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Scottish Premier League Overview

Ali Hannah takes stock of the other Premiership

When Bob Dylan crooned about the times being a changin', it's fair to say Scottish Football wasn't figuring high in his thoughts.

Yet, this year there has been something of a renaissance in the Scottish game with the Old Firm looking at the possibility of being split by a Hearts side enjoying a new found assurance under the guidance of George Burley and financed by Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov.

Having enjoyed their best start to a season since 1914, Hearts are riding high at the top of the league, although whether they can maintain their early form remains to be seen. Injuries and suspensions could take their toll in the latter part of the campaign, although Burley has invested well in his squad.

By contrast, Celtic and Rangers stuttered in the opening weeks. Celtic got off to a poor start with a draw at Fir Park that was followed by an Old Firm defeat at Ibrox and, allied to a Champions League exit, Gordon Strachan was barely in the dugout when he was given a lesson in the unique pressures that go hand-in-hand with managing one half of the Old Firm. To his credit, he stuck to his task and the evidence would suggest that things are slowly starting to come together for Celtic.

A defence that conceded nine goals in their opening two competitive games of the season has found a solidity to it of late and Bobo Balde's contract situation has eventually resolved itself with the closure of the transfer window. The Guinean internationalist was free to leave Celtic in the summer, but a proposed move to Marseille fell through and, although there was interest from the Premiership from Fulham and Birmingham, neither club could match the high weekly salary he earns in Glasgow.

As a result, Strachan at least knows what he has to work with and that Balde will be available to him.

On the opposite side of the city, it has been a bizarre start for Alex McLeish. Having taken Rangers into the group stages of the Champions League and taken first blood in the Old Firm derby, things looked well for the Ibrox side. However, poor performances resulted in defeats to Hibs and Aberdeen and a 1-1 draw with lowly Falkirk saw them drift off the early pacesetters.

Just as things were getting particularly torrid for McLeish, Rangers went into the Champions league and produced a pulsating 3-2 win over Porto and all of a sudden there was a new lease of life in the Ibrox club.

The addition of Francis Jeffers will be interesting over the coming months. The former Everton and Arsenal striker is on loan until January and the biggest problem McLeish has had this season is in front of goal. Rangers have enjoyed plenty of possession in games only to lack a killer touch in front of goal.

Little Spaniard Nacho Novo has not replicated the early form he displayed at Rangers when he first arrived and while Croatian Dado Prso drives Rangers forward and is successful when it comes to holding the ball up, he needs someone to play off him; whether Jeffers can do that while recapturing the promise of his youth remains to be seen.

The Old Firm have not been split since the inception of the new format SPL, and it will be interesting to see if this season deviates from the usual pattern. Both of the Glasgow giants have discovered that there are teams willing to have a go at them this season, while their financial situation has meant that they no longer have vastly superior funds to the rest of the country.

The twists and turns in recent seasons have ensured for some fitting last-day drama and it this year promises to have another sting in the tail.

Scottish Premer League Factfile

SPL Official Site www.scotprem.premiumtv.co.uk

Ali Hannah

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