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--------------------------------Time Aberdeen v Motherwell----------19:45 Celtic v Inverness CT-----------19:45 Dundee United v St Mirren------19:45 Falkirk v Hibernian--------------19:45 Gretna v Kilmarnock------------19:45 Hearts v Rangers---------------19:45 Motherwell head up to Aberdeen to take on the leakiest defence in the SPL over the last few games. Aberdeen have indeed lost their last five games and have slumped to fourth bottom of the SPL. Jimmy Calderwood has stated he will build a complete new team for next year which could have a positive or a negative effect on his team. Motherwell will be glad to get away from the ploughed field at fir park and get back on track after their 1-0 defeat to hearts. With the Aberdeen confidence at an all time low, Motherwell should take full advantage and take all three points. Motherwell win. Over the years Inverness have been a bogey team for celtic and beat them 3-2 last time out. Craig Brewster will be hoping his players come out the start block better than against Hibs on Saturday, as they were 2-0 down after four minutes. Caley actually played better than Hibs but never recovered from the poor start. Celtic had all the luck of the day on Sunday when it looked like StMirren were taking a share of the points. The referee was the only one on the park who saw a foul as Shunsuke Nakamura fell easily to the ground. Nakamura does have a gift in taking free kicks and scored in the 87 minute. I fear Celtic will be too strong at home for Caley but we live in hope. Celtic win. St Mirren were fuming at losing to Celtic at Love street and will be hoping they will be luckier on their visit to Tannadice. If Dundee Utd had taken half their chances against Falkirk they would have won by a country mile but time and agin they failed to put the ball in the net. They too will be looking for a little bit more from lady luck. Difficult one to predict this as St Mirren are capable of surprising most teams but i think Utd should just edge it at home. Dundee Utd win. Hibs visit Falkirk after their win against Caley but Mixu Paatelainen will be hoping his team play for more than ten minutes as they seemed to do on Saturday. Falkirk are a start stop team this year and no one knows if they will blow hot or cold. I am going for a draw in this one. Draw. Gretna against Killie would have had a far greater importance if Killie had not taken three points from Aberdeen on Saturday. Gretna are a much improved team since the transfer window but it is most probably too little too late for them. I think Gretna will beat Killie tomorrow and if they had the same players for the whole season then Gretna may have survived. Gretna win. Rangers will be looking to avenge our 4-2 hammering at Tyncastle earlier in the season. Hearts have been improving since Stevie Frail has been given full control but will probably losing Andrius Velicka to Viking Stavanger before the game. Hearts dominated against Motherwell on Saturday and will probably come out and try to shut the midfield down and get in the Rangers players faces. This is the games our top players have to stand up and be counted. These are the games we can judge them on. Barry Ferguson has to come out and lead and if he does we should get the win. This game depends on the mentality of the Rangers team. if we are up for the fight we should win but Hearts will not make it easy for us. Rangers win

HT 0-0:cheers:

MAD MARCH: Eight games in 28 days could hit Gers title bid RANGERS IN MARCH 1 Aberdeen (h) SPL 6 W Bremen (h) Uefa 9 Hibs (h) Scottish Cup 12 W Bremen (a) Uefa 16 CIS Cup Final 19 Partick (h; tbc or SPL) 22 Hibs (h) SPL 26 Scotland v Croatia 29 Celtic (h) SPL by Darrell King Rangers' dramatic win in Athens last night could seriously impact their dreams of winning back the SPL title this season. Nacho Novo's equaliser against Panathinaikos took Rangers through on away goals to a last 16 meeting with Werder Bremen. It also added to a hectic mad March of games for Walter Smith's side. Rangers face a punishing schedule of eight games in 28 days next month. advertisement And the Scotland players in the squad - such as Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, Kris Boyd and Allan McGregor - could play NINE games, with the national side also having a game against Croatia. The 1-1 Athens draw last night also means that, with every midweek now filled, it is almost certain the Old Firm derby - originally scheduled for January 2 - won't take place before Celtic visit Ibrox on March 29. That would result in three Old Firm derbies being played in the last six weeks of the campaign - with the last two of them at Parkhead. The chances of a delay to the 33-game split in the SPL is also likely as Rangers also have rearranged fixtures with Motherwell and St Mirren. Rangers survived a few anxious moments in Athens last night. And Christian Dailly today relived the debut moment he feared would send Rangers crashing out of the Uefa Cup. The Scotland man was thrown on as a right back sub in last night's 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos in Athens, a result that sent Smith's side through to a last 16 showdown with Werder Bremen on the away goals rule. Bremen went through 4-0 after a 1-0 win at Braga, and will be at Ibrox on Thursday, March 6 with the return game six days later. But Dailly revealed how he feared German ref Felix Brych would point to the spot after his superb goal saving tackle on Dimitris Salpingidis as the Greeks pursued a killer second goal. The hitman had raced clear of Davie Weir before the 34-year-old made a last-gasp tackle, clearly taking the ball. But Dailly said: "What was going through my mind? You are always worried that the referee maybe doesn't see it properly and gives a penalty. "I did fear that might happen and that would have been a nightmare debut. "I saw their lad bursting away and my first reaction was just to get over and try to close him down. I kept my eye on the ball and when I slid in I thought to myself: That's a good contact'. "But you see the boy going down and the reaction of the crowd and sometimes refs give a penalty. That would have given them a chance for 2-0 and it would have been very tough for us then with 20 minutes to go. "So I was relieved, although the bottom line is that it was never a penalty. But things don't always go for you. "I was just happy to make that tackle, and it was maybe similar to the one big Carlos Cuellar made in the first half in terms of stopping a clear shot on goal." Porkhead twice in the last six weeks could be a nightmare. I would hate them to win the league against us at home. I hope we have a cushion to stop that. if we still have a lead they will hit us with everything. Including the kitchen sink. Nightmare scenario!!

Saturday, 16 February 2008 ----------------------------------Time--------TV Celtic v Hearts--------------------15:00 Falkirk v St Mirren-----------------15:00 Gretna v Motherwell---------------15:00 Inverness CT v Dundee United------15:00 Sunday, 17 February 2008 ----------------------------------Time--------TV Kilmarnock v Rangers--------------14:00-------*** Hibernian v Aberdeen--------------15:00 Celtic get a visit from hearts and all hearts and Rangers supporters will be hoping for a repeat of Hearts 2-0 Scottish cup win. Both teams have been in excellent form of late with Celtic scoring 5 goals at Pittodrie last week. I am going to hope for a wee draw here but don't see it happening to be honest. Celtic win. St Mirren surprised everyone with their cup win against against Dundee united at Tannadice during the week and drew with Caley at home last Saturday. Falkirk have been playing reasonable but losing of late with a defeat at Gretna standing out. If any game is a draw then this will be the one. Draw. Gretna against Motherwell means the Well have an away game at home. Although Gretna have improved of late I can only see a Motherwell win for this one. Motherwell win. Dundee Utd head north to to meet Inverness after their Scottish cup dismissal.Confidence at that defeat and the loss of Robson to Celtic could make all the difference in this one. Craig Brewster has done well in guiding caley to the middle of the league and home advantage aded could tip the scales in a Caley win. Caley win Kilmarnock always make it difficult for rangers at Rugby park but as they sold probably their best player in the transfer window they really shouldn't pose a threat to the league leaders. Killie look now more than likely to finish second bottom and need to keep looking in the rear mirror for an improving gretna team. anything less than a win for Rangers is unthinkable for this one.(Famous last words) Rangers win. Hibs and Aberdeen looks like the best match on paper and to be honest, if i take off my blue glasses, this should have been the televised game. Aberdeen will have gotten a much needed confidence booster after their display against Bayern Munich which will ease the pain of their 5-1 drubbing at home to Celtic last week. Hibs may have the new manager effect with Mixu Paatelainen taking over the reigns but this looks like another draw for me. Draw

Seems strange to have an empty Wednesday in the fixture list with the amount of games we have to fit in. I'm disappointed Hibs turned down the opportunity to play as I'm unsure about how many players they have actually playing a competitive international game, and I can't imagine it is very many if any. The other reason is a Scotland team get together, which to me sounds a bit of a low priority at the moment. It frustrating that two of the games were postponed for reasons which turned out to be fruitless, and I still don't quite get the logic of the OF game being moved. Perhaps we could have played St Mirren instead. The cup replay has added to our woes and am I the only one that dislikes the tempting of fate for the UEFA Cup result, with the replay firstly scheduled for the next round? Seems to me that there is a greater need for a winter break in February than just the common sense of the break itself. There may have been one or two less postponed games for a start and it would allow space in February to catch up on a couple of games postponed from the previous two winter months. And then it could give time for the perennial new Ibrox pitch to bed in. It all seems a bit crazy but with no summer competition to look forward to, there seems plenty of time in May and June to finish the season.

http://www.gersnetonline.net/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=586&Itemid=1 MoM - Whittaker

Saturday, 26 January 2008 Aberdeen v Hearts, 15:00 Hibernian v Gretna, 15:00 Kilmarnock v Dundee Utd, 15:00 Motherwell v Inverness CT, 15:00 Rangers v St Mirren, 15:00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, 27 January 2008 Falkirk v Celtic, 14:00 Aberdeen Hearts looks like a draw to me. Hibs v Gretna well there is a game i would have betted on Hibs a few games ago but Hibs have been rank and Gretna have found a new burst of life. I am still going for the Hibs win though. Kilmarnock v Dundee Utd Utd have signed Mark de Vries as far as i know and i think he will be a handfull for the Killie defence. That added to the form of Barry Robson makes dundee the favourites for me. Motherwell v Inverness The Caley new manager effect, has ground to a hault after their run of good form. Motherwell should be far too strong for them at Fir park Rangers v St Mirren. We are coming in to a run of home games whereas the tims are on the road for three games. Lets hope we win all our home games and the tims drop some points.Rangers to win. Well there's a surprise. Falkirk v Celtic. i still think the tims will be too strong for Falkirk who have been pretty crap recently. We can only hope they pick this game to return to form. celtic will win by a country mile.

As the subject says.

Linky Cannae beat a midweek OF game. Hutton won't be suspended for the OF game as we play Gretna and ICT away before we play the dhims on the 23rd.

Rangers face a fixture backlog after last night's rescheduled Clydesdale Bank Premier League match against St Mirren was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch at Love Street. The latest delay exacerbated a pile-up that already includes outstanding away games against Gretna and Celtic. Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, bemoaned the latest incon-venience as officials at the SPL scoured the calendar to find a suitable alternative date. Ian Blair, the SPL's director of administration, will attempt to address the deepening problem first thing this morning. Finding a new date for the St Mirren game will be the priority since the original match, scheduled for November 10 last year, was cancelled to allow Scotland longer preparation time for their ill-fated Euro 2008 qualification decider against Italy. "Rangers have a lot of midweek games and are also involved in the UEFA Cup," said Blair. "Hopefully, they will be involved in more midweek European games, but it poses a problem for us domestically. advertisement "It is already proving difficult to fit in the outstanding games and this is an added complication for us. We are still trying to find a date for the Old Firm game but we will make the latest cancellation a priority." Rangers will play Gretna - a match postponed from Sunday, December 9 to aid the Ibrox club's Champions League pre-parations against Olympique Lyonnais - at Fir Park next Wednesday and may be permitted to play St Mirren the following midweek, but only if both sides negotiate their Scottish Cup ties without the need for a replay. Tuesday January 22 and Wednesday January 23 are designated as cup replay dates, but the SPL may seek special dispensation to play the match then, provided both clubs are free. Another possibility is to play the St Mirren game on the first midweek of March and delay the league split by playing the outstanding Old Firm fixture, cancelled on January 2 as a mark of respect after the death of Phil O'Donnell, on April 8. Smith will leave it to the administrators to alleviate the increasing burden but admitted that it was an unwanted complication. "There is a difficulty fitting in this game now and we've had enough trouble trying to fit in the Celtic game," said Smith. "We will need to sit down and discuss things again and will just have to fit the two games in somehow." Smith and his St Mirren counterpart, Gus MacPherson, agreed that the referee, Stuart Dougal, was right to postpone last night's game after torrential rain. Dougal made his first inspection at 6.15pm and with no sign of the weather abating decided to call off the match 20 minutes later. "The referee's decision was correct," said Smith. "It was not just a problem with the pitch but driving conditions for the fans on the roads. It is the proper decision." The cancellation has cost St Mirren around �£30,000 in lost television revenue, with Setanta Sports set to screen the match live, but Dougal was more concerned with player safety. "It was a bit of a lottery, or even worse," said Dougal. "It was just about playable after my first inspection but it was clear it was only going to get worse. "I had to take into account player and fan safety. In an ideal world, I would have liked another 15 minutes to make up my mind and but in my heart of hearts I knew it would not have made a difference. "I spoke to both sets of players and they came to the same conclusion." Alan Hutton's future, meanwhile, remains at Ibrox for the foreseeable future after the full- back rejected the latest offer from Tottenham Hotspur. The player and his agent were informed of the improved personal terms of the proposed �£9m transfer but the 23-year-old reiterated his intention to stay in Scotland.

Yesterdays win puts us 1 point clear with 2 games in hand on most and 1 on Celtic (who's game will be a tricky emotional trip to Motherwell). We have a hectic January with re-scheduled games against St Mirren and Gretna. They have to be banker wins but will be awkward games. If we win them then it sets us up nicely to drive onwards. But the best thing at the moment is we have given ourselves this chance following 2 years of being out of it at this stage. We'll also have the OF game to be played again and that game that could say a lot should we win the Gretna and St Mirren games. With the transfer window open and Alan Hutton set to stay on for the mean time it will be interesting to see if anyone leaves or any additions come in. Lets kick on and stay on top and bring the title back home.

0-0 at half time Come on saints keep it the same

Saturday, 8 December 2007 ----------------------------------------------------Time ----------TV Aberdeen v Kilmarnock ---------------------15:00 Celtic v St Mirren -----------------------------15:00 Falkirk v Dundee United -------------------15:00 Hearts v Motherwell ------------------------15:00 Inverness CT v Hibernian ------------------15:00 It will be no news to anyone that the Rangers game against Gretna planned for this weekend, has been cancelled. There are many meanings over the good or bad side of this decision, but the bottom line is, if we are still in the Champions League and hot on Celtics heels next week, then it will be a good decision. If we lose to Lyon and are seven points behind Celtic that decision will be open to criticism. Time will tell! Aberdeen will be bursting with confidence after their win against Hibernian last week. They get a visit from Kilmarnock which brings a clash of heads of two of the managers tipped for the Scotland job. Jimmy Calderwood seems to have pulled Aberdeen out of a rut after they nosedived a few weeks ago. After a decent display in Spain they sparkled against Hibs in a surprising 3-1 win last week. Kilmarnock have lost their last four games and Jim Jefferies will be pulling all the stops to stop the rot, as they free fall down the league. I think Aberdeen will be too strong for Killie who seem to be struggling to find a run of good form this season. Aberdeen win. St Mirren make the short trip from Paisley to Celtic Park,where Celtic will be going all out to pile up the pressure on Rangers at the top of the League. Rangers supporters will be praying for a miracle which Gus McPherson would love to give us, but the Buddies have been struggling of late, and there are no reasons to think Saturday will be any different. Celtic win. Dundee United had a shock defeat at home to Inverness last week, and have another banana skin to avoid this week, when they visit the Falkirk stadium. United funnily enough have been blowing hot and cold since they lost to Gretna, when a win would have seen them top the league. Falkirk on the other hand hit the form last week that made them one of the most attractive footballing teams last term. They thrashed St Mirren at Love street 5-1. On their day Falkirk can give everyone a difficult time and even when rangers beat them 7-2 they were at times the better team. I am going for a Falkirk win but this one could go anyway. Falkirk win. Hearts v Motherwell is another game that is very difficult to predict as both teams can play super one week and crap the next. Motherwell are more consistent but if Hearts hit form then there are not many teams in the SPL that can live with them, and they have beaten both the old firm this season. Motherwell are not a team who will go and defend so this could be the best game for the neutral supporter. All in all my gut feeling is that Hearts will win but i won�t be putting any money on it. Hearts win. Inverness meet a Hibs team who will be trying to kick start their early season form. They have only managed a scrappy win against Gretna in recent weeks and were outplayed against a rejuvenated Aberdeen team at Pittodrie last week. Inverness on the other hand had a poor start to the season but have had a good spell since Craig Brewster took over. Hibs have been playing so bad lately that I think they are due a turn in form. Inverness are the perfect team to try and change things. Hibs win.

IAN DURRANT will field a strong side as Rangers' bid to keep pace with the teams in the top half of the SPL Reserve League continues tonight at Falkirk. Thomas BuffelWhen the full first-team squad was in Germany for last week's Champions League tie with Stuttgart, a young second string - with Tommy Wilson at the helm - went down 3-0 to leaders St Mirren at Broadwood. That result left Gers 13 points adrift of the Buddies on 15 points beside Hibernian, the Bairns and Kilmarnock and with each of them in action today, it is important Durrant's men do not lose further ground. They will have high hopes of returning to winning ways this evening at Westfield, where seven members of Walter Smith's main pool are in line to play. Thomas Buffel and Chris Burke, both of whom have impressed in recent weeks, will be in action alongside Charlie Adam and Alan Gow. Ugo Ehiogu and Kirk Broadfoot will also be deployed as part of a more experienced side, with Graeme Smith replacing Calum Reidford in goals. Kick-off is at 7pm so get along to the Falkirk Stadium and support the team!

RANGERS have asked the SPL for permission to postpone next Sunday's league meeting with Gretna at Fir Park in order to give Walter Smith's squad more time to prepare for the Champions League showdown with Lyon. The Light Blues' recent trip to St Mirren was cancelled, as was Celtic's home game with Falkirk, so that Scotland's Old Firm players would not pick up injuries before the Euro 2008 qualifier with Italy. Although asking for the clash with the Borderers could lead to a fixtures backlog, chief executive Martin Bain hopes the SPL will support Gers' bid to progress to the last 16 of Europe's premier club competition by agreeing to put it off. Rangers must avoid defeat against Alain Perrin's Ligue 1 title holders to go through to the knockout stages of the event with Barcelona. Having the match with last season's First Division champions moved back would give Smith and his players 11 days to get ready for the biggest game of the season so far and improve their chances of reaching the latter rounds. A club spokesman said: "Following media enquiries Rangers can confirm that we have approached the SPL and Gretna Football Club this week to seek the postponement of our fixture at Fir Park on Sunday December 9 in lieu of our Champions League match with Lyon."

Saturday, 24 November 2007 ----------------------------------------------Time ---TV Falkirk v Rangers------------------------- 12:30--------*** Celtic v Aberdeen------------------------ 15:00 Hibernian v Dundee United-----------------15:00 Inverness CT v St Mirren-----------------15:00 Kilmarnock v Motherwell-------------------15:00 Sunday, 25 November 2007 ------------------------------------------- Time--- TV Gretna v Hearts ---------------------------14:00---*** Rangers head to the Falkirk stadium on Saturday for a 12.30 kick-off. Falkirk have not been able to hit the heights this season like they did last season. A word of warning for us should be that it was around this time last year that Falkirk started to get their game together. Russell Latapy remains a special player but a good Rangers midfield should be able to dominate the game and close down Falkirk in their own half. I don�t expect a repeat of the 7-2 score line but this is a game we should not dream of losing points. If we do then we really have to doubt our SPL chances. Rangers win Celtic will not have it easy against an Aberdeen team that has been growing in confidence. Aberdeen are the Jekyll and Hyde of Scottish football. They can come out and be brilliant one week and the next lose without putting up a fight. They have given Celtic a good game at Parkhead in recent years but always seem to lose out in the end. Probably a game that will be 1-1 until five minutes to go and Celtic win 3-1. Celtic win. Hibs against Dundee utd is a game we will be hoping for a draw. I think Dundee are the better team at the moment but Hibs have home advantage and on their day are second to none. They have shown that by beating both Rangers and Celtic this year. Both teams seem to rise to the big occasion but flop against the minnows. This could be the game that anything can happen but i am going to go for a Hibs win as i think they have more fighting spirit. Hibs win. Inverness against St Mirren is my draw tip for the week. Inverness had a great manager change period, but seem to be coming back down to earth in recent weeks. St Mirren have made it difficult for better teams than Inverness so i can only see a draw here. Draw. Kilmarnock get a visit from Motherwell. On form it should be a win for Motherwell but Killie are also a team who at home can wrestle a win. Motherwell play attacking football home and away so the fact it is at Rugby park won�t make them change their system. This game can go anyway really as both teams will probably be fighting for the fifth and sixth spot at the end of the season.I will go for the attacking game of the Steelmen to get the points here. Motherwell win. Gretna meet Hearts at Fir park and to be honest I find it hard to say anything positive over the marriage men. In fact I find it hard to say anything positive about anything to do with marriage. Joking apart I think Hearts will be too strong for Gretna and the highlight for me in this game will be watching Laryea Kingston for the reason that we are said to be interested in him. Every week and every defeat puts Gretna nearer where they belong in the lower leagues. A team from a village with a population of 3000 people is not bringing anything to the SPL and the quicker they return to the lower leagues the better. Brooks Mileson would be better putting his money in a team with the possibility of getting some supporters through the gates like Dundee or St Johnstone. I will admit not playing at Raydale park hasn�t helped them and they probably would be tough to beat there, but the chances of them building up a decent following are very slim. Hearts win.

Saturday, 10 November 2007---------Time--------------TV Dundee United v Kilmarnock-----------15:00 Gretna v Hibernian--------------------15:00 Inverness CT v Motherwell------------15:00 Sunday, 11 November 2007-----------Time--------------TV Hearts v Aberdeen--------------------15--------------Setanta With the Rangers and Celtic games cancelled due to the International game next week the programme has been shortened to four games. Dundee United will be looking to get back on track after their defeat to Aberdeen, when they meet Kilmarnock on Saturday. They will be without two of their most influental player's though as Barry Robson and Lee Wilkie are suspended after both recieving a red card against Aberdeen. Killie have been getting back on form as late and were really quite unlucky not to get a point against Celtic after an inspired second half display. I think the loss of Robson and Wilkie, will make a big difference to the united side and fancy Killie for a draw. DRAW Gretna meet Hibs at Fir park and for me there is only one winner in this one. Gretna are slowly sliding towards a return to the first division and the question must be asked if the price they have payed for their instant upsurge will have a long term effect on their club.Hibs have been in poor form of late losing to St Mirren and drawing with Hearts in their last two games. A meeting with Gretna will be just what the doctor ordered. Hibs win. Inverness are at home to Motherwell and a few games ago i would have gone for Motherwell to win. Now i feel that Caley have got up and running and Motherwell have dropped down a gear. I think Craig Brewster has got his team up to a level that i am going to go for a Caley win on this one. Inverness win. On Sunday Aberdeen travel down to Edinburgh to meet Hearts at Tynecastle. Aberdeen have found a rich vain of form of late and Whipped Dundee United 2-0 in their last game. With Hearts you never know what you are gong to get. they can be brilliant one week and garbage the next. I am going for the draw on this one but to be honest it is a cossroads, it can go in all directions. Draw. Fixture announcement!!! Celtic v Falkirk Now 11/12/07, 7.45pm Hibernian v Rangers Now 29/12/07, 12.30pm Live on Setanta Sports Celtic v Rangers Now 02/01/08, 12.30pm Live on Setanta Sports Celtic three day's after playing Hibs must be a huge handicap for us Two of the most difficult away games in a three day period. These games could be crucial as to who will win the the league.

Saturday, 3 November 2007 Time Res Att Tab TV Kilmarnock v Celtic------------ 12:30-----------------------*** Aberdeen v Dundee United------15:00 Falkirk v Gretna-----------------15:00 Motherwell v St Mirren----------15:00 Rangers v Inverness CT---------15:00 Sorry for the late entry but i can only say i was busy doing nothing. Apart from that i fought to make a Taxi that i didn't find good enough so ended up dumping it. Kilmarnock took points off Celtic in the first game of the season but have struggled really until they had a good result last week against Hearts. I have went the whole season picking Celtic for a win but i see a draw on the horizon here so my choice is. Draw Aberdeen against Dundee utd looks like a draw on paper but i think Aberdeen will win this one so i am going for an Aberdeen win. Aberdeen win. Falkirk against Gretna can only have one result for me and that is a Falkirk win. I still question if a rich man bringing a club like Gretna with a small fan base to the highest level is good for any parties. Firstly they need a stadium that can never be filled and secondly as Rangers fans know a chairman can turn the money tap closed to leave the club in financial problems. Falkirk win Motherwell - StMirren This is the best chance of a draw for me as SMirren as St Mirren have been difficult to break downin recent weeks and have a knack of even snatching the odd win. Motherwell will trying to get back on track but i fancy this for a draw. Draw. Even although we lost to Inverness at Ibrox last season i don't see it happening today. Inverness will try to get players behind the ball and close down the midfield quickly. A lot will depend on getting the first goal i feel if we get that goal early, then we will go on to get three or four. If we struggle to get that opening goal then it will get harder and harder to break Caley down as they grow in confidence. If we have any asperations of winning the league then we have to win these games. Rangers win. Sunday, 4 November 2007-------Time--------TV Hibernian v Hearts---------------14:00 ------*** Sorry forgot the Sunday Game. Hibs win.

------------------------------time-----------TV Celtic v Motherwell------------15:00 Gretna v Inverness CT---------15:00 Hibernian v St Mirren-----------15:00 Kilmarnock v Hearts------------15:00 Sunday, 28 October 2007 Time-----------------TV Dundee United v Rangers-------14:00---------*** Aberdeen v Falkirk-------------15:00 A great looking fixture list for this weekend with four of the top five playing each other. Only Hibs seem to have a slightly easier game. Celtic-v-Motherwell. Celtic have been struggling of late with a very lucky last minute win against bottom team Gretna after being behind 1-0 for 85 minutes. Then a decisive 3-0 defeat at the hands of Rangers at Ibrox last week, followed by a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Benfica in the champions League. If there is a team at the moment you would not want to meet on that form then Motherwell springs directly to mind. Motherwell have been playing some of the best football in the SPL this season and Mark McGhee will be urging his players to have a go at a injury hit Celtic team. At Fir park i would go for Motherwell but i think Celtic will still be strong enough at home to win the points. Celtic win. Gretna-v- Inverness. Craig Brewster has got Caley going again and i would expect them to be too strong for a Gretna side that look more and more like the strongest candidates to drop back to the first division. Their defeat by St Mirren last time out means they are losing points to the teams they need to beat to secure a SPL place next season. Inverness also fall into that category if Gretna want SPL football next seson they have to win these games. I don't see Gretna beating Inverness. Inverness win Hibernian-v-ST Mirren. This would be easy to say a certain Hibs win but St Mirren are a team you have to be sharp to beat. They can grind out results as they make it hard for opposing teams. Hibs lost to Motherwell last week but played most of the game with ten men. If Hibs play to form then they should win but any weakness could see St Mirren grind out at least a draw. Hibs win. Kilmarnock-v-Hearts. Of all the teams Hearts are the Jekyll and Hyde of the SPL. A great game one week and an atrocious game the next. Before last week they seemed to have hit form but at home against a good Dundee united team they were always playing second fiddle. Kilmarnock are a refined middle of the league team who you need to be at your best to beat, but have had attacking problems this year. This game depends on what Hearts team turns up but i fancy it as a Draw, Draw. Dundee United-v-Rangers. Once again Rangers seem to get the inform team. It happened at Motherwell and Hibs and now at Dundee UTD. If you only look at October then United would in fact be top of the league as they were the only team not to drop points. This will be a game where we really have to be at our best to get the win. I can't see Dundee Utd beating us but they could grind out a draw and we really have to be sharp. Hopefully we can get a result as it would be a shame to undo the good work we put in last week. Rangers Win. Aberdeen- v- Falkirk. Aberdeen come back from a disappointing defeat at the hands(or feet) of Panathanikos, As they played on Thursday then they could suffer from Fatigue but i would expect them to get back on song and beat Falkirk to keep up their fight for a Euro place next year. John Hughes wants to play attacking football but to be honest he will have to rethink that strategy if results keep going against him, if he wants to keep his job. Even allowing for Jet-lag i think the Sheep will win and keep up their fight for that Euro place. Aberdeen win.

There is talk that the SPL / SFA want to re-schedule Rangers trip to St Mirren and Celtics home game with Falkirk on November 10 in order to protect the Scottish players from potential injury in order they are fit for Scotlands game against Italy. Personally I think this is a good idea and the clubs should aid the national team in such a huge game. We need Ferguson, Hutton, McCulloch, Weir, Brown, McManus and probably Hartley all fully fit and at top of their game for the Italy game. I can see a few fans thinking the games shouldnt be touched and I can kind of see there point of view. But Id rather see Scotland get to the Euro's next summer and for the sake of 1 saturday, if it helps, then I think its a good idea. Thoughts?

Saturday, 6 October 2007 _____________________________________Time_____TV Dundee United v Motherwell_____________15:00 Hearts v Falkirk________________________15:00 Kilmarnock v Inverness CT_______________15:00 Rangers v Hibernian____________________15:00 Sunday, 7 October 2007 Aberdeen v St Mirren____________________15:00 Gretna v Celtic_________________________15:00____** Looking at the fixtures, we can see that it is Rangers who have the most difficult fixture again this weekend, with a visit to Ibrox of third placed Hibs. Hibs have been playing well of late with a win over Celtic at Easter Road the most noticeable result. Away from home they have mostly recorded draws with only a win at Tynecastle on day one giving them three points. Rangers have yet to drop a point at Ibrox and their confidence will be sky high after Tuesdays 3-0 win in Lyon. Lets hope it is confidence and not complacency. If Rangers are going to be real title contenders then we have to take these matches in our stride. Rangers should take the three points but it won�t be easy we will have to come out fighting from the start. Rangers win. Dundee United and Motherwell cross swords at Tannadice on Saturday. Motherwell are probably showing the best form in the SPL at the moment with a draw against Rangers last week, and a 4-1 win in the CIS cup against Hibs a few days earlier. United had the chance to top the league a few weeks ago, but two defeats in their last two games see them in fourth place on the same points as Motherwell, with United having a better goal difference. I fancy Motherwell to keep their good form going and get the win. Motherwell win. Hearts welcome Falkirk to Tynecastle and will be hoping that there recent run of form will continue against a Falkirk team that have lost their way this season. Hearts have in fact only beat Rangers at home this season with a loss to Hibs and a draw against Gretna the other scores. If Falkirk are wanting to avoid a relegation fight then they must start to find the form that gave them so many plaudits last season. I would think Hearts will come out on top on this one and continue to climb the league. Hearts win. Kilmarnock and Inverness meet at Rugby park and is in my eyes is the most difficult game to predict. Inverness have hit a vain of form winning their last two league games. Kilmarnock have been the strongest of the small teams for the last few years but they have been showing poor form of late, mostly lacking imagination to break down defenses. Apart from Hibs scoring four goals against Kilmarnock, they have been pretty solid at the back losing very few goals. I feel this could be the goalless draw game of the week. Draw St Mirren go up to Pittodrie on Sunday to meet an Aberdeen team riding on a high after qualifying for the UEFA group stages. This also means since Aberdeen played on Thursday evening and having had a journey home from the Ukraine, they may have a degree of tiredness in their legs. If I was Gus McPherson I would tell my team to keep the tempo of the game high, in the hope that Aberdeen tire. St Mirren are hard to break down and with Aberdeen having heavy legs I fancy another draw for this one as well. Draw, Celtic travel to fir park to take on bottom of the league Gretna and why Setanta have chosen this for their live game I will never know. Surely Rangers- Hibs or even Dundee united- Motherwell would be far better viewing, I suppose it is that Irish thing, Celtic are Also on a high after their win against AC Milan and will probably give some of their fringe players a place to rest other players. They may wait until they are a couple of goals up to make some changes though. I don�t think even the most optimistic amongst us think Gretna can get anything from this game. Celtic Win

Rangers visit to Fir park to meet the steelmen turned out to be a heavy metal affair. Motherwell had a Golden first half and Rangers looked like they had lead in their boots. Motherwell opened the scoring with a goal from Chris Porter but it looked like Rangers were carrying so much excess baggage, that it was us that needed a porter. In the second half we got back on level terms but we couldnâ��t grind down the steelmens armour. In the back ground Jean-Michel Aulas the Lyon Chairman sayâ��s heâ��s going to feed fergie a bottle of whisky before the Lyon game mocking our drinking culture. Funny coming from a frog as they drink wine instead of water. I guess he was jaked up on a chateaux d�©conner(bullshit). He should get a job as a stand up comic in an old folks home. He wonâ��t make people laugh but theyâ��ll still wet themselves Dundee United visited Parkhead and were sickened by McDonald. Well most of times I have been to Mcdonalds I came back with the schitters. Wee Gordie said after the game he played with the players brains. So now he is a miracle worker. What Celtic player has a brain? If he takes a pool of eighteen players he might have enough to make a babies rattle to play with. It was suggested over the last few weeks that the Celtic defense was weak. So they bring in the ex-minister of defense as chairman. If they had said there was a hole in their defense they would have brought in a bunch of Irish navies to fill it in. When asked if Nakamura would be fit for Wednesday Gordie said I donâ��t know he was eating a sandwich and he didnâ��t have an interpreter . Gordie if you speak slow and articulate we maybe understand you without an interpreter. Up at Aberdeen the Sheep were beating the marriage men but seemingly they only could think of Europe. Jimmy Calderwood said the Aberdeen team of euro winners is haunting them. It looks like every team in the SPL except Gretna is haunting them. It is so long ago since Aberdeen were in Europe that Jimmy tried to hire the Hindenburg Zeppelin for the journey. Hearts beat St Mirrren but were blamed for diving. Nah no chance, there were no Lithuanians in the team. Ohh were not allowed to mention Lithuanians and diving as Gordon Smith found out. He has been reported to UEFA . I suppose we will need to say, using the laws of gravity in the future. Funny thing is it was a St Mirren player booked for diving on Sunday. What a difference a few weeks and a new manager are making for Inverness. They beat falkirk 4-2 to leave Gretna stranded at the bottom of the league. Before the game John Hughes said he needed 4 new players. On Saturday he would have had enough with one. DENNIS WYNESS. The SFA have stopped a pet food manufacturer sponsoring Gretna. A spokesman said we couldnâ��t have Gretna players playing with Winalot on their shirts. Taxi!!!

Well no points for guessing where I�m going to start on taxi this week. Yes it�s the one and only: Arturs Ridiculous Terrible Utter Repulsive Blunders Oversees Rangers upturn Celtic. Even Al Capone couldn�t have got anyone to throw a game any better than (butter)fingers Boruc. Seemingly after the game Artur asked the police to arrest the ball for inciting a riot. He said it kept crossing the line. Wee Gordie was at first worried that Boruc may have goalkeepers disease, but then realized big Art had no chance of catching it. Well I suppose Artur�s had enough for one week so I�ll drop the subject.(oops) Wee Chesney was in brilliant form after the game, saying, Celtic played their best game in Edinburgh since he took over. It is a pity for Hibs the interview was done in the tunnel, if he had of spouted that manure on the pitch, Hibs would have had the greenest grass in Scotland for their next home game. Gordie suggested that, Easter road seems to be the Bermuda triangle for Goalkeepers. Nah! Gordy, even the Bermuda triangle has got three points. According to reports Celtic and OJ Simpson have a lot in common. They both lack a strong defence Craig Leveign took the Arabs to Fir park to meet Gretna with the chance of going top. The Sultan wanted his men to play like Arab warriors but instead they played like a bunch of camels and got humped. Gretna pulled them on to the cold steel, or was it the hot Irons. The Gorgie Herdsmen of Hearts took their flocks up to Inverness to feed on Lush thistle. It was big Craig Brewster that caught them grazing, and administered a lethal jag. Russell Latapy scoring for Falkirk against Motherwell meant that the two oldest codgers in the SPL had scored this weekend. Certainly a case of age before beauty. Graham Smith had a wee flap at the goal. The next time he should try for the ball Kilmarnock and St Mirren fought out a boring 0-0 draw. It was said, only the empty seats enjoyed the game. Troubles started for Aberdeen hours before the Rangers game. An Aberdeen supporter and his girlfriend were stopped from travelling down to Glasgow. The girlfriend was found to have the bluetongue sickness. A spokesman for the club said "if she was found to have a blue nose she would probably have been culled." As Jimmy Calderwood was walking to the bus, he was asked when Aberdeen kicked off? About every twenty-five minutes he replied. After their 3-0 defeat by Rangers Jimmy admitted even in defeat. " I still find these players are my wonder players. Every time I pick them I wonder WHY!!!!!" TAXi!!!!!

In Pete's absence I'll quickly do this: Saturday, 22 September 2007 Falkirk v Motherwell, 15:00 Gretna v Dundee Utd, 15:00 Inverness CT v Hearts, 15:00 Kilmarnock v St Mirren, 15:00 Sunday, 23 September 2007 Hibernian v Celtic, 14:00 Rangers v Aberdeen, 15:00 Mark McGhee's Motherwell have been impressive so far this season and following their win in Aberdeen last week they make the trip to Falkirk who are conceding goals for fun despite trying to play a bit of football. This game doesnt look attractive on paper but probably wont be a bad match for the viewer. Id say a narrow 2-1 to Motherwell but a draw wouldnt send any shock waves. Gretna are now finding their feet in the SPL and may be getting used to playing at Fir Park. They entertain Dundee Utd who were my tip for a top 5 finish this season. Craig Levein has got something about him with this team and they are IMO back as a top 6 team where they belong. They have a winning streak about them and the chairman is getting on well with the manager and morale is high. I cant see anything other than an away win here. Hearts have finally kicked off there season with 2 good wins at Motherwell then against Rangers. They play a Caley side who are being beaten every week despite Craig Brewster returning to the team. Brewster has been a bit unlucky fixture wise since returning with trips to Hibs and Celtic so will expect better in his first home game in charge. I can see a draw here although Hearts will start as favourites. Kilmarnock v St Mirren - This has to be a banker home win. Killie have started well and have a chance to open up a gap between them and the bottom clubs here. The Saints are a never say die team but they dont have the quality to win every other game. 2-0 to Killie. Easter Road arguably has the game of the weekend on Sunday. Hibs are playing well again this season and are tough to beat at home. They have started well and like always will fancy there chances of getting something when the Old Firm come to the captial. Celtic are coming of the back of another away loss in europe despite a good winning run in the SPL. Should be an entertaining game and a score draw would be my prediction. Finally the other game of the weekend see's rivals Rangers and Aberdeen meet. The home side are on a high after getting their champions league campaign off to a winning start. They lost last time out in the SPL for the first time this season so that will be in the back of there minds and spur them back onto winnings ways. The Dons travel down to Glasgow with a disappointing return to Europe. They only managed a 0-0 with there Ukrainian opponents and now have it all to do in the 2nd leg. They havent won at Ibrox since 1991 and that will remain the same - I cant see anything other than a banker home win by 2 or 3 goals.

So is this just a one off or did we get carried away with our good start? Remember today was our first test against one of the so called better SPL Sides as we have only played Falkirk, Gretna, St Mirren and Caley up until today - the 4 worst teams in the league. IMO we have great cover in every position in the team but we still have a number of average players playing in the starting XI: McGregor (Has had a good defence ahead of him and silly challenge today) Whittaker (early to judge but he looks poor IMO) Beasley (weak) Thomson (hasnt impressed me at all since coming in and has moved Hemdani to the stands - absolute baffling), Boyd (Still isnt mobile when Novo, Naismith, Darcheville and Sebo all are) I think when Ferguson, Hemdani and McCulloch are all in the midfield we look much stronger.