Rangers and the Scottish Premier League: Fair? Mismanaged? Or Corrupt?

When the Scottish League fixtures were drawn up at the start of the season, all dates were agreed by all teams. The season would end on the weekend of the 18th of May, the weekend before the Scottish cup final, as it has been for over 100 years.

Now however, in a competitive league, one team has wrangled an extension of the League to help them out, but that doesn't seem to be enough, and they now want more favours to help them win it.

Rangers have a bit of a pile up of games, mostly of their own making. However, they want games moved, and the league extended to help them win it, to the detriment of every other club.

The Fixture Pile Up

Rangers like to point out one game, postponed in the new year as a mark of respect for Phil O'Donnell, as the cause of their pile up, and as such it wasn't their fault. But let's look at some of the real reasons.

In November, both Celtic and Rangers had games postponed due to a Scottish national game. Celtic rearranged their game for a midweek in December (incidentally they dropped points the Saturday after). Despite also having two midweeks free to play their game in December and another in February, Rangers choose not to. This game is still to be played.

Back in December, Rangers asked for a postponement of a game against Gretna FC in order to prepare for a Champion League tie against Lyon. This request was granted. This postponed game against Gretna could also have been played in the free February slot. Rangers choose not to play that game either.

At the same time, Celtic were getting on with their fixtures in both League and Champion League. Three days before Celtic played the reigning European champions AC Milan (and just three days after another Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk) they travelled to Hearts and dropped points.

Four days afterwards, they dropped more points to St Mirren. All the while, Rangers were having a rest preparing for their 3-0 defeat to Lyon. These points dropped, whilst Rangers were having their break, may prove to cost Celtic the League title, but that's the way the game works, and they played the games they were arranged to play.

Let's not forget, happening around the same time was Aberdeen's attempts at getting a match postponed to help them in their UEFA-Cup run. After Motherwell refused to postpone a game to help them prepare for Europe, did the SPL then step in to help Aberdeen out as they have now done with Rangers? Well no, of course they didn't.

This all resulted in Rangers' fixture congestion, without even mentioning Rangers' failure to advance from their Champions League group, which resulted in them being in the UEFA Cup in the first place. Add to that, their failure to dispose of lower division teams in domestic cups at the first attempt, meaning replays had to be played.

The Fall Out

So, as Rangers dropped out of the Champion League and went on a UEFA Cup run, games start to pile up, and the SPL offer an unprecedented extension of the league to help Rangers. Was that enough for them?

No.

They now want another game postponed (leading to a bigger extension) to help them out (because the last time went so well presumably?). Walter Smith, one of the most vocal in calling for this, even said, “We will not ask them to extend the season". He quickly changed his tune, and complained until they got one.

Not only are Rangers being given an advantage from offers to free up their schedule, but every other team is being forced to move their games to fit in with Rangers' new schedule.

The Rangers' spin team are now out in force, pointing out that their UEFA Cup opponents will have a break before the final, ignoring the fact that they are at the beginning of their season and not at the very end, which will probably end up causing them problems as they try to catch up.

Also being ignored is the fact this favour being afforded by the Russian football authorities is the very same favour Rangers have already been given by the SPL earlier this season.

A final point being ignored is that back when Rangers were having their break to prepare for Lyon, did the French League extend the same cortesy to Lyon? The answer, if you want to know, is no.

Another myth that they have rolled out is that during Celtic's run to the UEFA Cup final in 2003, the SPL changed games to help them prepare. The SPL did no such thing, but another team agreed to move a game forward a few days. There was no extension, no other teams were forced to change anything, no one else was effected.

Is there any reason Rangers can't move their game forward instead of back? But then that would only help them in the UEFA cup and not in the League, which is what they really want.

In fact, during that 2003 season, Celtic themselves did protest that the timing of a Celtic-Rangers game, arranged just two days after Celtic returned from an away UEFA Cup semifinal match, was unfair. That game did go ahead as planned, and Rangers manager and players told Celtic that they should be “thankful” they were in the position that they were in, and that they were “moaners”. How things have changed now it is they who are in this position.

SFA president George Peat even claimed yesterday, in regards to offering even more help, that:

"It would be exactly the same if it were Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs, Motherwell, Dundee United, any of the others.”

Well George, it was Celtic in 2003, and no extension was offered to help them, it was Aberdeen earlier in the year, and you didn't help them either.

Trying to get any fair and unbiased response to this from Rangers is proving difficult, as the BBC found out when they asked the club for a simple statement to the initial refusal of the SPL to postpone the match against Dundee United.

The BBC were told Rangers had “refused to comment, stating that a Scottish national newspaper has exclusive rights to their reaction”. Have they sold these rights to make money, or given them away for certain generous publicity from said newspaper? Who knows.

Anyone reading this who is not familiar with Scottish Football need only ask themselves this: Would the league in your country extended to help one team at the expense of others?

I think the answer would be a resounding 'No'.

It seems to me that Rangers will try by hook or crook to make sure this year's league trophy ends up at Ibrox. Their current problems are of their own making, but they want help from others.

This second extension they have called for was completely unworkable, with Rangers requesting to move the league even later, despite the fact that players have to be released for international duty. Celtics' Georgios Samaras has already had to pull out of a Greece friendly because of the first extension, which could ultimately cost cost him his place at EURO 2008.

It has for now been turned down (Rangers are unbelievably crying foul), but the first one has already compromised the Scottish League. Every team in this year's Scottish Premier League has been competing on equal terms. Except for one.