Squad Fitness May Determine Premiership Title
So much happened in Scottish football this week, the topic for this week’s column remained undecided until we started typing.
The post-split fixtures were announced Monday, with the usual hemming and hawing and pearl-clutching. Due, allegedly to marches scheduled in Glasgow in May, the SPFL was forced to break with tradition and have the post-split Celtic-Rangers derby in the third week post-split—a bit later than usual.
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That, and the need to balance home and away fixtures for the title contenders, means Celtic will host Hearts in the final match of the season, breaking with the long-held tradition of having the league leaders at the split play at home the last weekend of the season.
As much as these decisions have caused hand-wringing in parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow (and beyond), the biggest factor influencing where the league trophy lands next month may be the health of the contenders’ squads.
For Rangers, central defender Derek Cornelius is back training and left-back Tuur Rommens should return for the second post-split match.
However, ’Gers bench boss Danny Rohl told the media this week that forward Ryan Naderi’s muscle injury is “serious” and it is unclear when he will return to the squad.
“Ryan made a great impact since he arrived, not just the goals,” the German said. “It’s always not nice when you lose players from your squad … [but] we have a lot of players that are available.”
Meanwhile, across the city, Celtic have a crisis at right back. Alistair Johnston, who has been out since November with a hamstring issue, suffered at setback while away with the Canadian national team during the most recent international break. Young Colby Donovan was sent for a scan this week, and loanee Julian Araujo remains out.
On the positive side, midfielder Arne Engels appears close to returning. In addition, all of the Hoops’ out-and-out strikers are healthy, although whether that’s good news is up for debate. Last week, at Dundee, Czech loanee Tomáš Čvančara showed he remains, at best, a work in process, as has Nigerian loanee Junior Adamu when he’s played. Thankfully, the savvy Kelechi Iheanacho also appears to be fit.
In the capital, Hearts boast arguably the healthiest squad in the Premiership. As of this writing, squad stalwarts such as Lawrence Shankland, Frankie Kent, and Cláudio Braga are fit and injured stars Stuart Findlay and Beni Baningime have returned to training. Harry Milne may also return before the end of the season.
So, in addition to being in the lead heading into this weekend, Derek McInnes’ side seem to have a fitness advantage.
Whether that’s enough for them to hold the top spot and make history by breaking the Celtic-Rangers 40-year hold on the league title remains to be seen.