It has been a week to forget for Neil Lennon and his Celtic side. A brace from Connor Goldson ensured Rangers took all three points in last weekend’s Glasgow derby. Then came a 3-1 defeat to AC Milan in a midweek Europa League clash. Celtic needed a win against Aberdeen on Sunday. With no sign of Rangers slowing down, the pressure was on Lennon’s men to pick up a win. Aberdeen’s Lewis Ferguson didn’t get the memo however, as he converted a 92^nd minute penalty to tie the game.

A few eyebrows were raised when Neil Lennon took over from Brendan Rodgers back in 2019. Yet the Northern Irishman’s managerial record during his first stint at Celtic Park boasted some impressive numbers, including two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cup trophies and 70% win record. Despite his success, it was always going to be an underwhelming appointment in the eyes of Celtic fans regardless of who next sat in the hot seat. Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic team were a machine.

Ten in a Row

In any other season and in any other league, Celtic’s form would not be worthy of a paragraph in the sports section of the newspaper, let alone the main headline on the front page. But this is no ordinary season. Celtic are on track for ten in a row in terms of league titles. They are so close they can almost taste it.

It may be no coincidence that Celtic’s ‘week to forget’ coincides with start striker Odsonne Edouard’s absence due to a positive COVID-19 result. The defence took the brunt of the blame after the draw against Aberdeen as Lennon alluded to their “fragility”. Moreover, this form may simply resemble a small bump in the road to ten in a row. This time it feels different though. Take for instance the 2016/17 season under Rodgers. Celtic strolled through the campaign, remaining unbeaten and gathering a record 106 points along the way. Rangers were nowhere to be seen.

After two full seasons under his belt, Steven Gerrard is now in a strong position to put a halt to any premature celebrations from Celtic fans. His Rangers side are the only team to remain unbeaten across all top four divisions in England and Scotland. Their eyes are firmly set on the SPL title.

Celtic currently sit in second place, six points behind Rangers with a game in hand. With over half of the season still to play, a lot can happen. One thing we do know is that the pressure on Celtic and Neil Lennon won’t ease. Forget what titles are already on display in the trophy cabinet. This season’s league title has the potential to trump them all.

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Steven Gerrard’s Rangers will travel to Aberdeen on August 1st, with BBC Sport stating that “fixtures across the league will initially be played behind closed doors”. Dundee United who were promoted from the Scottish Championship will play their first top flight game in 4 years against St Johnstone. The first Old Firm game of the season is to take place on the 17th of October. Celtic having home advantage. They should be a short price and anyone looking to use free bets uk should be putting their money on Celtic.

According to SPFL the season will start on time, of course subject to approval by the Scottish Government. The fixtures have also been planned to help the Scottish national side who will be going into a European play-off. Two full Premiership fixture cards will take place on Friday nights across October and November according to BBC Sport. This is to allow extra preparation for the national side.

There will also be no break in January. Teams will play each other throughout the month, with Celtic travelling to Rangers, Motherwell playing Hamilton on January 2nd. The SPFL have said that the Premiership will be the only league to start in August due to the Covid 19 pandemic. League 1, League 2 will begin in October. Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPFL said, “The pre-season fixture announcement is always a key event in every football supporters calendar, but it feels particularly important this year, given the challenges caused by Covid-19,”

He continued, “Football plays a unique role in the social, cultural and economic life of Scotland, and I’m sure the millions of passionate fans who follow our game will welcome this significant step towards the resumption of matches.”

Opening Weekend Fixtures

Saturday 1 August

Aberdeen v Rangers (17:30 BST)

Dundee United v St Johnstone

Hibernian v Kilmarnock

St Mirren v Livingston

Sunday 2 August

Celtic v Hamilton Academical (16:30 BST)

Monday 3 August

Ross County v Motherwell (19:45 BST)

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The Scottish League announced the decision following a meeting with all clubs on Monday. Chairman of the SPFL, Murdoch MacLennan said,” Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to officially congratulate Celtic on their achievement of winning the Ladbrokes Premiership this season, and also to sincerely commiserate with Hearts on their relegation.”

The winners/relegation were based on a points per game average. Celtic were 13 points ahead of city rivals Rangers, when the league shut up shop on March 13th. Hearts were sitting at the bottom of the table 4 points away from Hamilton. RTE Sport report that the only change in league table position was St Johnstone climbing into 6th place ahead of Hibernian.

MacLennan said he like everyone else would have loved to seen the season played out in front of fans and stadiums. He said, “This is not the way anybody involved with Scottish football would have wanted to conclude the league”. Furthermore,  he stated that due to the current circumstances the Scottish football board deemed that cancelling the league was the only way forward. He continued, “Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on sporting competitions around the world and the repercussions will be felt for a long time”.

Glasgow Celtic however are delighted with the news of 9th title in a row. They posted on Twitter ‘Today Celtic have been declared Scottish Premiership Champions for the 9th season in a row”.  It continued, “We dedicate this victory to you. To all our supporters. To the key workers who are saving lives, cleaning hospitals, stacking shelves and shielding loved ones at home. Our 9, is your 9”.

However, the club also on a serious expressed words of caution to supporters saying “We want to celebrate, but safety is the number one priority for all”. It continued,  “We dedicate this league title to you”.

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