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Celtic’s Fixture List Was No Less Horrific Just Because The Split Has “Worked Out.”

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So all is well that ends well, right?

The SPFL must be patting themselves on the back for a job well done, or so you’d think, eah? The fixture list concern, which many of us have harboured for many months now, has proved to be much ado about nothing.

The post-split fixtures don’t involve us visiting any ground for a third time, or the Ibrox club getting two free matches at home. So what was all the fuss about, eah?

That will be the party line from the game’s governors and the media both.

But it cannot hide the truth which we all recognise; but for a couple of late goals this could have been precisely the nightmare scenario we all envisaged, and although it wasn’t, there are still issues which arise from the way this season’s fixtures went.

Never in my living memory has our team had to visit, in a single group of ties, matches at Pittodrie, Tynecastle, Easter Road, Livingston, Motherwell and Ibrox.

Not only was it the hardest possible start to the season but by virtue of that it was our series of games for the run-in. Nobody would have bet on only three of those teams making it into the top six … the collapses at Hibs and Aberdeen are particularly difficult to comprehend.

But in more years than not, five out of those six would have been joining us after the split.

That’s where the safe money would have been when this campaign started; that would have secured not only a difficult campaign, but a post-split fixture list which, coincidentally, disadvantaged our team whilst handing the one at Ibrox a major lift.

As I wrote before, if you were trying to devise a fixture list which would have given Celtic the hardest possible time of it, for the whole campaign, this is what you would have devised and proposed, and I still wonder if it wouldn’t have been laughed out of whichever room you were in for being too obvious. If this is a coincidence, it’s a hell of a one.

The amazing thing, of course, is that we haven’t just weathered this storm but thrived under these conditions.

At the start of the season, the planners must have been rubbing their hands together at watching what looked like a general collapse … but very quickly this team got its act together and fought its way through the schedule with unbelievable poise and consistency.

Our triumph notwithstanding, the fixture list was a shocker and I’ll be very interested to see what they come up with next season for us. More interestingly, I’ll be interested to see what they come up with for Ibrox, since a lot of people have told me that this will all balance out in the next campaign. Why do I doubt that?

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  • Wee Jimmy says:

    One Club since 1888, they(SPL &Old Firm FC) try to put us down but fail miserably, Mon the Hoops.

  • Pan says:

    You doubt that because the football authorities in Scotland cannot be trusted to manage the game properly. They have previous for this and they are absolutely scared of the hateful and violent tendencies of the mob who support Old Firm FC.

    We know they will come up with a similar scenario for their so called random computer program for next season. The SFA in particular are a joke, but the SPFL are also conflicted.

    During my teaching career, it was always important with recalcitrant pupils to act decisively, but fairly and this would gain their respect and help to improve their behaviour. They realised that you were working in the best interests of all. This worked for me throughout my long and happy career in teaching. It meant that good relationships were formed and solidified on the basis of trust. This also works generally in any social situation.

    Unfortunately, the SFA is full of old failures who cannot manage anything, with agendas and basic lack of wisdom, while both the SFA and SPFL are simply too scared to upset Old Firm FC and the hordes who support them. Acting decisively and fairly would put a stop to the bullying that takes place from this club and it’s support. However, this is to much expect as there are too many people in authority (not just in football) with agendas and this serves to enable the problems we have in this country to persist.

    • Stephen McAdam says:

      Spot on you nailed it! As I said for years the real problem with that poison is the ” enablers” They are allowed to be the scum they are for several reason look st last sunday barely no condemnation from anywhere! Certainly not that from newco or the authorities and the media! Ha ha pathetic! Dressed up as ” o f” situation Its a disgrace but it the enablers that create this as they are part of the vioe upbringing mostly, it’s a sickness and should be sorted decades ago!

      • Stephen McAdam says:

        Vile upbringin I meant and mindset one that allows anyone wearing even the colour green to be a target! I wish to God we never even played that poison it suits them of course hence the love of the ” o f” as huns are happy to hate but need to feel comfortable with it and in brigadoon Scotland they are allowed it! That’s ” brigaddon” Scotland’s shame! But in the meantime young men well anyone basically wearing green is in danger when the ” majority” of these creatures are out, makes me sick to the stomach and our Club should be making comments on this and should been for decades! The authorities know fine well but say nothing hmmm strange that eh Not!

  • Michael McCartney says:

    Now that this season is heading to what looks like a happy and successful finale for us surely the Celtic Board should be questioning the fixture list for this season. The chances of this being a coincidence that we visited the obvious hardest five away fixtures in the 1st and 3rd Tranche of games was remote. We must question some of the decisions made by the football authorities in Scotland from a position of strength. In 2012 we missed our chance to reorganise Scottish football for the benefit of all clubs. The board must not be asleep at the wheel again.

  • Martin H. says:

    Even Hugh Keevins never got the top 6 correct surprise surprise ?.

  • Eugenio Savelli says:

    Neil Doncaster has no fkn clue what his position in the SPFL is cos every time thers a crisses he passes it over to the SFA to sort and they are actually worse than him they can’t make a decision about anything so that said it really is time to get rid of Doncaster as he is simply not fit for purpose ASAP.

  • Michael McCartney says:

    Sean, your theory of fair play would be correct if the SPFL was made up of 16 or 18 teams and each team played each other home and away. The system we play in which results in the split is open to manipulation and it is clear there was an attempt to do that this season. Up to the final kick of the ball on Saturday it looked as if we could have been playing Hearts or Livingston away for a third time. For Celtic to play Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, Rangers and Motherwell away from home in the first tranche of games was more than a coincidence. Of course the Best team usually wins the League but that doesn’t mean attempts aren’t made to sway things in one teams favour.

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