Park your mock hysteria – Just play games and back your team

The recently released set of fixtures for this post top six split has caused plenty of controversy, with plenty of disgruntled voices making themselves heard, and as usual the loudest voices are from the blue half of Glasgow, with their east coast cousins down Gorgie way just as vocal in their angst.

It’s been well known for a few months now that Celtic would be due three games in the post split fixtures, but still we have those of a blue persuasion and those in Maroon having a pop at everything and anything to do with the scheduling, from the times to the dates, and even the allocation of tickets.

Why all the sudden hysteria? Every team has got to fulfil the same number of home and away fixtures, so do the Bears and their Jambo chums want to be allowed an extra home fixture against the Champions? Sporting integrity anyone?

Celtic are sitting third, so shouldn’t have a home game to finish the season, is yet another gripe being made by our rivals. Celtic have already played two more away games than the Rangers and one more than Hearts, who have a home game before the split while the Rangers travel to Falkirk.

So post split Celtic play three at home and two away while the other two title contenders play twice a home and three times away and guess what it means that all three have played 19 home matches and 19 on the road.

No one batted an eyelid when we had play at Pittodrie, Ibrox and Rugby Park in our first five run of fixtures this season. Is it fair that the champions of the country had to endure such a difficult start? Or when our rearranged fixture with Aberdeen was slapped in between two trips to Ibrox.

The Jambos are also sniping due to the fact that so few of the Gorgie faithful will have the chance to back their side in a potential last day title showdown.

Don’t Celtic supporters get a measly 600 tickets for away days at Tynecastle? Indeed thousands of our own supporters were denied the pleasure of watching the club win the title away to Hearts back in 2023.

There are moans about the Rangers not playing before Celtic during the split but nothing said about Celtic playing after them at least 10 times already this season.

The Rangers fans even reckon that Celtic would lie down to Hearts on the last day to stop the latest Ibrox club winning the league. This scenario actually happened in the early 1960s – if Hearts won at Celtic Park they’d be champions. Guess what happened? Celtic won 2-0 and Rangers FC were crowned Champions of Scotland.

Looking at the Hearts forum they are convinced that their side won’t win the league. After the weekend they ra a poll with the vast majority predicting a title win for the Rangers. Maybe that’s changed after the post split fixtures were announced, I don’t know.

Celtic supporters are happy enough with the fixtures and having been to Tynecastle and Ibrox twice we are due our second home game against them.

The SPFL released a detailed Q&A on their official website

explaining the reasoning behind all the fixture decisions that have been taken and it’s well worth a read – see below.

My message to our whining rivals, is just get one with it. Whoever finishes in first place will rightly deserve to be Champions.