Much has been made about the split fixtures and the way that Rangers split fixtures list have been divided up. Many have, of course, noted that Rangers, of the final six matches, will only have two at home. But of course, it is not the bias and corruption or conspiracy theories that some Rangers fans would like to perpetuate. The reality is that not only can Rangers and Celtic not play at home at the same match, but the Old Firm and the Edinburgh Derby can also not take place at the same time. Consequently, it is more of a policing issue to do with logistics rather than anything against Rangers.
The reality behind the scheduling
It is also, of course, a subdivision based on who has already played who and where this season. The 38 matches have to be as close to parity overall as possible, and ultimately, the way the fixtures come out is as close to getting that as accurate and fair as possible. It is just unfortunate the way that the cookie has landed, the way that it has crumbled, that Rangers possibly get the rawest end of the stick. The wider Scottish Premiership picture always shapes how these decisions fall.
Fan reaction and media voices
But that will not stop fans from believing it is a conspiracy against the club. Alan Brazil suggested that Ally McCoist will be, quote, spitting feathers over how this has all worked out. And yes, it is not absolutely ideal, but logistically, there is no other way this could have been done. The fact is that Rangers will only have two at home. That is not ideal. It is why the title race has created so much noise around the fixture list.
The title race context
But then again, if you are going to win the title, you have to do something pretty special in order to get there. It is never meant to be easy to win a league, although, of course, we have discussed how the one horse race means that either side of the Old Firm winning the title tends to be by some massive marathon score and huge list of points at the end of it. This time it is going to be a bit different. It is going to be a much closer race, as we all know. The league table and the final sequence of matches only sharpen that tension further.
Final outlook
But Rangers split fixtures list, as we can tell, do not exactly favour Rangers. Indeed, they probably do favour Celtic slightly, but it is the way that it is all balanced out. This was not deliberately chosen to be this way. And indeed, this could even come down to the final day of the season, where, of course, as we know, Celtic will play Hearts at Parkhead. But who knows how this one is going to work out? All we know is this is not a conspiracy against Rangers. It is just the way the fixtures fell because of how the balance has gone over the whole season and due to the staggeringly unprecedented nature of this title race. So, yes, nothing really to see here, folks. The broader Scottish Premiership run in will decide the rest.