Latest Managerial Moves at Aberdeen, Celtic Overshadowed by Derby Debacle
The Full Scottish
Served by Brian P. Dunleavy
More than five days have passed since the Celtic-Rangers Scottish Cup quarterfinal at Ibrox devolved into a post-match scrum between supporters from both clubs.
By now, readers who pay even a little attention to the goings on in Scottish football have seen, read and heard every opinion under the sun, most worth far less than the screen on which you’re reading this.
So, we’ll spare you our thoughts—for they are hardly new, original or different—except to say that pundits proclaiming other derbies/Classicos/Classiques as the world’s best and/or most intense (as we saw some doing for the Milan derby that same day) clearly haven’t been watching what goes on in Glasgow.
The football at Ibrox on the day was dreadful. The spectacle was incredible. But, moving on…
Aberdeen Appoint Robinson
Perhaps the biggest news in Scottish football, outside of the Glasgow derby, was Aberdeen’s decision to pivot away from a bloodied former Red Bull New York bench boss Sandro Schwarz and appoint Stephen Robinson as first team head coach.
The Irishman moves north from St. Mirren, where he worked wonders, securing, among other achievements, the 2025 League Cup.
His arrival in the Granite City has drawn mixed responses from Dons supporters but, at least so far, he has said all the right things.
“It was an opportunity I’d waited for, to work at a club with the resources Aberdeen has,” Robinson told the media Thursday. “The facilities it has, the training ground, it’s debt free… it’s very, very rare in football.”
Particularly in Scotland.
Aberdeen’s hire is unlikely to move Celtic and/or Rangers out of the headlines, or the top four spots in the Premiership table this term. But, if it can get the Dons to be competitive again, it may add to the challenges already facing Glasgow’s big two—challenges that are likely to stretch into the 2026-27, what with reports suggesting a complete reorganization at Celtic, with Robbie Keane touted as the next bench boss and Shaun Maloney perhaps moving into a Director of Football-ish role.
In the meantime, people have been conjecturing as to what, if any, impact Celtic’s win in penalties on Sunday we’ll have on the Hoops’ form—and Rangers’—in the weeks ahead.
Given what’s happened during the 2025-26 season to date, we’re going to go with not very much.