Mark Atkinson and Graham Falk look forward to the midweek card in the Scottish Premiership.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome back to the Scotsman football show as we look ahead to an intriguing set
00:08of midweek fixtures in the Scottish Premiership. As ever, it's been a hectic few days both
00:14on and off the pitch in Scotland, so plenty to dig into and I'm joined by Scotsman sports
00:18editor Mark Atkinson. Mark, it's never dull in the William Hill Scottish Premiership,
00:23is it?
00:24No, absolutely not, Graeme. We should all tell the viewers that, full disclosure, you
00:30timed a convenient holiday to miss out on some of the drama, but you're back now and straight
00:35into this. It's funny, you're arresting me from Rome saying I knew it would happen,
00:41something big would break, but the reality is Scottish football, every week something breaks
00:45and maybe we should just cancel all annual leave, but this one was particularly juicy and it's
00:49going to get even juicier. There's still so much to run in terms of on and off the pitch.
00:55Yeah, I think, you know, we're in February and it feels like we're approaching the end
00:58of the season, but we're actually really not. We're not even, we're just past sort of the
01:01halfway stage and there's a really interesting bulk of games in a midweek fixture list. I think
01:07you look at every one of them and there's something to play for, there's something
01:10exciting about it, but we'll start quickly with the one that comes first, which is tonight's
01:14fixture between Celtic and Aberdeen. I think green shoots of recovery, you could say, for Aberdeen,
01:21a rare defeat for Celtic at the weekend. It's maybe not the title clash that Aberdeen fans
01:25would have dreamed of after that really strong start of the season, but it's a chance to build
01:29on, I think, three successive wins in all competitions, a chance for Celtic to bounce back.
01:36You know, where do you see this game going? Because it's more intriguing than maybe it
01:40would have been maybe a month ago after that horrible run of results that Aberdeen had,
01:44they're back up into third now and Celtic have just come off the back of a defeat. Well, two
01:47defeats technically if you're underclass, that horrible game up by them, or horrible in terms
01:52of what happened at the end. So, a chance for them to respond as well. Yeah, so Aberdeen were
01:57one of the few teams in any competition this season that has taken something from Celtic Park.
02:04So, that two-all game should be in the memory of the players. That was when Aberdeen were on a
02:08great run of form. As you said, I think green shoots of recovery is a very apt phrase for
02:13Aberdeen after their horrific 14-game winless run in the Premiership. I find it hard to see them
02:19going to Celtic Park and getting anything on Tuesday night. I think mainly because Celtic
02:25tend to respond after a defeat and it will have hurt them losing to Hibs. It's not going to damage
02:31their title race, you wouldn't have thought, for title credentials, but good teams, and I think
02:37Celtic are a good team, certainly in Scottish football they're an excellent team, but good teams
02:41in the grand scheme of football tend to recover from a defeat with an emphatic result of performance.
02:48I think Brendan Rodgers will pick his strongest team and I suspect they'll be too strong for
02:52Aberdeen and that'll be that. I could be wrong, of course, I just don't see Aberdeen's defence,
03:00albeit they've got better with the arrival of Mats Knoster at Dutch Centre half. It's a real test
03:05for them up against guys like Dijshaan Maida, Jota, Nicolas Koon, Ademida. I just think Celtic
03:10will have too much and they'll have a cause to play for tonight, which is always dangerous when
03:14you're playing. Yeah, I think you're right. I think when Celtic have a point to prove or they
03:18come off the back of a disappointing result, it's very rare to see them getting two poor results or
03:23two poor performances and you touched on some of the players are going to go up against there.
03:28I think you're looking at what's on the bench, assuming that they have an off day, that front
03:32three, that front four, the bench is pretty solid as well in terms of what they'll come up against.
03:37But look, for Aberdeen, quickly before we move on to Rangers, I think they'll come into the game
03:44with that last-minute win over Kilmarnock, the new striker getting the goal, obviously that's
03:48the important thing. They are showing signs of recovery, they're back up to third. I think
03:52defeat tonight, as much as they won't want to go in and get beaten, they won't feel like they're
03:57going to go and get beat, there's really no shame in it. I think, you know, those last three games,
04:01two in the league, one in the cup, obviously huge disappointment that they had that really
04:07weird middle part where they just couldn't buy a win. But they can really go on now and
04:11have a positive end to the campaign in those last three months, can't they?
04:14Absolutely, yeah. This game should not define Aberdeen's remainder of the season.
04:20Most teams will not leave Celtic Park with anything. Aberdeen already have a point this
04:25season in the bank, which they probably didn't think was coming. So, no, they have to go there
04:31and play as well as they can and see what happens. If they do lose, it's on to Saturday.
04:36On to Rangers, I mean, I've got to be honest, as you said before, I knew at time my annual leave,
04:43the day that he would get sacked, and lo and behold, it was, what, 24 hours before I was due
04:47back, if that. And I think, in a way, I don't know why, because the results have not been good enough
04:53for Rangers this season domestically. They just haven't. And it's really difficult to say anything
04:58else. They're far too behind Celtic in the title race. I think, in many ways, yeah,
05:04they were nine points behind Aberdeen at one point, and I know that's changed. But look,
05:07they're not in a title race at the moment, which is really, really disappointing. And a lot of that
05:12has come down to their form away from home. But then their home form's been decent. But then the
05:17last two home games, they lose against Queen's Park, and then they lose against St Mirren,
05:21and both times deservedly so. So, I feel like it was never going to happen with Clement. I did,
05:26I'll be honest, I felt like he was going to stay until the season's end. Maybe the takeover would
05:30change things. Maybe nothing would change until this alleged takeover would happen, or until that
05:36was resolved. And lo and behold, he goes and gets sacked on Sunday night. But at the same time,
05:41looking back, I know we've touched on it a little bit, but it had to happen, didn't it, Mark?
05:47I think he's been a dead man walking ever since Queen's Park,
05:50because for the fans, that was never going to be changed. You could never erase that. I suppose,
05:55if he won the Europa League, you could maybe say, look, I've kind of cancelled out what happened,
06:02or got to the final and whatnot. I think the Rangers board clearly wanted to hobble on with
06:07Philippe Clement in charge until there's clarity above. It's not just the takeover from the 49ers
06:13that's going on, there's also the desire to bring in a sporting director at Ibrox. And I think they
06:18would have liked to have had Clement in there to keep the pot boiling domestically and in Europe.
06:25Until they could move with clarity. But what happened on Saturday against St Mirren, it was
06:32the straw that broke the camel's back for the board. They met pretty swiftly after that game.
06:37They knew that something had to happen. I feel a bit sorry for Patrick Stewart, the Chief Executive,
06:42because he came out and tried to support the manager, not once, but twice. But he did say
06:46last week, the caveat was, you can't just keep losing matches. Rangers don't lose two games at
06:52home very often to the Scottish teams consecutively. And yeah, I think it was the right call.
06:58I actually, I'll still probably have to hand this cross a little bit, but I think
07:03Philippe Clement's a good manager. I do believe, you don't manage Klub Brugge and Monaco without having
07:09something about you. I just think he was in the wrong movie. And he really struggled to break
07:14down Scottish teams. What happens next? It's going to be fascinating, isn't it? I mean, Rangers
07:21at Kilmarnock tomorrow night, not an easy place to go at the best of times, certainly not a place
07:25that you want to go when you're Barry Ferguson and it's your first game in charge against the Derek
07:29McInnes team that you know is going to be fired up. I mean, I don't know about you Graeme, but I wonder
07:34if Rangers may not win tomorrow. I do believe it's a really difficult match for them. Ferguson might
07:40get that great reaction from the players, or they might all be a bit confused by what's going on.
07:46It's a really fascinating game. I think you could make an argument for all three outcomes.
07:51Yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, you said before Kilmarnock deservedly beat Rangers earlier in the
07:56season and I don't think anyone at the time could argue and it was a mistake at the end. And it's
08:00one of those results that became, unfortunately for Philippe Clement, quite a regular occurrence
08:05away from home. It was kind of like maybe the start of that. And, you know, we've seen last
08:09season, even when Rangers were flying under Clement, it was a tough game. I know Rangers
08:13came out 2-1 and won in the end, but I think at the time it was 1-0, I think, at halftime,
08:17the game I attended and covered. But I think Barry Ferguson would have preferred an easier game. And
08:24look, forget everything about the management and that, if you can for a moment, which is
08:29probably not possible, but there's injury problems there as well. You know, he's down to, once again,
08:34suit ours. Adam Nockway is missing out on the weekend. You'd hope he'd be back,
08:37but I don't think he's going to be. You've then got Dion Sterling, who we haven't had
08:41any real update on to my knowledge. You look on top of that, you've got Balogun. You know,
08:46what team does he pick? Because there's an argument, which you can see from the Rangers
08:50fans as well, who agree with the sacking of Philippe Clement, I think, in the majority,
08:54although everyone's got their own opinion. A lot of them are saying, well, what about the
08:58players that also hasn't performed? They've got to take a portion of the blame as well. And
09:02Barry Ferguson's a Rangers legend, a Rangers captain. They'll want him to come in and
09:06basically tell the players exactly what's been going on recently hasn't been good enough. But
09:10when he's so threadbare on options, like what team does he pick for a really tough game against
09:14Kilmarnock, which they've struggled in recent years? Yeah, he's not got many options, as you
09:20say, especially in defence. You saw Clinton and Siala put in a poor performance against Samoan.
09:26I think Siala's done okay recently, but even at hearts the week before, he, in my opinion,
09:31gave away a penalty. It wasn't given, of course, but he's got a clumsy nature about him sometimes.
09:37He gets his arms in places they shouldn't be and sometimes gets his legs tangled up. He needs to
09:43mature and get better and be coached, but he may not have to play because they haven't got any
09:48other options. I think it's also worth noting that Kilmarnock have got a clause to fight for.
09:53They want to be in the top six because what they don't want to do is end up being sucked into that
09:58playoff battle as well. So you're playing a team that's going to be fighting and scrapping for
10:04for everything at Rugby Park. Really awkward assignment. I mean, Rangers played Motherwell
10:09on Saturday at home. I bet you anything Barry Ferguson wishes the fixtures had been flipped
10:14because Ibrox would be so, it'd be a transformed stadium on Wednesday night if it was to be there.
10:22But it's going to be tougher at Rugby Park and yeah, I think it would be a brave man to back
10:27Rangers with certainty, but new manager bounce, who knows. What I would say,
10:32I think we all agree on this, is that this Rangers team quality-wise has got more to offer
10:37and therefore if they can get even 80% of their level, they will probably win against Kilmarnock.
10:43It's just whether Barry Ferguson and his coaching staff can eke that out. Fascinating game tomorrow.
10:48Yeah, really fascinating and I think staying at the top of the league is another really
10:52interesting game for Hibbs who, look, it felt like two, three months ago they were bottom of
10:56the league and struggling and all of a sudden there's a very real possibility that they can be
11:01third in the table. I'm sure Dundee United will have something to say about that as well, but
11:05I don't really know how you can put more praise on David Gray's head because I went to a game,
11:11covered a couple of games with Hibbs and they looked like relegation candidates. Now,
11:16the front, from my liking, they potentially look like the second or third best team in the
11:20Scottish Premiership on current form and that's all down to him and, you know, the players on
11:24the pitch but a real chance for them to completely flip the season from where they were at just
11:28before Christmas. Yeah, this is a big week for Hibbs. We're in the middle, so you looked at their
11:32fixture list this time last week and you saw that they had Celtic at home, Dundee United away and
11:38Hearts at home, Hearts at home on Sunday. Now, the three points they've got from Celtic, you couldn't
11:43bank on those, so they're already in a strong position. Should they beat Dundee United, can
11:48they go above them if they win? So, stakes are high for Hibbs. They're this 13 game unbeaten
11:55run in all competitions. They look like a team that's hard to beat. They're not typical boy band
12:02Hibbs that we sometimes talk about. This is a proper unit. They are the sort of team that I
12:06expected David Gray to mould when he first came in. It's taken him a bit longer and they're strong. I
12:12mean, if you look at Hibbs, they're physically imposing across the pitch from back to front.
12:18Big boys who are happy to fight and scrap, they're athletic, they've got pace and they play good
12:22football. And a player that I know that you like, Graeme, because he's from your parent club,
12:26Sunderland, Nectar Triantis, who I'll be honest, I've been very critical of when he first came in
12:32at Hibbs. My goodness, he's transformed his season. He's playing really, really well,
12:37and looking like a gem of a midfielder who's dominating midfields week on week.
12:45So, if they continue in this vein of form, then you'd expect them to take something from
12:49Tanadise. The caveat, of course, is Dundee United are going well too. I think while everyone's
12:54talked about Hibbs recently, Dundee United have remained in that top six conversation and European
12:59football conversation. They beat Monmouth 1-0 at the weekend. That was an important result.
13:05Sam Dalby scored the goal, one of the best strikers in the division right now.
13:09And they haven't lost to Hibbs this season. They won at Tanadise and drew at Easter Road.
13:15And I think, again, it's one of these matches which is fascinating. It's going to have
13:19genuine repercussions for the season, but you don't quite know which way it's going to go.
13:22No outcome, again, will be a surprise at Tanadise. Again, I'm going to tomorrow night. I'm really
13:27looking forward to seeing it and seeing how both teams stand up to their respective challenges.
13:33It's going to have major implications on the race for Europe.
13:37It's funny you said about Triantis there. I think you can always tell when a player is
13:40doing well out on loan if people are asking, come and call him back, come and call him back,
13:44come and call him back. Some of them have had a few injuries and apparently they can't.
13:48No, they can't. Hibbs are delighted by that. They can't. But I think what Hibbs fans are
13:53hoping longer term is that Sunderland don't want him. That, of course, might depend on what happens
13:58with Sunderland, whether they get promoted, because obviously they're in a really good place
14:03in the Championship. Playoffs look more likely than going up, as you'll know. But I think Hibbs
14:08are hoping that maybe they go up and Triantis is deemed surplus to requirements. But he's been
14:14very good and he's matured as a football player. He's almost embodied what's happened to Hibbs
14:20as a club this season. Pure start, now really in their stride. Yeah, big game again. Looking
14:26forward to it, nicely. Yeah, he's been the poster boy for Hibbs turnaround. I said he could go into
14:30third. Do forgive me, I'll correct myself and go a point away from third with a win. And that's
14:34assuming that Aberdeen don't win. If Aberdeen, of course, win, then that changes completely. But
14:39there's two games at the bottom as well. You know, there is teams starting to look at
14:43the split and where that's going to go. I think the big one for me, well, there's two big ones,
14:48it's hard to split in between, but Motherwell, Dundee. Motherwell on 31 points, Dundee on 27.
14:55So their positions can't necessarily change depending on the result. But I think it's
15:00probably, oh, that's important for both. But Dundee can't lose that game, can they?
15:04No. Dundee are such a head-scratcher. I'm pretty sure this time last month I was writing a piece
15:13on the back of them beating Dundee out in the cup and holding their names in Celtic at home and
15:18thinking this team's looking good. But what I think we've always said about Dundee, and it's
15:22been consistent, is that they're a young team. So young teams are never going to choke up
15:29runs at home. Secondly, they cannot keep a clean sheet in this league. I think there's only one
15:35clean sheet in the league all season, two in all competitions against top-flight teams.
15:41And if you're shooting yourself in the foot when you're always going to get a goal down,
15:46Antonio Doherty, the manager, has not been able to address that problem in defence.
15:51They've had a couple of really strong opponents this year.
15:54Matt Dogwell, will you forgive me?
15:58They'll just have to wait, Graeme, I think. They'll have to wait. And Motherwell, I think,
16:04as well, you look at them and they've got a new manager in Michael Vimmer, and you always want
16:11to give managers a bit of time, and you should be giving time, of course. But in the same token,
16:16Motherwell are slipping down that league table. They're now at the top six. Their form line is
16:22really poor. And this seems to them, for them, this is a real opportunity to decide whether
16:27they're going to be a team that's fighting for that top six place or whether they're going to
16:29be a team looking over their shoulder at the relegation places. So a lot on the line for both
16:34clubs. Again, one that I feel Dundee have got a result in them at some point, but whether it
16:40comes at Motherwell, Vimmer's first home game, we don't really know much about Vimmer. He talks
16:45good game, but we're going to have to see a few more games. Lennon Miller, I feel, has got a big
16:50part to play in this match up against Lyle Cameron, the two kind of young Scottish midfielders we've
16:56all been talking about. Which one's going to take the game to the strut of the neck? I think that's
17:00where this game will be won, the midfield battle, because neither team is especially strong at the
17:05back. Then you look at Ross County. Look, they're not massively close to the top six, but they're
17:11eighth. Actually, I tell a lie, they're only two points away. I'm totally wrong with that.
17:15They're actually quite close, two points away. Then they're going to St. Johnson, who are six
17:20points adrift of Dundee. We've already discussed about how Dundee can't lose tomorrow night.
17:26Ross County will feel they can jump into a top six with a win. St. Johnson again, I said it before,
17:31with Dundee. St. Johnson cannot lose this game, especially with Motherwell Dundee.
17:37So St. Johnson have got a set of fixtures this week that, for me, will decide their fate. If
17:45they don't beat Ross County and then they don't beat Dundee on Saturday, then I think we can
17:52say that the revival of Al-Akhari has hit the buffers. I was at St. Johnson on Sunday against
17:59Hearts and they played okay, but they lacked quality in the final third. They're going to
18:06have to find something in these two matches. Ross County going really well. Don Cowie has not
18:10been talked about enough. He's done a really good job at Ross County because they haven't won away
18:15from home for a year until the last game of 2024. Ever since that win, which was against Dundee,
18:22they've actually pushed on really strongly and they've been quite handy away from home.
18:29They know how to get out of these positions. I mean, they're outside
18:32bet for the top six if they win, as you say. So yeah, really, really big game for St. Johnson.
18:39I like Al-Akhari, I like what he's trying to do at St. Johnson, but I don't know if
18:44he's got the players to quite get himself over the line. We'll find out, I think, in these couple of
18:49matches. If County can avoid defeat, they're probably thinking it's job done because ultimately,
18:53while top six is there or thereabouts for them right now, I think if you just give them 10th
18:57place, Don Cowie would snap your hand off for it right now. So that's a really interesting game.
19:02But of course, what kind of goes on above them depends on the game in the last game of the card,
19:08which is Hearts-St Mirren, which again, I mean, there's so many big games, Graham, so many big
19:13games. I mean, who knows how Hearts-St Mirren will go, given that Hearts are one of the teams
19:18everyone's talking about as potential European candidates, but they've only got the top six first.
19:23If they beat St Mirren, they'll do that. But we'll find out a lot about these teams.
19:28In the next set of pictures, that's why it's such an intriguing card.
19:32It's literally not a bad game among it. There's something in everything.
19:37You want one of these, you know how they get these Champions League nights on
19:41sports when they have all the games. I think actually you want that tomorrow night for all
19:45the matches. Only one game is televised. That's the eight o'clock kickoff between Killian Rangers, but
19:50you could literally sit and have all five games and there would be something riding on it,
19:55which I think is a great testament, isn't it, to the Scottish top flight, that we're actually
20:00talking about it in such positive terms. There are leagues right now where, look at the Bundesliga
20:05recently, there's a lot sown up already there. So it's great that you've actually got this battle
20:14beyond first place. So yeah, really looking forward to it and we'll probably catch up on
20:20Thursday trying to work out what on earth just happened.
20:23Yeah, as always, you touched on exciting leagues there. You look at the Premier League, I think
20:27that's looking less and less exciting as the weeks go by with relegation and obviously the
20:32Championship and stuff like that. This one, there's so many permutations across so many
20:38different parts in the league. But Mark, I'm sure we'll catch up. I'm really looking forward
20:42to this week. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens with Rangers. I think
20:45Aberdeen Celtic is an intriguing game, which I'm pleased to see and we've discussed everything
20:48else. I mean, look, as I said, right at the top of the show, it's never ever born in the
20:52William Hill Scottish Feminism, is it? It's not. It's not. Good stuff, Graeme.
20:57Mark, thanks for joining. Cheers.