game's a big one now for David Grady, isn't it? Yeah, sadly so.
09:34The concession of the late equaliser to Harts, I think everyone saw that coming.
09:43At Easter Road on Sunday, it was just almost inevitable and it seems inevitable that Hebs
09:48will lose a late goal every time they play, especially if they've got a lead because it
09:52just seems like the amount of points that they've lost from these positions late in games,
09:59their season could look so different if they're just showing that bit of fortitude to get over
10:04the lines. You've just got another five minutes to go and keep the ball at the back of your net.
10:09It really shouldn't be that complicated but it just seems to be a really challenging thing for
10:13Hebs and they're up at Ross County tomorrow night, sorry on Wednesday night which
10:18is never an easy trip going up there. No, I've seen a lot of Hebs this season and
10:25there's a recurring theme in that the team mentally degenerates as the latter stages
10:32present themselves and I feel that when that happens so often it becomes the scar tissue
10:38there and players start to fear that time in the game. You almost feel Hebs need to be two or three
10:45goals up going into the last 10 minutes to stand the chance of holding on to a lead and
10:50David Gray must be getting so frustrated because there's only so much you can do with players
10:54in terms of the mental side of the game. You can coach tactics, you can talk about systems
10:59and you can try and present different formations at different stages of the game but
11:05if players don't do the basics and don't switch on at those key moments you've got a problem.
11:12There's numerous issues with Hebs' team defensively and it's obviously not sound.
11:15They've got a goalkeeper that's low on confidence and I think that's spreading throughout the team
11:21and they're also not taking chances. Hebs missed a lot of chances in the derby against Hearts and
11:26the last time they were in Dingwall I think Jan Danda scored in the 97th minute. Now Danda's not
11:30there anymore but Ross County are good at home. It's not really a place you want to go on a cold
11:35Wednesday night in the depths of autumn to try and get a win and David Gray needs a win otherwise
11:43eventually the board will have to cave in and take action. There's no real heat at that director level
11:51on Gray just yet but if they were to fail to beat Ross County and then they'll do it on Sunday
11:56then you have to ask questions and I think Hebs needs stability but at some point you've got to
12:02say well this isn't working and we'll find out more about them this week and Ross County
12:08going well at home. They got a good win over Kilmarnock at the weekend and
12:13I think it's a tough assignment for Hebs, it really is.
12:17Hearts have obviously won their first two games under Neil Critchley, two impressive wins you have
12:22to say and then getting that late point at Easter Road probably felt like a win for them so everything
12:28going quite well for Neil Critchley but they're still in a dreadful position really. They're
12:34joint bottom of the table really, they're just above Hebs on goal difference and Hebs have a
12:40game in hand so Hearts are still needing to get themselves away from the position that
12:46Neil Critchley's inherited to be fair and they'll need to go into a home game against Kilmarnock on
12:52Wednesday and continue this sort of good form that they've been on of late. Yeah, big match
12:59because Kilmarnock are one of the teams that they can reel back in and I think Hearts have shown
13:06progression under Critchley, they're playing more tight-minded football but the performance
13:11they put on against Hebs was pure mitigating circumstance. They were in Europe against
13:16Ammonia on the Thursday, they were perhaps a bit of fatigue and you do find with new managers coming
13:21in there's a lot of information being put on to the players and I think it does wear them down at
13:26some point in a new manager's campaign. Derry McInnes will be smarting because Kilmarnock were
13:31a goal up at Ross County but they lost a man and very quickly lost a goal thereafter and
13:37they, if you look at Kilmarnock, not much has been said about Kilmarnock I think because they beat
13:42Rangers and took a bit of the heat off but their start to the season has been pure so that's a really
13:48important match at the bottom of the table as well. Killey have actually got quite a good record
13:52against Hearts recently and I think it could make it tough for the Jambos at Tyne Castle but
13:59I wouldn't set a bankrupt any such imagination for Hearts, they'll need to work hard to get
14:03the three points out of that game. Yeah, Dunedin United have been surprising people I would say
14:11this season with coming straight from the Championship and riding high in fourth place
14:16at the minute, just tucked in four points behind Rangers. They ran Aberdeen pretty close at the
14:23weekend there in the Saturday night game that took them until the last five minutes for Aberdeen to
14:29get their winner and United sort of disappeared as an attacking force in the second half but
14:33they have been doing particularly well under Jim Goodwin this season, they've been scoring goals
14:36and they've looked a threat and they've been pretty solid at the back as well which is always
14:40a good combination. They host Motherwell who had a tough game against Celtic, we'll be looking
14:46to bounce back because they too have had a decent start to the season, you'd have to say a couple of
14:50back-to-back defeats but they'll be looking to bounce back from that. An interesting game at
14:56Tannerdice between the fourth and fifth place sides. Definitely, a re-run of a really good
15:01quarterfinal in the Cup a few weeks ago which Motherwell edged 2-1 and I think United are
15:06wanting revenge. Like you have been impressive United this season and newly promoted teams
15:13quite often have a bounce and what Jim Goodwin has done, he's eeked out the very best of
15:19the feel-good factor of promotion and he's recruited pretty well. They've got some good
15:24players, really like Luka Stevenson, Will Ferry as well and the two Macedonians that have come in,
15:31Babunski and Trapanovski have added some good players. Motherwell, Lennon Miller,
15:39I mean we're talking about Luke McEwen and we're talking about midfielders,
15:43Lennon Miller is so impressive for someone so young. A player that can turn a game out of
15:50nothing, be it a long-range shot, a creative ball-through, that'll be a really fascinating
15:56game at Tannerdice. If you didn't have all these other matches that we've discussed,
16:00that game would be right up there and a real opportunity for one of them to stake their
16:07top six credentials, you would say. I think that leaves us with the Saints, doesn't it?
16:13The battle of the Saints, yes. St Mirren haven't really had a great start to the season on the
16:21back of what they did last season, obviously the top six finish and getting into Europe,
16:26they've struggled to follow that up and it's difficult for a club like St Mirren to balance
16:30Europe and domestic football, they don't have the resource of Ascetic and Rangers with the big
16:36squads that kind of just have to call on the same players to go again and again and again and
16:40they've struggled with that. But by all accounts, their performance at Ibrox was impressive, they
16:45maybe could have taken something from that match if a few decisions had maybe gone their way.
16:51St Johnstone, on the other hand, have shot up the table since the appointment
16:55of their new manager and it's starting to look a lot rosier for them when you were maybe
17:02looking three or four weeks ago at them as being possible bankers for relegation.
17:06They're now looking like they could push into the top six and they seem to do it every season at
17:12St Johnstone, the minute people think they're going to get relegated, they just decide otherwise.
17:20I know a fair play to Simo Vallacari for bringing a different approach to St Johnstone. What I like
17:29about St Johnstone is that no matter what's going on behind the strikers, you've got
17:34Adama Sidibe and Benji Kempioka, two really lively, quick strikers who score goals and
17:43you'll always have a chance with those two. They're a real handful for defenders and I think
17:47Vallacari, he appears quite a charismatic individual, he's energetic, I think he wants his
17:53teams to be far more press-related than other St Johnstone iterations that we've seen of late.
18:02They've got a real chance of putting pressure on Samirin because Samirin, as you say, have been
18:07underwhelming this season given what they did last year. I think there's a lot of hope that
18:12that performance at Ibrox can give them something to build upon when they go into these matches.
18:18I think they play Ross County not long after as well, so it's a big moment for them. You look at
18:24the games, you've got Hibs in Ross County, Hearts in Kilmarnock and Samir in St Johnstone all playing
18:31each other. They're all on the same part of the table. Dundee are at Celtic Park, we're expecting
18:36them to drop points. So there's a real opportunity for certain clubs here to make gains and get
18:41themselves out of immediate peril or indeed if you're someone like Hibs or Hearts, drag everyone
18:48else back into it. That's what makes the card so fascinating. It's not just about what's going on
18:53at the top, you've also got this real dogfight at the bottom, even this early on in the season.
19:00It's a big midweek card of football in the Premier League. Can't wait for it.
19:05Lots to look forward to. Mark, thanks for joining me on the Scotsman football show tonight. You can
19:10keep up to date with all the build-up to these fixtures and all the reaction and reports from
19:14the games as well on scotsman.com forward slash football. Thanks for joining us and
19:19we'll see you on the next Scotsman football show.