Rangers 7-1 Dundee United

Fucking hell. Let the inquest begin at Dundee United.

If there was any doubt the league is over for the rest of the unwashed masses outside of fair Glasgow town, let that result be a warning to you all.

Oh, and if Craig Levein is reading this: get yer man Boyd into the national side - pronto!

Elsewhere, Hearts beat Motherwell 1-0 to move within five points of fourth-placed Dundee United. Michael Stewart was on target as Hearts win their third game in a row.

Taxi for fat lady!

For a few brief moments earlier in the season, it looked like we might have a genuine competition on our hands. With both Celtic and Rangers struggling to get going, the league was reasonably tight in the early stages, Hibernian (under new management) leading the pack of challengers for that Holy Grail of Scottish football: a non-Old Firm league winner.

Two managerial changes later (Jim Gannon and Craig Levein) and following Hibernian's collapse like a flan in a cupboard at Easter Road last week, natural order looks to be restored to the Scottish game.

A victory against Dundee United tonight (assuming the game goes ahead) will see the Ibrox men open up a seven point lead on Celtic, a lead possibly going up to 10 points should Rangers beat Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the new year on January 3.

Making up the four points that seperate Hibs and Celtic seems much at this stage, and the massive eight points between rudderless Dundee United (who have suffered only two defeats all season, but have taken only one win from their last five outings) and Celtic looks unlikely to be narrowed any time soon - at least not by United.

It ain't over until the fat lady sings, as the popular expression goes, but in truth, the fat lady is already outside the stadium flagging down a taxi to take her to next season.

Free Kicks

Jings, cribbens and help me boab.

We can't even go away for a couple of days without the proverbial hitting the fan.  Our betting slip, the one that said Laszlo will be the first to walk (after a gentle push), has been thrown into the bin along with the other Xmas crappery we got.

Gannon? Sacked? Like, whit?! And they where doing so well. Motherwell, to be precise (djing boom)

Our Xmas alphabet is affa grim ...

Our wee Xmas listy made the Tartan Army Message Board. Aside from having a mistake pointed out (McCarthy went to Wigan, not Barnsley, fuck sake lads!) it seems our piece was a wee bit, well, grim.  So aye, reading it back in the cold light of day the piece does seem awfully negative. Surely there must have been something positive we can say about the Scottish game so far?

Well, clearly we can't, but perhaps you, dear readers, can, so please contribute to our open thread and help us make a cheery Scottish Football Christmas Alphabet. There may even be a wee prize on offer.

Maybe.

The Scottish Football Christmas Alphabet

It's time again for Inside Left to take a wee break, so updates will be a little sporadic between now our return in January. But in keeping with tradition, we like to round off the year with our Christmas alphabet. A is for ...

The Scottish season so far: the national side

As we begin the run up to the end of 2009, Inside Left looks back on an interesting season so far in Scottish football. This season can best be summarized as 'troublesome', as our clubs struggle in European competition and our chairmen and directors struggle in the boardroom. And with financial trouble never off the radar, what is the future for Scottish football?

We begin though, with a look back at the national side's efforts this year, and look forward to a difficult, but hopefully rosy (tartan?) future.

Predicting the winners and the losers

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A decade of Scottish football

The always excellent Scottish Football Blog has started a series of articles looking back at the last decade in the game north of the border.

They begin the series with a look back at our club's  performances in European competition which, despite what the sassenachs might think, is not as bad as all that (as long as you ignore the last 2 years or so). Did you know, for instance, that two of our teams made a European final - not bad eh, for such a wee country?

In the second, published yesterday, they look back at 10 years of the League Cup, "the poor relation in Scotland’s triumvirate of top trophies", as they call it.

Our beloved Aberdeen make the list of Diddy Cup finalists, which is nice. Even though we lost to Celtic (incidentally, we also lost out in the Scottish Cup that year, getting pumped 4-0 by Rangers), it is nice to remember a time when the Dandies actually achieved something - a far cry from the shower of shite on display these days.

Oh, don't get me started...

11.12// The Scottish Fitba Weekender

It's a bit of a rum selection this weekend, with no games really sticking out of the fixture list to give us just cause to get out of the Xmas shopping crusade up the town. But aye well, never mind - you've got to work with what you're given, so here we go.

In this weeks pure barrel-scrapping preview, there's a sight for sore eyes when the tangerines take on the maroons, with everyone hoping there's not going to be too much red and yellow mixed in.

See? Very, very rum.

Football on the radio

RTÉ, the Irish national radio and television broadcaster, regularly pumps out good documentaries about all aspects of life in Ireland. Looking through their site last night for something to put on the iPod, I found two documentaries about Scottish football you might enjoy.

Rangers prepare for stormy AGM

The annual meeting of the clubs shareholders takes place this morning at Ibrox. The event promises to be a stormy affair as answers are sought from frustrated and worried fans concerned at the troubles, both real and perceived, at the Glasgow giants.

07.12// The Monday Ballbag

In another action-packed weekend of Scottish football, Aberdeen fail to capitalise on last week’s epic win against Rangers, Hamilton record a rare win but a tunnel fracas after their game with Hearts will keep the SFA busy this week. And it's a sign that all is not well in Scottish football when only 16 goals are scored in the Highland League and Fort William win again. Strange days indeed...

On This Day in Scottish Football

Scotland concluded their 1988 European Championship qualifying campaign with a goalless draw against Luxembourg, and on this day in 1911, a young Patsy Gallagher made his debut for Celtic.