The much-talked-about post-split fixtures are finally out, and it makes for very interesting reading.
Of course, the headline is Celtic facing Hearts on the final day of the Premiership campaign, which may well decide the title, as Rangers travel to Falkirk.
For large chunks of the campaign, Celtic and Rangers have been in Europe, so it has meant that their Thursday European trips have resulted in them having to play on a Sunday or even Monday.
That has allowed current Premiership leaders Hearts to constantly play before either Glasgow duo and secure those three points without that added pressure.
But Peter Grant recently raised the theory that Hearts have dropped points the majority of the time they have played after Celtic and Rangers.
Well, the release of the post-split fixtures has presented a nightmare scenario for the Jambos and even Danny Rohl’s Rangers.
- READ MORE: Celtic’s previous results against the five teams they will play in the SPFL post-split fixtures
Your first thought when you see the fixtures…
How many points will we pick up?
What did Peter Grant say, as Hearts face a possible nightmare scenario?
What is interesting is that over the weekend, Rangers played first, beat Dundee United at home, went top, put pressure on Hearts, who dropped points at bottom-club Livingston.
It proved Grant’s theory right, but the former Celtic man’s comments came at the start of March, and this is what he had to say on Premier Sports at the time.
Grant: “I would like to know how many times Hearts have kicked off after Celtic or Rangers. Because I know the last two (they have lost), with Celtic, anyway.”
Michael Stewart joked: “What, is it a conspiracy, Peter?”
Grant: “You know what I am saying, they have lost the two of them. They lost to Rangers, and then they lost to Killie. I would be interested to see that because I was involved in it with Tony Mowbray. The time with Rangers. We had to play on a Sunday all the time.
“We played one Saturday out of the full nine months we were there. It was torture because Rangers would play on the Saturday, and you already knew they had won.
“The difference is at 0-0. Late in the game. It’s your supporters who are all nervous on the Sunday if you haven’t scored. The players get much more nervous. I think it has a big part to play.
“I would be interested to see how many times Hearts have played last, and how many points they have won.”
67 Hail Hail looked at Hearts’ results from November, when their title talk started to really heat up, and analysed how many times they dropped points when they played after their title rivals.
These were the results, including the game from the weekend.
- Weekend of November 22: Hearts lost at Aberdeen when they played after both Celtic and Rangers
- Weekend of January 10: Hearts beat Dundee when they played after Celtic
- February 15: Hearts lose at Rangers after watching Celtic come from 2-0 down to beat Kilmarnock hours earlier
- March 14: Hearts beaten by Killie after watching Celtic win against Motherwell hours earlier
- Weekend of April 4: Hearts draw at Livingston after Rangers briefly went top of the table
- Post-split fixtures: ????
How many times will Celtic play before either Hearts or Rangers? And vice versa
This is why the make-up of the post-split fixtures is very interesting. More so for Hearts, because they are sitting top, have constantly dropped points when playing after their title rivals, and they aren’t used to this situation.
But it’s also going to be interesting to see how Rangers react to all of this because in a number of the big games, such as the Glasgow derbies, he has buckled under the pressure.
- April 25: Celtic vs Falkirk
- April 26 at 15:00: Rangers vs Motherwell
- April 26 at 16:30: Hibernian vs Hearts
- May 3: Hibernian vs Celtic
- May 4: Hearts vs Rangers
Celtic play before everyone in the first two post-split fixtures, which also includes Hearts vs Rangers on Bank Holiday Monday.
- May 9: Motherwell vs Hearts
- May 10: Celtic vs Rangers
Then it’s Hearts’ chance to pile on the pressure, as they play the day before the final Glasgow derby of the campaign at Parkhead.
- May 13: Top three all play at the same time
- May 16: Final day
And then everyone plays each other at the same time. All in all, Celtic have those two advantages, which they need to grab with both hands.
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