SPL Saturday: The second tier keeps pace

By: Ian Rose | November 10th, 2007

Everyone knows that there is a top tier in Scottish football, and that the Old Firm is it. Celtic and Rangers are the two biggest clubs, in terms of support, money and basically every other measure, and by a pretty large margin. The second tier of the SPL has been much less consistent, and so, much more exciting to watch. Every year, one or two teams stay relatively close to the Old Firm while leaving the rest of the SPL behind. Last season, it was Aberdeen and Hearts. The year before that, Hearts even broke the Old Firm and finished second.

Early this season, the second tier seems to consist of Dundee United and Hibernian. Both the Tangerines and the Hibees have beaten Old Firm teams, and Hibs have beaten both Rangers and Celtic. They both went into today’s matches three points behind Rangers, though with a pretty decent gulf of goal differential making it effectively four. They both had the chance to pull even with Rangers, due to the SFA’s (brilliant / assinine — to be decided next Saturday) plan to give Scotland players more time to prepare by postponing the Old Firm matches.

And, they both have done their duty. Dundee United struck once early (8′) and once late (90′) to take a comfortable 2-0 home win over Kilmarnock. Hibs left it late with Gretna, beating the odds-on relegation favorites by only 1-0 on a second-half goal from young Steven Fletcher. Beating the Black-and-Whites by a single goal might not seem like a great result, but its the same margin Celtic achieved in their last match with Gretna. So now Celtic leads by three points over Rangers, United and Hibs, with a game in hand to both Old Firm sides. The gap between those four and fifth-place Motherwell is five points, despite Well’s 3-0 drumming of 9-man Caley Thistle, a game that hurt to even hear about. I can just thank my lucky stars that I was way too hung over to wake up and watch it myself.

Aberdeen still has a chance tomorrow to jump into that fifth spot, as they face Hearts in tomorrow’s only match. That match might well be the point when Hearts officially lose their place in the second tier of Scottish football, and settle into mid-table mediocrity for the rest of the season.