Ibrox Noise finds ourselves in the second quandary in a day. That is to say, yesterday we explained the legal and moral implications of what’s going on with Dujon Sterling and his court case. The problem today is another moral quandary, and that is the issues that Rangers fans have with Rangers split fixtures. Now obviously the big problem that most fans are noting is kick-off times and the number of away matches that Rangers have compared with Celtic. Very few are complaining about Hearts.
The balance of fixtures
Hearts themselves do not even care. Derek McInnes has been on record as saying he couldn’t care less where on earth these matches are being played. He will go for it and not complain about home or away. The reality is the balance has to be kept up, but Rangers fans of course aren’t happy because effectively only two of the final 6 are at Ibrox. That’s all that Rangers will be getting.
Emotion, confusion and narrative
It is of course completely logistical. Fans are emotional. We include ourselves in this, but as Ibrox Noise, as an information site as well as a fan site, we have to be a little more impartial to the facts as well as being fans. Getting the balance of emotion, logic and reason together can sometimes be a touch tricky, but we do our best.
The quandary? That tries not to annoy Rangers fans who feel irritated by the blend of fixtures in the split. While also trying to explain a lot about why Rangers split fixtures are arranged the way that they are. The big one is, of course, the fact that we only have two home matches of our final six. No one is paying any attention to the fact that Falkirk is not part of the split and that this was pre-arranged at the start of the season. Instead, it is now being bunched together as if it’s part of the split. It is not.
Ally McCoist is feeding the galleries a little bit by perpetuating that one, but then most people of a Rangers persuasion are doing the same thing. And we don’t entirely blame them. In fact, it’s exactly what Celtic have done for years. Pressure the officials, pressure the refs, pressure everyone at the top levels to try to do your bidding. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But creating conspiracy theories and creating accusations of bias against does tend to force your favour. It is a very clever tactic that Rangers haven’t been using enough, so we’re not going to condemn Ally for what he’s been saying.
Fixture reality and timing
However, some have complained about the gaps between some kick-offs of being three days. Most aren’t noting that this is how splits have always been. Usually they are over the course of about two to three weeks, and very frequently there will be three matches in about nine days. That’s never been any different. And not for Rangers split fixtures this season.
The difference here now is that there is something huge to play for going into the split. People previously did not complain about the short gap between matches because the league had already gone. It was redundant and didn’t matter. But now it does matter, and there is very little rest now between the split fixtures.
The title race and Celtic argument
It’s the same for everyone, but the consequences really are in favour of a very lively end of the season. We see a normal split, and it usually takes place this way. But the difference this year, of course, is tenfold.
Not only is the league nowhere near decided between Rangers or Celtic, but also, of course, there’s Hearts. There are three teams in the split, so the conspiracy theories are alive and well. Do Celtic have the easiest overall run-in, including their final conventional league fixture before the split? Yes, they do.
And why is that? Well, many Rangers fans are arguing in favour of it being a bias against Rangers and Hearts in favour of Celtic. In actual fact, Celtic’s results the last little while have been so bad with those tough away and big matches. That is to say, they have already done their tough stuff, and quite frankly, they’ve failed at most of it, hence they are currently third. They have now done their tough stuff, and they now get an easier ride because only the “easier” matches remain.
That is not because they failed. When you play a tough away match, it’s tough whether you win or lose it. That’s what Celtic have been doing. They’ve been losing or drawing some big matches in recent times, drawing and dropping points all over the place, and now they’ve gone past that. Of course, it doesn’t look like that to Rangers fans. It just looks like Celtic get the easier ride with more home matches.
Rangers’ challenge and final word
Rangers have done a fair few tough fixtures as well, and we’ve done a bit better at some of them. And now we’re getting a really tough run-in because we have to fulfil fixtures that are still to be done. Let’s not forget with it being 5 matches, only 2 can be either home or away. It’s the pure logistics which define what’s what. We still have to play Falkirk away. And do we think we should be playing Hearts at home and Celtic likewise? That wouldn’t make sense. So what looks like bias is just unfavourable logistics.
The problem with the split, of course, is it cannot be pure parity. It is impossible. Because at the end of the day, we’re trying to ensure that the top five all play each other. There may be overlap, and it does seem like Celtic have benefited the most from that overlap.
They sit in third, and this makes Rangers fans convinced that the authorities favour Celtic. And of course, we would never deny that people in high places at the echelons of Scottish football will have leanings towards one club or another. Absolutely. Anyone who denies that is blind.
But we’re pretty sure these were arranged as fairly as possible to as many parties as possible. In reality, it is much more down to logistics. We’ve explained a few of them before, but nevertheless, there’s no point in repeating ourselves. What we will say is that the end of the season is going to be one hell of a ride, and whoever loses will be 1000% screaming CONSPIRACY!