17.04// The SPL Weekend Preview

Ay ay, fit like min?

It's affa exciting this weekend. It could have been a lot more exciting mind you if Rangers hadn't dropped points against United; we could have been crowning the league champions on Sunday! Mind you, they could still wrap it up if Celtic lose against Hibs on Saturday and the 'Gers beat the other half of Edinburgh on Sunday.

Right, enough speculation. Let's officially wave in the League split, and get on with the previews!

» Celtic (2nd»WWWLWW) v Hibernian (4th»LLLWLW)
Celtic's win against Motherwell in midweek was welcome relief from the agony and shame of that defeat by Ross County in the Cup. Celtic had to come from behind to claim a 2-1 win and the performance certainly wasn't vintage Celtic, but there's no points for style, just victories. It is of concern to many at Parkhead (at least, those who turn up, the attendance against both Ross County and Motherwell being particularly poor) that this team is one of the poorest seen in the green-and-white for some time, and that major clear-outs and investment is needed if the club are to challenge Rangers for the title next season. With the league all but over, Celtic's priorities now should be to make sure of second spot and the finding of a manager in time for the summer signing bonanza

The win keeps Celtic in the race (on paper anyway), especially as Rangers dropped points the following evening. The gap is still enormous however, and no matter how many times we'll see that scary Lennon-chappy on the telly getting stuck into his team, Celtic just won't catch up. There's just been too many key points lost along the way (the 4-4 with Aberdeen, the Old Firm draw and defeat, the costly draws with Falkirk and that defeat at Rugby Park), to make it up now. . Hibs have sort of imploded of late. We said it last week too, and I could be lazy and just 'copy & paste' what I wrote then, because nothing much has changed. Pumped 4-1 by Hamilton in midweek, the Hibees stay in fourth, but Motherwell are never far away

Have you noticed by the way the number of shock games we've had in which four goals where scored? St Mirren (4-1 against Celtic), St Johnstone (4-1 against Rangers and 5-1 against Hibs), Hamilton (4-1 against Hibs), Aberdeen (4-4 against Celtic. Again).

Anyway, John Hughes was being mentioned in some quarters as a possible successor to Mowbray/Lennon, but since then Hibs have gone on a massive slider, and with every point dropped, his chances of getting the job drops by 10%. Hibs are probably safe for European football next season, but you can't help feeling there's a lot of retrospective shoe-gazing down in Leith, wondering where it all went wrong. Sorry lads: Home Win.

» Rangers (1st»DWWLWW) v Hearts (6th»WDLWLL)
This should have been a gala day for Rangers: the day they finally clinch the title. You can imagine the scenes: the weans with the faces painted, the bunting hanging down from between the tenements and Andy Cameron keeping the faithful entertained. And then what happens? Dundee United go and spoil the party. Look, it's like that picture of the Titanic, sailing off into the distance: we all know what's away to happen, and one day soon Rangers will get that much needed point, or points to claim their 53rd title.

Like them or loathe them (and as an Aberdeen fan you know where I stand on this point), the fact that there are three Rangers players in the running for the SPL player of the year (Kris Boyd, David Weir and Steven Davis, a list augmented with token "some other guy", Dundee United's Andy Webster) just underlines the great season they've had. Critics will tell you that the rest of the league is just so poor, but that's doing Walter Smith and Rangers a disservice. Despite all the fuss off-field, they've just gotten on with it, putting together a fabulous run of results.

It's one of those strange quirks of the league set-up that, given Hearts have hobbled over the finishing line, and given St Johnstone's form, it wouldn't surprise me if we're going to get into that strange situation where the team in 7th has more points than the team in 6th come the end of the season.

In any case, a 30th minute Suso Santana goal meant Hearts booked their place in the top six with a win over Kilmarnock, thus depriving St Johnstone of the honour in their first season back in the top flight. It's a big relief for Jim Jefferies, because anything less than a top-half finish would have meant he'd have a lot of explaining to do. Hearts managed a draw with only 10-men the last time these two met, though with the dangling carrot of a victory taking the Gers closer to the title, I reckon Hearts might not be so fortunate this time: Home Win.

» Motherwell (5th»LLLWDW) v Dundee United (3rd»DWWWDW)
Two teams with contrasting form meet up tomorrow. Motherwell have lost three on the bounce now (Dundee United, Falkirk and Celtic), but it's a credit to the earlier work put in by Craig Brown and the team that, despite these defeats, they're still only two points behind fourth placed Hibernian. Barring a Ross County win in the Scottish Cup Final, if Brown can keep to fifth place, Motherwell will have a chance to improve upon this seasons European adventures.

Dundee United's season keeps getting better. A good win in the semi-final at Hampden last Sunday against Raith Rovers put them into their first Scottish Cup final since 2004. Peter Houston should be congratulated for his work since taking over from the popular Craig Levein. It wasn't all plain sailing, but they're now eight games unbeaten with third spot pretty much in the bag. Perhaps if Celtic implode in the next five games and United's form continues on we may well see an Old Firm split. It'd be nice for a chance. Motherwell, take heed: United overtook Celtic, Rangers St Johnstone to the top of the Away form table, making tomorrows game a cracker in prospect. I have to go with Dundee United though in this game, so: Away Win

Aberdeen (9th»LLLWDL) v Falkirk (12th»WWLDDL)
It's all going desperately badly for the Dons. Lurching from one clanger to another, it's really hard to see quite where the improvement is going to come from. McGhee is not inspiring the team, the performances are frankly embarrassing and the crowds are staying away in droves. In last Sundays 3-1 defeat to St Johnstone two defensive blunders (Langfield coming for a ball he had no business coming for and Zander Diamond trying to clear a ball no more than 5(!) inches off the ground with his head) cost the Dons dearly. The defeat moves the Dons to within six points of the bottom of the table, where they'll also find tomorrows opponents.

Falkirk have now won two games on the bounce and are unbeaten in their last 3 away matches. The last win, at home against St Mirren, the team with whom they share that bottom spot. Falkirk are playing with a lot of confidence at the minute, and many people laughed at Pressley's pledge to keep Falkirk in the SPL, but you know what - I might just see him do it. The fact that Falkirk are on a good run of results and Aberdeen are not suggests that more embarrassment could well be on the cards tomorrow for the Dons.

Aberdeen have been sending out emails to all registered fans (including yours truly) to come and support the team. The 7,500 who wondered into Pittodrie last weekend where certainly not offered any value for money - at £21 a throw, most fans will probably chose to stay out of the way of the volcanic dust covering the country. Expect low attendances and, I'm afraid to say, another Aberdeen defeat: Away Win

» Hamilton (8th»WLWWDW) v Kilmarnock (10th»LWLLLL)
Even though the relegation battle this year will feature at least three teams (Falkirk, St Mirren and Kilmarnock), I reckon Accies boss Billy Reid will need one more win to make sure of SPL football next season. A good - no, brilliant - win against Hibs last week sees them into 8th place, and they'll be looking to build on that result against a team that has scored only four goals away from home all season. It'll be interesting to see how the club copes with the inevitable loss of James McArthur, but the money they'll get for him will allow Billy Reid to bring in new talent for next season. Together with McCarthy and McArthur, the Accies transfer kitty should be healthy, possibly making Accies' stay in the SPL longer than many would have given them.

Kilmarnock boss Jimmy Calderwood finds himself in a strange and scary place. No, not an empty bathroom cabinet where once his tanning lotions stood, but third bottom of the SPL. In all his years with Aberdeen, Calderwood has always been in the top six at this point in the season, so he's going to have to use all his skills to get out of this mess. Back at Aberdeen we used to refer to Calderwood's tactics as never-ending tactical variations as "Tango's Tactical Tombola", which at times used to confuse even his boss Willie Miller, but it always got him good results. The time to pull out that tombola has come again, because Kilmarnock are still not safe by any stretch. Home Win.

» St Johnstone (7th»WLWLDL) v St Mirren (11th»LDLWLD)
We said in last weeks preview that whoever lost the game between Falkirk and St Mirren would go down. I stand by that assertion, meaning that St Mirren are in deep doo-doo. Tomorrow they could well find themselves deeper in the mire as they take on a St Johnstone side on a bit of a roll. That victory against Aberdeen on Sunday was a walk-over, so perhaps we shouldn't take too much from it; St Mirren will probably provide more resistance than the meek display offered by The Dons. St Johnstone, never a team to have trouble finding the net this season have a good player in Cillian Sheridan; with six goals in eight games the striker, on-loan from Celtic played a large part in Saints' good form of late. With the upheaval to come at Celtic over the summer, McInnes would do well to keep Sheridan on loan for another season.

St Johnstone) have a habit of following a good result with a bad one, but given St Mirren are struggling for wins and points right now, I fully expect Derek McInnes' side to pick up points again tomorrow. For St Mirren, in 11th place on goal difference alone, relegation battles is something they're becoming accustomed to, but at some point that luck has to run out. Like Motherwell, their cause is not helped by the fixture list, with the club unhappy at the prospect of having to play Falkirk away from home again for the third time this season. Unlike Motherwell, the club wont be putting in an appeal, instead deciding to just knuckle down and get the results. They've got five games to save their skin, because like Kilmarnock just a point above them, relegation could be a costly disaster, a horror too unbearable to contemplate. Sadly, I don't think they'll get the points here, even though St Johnstone are safe for this season, I don't expect them to ease off the pedal. Home Win, and a lot of headaches for Gus McPherson.