Mark Atkinson and Matthew Elder discuss the upcoming weekend's football across Scotland.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to another episode of the Scotsman Football Show. My name is Matthew
00:07 Elder. I'm joined by Mark Atkinson today to go over the fixtures that we're looking forward
00:13 to this weekend in the Scottish Premiership as the domestic game returns after a pretty
00:17 bleak international break, with Scotland losing both their games to Netherlands and Northern
00:22 Ireland. So let's hope we get some good football this weekend to pick our spirits up. How are
00:27 you Mark? Good, good. Like you, looking forward to the Premiership returning after, as you
00:33 said, pretty bleak. That's the right word. A lot of dejection around the Scotland national
00:37 team. But look, let's park that for the next, what, two months or so. We've got a lot to
00:43 look forward to in the Premiership. As Steve Clarke said, they were only friendly. So we
00:48 wouldn't get worked up over friendly results at club level. So let's hope that we can pick
00:54 things up when the competitive action resumes in the summer. But probably a toss up between
01:00 game of the weekend, maybe just slightly edging it, would be Rangers-Hibs. Obviously we've
01:04 got Hartscombe-Marnock as well, third v fourth. But we'll start Rangers v Hibs at Ibrox. Obviously
01:09 a big one in the title race. And obviously Hibs looking to sort of cement that top six
01:14 place as well. How do you see that one going at Ibrox this weekend? Yeah, like you Matthew,
01:19 I'd agree it's just the game of the day in the top flight. For two reasons. Rangers can
01:26 go back to the top of the Premiership if they get a victory. And we've got Hibs who are
01:33 improving under Nick Montgomery. Slowly, you would say, improving. And they need to keep
01:40 winning themselves to make sure they get into the top six. Because they've got Dundee and
01:45 Motherwell on their heels. Hibs haven't scored a goal against Rangers this season, let alone
01:51 get a positive result. So on paper, it looks a tall order. But you do wonder if you're
01:55 going to play the old firm, sometimes playing them after an international break is a good
02:00 thing. Because a lot of their players have been away. Although I say that, I think the
02:05 last time they met at Ibrox in Philippe Clermont's first match, it was after international break
02:09 and Rangers scalped them 4-0. Look, difficult afternoon ahead for Nick Montgomery's Hibs
02:14 team. They've got goals on their team, we know that. My leader, Martin Boyle, should
02:18 be back. Adam Lafondra, Emi Marcondes. But still defensively, you do worry a bit about
02:24 Hibs. As we expect at Ibrox, it'll be a difficult game and I would expect Rangers to come through
02:30 that one.
02:31 Yep, and as I already mentioned, Harts v Kilmarnock at Tyne Castle. Harts obviously with that
02:37 11 point advantage and third over Kilmarnock. They could open it up to 14, which you would
02:43 have to say at this stage of the season would all but confirm Harts. But Kilmarnock win
02:48 and it's maybe just given them a bit of an incentive to go forward in the remaining games.
02:54 Yeah, I think for Harts it's important not to give Kilmarnock a sniff of third place.
02:59 We've all talked now for months that Harts have got third place sewn up. But their defeat
03:04 at Ross County last time out and Kilmarnock's win against St Mirren means that this game
03:10 does have a bit of significance on it. Harts did chuck away a pretty sizable lead last
03:15 time in third place last season. I don't see that happening again. But they'll have a tough
03:22 match on their hands against Kilmarnock. Derek MacInnes' Killey team have been very good
03:25 this season and they did win at Tyne Castle early in the campaign. But this Harts team
03:30 with Laurence Shanklin back, fit and firing, away with Scotland, obviously he'll have a
03:35 point to prove in the remaining matches. At home, they'll be favourites to win that game.
03:41 I think I just said there, Matthew, Kilmarnock have to win if they've got any chance, any
03:45 hope, any sliver of hope of doing it. 14 points, that surely can't be Torsley if it doesn't
03:51 happen.
03:52 Yep, and another big match up at Pitodrie, certainly big for Aberdeen in the sense that
03:59 they still don't have a manager. They intend to appoint one over that national break but
04:05 that's not materialised. So I think fans are a bit miffed by what's going on there. Obviously
04:10 a long time now since Barry Robson was removed and it's approaching, I think, a couple of
04:15 weeks since Neil Warnock left as well. So a lot of uncertainty around Pitodrie and that
04:21 will certainly get worse if Russ County go there and win. Russ County in the relegation
04:25 play-off position, three points behind Aberdeen, they'll drag them right into trouble if they
04:30 go up to Pitodrie and get a victory. How do you see this one going?
04:33 I was hoping you wouldn't ask me how I see this one going. I really don't know. Logically,
04:39 you think Aberdeen should win this match. They have got on paper some really good players
04:44 in the forward areas in particular. Bozsian-Jabelski scored for Macedonia in the international
04:51 break and they did win their last match under Peter Lieber in the caretaker 1-0 against
04:55 Motherwell. So you'd hope that Aberdeen, for their sake, would bounce in. But County under
05:00 Dom Carey, who is also an interim manager, have improved and they got two very good results
05:06 against both Edinburgh clubs before the international break. Apparently they're taking quite a big
05:12 travelling support through to Pitodrie. I think it'll be nervy if Aberdeen don't score
05:17 early. That stadium is going to get very jittery and that will help Russ County. I remember
05:22 two seasons ago being at an Aberdeen-Ross County match on the last day of the regular
05:28 season before the split. This was to get into the top six and Ross County won 1-0 to deny
05:33 Aberdeen that place. Aberdeen fans got extremely nervy. Can you imagine what it would be like
05:38 if they were to lose, to drop level, potentially level, in the play-off stakes? Huge game at
05:46 Pitodrie. I'm not sure how that would all go. I'm going to pass.
05:53 You've checked out of that one. St Johnstone-Dundee then. Always has a bit of a derby feel, just
05:58 a short journey to Perth for the Dundee fans who are enjoying a fine season after coming
06:05 up from the Championship last year, just on the outskirts of the top six, two points behind
06:09 Hemsworth with a game in hand. So right in the mix for that in St Johnstone, obviously
06:15 just a point ahead of Ross County trying to make sure they don't get sucked into that
06:20 relegation play-off position. Expecting a pretty close match at MacDermid Park.
06:26 Yeah, they drew 2-1 earlier in the season in Perth. St Johnstone scored two goals in
06:30 the last ten minutes when Dundee outplayed them. I think that was under Stephen McLean,
06:37 it was that long ago. So it looks St Johnstone now, Craig Levine, going to tune out them
06:41 to begin with, but it hasn't been that good recently. I'd imagine two weeks' break will
06:47 have done St Johnstone the world of good. Levine will have got his plans across. Dundee,
06:52 yeah, great season. Been so impressed with Dundee, but obviously Owen Beck's gone back
06:56 to Liverpool, he's injured, the left-back is really impressed with him. I think Dundee
07:01 have to win tomorrow to keep their top six hopes in their destiny because if Hems do
07:07 slip up at Ibrox, which we expect to happen, then Dundee need to take advantage of that.
07:12 But it's not an easy place to go. Wouldn't surprise me if that ended up being a draw.
07:16 Motherwell host St Mirren complete Saturday's fixtures. Motherwell, probably inconsistent,
07:26 you would say, but they've managed to pool together enough results recently to get themselves
07:33 a bit of a buffer between them and Ross County. Five points there, so they're probably looking
07:38 more up the way at the moment and possibly catching Dundee, who are four points ahead of
07:43 them, in seventh. St Mirren are having a great season again under Steven Robinson, although
07:48 those five goals conceded at Kilmarnock before the international break were probably a bit of
07:55 an alarm and one for the manager. How do you see Motherwell and St Mirren going at Fair Park?
08:01 Yeah, St Mirren need to react accordingly after that, as you mentioned, that sort of cataclysmic
08:07 20-minute spell they had against Kilmarnock. Motherwell, they play St Mirren and Dundee
08:16 and Hems. If they win all three of those matches, they could get into the top six as
08:20 maybe pie-in-the-sky fans, but they certainly will have a say on it.
08:26 Again, I wonder, probably no result would surprise you there. I think St Mirren,
08:31 I imagine Steven Robinson will be still smarting from what happened two weeks ago
08:35 and there will be a reaction from them. They're not quite in the top six yet, but you'd feel
08:41 one more positive result would do it. They play Hearts and Celtic in their final two matches, so
08:45 they'll be looking to get something out of that game. Motherwell, they're not safe yet either,
08:50 they're only five points away from County. If County were to win, or indeed if Aberdeen were
08:57 to win, they're going to be dragged into some sort of battle if they don't get a result themselves.
09:02 Again, I'm being a bit set on the fence today. I'm going to go for a draw. I'm going to flip
09:10 the roles now because you're going to Celtic, Liverstone on Sunday, so to spare me a prediction,
09:16 I'm going to come to you and say what you think between Botton against Top at the moment,
09:22 Livingstone hosting Celtic. Not always an easy place for Celtic to go, but I'm sure they'll have
09:27 enough firepower to take care of David Martindale's Lions. Yes, I would certainly think so. Obviously,
09:33 they could go into that one second at the table again, assuming Rangers do get the home win over
09:38 Hibs. Celtic will be two points behind again and needing a win to retake top spot ahead of the
09:44 Old Firm game next week, which psychologically you would think could be a bit important just to
09:50 go into that game ahead of Rangers, even though they would have had to play the game more.
09:55 But yes, I mean, Celtic have had their issues more so pre-Ange-Bostock-Oglou at Livingstone,
10:02 where I know Neil Lennon's second tenure, I think he had a lot of difficulty getting results there.
10:07 But Livingstone don't seem to be the same side that they have been in recent years. Under David
10:13 Martindale this year, they seem very vulnerable, don't score a lot of goals, don't lose matches
10:19 heavily, but they do lose matches. Celtic possibly have McGregor, Hitati and Carter Vickers all
10:27 playing. I know that they're sort of pushing to make their comeback before this Rangers game next
10:32 week. So, with a near full strength Celtic side, I don't see them having too many issues with
10:39 overcoming Livingstone on Sunday. That's a very good point you made, Matthew, about being top
10:45 going to the Old Firm game, which is obviously a week on Sunday. That's got to be a huge psychological
10:52 edge for a team, if you at least go in knowing that a draw will keep you top when you play Rangers.
10:57 Yes, so I don't expect any slip-ups there. But talking about games of the day, we're maybe
11:04 doing a disservice to the Scottish Championship because undoubtedly the game of the day is at
11:09 Tannadise on Saturday, where Dundee United host my team, Reethovers, no secret on that. So,
11:16 no prizes for guessing what I hope the outcome will be up there. But an interesting build-up
11:21 to this one, Dundee United reducing race ticket allocation, leading to a bit of to and fro
11:26 between the clubs in terms of statements and whatnot. And obviously, Jim Goodwin coming out
11:33 denying that they're running scared of Reeth by reducing their allocation, these type of things.
11:38 And a bit of mind games going on, which it will always like ahead of these big fixtures,
11:42 expecting a crowd of over 10,000 there. And obviously, United one point ahead of Reeth at
11:48 top of the table, but haven't played a game more. So, a huge one for both clubs. And you would think
11:55 all the pressure is on Dundee United, really. They need to go up, having come down last season,
12:02 the size of Dundee United should not be in the championship.
12:05 Agreed, agreed. You know, it's a big game when our esteemed colleague and chief football writer,
12:10 Al Botullo, decides that he's shutting the premiership and he's going to Tannadise
12:15 for Dundee United against Rovers. I mean, it's a game that I think actually you'd want to go to
12:21 as a neutral just to watch it. There'll be so much colour, emotion. There'll be a lot of tense
12:27 people, I think, inside that stadium. United, poor result at the weekend, drawing one all of Inverness.
12:34 You get a Louis Moult goal from almost a halfway line to get themselves back into that game.
12:40 Look, Rovers, they've won their last two matches against United, is that correct?
12:45 I was at the game at Starks Park where Scott Brown decided to morph into Cristiano Ronaldo and score
12:52 an absolutely tremendous goal. I think it's the best goal I've seen in the flesh this season
12:55 in terms of the strike and the way it crashed off the underside of the bar.
12:59 I felt that game actually almost reignited the title race. There was a bit of despondency around
13:03 Starks Park about maybe having lost their way, but that game just sort of flipped the momentum
13:12 in their favour. I mean, there must be a lot of confidence around Rafe fans that they can go up
13:17 there and get a result. There is, yeah, certainly. The record against United this season is very good.
13:23 Drew the first game, won it to Anadise on their last visit, Dylan Easton with a goal probably
13:28 equally as good as Scott Brown's, to be honest. That day there was a few gaffes in the crowd when
13:32 he beat three or four men and curled one into the top corner. So, Rafe have got these type of
13:37 mavericks in attack that can, even when Rafe are not particularly in a match, they can score a goal
13:42 like that. United, meanwhile, have probably been dominating a lot of games and maybe not getting
13:46 as many goals as they would have liked. For instance, last week against Inverness, I think
13:51 they created a fair number of chances, but like you said, had to get one from the halfway line to
13:56 get the point. But United have good players, Moult, Watt, a strong enough midfield and a
14:04 former Scotland international at the heart of their defence, Declan Gallacher. So, yeah, United
14:10 should go in with confidence, but I think they will be slightly edgy just given their recent form
14:15 and how important it is for them certainly not to lose this match again.
14:21 We could have two title winners this weekend. Let's not forget that. Falkirk and potentially
14:27 St Housemuir as well in League 1 and League 2 respectively. More likely to be Falkirk,
14:32 I think, isn't it? They just need to, well, I think you said to me yesterday, they could be
14:36 champions before they kick off on Saturday. Before they kick off, yes. So, Hamilton need to win
14:41 against Queen of the South to prevent Falkirk becoming champions before they even kick off. But
14:46 if Hamilton win, then Falkirk can do it themselves by beating Montrose up at Lynx Park.
14:52 Obviously, it was a bit disappointing at Falkirk Stadium last week I was there. There was a lot
14:57 of expectancy and up until the 83rd minute, they were preparing for a title party until
15:01 Hamilton scored a couple of late goals to sort of burst the bubble. But it's only a matter of
15:05 time for Falkirk. If it's not this weekend, it will be very soon down the line. Absolutely.
15:11 St Housemuir is worth all the work. They have to beat Dumbarton and hope that Peterhead
15:15 don't get a result in their game at home to Clyde. So, there's a little bit more to keep
15:21 them. But yes, a cracking weekend of football awaits. We're looking forward to it.
15:26 Yes, plenty to look forward to. You can read all about it at thescotsman.com and obviously pick up
15:34 your copy of the paper, Saturday Scotsman, out tomorrow. And then we'll have the Scotland on
15:37 Sunday, rounding up all Saturday's matches as well. So, for now, thanks for joining me,
15:42 Mark, and we'll see you on the next football show. Cheers.