The opening round of post-split fixtures produced exactly what everyone anticipated, continuing the relentless, unpredictable drama that has been a hallmark of this fascinating season.
Martin O’Neill’s Celtic took care of business against Falkirk on Saturday evening, ratcheting up the pressure on their title rivals Hearts and Rangers.
To nobody’s surprise, it was Danny Rohl’s men who buckled under the weight of expectation against Motherwell, as Kris Boyd feels this has already been a seismic week of Premiership action.
On the one hand, while Boyd suggested the champions of Scotland deserve more ‘praise’ for clawing win after win, he did warn Rangers that if they lose to Hearts next Monday, then they can wave goodbye to their Premiership title chances.
“I think, off the back of that, if Hearts beat Rangers at Tynecastle on Monday, then Rangers are done,” said Boyd. “Seven points with nine points available. They aren’t going to claw that back.
“Celtic, I think, because of the drop off, in terms of performance levels from Celtic that we have seen in previous seasons, people are still indecisive with the way Celtic are going about their business.
“But they are winning games of football. If Hearts and Rangers are winning games of football, and getting praised for it, then so do Celtic.”
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Kris Boyd rounds up opening weekend of post-split action
Celtic have set the bar so incredibly high in recent times that even the slightest drop in standards is obvious to all.
However, the struggles of this current drama-filled 2025/26 campaign go far beyond a mere dip in form; it has been a remarkably stark decline from the Hoops.
That’s why, time and time again, Celtic’s performances have been ugly, but they have got the job done, as they proved against Falkirk over the weekend.
Perhaps that’s what Boyd was hinting at on Sky Sports when he suggested that ‘people are still indecisive’ when talking about Celtic, but they are still ‘winning games of football.’
“You look at the games at the weekend, they are in the past now, you have to look forward,” said Boyd.
“I think, off the back of that, if Hearts beat Rangers at Tynecastle on Monday, then Rangers are done. Seven points with nine points available. They aren’t going to claw that back.
“Celtic, I think, because of the drop off, in terms of performance levels from Celtic that we have seen in previous seasons, people are still indecisive with the way Celtic are going about their business.
“But they are winning games of football. If Hearts and Rangers are winning games of football, and getting praised for it, then so do Celtic.
“It might not be the free-flowing football that we have been used to seeing from them, but they are still winning.
“Celtic will be sitting at home buzzing with that result at Ibrox.”
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