Scottish Premier League

[The2ndMouse]

1. Rangers 15

2. Celtic 13

3. Hearts 12

4. Dundee

5. Motherwell

6. Dunfirmline

7. Hibernian

...

[Irlandos]

Updating the tables of the Scottish Premier League:

Tables courtesy of the BBC

[The2ndMouse]

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts

1 Celtic 13 12 1 0 43 4 37

2 Rangers 13 10 2 1 36 11 32

3 Hearts 13 8 2 3 21 15 26

4 Motherwell 12 5 4 3 15 13 19

5 Dunfermline 12 5 3 4 12 15 18

6 Livingston 13 4 5 4 14 14 17

7 Dundee 13 4 4 5 14 15 16

8 Hibernian 13 4 4 5 14 19 16

9 Kilmarnock 13 4 2 7 18 30 14

10 Dundee United 13 2 4 7 10 26 10

11 Aberdeen 13 2 1 10 9 27 7

12 Partick 13 0 2 11 11 28 2

[The2ndMouse]

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts

1 Celtic 14 13 1 0 46 5 40

2 Rangers 14 11 2 1 37 11 35

3 Hearts 14 8 2 4 22 17 26

4 Motherwell 14 5 5 4 17 17 20

5 Dunfermline 14 5 5 4 16 19 20

6 Livingston 14 4 6 4 15 15 18

7 Dundee 14 4 5 5 15 16 17

8 Kilmarnock 14 5 2 7 20 30 17

9 Hibernian 14 4 4 6 14 20 16

10 Dundee United 14 3 4 7 12 27 13

11 Aberdeen 14 2 2 10 11 29 8

12 Partick 14 0 2 12 12 31 2

[Irlandos]

The difference is now 8 points as Rangers slip up again v. Dunfermline. :blink:

[Phantis]

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts

1 Celtic 16 15 1 0 51 7 46

2 Rangers 16 12 2 2 39 14 38

3 Hearts 16 9 2 5 25 20 29

4 Dunfermline 16 7 5 4 20 20 26

5 Motherwell 16 5 5 6 17 19 20

6 Kilmarnock 16 6 2 8 23 33 20

7 Hibernian 16 5 4 7 16 23 19

8 Livingston 16 4 6 6 15 19 18

9 Dundee 16 4 5 7 18 21 17

10 Dundee United 16 4 4 8 15 29 16

11 Aberdeen 16 4 2 10 17 30 14

12 Partick 16 1 2 13 13 34 5

[Phantis]

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts

1 Celtic 19 18 1 0 62 7 55

2 Rangers 19 14 2 3 43 18 44

3 Hearts 19 10 3 6 28 23 33

4 Dunfermline 19 8 6 5 25 27 30

5 Motherwell 19 6 6 7 20 22 24

6 Livingston 19 5 8 6 21 22 23

7 Hibernian 19 6 4 9 20 33 22

8 Dundee United 19 5 5 9 18 32 20

9 Kilmarnock 19 6 2 11 24 41 20

10 Aberdeen 19 5 4 10 23 34 19

11 Dundee 19 4 6 9 21 27 18

12 Partick 19 2 3 14 19 38 9

[Phantis]

Pos. Team Pld W D L GF GA Pts

1 Celtic 23 22 1 0 75 10 67

2 Rangers 23 18 2 3 48 18 56

3 Hearts 22 12 3 7 31 24 39

4 Dunfermline 23 9 7 7 28 33 34

5 Motherwell 22 7 6 9 25 27 27

6 Hibernian 23 7 6 10 23 35 27

7 Dundee United 23 7 6 10 23 36 27

8 Livingston 22 6 8 8 24 28 26

9 Dundee 23 6 7 10 29 35 25

10 Kilmarnock 23 6 3 14 26 51 21

11 Aberdeen 22 5 4 13 26 41 19

12 Partick 23 3 3 17 25 45 12

[JOHNNY]

Results of games played 28&29/02/04:

Celtic 5-1 Livingston

Dundee Utd 2-0 Rangers

Dunfermline 0-0 Hearts

Hibernian 0-1 Aberdeen

Kilmarnock 4-2 Dundee

Motherwell 3-0 Partick Thistle

Updated league table:

1 Celtic 26 25 1 0 86 13 76

2 Rangers 26 19 3 4 52 21 60

3 Hearts 26 14 5 7 38 28 47

4 Dunfermline 26 10 8 8 29 35 38

5 Motherwell 26 10 6 10 31 30 36

6 Dundee United 26 8 6 12 27 41 30

7 Livingston 26 7 8 11 30 38 29

8 Dundee 26 7 7 12 32 40 28

9 Hibernian 26 7 7 12 24 40 28

10 Kilmarnock 26 8 3 15 32 55 27

11 Aberdeen 26 7 5 14 30 43 26

12 Partick Thistle 26 3 3 20 27 54 12

[JOHNNY]

Due to the quarter final matches of the Scottish Cup, the only league game of the weekend saw Kilmarnock snatch a point at home against Hearts. The fantastically named Danny Invincibile headed home in the 87th minute to equalise Andy Webster's earlier close range strike.

The game was shown live on BBC and attacted a crowd of only 5,297.

The result places Hearts 12 points behind 2nd placed Rangers, who have played a game less.

[JOHNNY]

Saturday's 3 Premier League matches failed to find a winner, as Dundee-Aberdeen, Hearts-Rangers and Partick Thistle-Dundee United all drew 1-1.

Sunday's only league match takes place at Parkhead, where Celtic host Motherwell, hoping to increase their lead at the top to 18 points. The remaining fixtures have been postponed due to the CIS Cup Final between Hibernian and Livingston at Hampden Park tomorrow.

The so called 'Family Final', due to the lack of an Old Firm participant, will have a very respectable attendance of around 45,000, weighing heavily in favour of the capital club.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/s...v_1/3502960.stm

[The2ndMouse]

Man! Do the same football pools apply where the 1-1 draws get all the money!? :D

[JOHNNY]

Just as a footnote to the CIS Cup Final:

The last final to take place without an Old Firm team was almost seven years ago in season 1996/97 when Kilmarnock defeated Falkirk 1-0 in the Scottish Cup.

To demonstrate how rare these occasions are, the most recent ones were:

Scottish Cup

Motherwell 4 Dundee United 3 (1990/91)

St. Mirren 1 Dundee United 0 (1986/87)

Dunfermline 3 Hearts 1 (1967/68)

League/CIS Cup

Aberdeen 2 Dundee 0 (1995/96)

Hibernian 2 Dunfermline 0 (1991/92)

Aberdeen 3 Hibernian 0 (1985/86)

These games are generally reknowned for being free of violence and bigotry with large sections of the stadium given to families (often mixed support), resulting in a good day out for fans.

How often do Greek finals take place without one of the 'Big 3' in attendance, and do these games capture the imagination of the public in the same way?

[Irlandos]

How often do Greek finals take place without one of the 'Big 3' in attendance, and do these games capture the imagination of the public in the same way?

The last time it happened was last year which saw the top 2 Salonica clubs - PAOK and Aris - compete. Far from being non-violent, it saw the two teams fans stage street battles days before the derby final.

A couple of other occasions however, that I remember, went much better:

Larisa - PAOK (ca. 1985)

Iraklis - Kastoria (ca 1980)

[JOHNNY]

Playing 24 hours before earlier, Rangers have the chance to move to within 16 points of the runaway leaders Celtic, hosting Dundee at Ibrox.

Celtic moved a massive 19 points clear on Wednesday night with a 2-1 away victory over a battling Dundee side who had much of the first half play. A fine injury time strike by Sebastian Kneissl, currently on loan from Chelsea, was not enough to counter goals from Petrov and Larsson either side of half time.

My predictions for the weekends matches:

Saturday March 20

Dundee Utd v Kilmarnock (2-0)

Dunfermline v Partick Thistle (3-1)

Motherwell v Hearts (2-2)

Rangers v Dundee (2-1)

Sunday March 21

Hibernian v Celtic (1-3)

Aberdeen v Livingston (1-0)

[JOHNNY]

Results of games played 20&21/03/04:

Saturday March 20:

Dundee Utd 4-1 Kilmarnock

Dunfermline 1-0 Partick Thistle

Motherwell P-P Hearts

Rangers 4-0 Dundee

Sunday March 21:

Hibernian 0-4 Celtic

Aberdeen 1-2 Livingston

Updated league table:

P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS

1 Celtic 29 13 1 0 55 8 14 1 0 38 7 78 83

2 Rangers 28 13 0 1 37 7 7 4 3 20 15 35 64

3 Hearts 28 9 3 2 22 11 5 4 5 18 19 10 49

4 Dunfermline 27 7 5 2 19 13 4 3 6 11 22 -5 41

5 Motherwell 27 6 5 3 22 18 4 2 7 10 13 1 37

6 Dundee Utd 28 6 4 4 19 18 3 3 8 13 25 -11 34

7 Livingston 27 4 5 3 12 10 4 3 8 20 29 -7 32

8 Dundee 29 5 2 8 13 17 2 6 6 21 30 -13 29

9 Aberdeen 29 4 3 8 18 24 3 4 7 14 22 -14 28

10 Hibernian 27 3 4 7 14 22 4 3 6 10 22 -20 28

11 Kilmarnock 28 4 3 7 16 27 4 1 9 18 33 -26 28

12 Partick Thistle 29 3 2 9 18 28 0 3 12 10 28 -28 14

[JOHNNY]

Too little too late from Rangers as far as the championship race is concerned, but they are hitting a bit of form while fielding a lot of youngsters. Another high scoring performance saw Rangers defeat Dunfermline 4-1 at Ibrox last night in front of over 47,000 fans (including myself).

First half goals by Hutton, Lovenkrands, R de Boer & Mols saw off a Dunfermline side who didn't really get started. Even Todd's goal which made the score 2-1 didn't cause much panic among the home fans.

Brewster came on at halftime for Dunfermline, and got in about the Rangers defenders, but failed to get any clear scoring opportunities.

Long before the end it was obvious that both sides would settle on a 4-1 scoreline.

The result moves them 16 points behind leaders Celtic.

Must mention the rather subdued atmosphere at the game - an almost pre-season feel to it. Maybe that is exactly how Rangers treat games now, concentrating on the rebuilding process for the new season. They played some relaxed and confident football, which is in contrast to earlier performances.

Maybe the fans had a certain match in Barcelona in the back of their minds. Victory for Celtic would really spoil their season!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/s...rem/3559191.stm

[Irlandos]

The Old Firm derby is on Saturday.

Glasgow Rangers could salvage some pride with a victory in front of their loyal supporters...

[JOHNNY]

The derby takes place on Sunday around lunchtime. The SPL introduced these early kick offs to avoid the fans turning up at matches drunk. The downside is that fans have the remainder of the day to drink, which inevitably results in bedlam in towns across Scotland throughout the evening. Oh, the joy of Old Firm weekends!!

[JOHNNY]

Two high scoring matches took place in the SPL last night;

Hibernian 3-1 Motherwell

Livingston 2-3 Dundee United

After a disastrous start to the season, Dundee United now find themselves only 4 points adrift of 4th placed Dunfermline. New manager Ian McCall's new signings have taken more time to gel than expected, but have already surpassed the total points achieved last season.

Major plus point in last night's game, was the fact that United started with 10 Scots in the side. This is in contrast to only a season ago, when the team resembled a UN committee.

Down point of the evening was that barely 3,000 made the effort to attend.

[Irlandos]

The low attendance could be attributed to fans staying home to watch the CL action.

As for the Old Firm derby, I don't think those towns in Scotland will look any worse than the ferry boats carrying back to N. Ireland the two clubs' fans...

[JOHNNY]

Weekends results:

Sunday Mar 28 2004

Rangers 1-2 Celtic

Saturday Mar 27 2004

Dundee Utd 1-0 Motherwell

Hearts 3-1 Dundee

Kilmarnock 3-1 Aberdeen

Livingston 0-0 Dunfermline

Partick Thistle 1-1 Hibernian

Updated league table:

Pos Team PL W D L F A Pts

1 Celtic 30 28 2 0 95 16 86

2 Rangers 30 21 4 5 62 25 67

3 Hearts 29 15 7 7 43 31 52

4 Dunfermline 29 11 9 9 31 39 42

5 Dundee United 30 11 7 12 36 45 40

6 Motherwell 29 10 8 11 35 35 38

7 Livingston 29 8 9 12 34 42 33

8 Kilmarnock 29 9 4 16 37 61 31

9 Hibernian 29 7 9 13 28 48 30

10 Dundee 30 7 8 15 35 50 29

11 Aberdeen 30 7 7 16 33 49 28

12 Partick Thistle 30 3 6 21 29 57 15

[JOHNNY]

Only 3 games to go before the ridiculous league split takes place. This weekend could see the title concluded if Celtic defeat Hearts at Parkhead tomorrow and Rangers lose to Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday.

Weekend's fixtures:

Saturday Apr 03 2004

Aberdeen v Dundee Utd

Celtic v Hearts

Dundee v Partick Thistle

Dunfermline v Kilmarnock

Hibernian v Livingston

Sunday Apr 04 2004

Motherwell v Rangers

[JOHNNY]

Weekend's results:

Sunday April 04 2004

Motherwell 0-1 Rangers

Saturday April 03 2004

Aberdeen 3-0 Dundee Utd

Celtic 2-2 Hearts

Dundee 2-1 Partick Thistle

Dunfermline 2-1 Kilmarnock

Hibernian 3-1 Livingston

Updated League Table:

Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts

1 Celtic 31 28 3 0 97 18 79 87

2 Rangers 31 22 4 5 63 25 38 70

3 Hearts 30 15 8 7 45 33 12 53

4 Dunfermline 30 12 9 9 33 40 -7 45

5 Dundee United 31 11 7 13 36 48 -12 40

6 Motherwell 30 10 8 12 35 36 -1 38

7 Livingston 30 8 9 13 35 45 -10 33

8 Hibernian 30 8 9 13 31 49 -18 33

9 Dundee 31 8 8 15 37 51 -14 32

10 Aberdeen 31 8 7 16 36 49 -13 31

11 Kilmarnock 30 9 4 17 38 63 -25 31

12 Partick Thistle 31 3 6 22 30 59 -29 15

Goals in the dying minutes by Chris Sutton and Didier Agathe gave Celtic a 2-2 draw at home to Hearts on Saturday. Rangers 1-0 victory away to Motherwell on Sunday, courtesy of a Stephen Hughes strike, reduced the gap at the top to 17 points.

[JOHNNY]

Weekend's results:

Sunday April 11 2004

Dundee Utd 2 - 2 Dundee

Saturday April 10 2004

Hibernian 3 - 0 Kilmarnock

Partick Thistle 1 - 0 Hearts

Updated League Table:

Pos Team PL W D L F A Pts

1 Celtic 31 28 3 0 97 18 87

2 Rangers 31 22 4 5 63 25 70

3 Hearts 32 15 8 10 46 31 54

4 Dunfermline 30 12 9 9 33 40 45

5 Dundee United 32 11 8 13 38 50 41

6 Motherwell 31 10 9 12 36 37 39

7 Hibernian 31 9 9 13 33 49 36

8 Livingston 31 8 10 13 36 46 34

9 Dundee 32 8 9 15 39 53 33

10 Kilmarnock 32 9 5 18 39 66 32

11 Aberdeen 31 8 7 16 36 49 31

12 Partick Thistle 32 4 6 22 31 59 18

With the semi finals of the Scottish Cup taking place over the weeked, there were only 3 SPL matches. Partick had a surprise victory at home, but it may prove too little too late for the Glasgow side, who are 13 points behind Aberdeen with 6 games to play.

Hibs maintain their slim hopes of a top 6 spot with a comfortable victory at home to Kilmarnock.

In an exciting Tayside derby on Sunday, United came from two goals behind to earn a point courtesy of a Billy Dodds second half double.

In matches played at Hampden in front of poor crowds, Celtic advanced to the final of the cup with a 3-1 victory over Livingston (26,000) on Sunday. Dunfermline could only draw against first division Inverness on Saturday (13,000). Veteran striker Craig Brewster salvaged a replay for the Pars with a trademark header towards the end of a scrappy match.