Mark Atkinson and Matthew Elder discuss the weekend's Premiership action.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman Football Show. My name is Matthew Elder. I'm joined by our sports
00:09editor Mark Atkinson to preview the weekend ahead in Scottish football where we have various
00:16permutations on the go. As always it's going to be a dramatic conclusion to the pre-split
00:24of the Scottish Premiership. We'll have the final fixture card, fixture round 33 this weekend
00:28where five of the top six are decided but we still have one more team to slot into that top six
00:36which will be either Hearts, Motherwell or St Mirren. Mark, you'll be heading along to Fur Park
00:43tomorrow where all could be decided. Motherwell versus Hearts, a quirk of the fixture list has this
00:50as a kind of winner-takes-all. Certainly that's the case for Hearts although if Motherwell win
00:55they will need to rely on St Mirren not doing likewise the home to Ross County. But it should
01:01be an exciting Saturday afternoon.
01:03Yeah, yeah. Sort of helicopter Saturday but without the trophy. As you say, Hearts, a point
01:11clear of both Motherwell and St Mirren. And you'd say they're still favourites to get into the top six
01:19but this Hearts team hasn't been performing that well recently and hasn't won that many
01:25big matches under head coach Neil Critchley. And this does have a kind of cup semi-final
01:30feel to it, you could argue. A win for them and it's done. That's the first thing to say.
01:37If they can take care of business, it's in their hands and that's obviously an advantage.
01:41There's a lot of pressure on Hearts. They're the ones that are expected to be in the top six.
01:44I don't think Motherwell or St Mirren were deemed as particularly serious contenders even a few
01:49weeks ago but they're both on the premises. I think the intriguing game is in Paisley
01:53as well. If St Mirren can put pressure on Hearts and Motherwell early by taking the lead
01:58in Paisley, then they suddenly have themselves in a very strong position. They've got a better
02:04goal difference in Motherwell which means that if they win, Motherwell really is not in their
02:11hands anymore. So I feel Motherwell are probably going in with the weakest hand out of the three
02:18of them. I think St Mirren have got a good chance of beating Ross County who haven't been performing
02:21that well recently on their home patch. And as for Motherwell Hearts, well yeah, who knows?
02:26I mean, the irony could be at the draw and that would open the door to St Mirren. Motherwell were
02:31in this position last year. I remember they played Hibs on game week 33 and they needed to win
02:37and they scored last minute equaliser at a draw 1-0 and actually that stopped both Hibs and
02:41Motherwell in the top six. So we could have a bit of history repeating itself. For these
02:46two teams, or these three teams, sorry Matthew, Europe's probably too far away. Although
02:50Hearts maybe have an outside chance in the league and they've still got the cup of course.
02:55But if you're in the top six, it means you can't get dragged into the relegation battle.
02:59And given there's only five points between Hearts and 11th place at the moment, just having
03:03that dotted line in the league table between yourselves and seventh place would be a massive
03:08boost. There's quite a lot on the line, I feel, this week. And yeah, I see some quotes
03:14from Dan Casey, the normal captain, were treating this like a cup final. So yeah, I think it
03:19tells him just how much it means to these guys. So yeah, fascinating Saturday afternoon in
03:25prospect. And I do feel we're kind of, TV-wise, we picked the wrong games, unfortunately, because
03:30as you'll touch upon, the early kick-off is one that doesn't really have a massive amount
03:35of consequence in the grand scheme of things.
03:37Yeah. I was at Tyne Castle last weekend when Hearts could have sewn it up with a win over
03:42Dundee United. They obviously lost James Wilson to a red card in the first half and then went
03:47down 1-0 to Dundee United. But how much pressure is Neil Critchley under to get this top six?
03:52Obviously, Hearts as a club would be the most under-pressure team this weekend, given they are the
03:58biggest club by far and would be expected to be in the top six. But is Neil Critchley
04:02facing a bit of pressure to get into that top six as well?
04:07There's definitely pressure for Hearts to be the top six. That is the club's baseline expectation
04:13each season. In fact, you'd argue maybe Hearts, because they've been in Europe the last couple
04:17of years, would say that expectation level is to finish fourth or fifth. I think you have
04:24to look at this season and almost put it up into chunks. Neil Critchley had no impact on
04:29the first part of the season, which was fairly average recruitment and a terrible start under
04:34Stephen Naismith. Critchley took over Hearts when they were bottom of the league. So to
04:39get them into the top six conversation, some would argue that's a positive. I think the
04:45gap was only seven or eight points, so it was never really a massive one to overturn.
04:49And I think we all thought that once Hearts got motoring, they probably would break into
04:52the top six and stay there. So it would be a real blow for him if they don't get in
04:58there. I don't think he's under pressure at board level. I get the impression that Hearts
05:03will stick with Critchley come what may, unless, of course, they're roof-caved in and ended
05:08up being in the relegation spots. There's been some signs of improvement at Hearts. They just
05:14haven't won any big matches yet. I think that's the biggest issue for Critchley. There's been
05:17a narrative developing that he's not been able to take care of a Derby or a game against
05:24either side of the Old Firm or even Aberdeen, for that matter. Their only big win is coming
05:28against Dundee United at Talladise. So I think he could do with some sort of statement win
05:34to hold on to going into the next season. I don't know how it was for you, Matthew, on
05:40Sunday. Titan Castle could be a hostile place for a manager. There's definitely an element of
05:44supporters that are underwhelmed by Critchley, Hearts fans. I think he's got to try and win
05:50them over potentially more than the board and the players. I like him as a coach. I like
05:54him as a speaker. I think he's always good value. I also think that Hearts should maybe
05:59give him a bit of time with Jamestown Analytics also in the door. They signed a new player yesterday,
06:04a new right-back from Balarenga. So I think they're fairly comfortable with Critchley
06:10as a board level. But Hearts fans are restless. They have high expectation levels. And I think
06:17a poor end to the season will not help Critchley whatsoever.
06:21Yeah, I thought they were good last weekend, to be honest. Even before going down to 10 men,
06:25the dominant team looked like they were going to go on and win the match. Even with 10 men,
06:30I thought they played quite well. Still managed to make it a 50-50 game. So yeah, there has certainly
06:37been development and encouraging signs on their Critchley, but they need that top six
06:41just to cement that. It seems strange to say that the potential of the title being won this weekend
06:47would fall into the shadow of the top six race, but it's been such a foregone conclusion for a number
06:53of weeks now that it kind of feels that way. Celtic, if they beat Kilmarnock in the Saturday lunchtime
06:59kickoff, will win the league this weekend, if Rangers then go on and lose to Aberdeen at
07:05Butaudry on Sunday. Now you were at Ibrox last night for Rangers against Bilbao. They were the
07:10walking wounded come the end of that. Obviously a fantastic result to get a goalless draw,
07:14having gone down to 10 men so early. But it's difficult to imagine what kind of team Rangers
07:20could be putting out up at Butaudry this weekend. And that could make it all the more difficult for
07:25them to avoid that defeat that will hand the title to Celtic. Yeah, there's obviously two sides
07:31to this equation. Firstly, can Celtic bounce back from their shock defeat by St. Johnston and beat
07:36Kilmarnock? At home, you would argue probably, just given that Celtic tend to respond well to defeats.
07:45Kilmarnock have got lots to fight for, but I think it could be a difficult afternoon for them if Celtic get
07:50motoring. And then, yeah, less than 24 hours later, Rangers play against Aberdeen at Butaudry. And
07:57I mean, that Rangers team, I mean, firstly, it's a really tough ass to go to Butaudry anyway,
08:01under any circumstances, not least when you've been playing for 90 plus minutes with 10 men,
08:07and at times with nine men. You talk about the injury situation, Bailey Rice went off with a concussion,
08:12I don't think we'll see him play. You saw Dijon Sterling go off right at the end with what looked like
08:18quite a bad Achilles injury. Redban Yilmaz, apparently, is playing with an injury.
08:25And this is all, I hate saying this, because Aberdeen Rangers games should never be put in this
08:31bracket, but it's a nothing match for Rangers. There's no jeopardy here for Rangers whatsoever.
08:36It's all about going to Bilbao on Thursday. Barry Ferguson could maybe deploy 11 traffic
08:42cones in Rangers kits. And if it meant that he got the Bilbao result done, then that would be worth it.
08:46But I think, I mean, obviously, they'll want to go up there and win. And they did beat Celtic
08:52on the back of a European game, and we all thought they were going to go up there diminished.
08:55So I don't want to write Rangers off, but Aberdeen are playing quite well right now.
08:59And I think Butaudry will be a pretty raucous, expected stadium.
09:05I almost think Aberdeen are favourites to win this match. And as you say, if that happens,
09:09not only does it give Aberdeen a shot in the arm for third place, it would hand Celtic the title
09:14should they beat Kilmarnock. It would be kind of apt in a way, a season where Rangers' failings
09:18have been the real story, that it was their failure to win that would give Celtic the league title.
09:25I think there's a real possibility, Matthew, that we're going to have the title sewn up this weekend.
09:30I agree. Yep, I think it will be done this weekend. I think Celtic will win, and I think Aberdeen will win.
09:35But if Aberdeen do win, it will put the pressure on Hibs, because Hibs in the later kick-off on Sunday
09:42host on D, and they will move into fourth place behind Aberdeen if Aberdeen get that victory.
09:47So for all, Hibs have been on such a fantastic run, 16 games unbeaten.
09:52There's still not a job done for them in terms of sewn up third place.
09:56They're going to be made to fight for it, I think, by Aberdeen, who seem to have recovered under
10:00Jimmy Tillene again. But Hibs are just, they obviously won't be favourites for third place,
10:06given the form that they're in. Can you see them going to the end of the season unbeaten?
10:09No. What an achievement that would be.
10:11No, I can't. I can't. I actually, I mean, I've written and said so much about Hibs recently,
10:17and how impressed I've been with David Gray and the players. But, I mean, the run of pictures,
10:24Dundee at home is not an easy match, because Hibs have been beating Dundee this season.
10:29Dundee, I've got a lot to fight for, and they've got one of the former strikers in the league.
10:34And Hibs will go into that game as favourites, and I think they have a lot of expectation,
10:37potentially maybe even greater, by what happens at the Todrick just beforehand.
10:41And then you've got Major Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United, and potentially Hearts.
10:47To get through those five games unbeaten would be astonishing. It really would be.
10:52I think David Gray knows that. I think they're enjoying this run of form.
10:55But I'm not sure about their game on Sunday. I remember thinking St. Johnston would be a
11:02banana skin for them. They took care of that comfortably. But Dundee are a better team than
11:05St. Johnston. And I think that'll be a really difficult match for Hibs. But they are playing
11:10so well, a lot of people will just put them down as a home banker. The race for third is fascinating.
11:16We'll talk about Dundee United in a second. But for me, it's between three teams, Hibs,
11:19and Dundee United. This weekend could be the weekend where it flips around and Aberdeen get
11:25their noses back in front. And I think I'm really looking forward to the last sort of five,
11:31six games of the top of the battle for Europe. I think it's going to be really interesting.
11:36Yep. Dundee United only three points behind Hibs themselves. So well in with a shout of finishing
11:41third. And what an achievement that would be for Jim Goodwin in his first season back up from the
11:45championship. Home to St. Johnston this weekend, who obviously had that amazing result against
11:51Celtic last week, probably. The result of the season, certainly, in the Scottish Premiership.
11:57One that nobody really foresaw, given the aggregate score in the previous two games was 10-0 in
12:01Celtic's favour. But can you see St. Johnston going up to Tanadice and falling up with another one,
12:07getting out of trouble? Or is this another weekend where United will put themselves right in the frame
12:12for third? Wow. I don't like writing St. Johnston off under Bellacari. I really admire him. I admire
12:18the way his team plays. I mean, what a result that was last weekend, beating Celtic. I still think
12:24that St. Johnston, if they're going to stay up, they have to cut the gap going into this post-split
12:31fixtures. And by doing that, that means beating Dundee United away from home. If you look at the
12:37fixtures, Ross County are at St. Mirren, Kilmarnock are at Celtic and Dundee are at Hibbs. There is a
12:43chance, of course, that all three of the teams that are around them could lose. St. Johnston have to
12:49take advantage of that. And I think going into the split at least five points behind, maybe even four
12:56points behind, it's quite a tough ass to claw back. You can make it to two and you're only one win
13:00behind. It just gives everyone a shot in the arm. United, difficult team to beat. I think they're very
13:07robust. They're a very typical Jim Goodwin team. Good goalkeeper, strong back three,
13:11a hard-working midfield, and a real physical threat up front. And they've done really well to
13:17recover from that Dundee Derby defeat by beating County and then defeating Hearts. Both one nils,
13:22clean sheets. Very difficult St. Johnston to go win there, but it'll be a really exciting match.
13:30Not quite a Derby, but two teams in close proximity. I imagine quite a good travelling support.
13:35Another really intriguing match. And I was thinking this last night, actually, in the way over
13:40Ibrox, where I was thinking about the weekend. This time last week, there was talk of league
13:45reconstruction. Why would you want to change things right now? We're talking about a set of
13:50a fixture list that once again is throwing up tons of drama and loads of storylines. And I think
13:55that's a real testament to Scottish football in the game we've got right now.
13:57Indeed, indeed. So another fascinating weekend of Scottish Premiership Action ahead. Mark,
14:06thanks for joining me. You can read all about the Premiership Action at scotsman.com.
14:13And obviously you can pick up the paper. Thanks for watching the Scotsman Football Show,
14:17and we'll see you on the next one.