Celtic’s postponed fixtures against St Mirren and Aberdeen may have to be played in 2021 due to the champions’ busy schedule over the next few months, The Scottish Sun reports.
Today’s Boli Bolingoli drama led to the cancellation of a planned trip to Paisley tomorrow and a Celtic Park match against the Dons this Saturday.
It’s a deeply disappointing development and could result in rivals around us opening up a significant points gap over the next couple of weeks.
Celtic don’t play again in league action until 5:30 pm on Saturday 22nd August, by which time Rangers will have played three times.
The Scottish Sun say planned Celtic action in European competition, as well as Scotland’s international games, could now result in the two matches being delayed until January.
Should Celtic also progress from the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden, another of our league matches against Livingston could also have to be rescheduled.
It all sums up just what a critical error Bolingoli has made and what kind of pressure he has put both on his teammates and the footballing authorities, not to mention our opponents.
With all sorts of variables having the potential to create further fixture chaos over the coming months, the fact we are two games behind already is a real blow.
When it comes to the potential points gap, obviously Celtic will be able to claw that back if we play at our best. However, playing much of the season with a points deficit is far from ideal.
The only silver lining I can see from this situation is the fact that these matches, if they are moved into January, could go ahead with fans in attendance rather than behind-closed-doors.
Everyone wants to see that but in the circumstances is small consolation compared to points on the board and Celtic making a fine start to the season.
In other news, Michael Stewart has delivered his BBC Sportsound verdict after today’s drama.
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