It appears to have caught supporters’ eyes that Celtic are in the midst of playing after Rangers on 3 consecutive occasions in the Premiership.
Last weekend’s run of fixtures saw Celtic beat Aberdeen only after Rangers won at Livingston. This midweek, Rangers will travel to Easter Road on Wednesday night before Celtic host Hearts 24 hours later. The same will happen this weekend when Rangers host Dundee on Saturday before Celtic’s trip to Tannadice on Sunday.
However, there is a simple explanation as to why that slight anomaly has occurred – Sky TV. Replying to a supporter query this afternoon, the Celtic SLO confirmed it’s simply down to TV scheduling:
Indeed, there’s nothing overly-controversial about this in fairness. It’s just how things have worked out even if many are raising an eyebrow over the schedule.
Given Rangers were chosen for TV coverage at the weekend, Celtic had to play later on. Not to mention the Hoops couldn’t play on Saturday due to European commitments last week.
As for Thursday night, Celtic had already been chosen for TV this Sunday at Tannadice. Therefore, again, the Rangers game had to be moved given they’re featuring on Saturday.
A test of Celtic’s character, but nothing overly-concerning
What it will be is a real test of Celtic’s ability to play catch-up in a title race. Everyone would prefer to play their matches first. That goes without saying. It always gives one side a benefit over the other as it heaps pressure onto the team playing second.
Even if your rivals slip up, it’ll still mean that there is extra pressure on your side to do the business. After all, fans won’t accept any missed opportunities to eat into Rangers’ advantage at the top of the Premiership.
For now, Celtic are in a good place heading into what will be a huge week of action for them. Playing after Rangers isn’t ideal, but if we come through it with 3 wins out of 3, it suggests Ange Postecoglou’s team has the mettle to deal with title pressure.
Not to mention Rangers have a massively difficult trip to Easter Road to negotiate tomorrow night. On no planet is that a straightforward task, and the Edinburgh club will be doing their utmost to replicate the 3-1 League Cup semi-final success of last Sunday.
It’s just a freak incident that has them playing several times before us. It is of course frustrating that Sky are screening Rangers at Easter Road when they snubbed our own trip there back in October.
But it is what it is. We both play the same fixtures over the course of a season. Get the job done and scheduling means absolutely nothing.
In other news, Jota selects his surprisingly favourite Celtic goal in class message to supporters
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