The deal of the century?

The ink has only just dried on the contract, but already the fall-out from the deal that will save quite a few of the SPL clubs is starting to accumulate.

At a meeting held at Hampden yesterday afternoon, the 12 clubs that make up the SPL voted to accept a combined ESPN/Sky TV deal worth £65m which will see the broadcasters show 60 games between now and the end of the 2011/12 season. The deal also included an option to extend the contract for a further two years after that.

On the surface, it would be easy to think that all parties to the negotiations walked away from the table with broad smiles on their faces. In what looks like a win-win situation, member clubs get the security of a fixed income for the next few years, while ESPN/Sky adds more product to their already expansive portfolio of football goodness. And for the fans and the clubs, this means transfer money and the prospect of new signings, together with the ability to view their teams in glorious HD-O-vision.

But as the day wore on details started to emerge from the meeting - and it would appear that not everyone was overjoyed at the decision.

Quite simply, the SPL faced a tricky situation. Caught on the back foot and dealt a weak hand going into the negotiations - especially as Rangers and Celtic, the aces in the pack, where busy putting together their own deal - the league and its member teams had no alternative. Finding themselves looking for a deal that would assure the clubs of at least some income (reduced as it would be by some £60m), the league acquiesced.

The vote that required an 8-4 majority was carried in favour of acceptance, but according to St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour, it was not carried unanimously. Although the exact nature of the vote will not be released it is safe to assume that both halves of the Old Firm voted against the deal, with the rest voting in favour.

Lex Gold, chairman of the SPL, said: "We are pleased that in just over three weeks we have been able to strike this deal".

The statement would imply that furious behind-the-scenes negotiations where taking place to secure an even better deal for the SPL, but the harsh reality is that ESPN/Sky where holding all the cards. The league had been under pressure for some weeks now to secure funding for the upcoming season, in a climate in which Scottish sport generally has been taking a battering from all sides. Earlier on this month, the kit suppliers to the Scottish national side, Diadora, went into liquidation, as did Canterbury, a New Zealand company that supplied kits to the Scottish Rugby Union.

The biggest critics of this new TV deal have been the Old Firm. Both clubs have issued statements in the last few hours voicing their opposition to the deal, but have agreed to go along with the wishes of the other teams. The question though is for how long they're prepared to continue letting the tail wag the dog.

Both Rangers and Celtic, along with Aberdeen, had been against signing up with Setanta in the first place, citing their concern over the future financial viability of Setanta. The three teams preferred to enter into the deal offered by BSkyB, which, though worth less money, they felt provided more security. The other nine SPL teams however thought the risk was worth it, especially when taking into account the enormous sums of money on offer at the time. And so, the SPL entered into the now infamous deal with Setanta, valued at approximately £31 million a season, and which is to this date still the most lucrative TV contract in Scottish football history.

We all know what happened next. Setanta overstretched themselves with the various packages they purchased and failed to meet already ambitious subscriber targets, targets which looked even more unrealistic when Setanta won only one of the six big EPL football packages on offer. The Irish broadcaster went into liquidation at the beginning of June, an outstanding payment of £3m to the SPL being paid by the SPL themselves in order - it has been reported - to save some senior clubs from financial ruin.

It emerged in recent days that both Rangers and Celtic had been in private negotiations to launch a bid to purchase the TV rights themselves, given the combined ESPN/Sky deal was very low (£60m less than the previous Setanta deal). But whether the Old Firm would have been able to put together not just the financial package but also the infrastructure to broadcast the games was remains doubtful.

Some saw the move as an attempt to force ESPN/Sky into increasing their offer, using the four Old Firm games as leverage, as these are undoubtedly the biggest draw to any broadcaster looking to show Scottish games. If this was indeed the strategy behind the Old Firm move, then it was one always doomed to fail: both ESPN/Sky make enough money from the EPL rights they have picked up following Setanta's demise that the additional SPL revenue would be a mere drop in the ocean.

Simply put, ESPN/Sky could take it, or they could leave it.

Perhaps in a move to save the deal before ESPN/Sky walked away, the SPL met at Hampden and held a vote on accepting the deal, foregoing its own rule that member clubs must be given two weeks advance notice ahead of any vote on such issues. This didn't go down well with the Old Firm who felt they where not given enough time to put together an alternative offer. But while both clubs have stated that they'll comply with the wishes of the SPL (they have little choice), Celtic chairman John Reid has said he's bitter at having been locked into a deal that will cost his club some £70m over the terms of the contract.

The armchair fans can now look forward to watching 60 games a season, split between Sky and ESPN. For those lucky enough to already have Sky, the games will be free, but those games shown on ESPN, they'll have to pay an extra £9 (if already a Sky subscriber) or £12.99 on a pay-per-view basis.

That neither Rangers or Celtic are happy with the new deal means that while peace reigns for now, don't expect this to continue. John Reid has said that both his club Celtic and Rangers would "continue to consider alternative plans for the future", meaning that at the end of 2011/12 season, another debate will no doubt rage the future of televised Scottish football and who owns it, and who is going to be showing it.

And they're right to force the discussion.

We have already seen that putting all your eggs in one commercial basket, no matter how large that basket may be, carries with it a big risk. We've seen in the days and weeks following the collapse of Setanta just how many clubs counted their chickens before they hatched. We are currently in the middle of an global recession the world had not seen for a long time, and while ESPN and Sky are both thriving now, what guarantee is there that this state of affairs will continue into the future?

Both ESPN and Sky have bet heavily on the continuing appeal of the EPL, but the balance of power seems to be shifting away from the English leagues, and over to La Liga. Spain, reigning European Champions and tipped by many for a glittering World Cup 2010 campaign would appear to be the place to be.

Real Madrid have spent more money on three players than the entire Setanta deal would have paid out over the duration of their deal with the SPL had they survived. With Barcelona installed as the current Champions League winners, it is to Spain that the big guns are heading - no doubt lured by big money, a lovely climate, away from the top clubs in England, with its 50% tax rate and overly physical play, if Andrei Arshavin and Ronaldo are to be believed.

If the appeal of the EPL is indeed declining (evidenced by the lack of activity in the transfer window of players coming to play in the EPL), it's not unreasonable to expect both ESPN and Sky to be looking to renegotiate their deals in years to come. And if that happens, you only need to look at the debacle in Scotland to see what that would mean.

Perhaps the SPL should have given the Old Firm more time to put together an alternative. Perhaps this alternative could have seen the clubs take ownership of their own TV rights, removing the dangers of tying themselves to deals with companies as much at risk as any other in this fragile economic climate. We'll never know.

In the boardrooms of the clubs outside of Glasgow, sighs of relief can be heard. In the medium-to-short term, Scottish football can continue. Perhaps not with the grand plans it had a year ago when the Setanta deal was signed, but continue it will.

For now.

For more articles about Scottish football, please visit Inside Left.

The 2008/09 Scottish Season Review

Take down the nets, pull up the corner flags; fetch the stray balls from off the roof of the main stand and switch off the floodlights for the last time, for another season of football in Scotland has come to a close. 

A long time ago, on another web site all about the beautiful game north o' the border, I put together a season preview wherein, using nothing more than a league table, a blindfold and a sharp

implement I predicted the outcome of the 2008/09 season in Scotland. Looking back on it now I wasn't that far out in some cases, completely off the chart in others, and prophetic in others.

As usual, one half of the Old Firm won the league. 

Rangers' final day victory over Dundee United brought to an end Celtic's three-year long dominance of the SPL title. For Rangers, it marks the end of a season in which Walter Smith really pulled the irons out of the fire following a truly dreadful start to the season. After going down 2-1 on aggregate to FBK Kaunas in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and the (some say forced) sale of Carlos Cuellar to Aston Villa, Rangers could focus on the League, doing what they do every season, namely chase and harass Celtic all the way.

 

Along the way we had ‘Boyd-gate’ (where Scotland’s top scorer and Rangers striker Kris Boyd walked out on the Scottish national side), ‘booze-gate’ and subsequently ‘vicky-gate’, where keeper Allan McGregor and club captain Barry Ferguson where caught  in an after-hours drinking session and then caught giving the world’s press the two-fingered salute from the bench. Both players where banned from ever playing for Scotland again and both where dropped by Rangers for the rest of the season.

 

Rangers kept up the chase however, twice clawing back huge Celtic leads and getting the results when it mattered, while Celtic spluttered along. Though not the best Rangers side we’ve seen for a while, they’re certainly worthy winners.  There's been much talk and speculation about the future of Walter Smith with many expecting him (and wanting him, in some quarters) to move upstairs in favour of his assistant Ally McCoist. The temptation of one more season in charge, particularly now that there’s Champions League football to look forward too may keep McCoist out of the hot seat for a bit longer.  The revenue that Champions League football will bring will also secure the club’s finances, the state of which has been a matter of much debate during the season.

 

Celtic finished second and will no doubt look back on this season and wonder how they  managed to lose the league when, at two points during the campaign, they where so far ahead of the Ibrox side that imagining anything other than Strachan's fourth title in a row would be considered an act of sheer lunacy.

 

But lose it they did, not at Parkhead last Sunday, but at Tynecastle, Tannadice and Easter Road, where all those drawn games would go on to make all the difference. When it was announced on Monday afternoon that Strachan had resigned from his post at Parkhead, there were few surprised faces around the country. The cheeky, razor-sharp wit that had made Strachan so popular and quotable over the years had disappeared, the pressure of high expectation that life at the helm of the Old Firm sides brings with it giving way to cynicism, indifference and apathy, an apathy that was very much on display in the lacklustre way in which Celtic ended their season.

Early favourites for the job include: Celtic fan Owen Coyle, recently promoted to the EPL with Burnley, former Celtic player and Hibs manager Tony Mowbray, currently facing life in the English Championship with West Bromwich Albion and Dundee United manager Craig Levein. The most likely candidate though is Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, another former Celtic player with considerable, if not exactly outstanding, experience in both England and Scotland.

Hearts greatly improved on last seasons display. Proof, if it where needed, that too much intervention from an over-zealous owner can only lead to disaster. Vladimir Romanov, no doubt preoccupied with the credit crunch kept his nose out of first team affairs and allowed new coach Csaba Laszlo to run the team. Hearts finished 8th last season, but a solid if unspectacular campaign (not including that terrible defeat in the League Cup at Airdrie) saw them climb the table, securing third spot by some 6 points from fourth placed Aberdeen and a return to European football for the first time since 2006.

For Aberdeen, a Scottish Cup quarter final exit at the hands of Dunfermline (Jimmy Calderwood's old club) and a League Cup exit to Kilmarnock in the 3rd round ended a domestic cup campaign that saw the Dons struggle past the mighty Ayr and Alloa in previous rounds. Though Aberdeen qualified for Europe again for the second time in three seasons, it was that failure to win a domestic trophy that ultimately spelled the end for boss Jimmy Calderwood, a manager that delivered top half finishes in 4 of his 5 seasons, a record only bettered by Sir Alex.  Whoever follows on from Calderwood has a good place from which to start: a good side, possibly the best for some time, though a central defender might be handy if captain Scott Severin leaves; a backup to Jamie Langfield in goal might also be top of the list. And with the lure of European football next season and a new stadium in the planning stages, it may well be easier than normal to attract a top manager to Pittodrie. Mark McGhee was favourite to take over, that is, until Gordon Strachan resigned as Celtic manager. Other possible contenders include Eric Black, Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock and former Aberdeen player Dean Windass.

Dundee United and Hibs, the other two sides to make up the top half of the league split failed to improve on last season’s campaign. Aberdeen's win over Hibs, coupled with United's own defeat at home to Rangers meant that Craig Levein’s men would miss out on European football, pipped to the post once again by Aberdeen. Dundee United's suffered the loss of their influential and much loved chairman Eddie Thompson in October, a loss that was felt deeply around Dundee. Thompson had invested heavily in the side despite much initial success and was a ruthless chairman who sacked five managers in his time, but his dedication and love of Dundee United was never beyond doubt.

Hibernian's season started badly as they where knocked out of the InterToto Cup by Swedish side Elfsborg before the other teams in the SPL had even kicked a ball in anger.  Exit from the League Cup at the hands of Morton (on the day before city rivals Hearts where knocked out of the same competition by Airdrie, thus ending Edinburgh interest in the League Cup) soon followed, along with an inconsistent run of form that saw the Hibees win only 7 games before the New Year break. Together with Dundee United, Hibs drew the most games this season (14), but made the top half before the League split in April, where only 1 win (against Hearts), three defeats and a draw saw them back in 6th place, same as last season.

Motherwell, for whom the 2007/08 season was a resounding success given the tragedy and misfortune that befell the Lanarkshire club, managed to hang on to manager Mark McGhee, despite the temptation on offer in the shape of Heart of Midlothian FC. A last minute change-of-mind kept McGhee at Fir Park, but, as we predicted at the start of the season, he failed to live up to the standards set last season, when the Steelmen finished third. Early exit from Europe came courtesy of French mid-table side AS Nancy set up a season with little to play for. Knocked out of the Scottish Cup by St. Mirren and the League Cup by newly promoted Hamilton, Motherwell struggled about in the bottom half of the table for most of the season, but pulled it together towards the end to eventualy finish 7th. The good news for Motherwell is that they'll play in the Europe again next season on account of their finish in the Scottish Fair Play League. The bad news: they'll need a new manager as we expect McGhee to be busy at Parkhead come August.

Hamilton, last seasons promoted side did better than I expected.  Top of the table for the first two weeks of the season following wins over Dundee United and Caley Thistle, Billy Reid suddenly found himself at the opposite end of the league by week 10, a position they held for an uncomfortable period of time. And just as we where all stroking our beards saying "ah, we knew they wouldn't last the pace", the team embarked on a series of results that saw them climb back up to 8th, before finally settling on 9th place. Survival then achieved, if only late in the season, but mission accomplished, it's fair to say. Young starlet James McCarthy delivered the performances we all expected, prompting offers from far (Middlesboro) and not so far (Celtic).

We had high hopes for Kilmarnock, given their yo-yo tendencies. The Rugby Park outfit certainly started well, winning six of their first 10 games, but the inevitable mid-season slump hit around October sending Jim Jefferies into the lower half of the table, where they'd stay, and eventually finishing 8th. We had Jefferies as the first casualty of the season, but he held on and remains popular down in Ayrshire. 

St Mirren where my tip for the drop last season. In the end, I wasn't far off, a superior goal difference over relegated Caley being just enough to keep them up. Together with Falkirk, St. Mirren where the only side in the SPL not to get out of the bottom six. Gus McPherson should be rightly proud of that win against Rangers in October, a good Scottish Cup ran into the semi-finals and their brand new stadium, because apart from that there was little else to celebrate this season.

Falkirk, together with Aberdeen, where the only side whose final position we correctly predicted. John Hughes' side played lovely football all season, but all that glitters is not gold, and the Bairns spent most of the season in the bottom quarter of the table. However, all is not lost: Falkirk are in with a chance of silverware this season as this Saturday they take on Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. Falkirk battled their way through Queen of the South (last years shock finalists), Hearts, Caley and Dunfermline to reach their day in the sun. And no matter what happens, Falkirk will play in the Europa League next season as their opponents Rangers have already qualified for the Champions League. So, Premier League survival, Cup finalists and European football - all in all not a bad season for John ‘Yogi’ Hughes.

Off the field

Our club side’s performances in European competitions was something best glossed over. The debate about whether or not the Famine Song - which had the Irish government complaining - is sectarian and/or racist continues on, but one thing is sadly very clear: bigotry and ignorance still exists in certain parts of the country.

This season has also seen the credit crunch hit Scottish Football. In April, reports in the press surfaced about troubled Irish broadcaster Setanta looking to renegotiate their deal with the SPL. Setanta had previously committed to a £125m deal to show live SPL football from 2010 onwards, but following a change in the terms of the contract with the English Premier League (which saw most of the revenue go to rivals Sky), Setanta wants to reduce the investment. For clubs like Celtic and Rangers, this reduction of income – should it come - wont make that much impact, but the likes of Motherwell, for whom the television deal amounts to a quarter of their income, the impact is potentially severe.

Financial problems also affected clubs in the lower divisions, with Livingston having trouble paying players, already relegated Clyde facing eviction from their stadium for unpaid rent, and Second Division sides Stranraer and Stirling Albion both in serious danger of folding under a mountain of debt and low attendances.

Over the course of the season, we also lost several great names from days that have passed. Bob Crampsey, broadcaster, Alfie Conn, Hearts legend and part of the 'Terrible Trio' along with Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh,  Jamie Dolan, who tragically died at the age of 39 whilst out jogging, the third former Motherwell player to have died at a relatively young age in recent times and Brooks Mileson, former owner and major funder of Gretna, the fairytale story of a small provincial club that went from rags to riches to bankruptcy and ultimately complete extinction.

 

And finally...

As I look back over the last year, it strikes me how little progress we seem to have made. Scottish football continues to struggle, both technically and financially. 

Domestically, our league continues to be a two horse race, with a chasing pack of teams that will never win the league as long as you and I live. Consider that Celtic and Rangers have won over 100 league titles between them, more than 5 times the combined total of league wins of every other team ever to play senior football in Scotland since 1894.

In Europe, our clubs showed their limitations. Motherwell, Hibs and plucky Scottish Cup runners-up Queen of the South all went out in their respective first round fixtures to insignificant European sides.  Celtic won one game in their Champions League campaign (at home, to Villareal) and lost the rest, meaning they didn’t' make it out of their group. But it was Rangers' embarrassing defeat to Lithuanian powerhouse FBK Kaunas that stands out from the mediocrity. The defeat, over two legs, was a failure of such epic proportions that launched the Ibrox club and, on a wider level Scottish football as a proposition, into crisis mode.

Our national side is struggling with World Cup qualification, having so far only won 1 of their qualifying games, and that against a poor Iceland side. When you look at the the make-up of our team that lost 3-0 to The Netherlands in March, only 2 of the that took the field, Alan Hutton and Darren Fletcher, play at the highest levels in English football. The balance was made up of Championship and (mainly) Old Firm players.

As a proposition, Scottish football is simply not attractive. Outside of the Old Firm, there is no competition, no lucrative Champions League football to get your teeth into, no filled stadiums, little in the way of television revenue, small transfer budgets and even lower salary levels. And neither Rangers nor Celtic, for all their success are top sides. It's not a popular opinion, but too many years as big fish in a very small pond have brought fame and riches, but little in the way of progress. This fact is highlighted by the fact that Owen Coyle, manager of the Burnley side that won promotion to the EPL on Monday and a Celtic man through and through, considers the danger of getting pumped every week in EPL preferable to coming north to Celtic and guaranteed silverware and European football every season.

These facts have not gone unnoticed. Henry McLeish, former First Minister of Scotland and former professional footballer with East Fife has called for a review of the game in Scotland, in which boards and fans are invited to play an active role to help create a "national conversation" for Scottish football that will address some of the challenges facing Scottish football today. We can only hope that something constructive and tangible comes from that review, because football in Scotland desperately needs changing.

Next week we'll look at the Scottish Football League and the Highland League, and round off our season review with our wish list for next season. Until then, see ye efter!

Drawing Conclusions

There's certainly more than a passing similarity between the English Premier League and the Scottish Premier League.

For example, both are dominated by a small cluster of teams, both are divided roughly equally into three tiers, each separated by only a few points this season, and neither of the two teams at top of the league failed to capitalize on the misfortune of the other.

In England, Chelsea lost away to Spurs and Manchester United lost away to Fulham. In Scotland, Rangers only managed a draw against Hearts, while Celtic messed up their chance to extend their lead at the top of the SPL when they only managed a draw against Dundee United.

In a weekend in Scotland's top flight when only one team playing on Saturday managed to collect maximum points from their fixture, the table remains very much 'as you were'.

On paper at least anyway, the game of the weekend took place at Ibrox between Rangers and third-placed Hearts. Kyle Lafferty and club-captain Barry Ferguson put last year's losing UEFA Cup finalists ahead going into the second half, but two quick strikes in the space of three minutes from Karypidis and Palazuelos levelled the scores with 20 minutes left on the clock. A share of the points was probably a fair result, but the boos heard around the ground at the end of the game suggest all is not well at Castle Greyskull.

So when Celtic took to the field on Sunday, they new that a win against a faltering Dundee United would take them 5 points clear of their Old Firm rivals, but Gordon Strachan's side failed to capitalize on Rangers' result; the final score, 2-2 (Celtic were saved by Lee Naylor's equalizing strike nine minutes from time) keeps the gap between first and second to three points.

It's a result that suits Rangers (and neutral fans) more than it does Celtic, as it keeps the race for the title exciting. With Hearts and the rest of the chasing pack so far behind that any talk of an other team finishing second ("splitting the Old Firm" as it's called in Scotland, something that has not happened 6 times in the last 20 years) will have to wait until next season.

Elsewhere, Terry Butcher's Inverness Caley Thistle's good run of form which saw them beat Rangers, Hibs and Kilmarnock since the former England captain took over came to a sticky end when they went down 4-0 away to Falkirk. The win for John Hughes' men was only their third since January and keeps them at the bottom of the league, but they do remain in touch with the safety of 11th place - Caley are now just one point ahead.

There where no goals in the remaining fixtures. Neither Kilmarnock and Motherwell or Hamilton Accies and St. Mirren could score a goal between them, while Hibernian came close but failed to score against 10-man Aberdeen.

For Aberdeen, a season that can best be described as 'pffft' continues to disappoint; an embarrassing exit from the Scottish Cup in midweek to Division One side Dunfermline (incidentally manager Jimmy Calderwood's former club and the second season in a row the Dons are eliminated from the Cup by lower league opposition) have once again lead to calls for his resignation from some sections of the support, but it's unlikely to result in Calderwood's resignation.

While never popular with the fans, he is the club's most successful manager since Alex Ferguson and under his stewardship the Dons have seen their highest league finishes - as well as a return to European football - for some time. It remains to be seen whether Calderwood and assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl will remain with the club after the season has finished. He has been linked with a series of Championship sides recently, as well as with a return to The Netherlands, where Calderwood both played and managed.

The question as to who should take over if Calderwood does leave remains. The challenge at Aberdeen is to match the expectations of fans desperate for success with the reality of a remote club with limited funds. With many of the players that the club have targeted in the past preferring to play with teams in the lower half of the Championship due to the higher wages on offer there, attracting talent north will always be a struggle.

Added to this is the fact that there remains very little to play for in Scotland. The dominance of the Old Firm is such that mounting a serious challenge would require a great deal of investment, not to mention luck. Interestingly, Aberdeen are the last non-old Firm team to win the league, back in 1985, making them Scotland's equivalent of Blackburn Rovers.

With the number of goalless draws, the teams in the SPL would all do well to follow the example of Highland League champions Cove Rangers who nearly managed to score more goals in one game than the entire SPL put together this weekend. Their 8-0 win over hapless Fort William, arguably the worst team in British football today, was nothing unusual. In the last year or so, Fort William have been on the receiving end of two 10-0 thrashings, one 11-0, a 13-0 and no less than three 8-0's. If it's goals you want, you could do a lot worse than to check out the Highland League. We'll have an in-depth review of that soon.

Ok, that's it. For the SPL results and tables, have a look here.

Scottish Football Roundup

With only a few more rounds of games to go before the frankly absurd league split in April, Celtic and Rangers took some time off from putting even more points between them and the rest of the league by competing in this years Scottish League Cup final, also knowns as the 'Co-operative Insurance Cup'.

As always between these sides, it was a mighty stramash with the two goals that won it for Celtic coming late into extra-time. Darren O'Dea got proceedings off to a start when he looped a header over Alan McGregor in the 94th minute, and Aiden McGeady settled the matters from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Rangers' Kirk Broadfoot, who was also sent off for his troubles. The win earns Celtic their 14th League Cup (only 11 wins behind Rangers now in this competition) and some much needed good news for manager Gordon Strachan who had been on the receiving end of criticism from his own fans.

And while the cats are away, the mice do play. With neither of the Old Firm in league action, the teams chasing those all-important third and fourth places where having their day out. Of the teams that make up the top-half of the table, only Aberdeen won this weekend. They eased their way past Hamilton Accies, Chris Maguire getting on the scoresheet on the half-hour mark in a game played in blustery north-east conditions. Aberdeen remain undefeated at home since October of last year, while for the Accies their terrible away form continues - they've recorded only two wins on the road so far this season. They'll be wanting to get themselves into the top half of the table to assure themselves of survival in their first season back in the top flight, but their performances in the league so far have surprised many.

Third-placed Hearts lost out in the Edinburgh derby, going down 1-0 to a Hibernian side desperate to regain some form and remain in the running for that sixth spot come the league split. It was an exciting encounter, with both teams reduced to 10-men before the break. Hearts keeper Janos Balogh was first to the dressing room, if not the ball, as he slid in on Stephen Fletcher - missing him by as much as 30 feet if the Hibs forums are to be believed.

Not long afterwards the red card made its second appearance of the day as Hibs defender Souleymane Bamba was dismissed for bringing down Christian Nadé on the edge of the box. The winning goal for Hibs came courtesy of Stephen Fletcher; the Scotland international attempted a header but he only managed to get his shoulder to it, looping the ball over Balogh's head and into the net. Hearts remain in third place, while Mixu Paateleinen can enjoy his first ever Edinburgh-derby win since becoming manager of Hibs.

Elsewhere, Dundee United's slump continues as they lost 2-1 away to Motherwell. United's season had been going well, the Terrors recovering from a woefull start to the season to fight their way into third spot. But with only three wins from their last ten matches (and all of those coming against teams from the bottom half of the table), United have slipped back to fifth spot, level on poins with New Firm rivals Aberdeen.

For Motherwell, the season is finally beginning to pick up after a poor start and early elimination from European competition. John Sutton fired the Steelmen into the lead on the half-hour, Francisco Sandaza equalized for United after the restart, but the points where secured when Dave Clarkson, Motherwell's top scorer this season scored with a header from close range.

Terry Butcher continues to do what he does best, namely saving teams from impending relegation. Since taking over at Inverness Caley Thistle, he's steered the club out of the relegation spot with wins over Hibs, Rangers and, now for the second time, Kilmarnock. All the goals where scored in the first half; Foran and Black put Caley 2-0 up with only 20 minutes played. Simon Ford got a goal for Killie just before the break.

That's it for now, results and table are here.

If there's a topic about Scottish football you would like us to cover, whether it's a team or player profile, a season in review or just anything to do with the game north of the border, drop us a comment and we'll get right on it!

The Scottish Football Weekend Gala Roundup

When I was first asked to write about the Scottish game for SPAOTP, I made it quite clear that predictions where not my thing. I mean, just look at my desperate attempts in this weeks 'Four to Follow'. The only game I got right was the Inter v AC game, and that based on no other insightful punditry other than that - in my opinion - Inter have a nicer shirt than AC.

In another case of over-hyping a fixture, this Sunday's Old Firm derby - about which I waxed lyrical earlier on in the week and predicted a home win - turned out to be a massive disappointment. Sure, there where all the things you'd expect to see in one of these games (controversial decisions by a referee making his Old Firm début, a goal-line stooshie and plenty of bookings) yet the game never really became the end-to-end affairs that meetings between these two teams generally serve up.

Celtic maintain their lead - however slender - while Rangers should feel aggrieved at the penalty not awarded in the second half. Aside from the referee, two others made their first appearance in an Old Firm game: John Fleck made Walter Smith's starting line-up, as did Willo Flood for Celtic. Both played a decent game, but neither remained on the pitch for the entire game, with Fleck substituted for Kenny Miller, while Flood made way for Aiden McGeady. There's one more Old Firm fixture to come this season; we can only hope that there's still the two points between them when they meet again - it should make for a more exciting game than the one yesterday.

By far and away the best goal at the weekend (and possibly the season) was Aberdeen's goal scored at Tynecastle in their 2-1 defeat against Hearts. Darren Mackie, who recently signed a new contract with the Dons got onto the end of a defence-splitting pass delivered by Charlie Mulgrew from the half-way line to volley the ball past Hearts keeper Balogh from the edge of the area. As Mottie would have said: oooh, I say! Aberdeen went on to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, conceding two sloppy goals including one that took me back to a funny incident during my years in goal for my school football team, and which involved a particularly large seagull, a right-back who was not looking where he was going and the old football cliché of 'playing to the whistle'.

Elsewhere, leading Falkirk 2-1 with six minutes to go, it looked as if St. Mirren could finally hang out the bunting to celebrate the first win at their new stadium. It was not to be though, as a handball in the area by Jack Ross had Falkirk's Scott Arfield scoring from the penalty spot to level the scores and a share of the points.

Former Wolves and Reading manager Mark McGhee' has been suffering second season blues with his side, Motherwell. The Steelmen finished third in the SPL last season to round of a great campaign. Their subsequent adventures in European football are best forgotten (a first round exit to French mid-tablers Nancy) and they've been finding this season tough going. A poor run of form at the beginning of the season saw Motherwell struggling near the bottom of the table for long spells, but lately they've been finding their form again. That good form continued on Saturday with a win against Hamilton Accies in the Lanarkshire Derby. A single goal by David Clarkson. was enough to secure the three points.

Derek Riordan continues to do for Hibernian what he failed to do for Celtic, namely score goals. His first-half strike against Kilmanock on Saturday was deflected off Manuel Pascali into the net past Alan Combe. Riordan's effort would eventually be cancelled out by a Jamie Hamill goal with fifteen minutes left to go. Kilmarnock might have won the game had Connor Sammon, deployed alone up front in a Killie side ravaged by injury and suspension not missed from six yards out. The game ended one goal apiece,and Kilmarnock's elusive search for their first win in the league since the end of December (ironically a 4-2 win against Hibernian) continues.

Terry Butcher nearly won his first away game with his new side, Inverness Caley. Thistle got off to a good start, taking the lead through former United player Eric Odhiambo with fifteen minutes on the clock. Things looked to be getting even better for Butcher as United where reduced to 10-men, but substitute Andis Shala, with pretty much his first touch of the ball provided a cross for Lee Wilkie to squeeze the ball over the Inverness goal-line for a share of the points.

A special mention goes out this week to troubled Second division side Stranraer. Effectively living on a week-to-week basis, it is uncertain whether the club will survive to the end of the season when the club hopes to launch a share issue to raise much needed funds. However, judging by the shockingly low attendance at Saturdays game, the Stranraer board may want to consider alternative means to raise money - a crowd of only 277 turned up to watch The Clayholers get pumped 5-1 by Arbroath.

With a monthly wage bill of around £20,000 per month, Stranraer's survival chances where rated at being no more than 50%. But a group of the clubs supporters have come together to help secure the future of the club. The "Save Stranraer FC" campaign, whose focus is to pay the outstanding creditors as a first step towards securing the long-term future of the club, raised over £1,500 in the first week of campaigning; the group now estimate the club's chances of survival to be around the 90% mark, but a lot of work still needs to be done. Despite the overall future of the club looking a little more secure, the future of Stanraer as a Second division side looks anything but: Saturday's heavy defeat leaves them 11 points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Right, that's it for now. If there's any aspect of the game from 'the ither part o' Britain' you'd like us to cover, leave a comment and we'll get right on it!