Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster is furious today after she saw her side’s rearranged clash with Celtic be given the green light without her approval.
The Bhoys were set to host Hibs on December 9th at 3pm in what would be a regular timeslot for the fixture. However, the SPFL today confirmed that the game had been rearranged due to a request from one of the clubs (The Herald).
The game will now take place two days later on January 11th in a rare 7:45pm Monday night kickoff time. And Dempster has confirmed that the request has come from Celtic and has been approved without her say-so.
Speaking in a Twitter rant earlier today, here’s what the Hibs Chief had to say on the decision:
https://twitter.com/LeeannDempster/status/1333464991534559232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1333464991534559232%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.glasgowtimes.co.uk%2Fsport%2F18909786.hibs-chief-leeann-dempster-fizzing-claims-spfl-rescheduled-celtic-clash-without-knowledge%2F
Poor
This really doesn’t look good from the SPFL if I’m taking my Celtic glasses off. Every club affected by a decision such as a fixture change should be well consulted about the decision. It doesn’t matter if it’s Celtic, Hibs, or Cowdenbeath. Every club deserves that courtesy.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why Celtic needed to make the move to change the fixture in any case. The Hoops travel to Ibrox exactly a week before the original January 9th date, and face Livingston exactly a week later.
Equally, Hibs’ refusal to change the dates initially is also interesting. Like Celtic, they play on the exact same dates. There’s plenty that hasn’t been revealed here, so it’s left supporters up in the air regarding why the decision has been made in any case.
It doesn’t feel like we’ve actually heard the end of this one. It’ll be intriguing to see if Dempster takes this any further to try and get the original date back. It seems like a bit of a storm in a teacup, and you have to say Dempster herself could’ve handled this a touch more professionally.
It seems like she’s trying to prove a point by airing her dirty laundry in public, especially when she actively says on her Twitter posts that the SPFL still has her mobile number. That means she’ll have theirs too – the opportunity was there to be the bigger person.
Regardless, I don’t like it in any case. If Hibs rejected the request then that should be that. Even as a Celtic fan, I’m happy to admit they’ve been wronged at face value. Perhaps there’s more to this than meets the eye though.
In other news, the Celtic fans aren’t happy about a potential idea for their next manager.
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