Scandal of our Opening Fixtures

[DMAA 3,603]

Only one team has 3 away games in their first 4 fixures, Rangers.

Only one team has 1 away game in their first 4 fixures, Celtic.

Location of first old firm game? Parkhead.

 

How is that even allowed? That game should be at Ibrox, they've broken the natural home-away rhythm in order to send us there first.

 

Our success thus far in Europe has compounded this issue, and particularly an away game a 9 and a half hour flight away 3 days before Parkhead.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/08/25/steven-gerrard-concerned-three-away-fixtures-week-may-take-toll/

[onevision 1,442]

Has it not always been the case that the fixtures against THEM get reversed each year?

Who ever is at home last match of the season is at home first the following season.

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,476]

Not sure if it's a scandal? The way I see it is if you want to be successful you have to win your games, regardless if they are home or away. Look at this way, if we had avoided the 2 late goals in our away games we be sitting on 9 pts and we wouldn't be talking about this.

[buster. 4,808]

When I looked at the fixtures back in June I thought we had likely been given an advantage wrt preperation for the OF game.

 

I thought Celtic would be involved in Europe this week and that we would probably already be out.

 

 

As we all know, instead, we have had an excellent run in the qualifiers and are very much still in the thick of it.

 

What has thrown a spanner into the works is that we've been given some salt to add to the sweet draw of Ufa or Progres and that is a LONG trip into the depths of Russia, three days prior to the OF game. The only consolation is that Celtic will be playing on the Thursday as well, all be it in Glasgow against relatively poor opposition, opposed to Tuesday/Wednesday in CL.

 

---------------

 

I don't think SG should speak too much about it prior to the matches. Don't give the players readymade excuses.

 

 

[DMAA 3,603]

27 minutes ago, onevision said:

Has it not always been the case that the fixtures against THEM get reversed each year?

Who ever is at home last match of the season is at home first the following season.

That's not the point though, the problem isn't that we're playing them first. The problem is that home-away rhythm is being broken up resulting in us having had 3/4 games away and them 1/4.

 

If we were playing them first it should have been within the home-away order. A lot of people think we are invincible just now but 3 away games in 4 (never mind the venues we got) is a very tough start which nobody else has had to do, or normally would have to do.

 

It seems as though the natural order of fixtures has been altered giving Gerrard a baptism of fire.

Edited August 28, 2018 by DMAA

[DMAA 3,603]

5 minutes ago, buster. said:

I don't think SG should speak too much about it prior to the matches. Don't give the players readymade excuses.

Very much agree with that, you don't want the players thinking about it.

[Darthter 542]

We only see this as a "conspiracy" coz it's our games - any other team & we wouldn't be caring.

 

It is, what it is....nothing we can do about it.  All games have to be played one way or another.  No excuses.

[der Berliner 3,245]

Well, while the reverse of the fixture list of last season, i.e. first away to the Scum, the Sheep and Hibs, the games we got first were sure of no help. Starting away to Aberdeen, then going to a ground where hardly anyone of the OF picked up many points last season and then away to them at the weekend after a 6.000 km journey on Thursday night / Friday. Obviously, no-one "could have foreseen" that we'd still be in Europe by now, but likewise, one might have spread the difficult ties over the first quarter of the season, rather than pack them in the midst of our European campaign. Given that it would ease the task for any Scottish side. They can do it with the league cup too, as we know. But ever since 2008 I have lost any respect or faith into anything SFA and SPFL ... and they have made sure time and again that this is very much alive and kicking.

[compo 6,133]

Who cares bring them on .

[DMAA 3,603]

28 minutes ago, der Berliner said:

but likewise, one might have spread the difficult ties over the first quarter of the season, rather than pack them in the midst of our European campaign

This is a big part of what I find annoying about it. It's just a fact that no team had to play 3 away games in 4, we should all be playing home-away-home-away.

 

But even hypothetically if any team had to, why on earth should it be 1 of the 4 teams representing Scotland in Europe during this period? As you've said, brings back memories of 2008, other countries do whatever they can to help the teams representing them in Europe but in Scotland, if anything, they make it as hard as they can for us.

 

1 hour ago, BlackSocksRedTops said:

Look at this way, if we had avoided the 2 late goals in our away games we be sitting on 9 pts and we wouldn't be talking about this.

And do you think we'd have been clinging on to 1 goal leads in those games if we were at Ibrox? I don't think so. If we were given home-away-home-away like everyone else we would have been facing Aberden at Ibrox.

Edited August 28, 2018 by DMAA