SPFL Weekly: Five Talking Points

Rangers gave Philippe Clement his marching orders, Hibernian defeated a lethargic Celtic, there was no new manager bounce for Motherwell, and the cool-as-ice Kabangu kept Hearts ticking. Meanwhile, Ross County continued their push for the top six, and Aberdeen stave off capitulation with back-to-back wins. Here’s our round-up of the big talking points from Matchday 27 in the 2024/25 SPFL season. Clement sacked – Who’s next? Rangers 2-0 home defeat to St Mirren was the straw that broke the camel’s back. A dismal showing at Ibrox sealed Philippe Clement’s fate in a week filled with speculation about a potential US-led takeover by San Francisco 49ers’ investors. His dismissal came just hours after our report last night, which anticipated the club’s official announcement. After the match, Clement apologised to the fans, telling BBC Sport: “I can only say sorry and apologise [to the Rangers fans] from me and the team. This is not what Rangers teams need to show on the pitch. We all know this was by far below the standards we all expect.” However, for Rangers supporters, it was too little, too late. Some even set up a JustGiving page to fund his rumoured £1.2 million compensation fee. During his 16-month tenure, Clement showed rare glimpses of promise, particularly in Europe, where Rangers secured automatic qualification for the Europa League round of 16. Yet, he struggled to translate those performances into domestic success, leaving the club 13 points adrift of league leaders Celtic. Attention now turns to his long-term successor, with former Everton boss Sean Dyche, ex-Rangers title-winning manager Steven Gerrard, club legend Barry Ferguson, and former Light Blues midfielder Gennaro Gattuso all linked. Ferguson has been announced by the club to manage until the end of the season. VAR controversy mars heroic Hibs performance The heat on VAR grows with Brendan Rodgers’ latest comments following Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Hibernian. An equaliser for Celtic was ruled out in the second half after the VAR overruled the on-field officials. Their decision was that Alistair Johnston crossed the ball after it was out of play, with the linesman originally calling it in. Regarding the controversy, Rodgers told BBC Sport:  “I was very disappointed we didn’t get that, especially when the linesman didn’t think it was out. He probably has the best view. “I don’t know how you can tell the ball is definitely out from an image from the 18-yard line. We need to see evidence the ball was out. If you don’t have that, you’re having a guess.” However, the debate surrounding the decision has unfairly overshadowed Hibernian’s outstanding and fully deserved performance. They fought with grit and determination to withstand Celtic’s attacks while capitalising on a fatigued Hoops defence in transition. A defining moment came when Rocky Bushiri heroically cleared the ball off the goal line following a surging run from Jota, sparking a deafening roar from the home crowd. By the final whistle, as Sunshine on Leith echoed around Easter Road, there could be no denying that Hibs had earned their moment of celebration. No new manager bounce for the ‘Well One could forgive the neutral fan who gave little thought to this fixture last weekend. However, there has been renewed interest following the appointment of Michael Wimmer as Motherwell’s manager. The German spoke about bringing “intensity, energy, and passion” to proceedings. Still, there was little evidence of this in the first half of a 1-0 defeat to Dundee United. Both sides came into the game in poor form, but the Tangerines struck first and stopped the Lanarkshire side from having a new manager bounce. The visitors did react positively in the second half but lacked the clinical edge to get back into the match.  On the second-half performance, Wimmer told BBC Sport: “We can work with the second half. It was really good. It was aggressive, we had opportunities, and we played forward. That’s what we want to see.” The Steelmen are now on their joint longest losing streak in ten years and worryingly looking over their shoulders at the teams behind them in the table. Kabangu injection saves Hearts Nine years ago, the Perth club witnessed a bejewelled Elton John in a stellar concert at McDiarmid Park, singing hits such as Crocodile Rock and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This weekend, they saw another Elton dazzle before their eyes. Elton Kabangu, the January recruit from Hearts. The Belgian scored twice in a 2-1 away victory to see Hearts look towards the top six and European places. Putting aside last week’s disappointing home result to Rangers, where he failed to take his chances, he was a thorn in the Saints’ side throughout and put away two clinical finishes to take his toll up to six goals from seven games. Hearts boss Neil Crichtley told BBC Sport about his performance: “I’m delighted for Elton Kabangu to get two goals after his disappointment last week. He’s such a great personality to have at the training ground every day. I thought he was fantastic again.” The Saints are running out of games to turn things around, languishing six points adrift at the bottom of the table. Their manager, Simo Valakari, joined the club in October to do just that. With each passing game, that is looking increasingly less likely, and preparations for the Championship may lie ahead. Battle for top six Ross County is on an excellent run of form, with five wins from their last 9. Their only two defeats from that run came against the two Glasgow giants. They came from behind this weekend to beat Dundee 3-1. On the performance, Cowie told BBC Sport: “I was most pleased with how we responded to going behind, we were not spooked by it and deservedly got back in the game at 1-1. “We came out the traps flying after half-time and scored two goals. A fantastic win, and it keeps the momentum going.” The man from Inverness has given the Dingwall fans hope, as the club is only two points off the

Barry Ferguson seals stunning return to boyhood club on interim basis

Rangers chiefs, Fraser Thornton and Patrick Stewart have appointed a new backroom team consisting of club legends Allan McGregor, Neil McCann, Billy Dodds, and headed by Barry Ferguson.   Less than 24 hours after Philippe Clement was shown the exit door at Ibrox after a 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock, Rangers have moved fast to bring some stability to the shaken Glasgow giants. Ferguson amassed 5 league titles in his time at Ibrox, and fans will be praying that he can bring the intensity and passion that typified his playing career. There are few people that truly understand the pressure and demands of operating at a club like Rangers, but this newly-installed regime have spent much of their playing days immersed in the cauldron of Old Firm football.  Rangers said: “a new, permanent manager will be appointed in the coming months”. The new-look management team take over a club trailing rivals Celtic by 13 points in the Scottish Premier League. Rangers’ last hopes of silverware were extinguished by Queen’s Park in a humiliating 1-0 defeat at Ibrox – considered the biggest shock in Scottish Cup history. Ferguson will take charge over the much anticipated match against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce side in the Europa League. Mourinho faced criticism over his style of play by Clement in a recent press conference, it remains to be seen whether Ferguson will take notice of his predecessors insight. 

I’m ready for the chance to cement my place in the team – says Bowie after return from injury hell

Hibs forward Kieron Bowie says he had to insist he was ready for a first league start in ten months despite hesitation from club staff after his long injury lay-off. “I was speaking to the gaffer a few weeks ago and he was asking me, psychologically was I ready?”, said Bowie “I was like, definitely! I’m ready for my chance and take to try and cement my place in the team”. Bowie endured a four month wait to come back from a hamstring injury suffered whilst playing for the Scotland U21 side, having only just returned from a spell on the sidelines that saw him miss the majority of his first pre-season since signing for a reported £600k from Fulham. However both manager David Gray and himself will be more than pleased with the gamble paying off, as Bowie received a standing ovation to cap off a remarkable win. “I think it’s been a long time coming and usually I’m getting that ovation coming back onto the pitch,” he said before joking “It was good to come off, my legs were gone”. Although you would have struggled to notice as Bowie made his 64 minutes feel like a lifetime for “the two best defenders in the league” in Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty, according the Hibs man. “To know that I can go up against them is really good and it gives me a lot of confidence.” Bowie said after getting enough of their shirts to come away with a memento, walking into the room with a Carter-Vickers strip in hand. “I don’t know if he wanted my shirt but I got his anyway,” he laughed “I thought I should get somebody’s shirt and I went to the kit man and asked but he said ‘you need to give me yours’, I’m not sure Pedro (the Hibs kitman) was happy!” A big scalp in more ways than one given that taking home the three points was no guarantee after the early goal from Josh Campbell. “You’ve seen the last couple of times we’ve played Celtic,” he told the media “we conceded so early and obviously it was the opposite way around this time and you think ‘oh no we’ve poked the bear!’ – but we managed to maintain the pressure and get another goal before half-time.” With victory under their belt, Bowie said the message from the manager was to “cement their place in the top six”. A task that looks far easier given the five point cushion they have on Ross County in seventh. Looking ahead, the Scot is eager to continue the Scottish Cup run with another game against Celtic coming in just a few weeks. “We went into the Cup thinking this is a possibility, we can win this and now we’ve shown what we can do against that opposition and hopefully do that again.”

Celtic will ‘get back on the horse and go again’ – captain McGregor after Hibs loss

Celtic captain Callum McGregor believes his side’s experience will help them recover from a shock second defeat in a week after they were beaten 2-1 by Hibs at Easter Road. “Whether you win, lose or draw, you get back on the horse and you go again. The players have been here a million times before. We know what it takes to be a winning team,” said the 31 year old. Defeat in the capital followed a cruel exit from the Champions League in Munich, which seemed to have draining impact on the players both physically and mentally at the weekend. However McGregor, was quick to praise the opposition rather than dwell on the damage done midweek. “We knew that was the type of game so it was just about trying to get ahead of that. We never quite did it and then the stuff with the ball was a little bit passive. Credit to them, they played well, they had a good game plan and they got their goals at the right time.” McGregor said during his post-match conference. With the defeat behind them and a League Cup under their belt, Celtic will no doubt have their sights on a ninth domestic treble, of which McGregor has won an astonishing five. The skipper stressed that they did not see it as already won despite a titanic thirteen point lead, “we’ve never said that. It’s one thing that we don’t do, we don’t speak out of turn. We take every game and we respect every single opponent,” he added, “we try and do our talking on the pitch as much as we can. We know that we’re a mile away from any success. We’ve obviously won the League Cup but that’s it.” As the side prepare to take on an Aberdeen side recovering from one of the league’s worst ever runs of form, McGregor believes his side are relishing the opportunity to take to the pitch despite a taxing February that has seen them play seven games in three weeks. “In the football the best thing is having a game in three days time,” he remarked “we know what it takes to be a winning team.”   Celtic face Aberdeen on Tuesday at Celtic Park with kick-off at 20:00.