Celtic Fans Told Fixture List Is “Not A Conspiracy” Just A Fantastic Coincidence.

Isn’t it amazing how officialdom moves when we give it a bit of a push?

Just the other day, one of the national bodies in our sport, the PFA, got its front man on the radio where he set the mind of a caller at ease by assuring him that there was “no conspiracy” over the fixture list.

It’s chosen by computer, is the old refrain.

But my comeback to that has always been that the computer is already programmed with some pretty specific instructions, mostly regarding derby matches. The computer could easily be programed with others.

Of course, this may be completely barmy.

But the only other alternative is that this is the most fantastic coincidence.

I’ll be perfectly blunt; that stretches credulity until you hear the elastic snap.

Let’s remember again what we’re talking about, and let’s, please, put this all in its proper context because the context is important if we’re to consider this properly.

When that fixture list came out, we were in total freefall. We were a complete mess.

The prize at the end of this campaign is automatic Champions League Group Stage qualification; that makes this season even bigger than last season, in sheer cash terms and in importance for the next decade of the game here.

Ibrox clearly needs that money.

If you were designing a fixture list – actually sitting down to do it – the purpose of which was to end this title race, such as folk thought there would be, by Christmas if not shortly afterwards, this is the one you would put together.

Celtic away at Ibrox, Tynecastle, Easter Road, Pittodrie, Livingston and Motherwell in the first round of games, and then again in the third.

A near certain guarantee of two away games extra at those grounds after the split.

Which of course means the mirror image fixture list at Ibrox, which give them an easier run-in after they’ve already had an easier campaign.

If that’s a coincidence, if that’s random chance, then the lottery is easier than it seems.

It’s freakish stuff like that which almost makes you believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden.

Because that fixture list certainly looks as if it was put together to benefit one club, and that club just so happens to be the one which needs the money the most.

I accenuate that point for a very good reason, of course.

The last time an Ibrox club needed money like this they got a European license, and thus Champions League football, in spite of owing the Exchequer a fortune.

So maybe this “conspiracy” stuff is not as far-fetched as some folk want to make it sound.