The Scotsman Bulletin Friday April 19 2024 #Sport #Football

The Scotsman

Scotsman deputy editor Alan Young speaks to sports editor Mark Atkinson about the weekend Scottish Cup semi final draws between Aberdeen and Celtic and Rangers and Hearts

Transcript

00:00 Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Friday. I'm Alan Young, I am

00:14 Deputy Editor of the Scotsman. I'm joined today by our Sport Editor, Mark Atkinson.

00:19 Take a look ahead to the Sporting Weekend, hi Mark.

00:22 Hello Alan.

00:23 Let's have a look at the front page first off. No surprise what we're splashing on today,

00:29 a story that is on pretty much every front page in Scotland and that is the rearrest

00:36 and charge of former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell as part of the long-running police

00:44 probe into SNP finances. We are keeping a close eye on developments around that story

00:51 obviously. But Mark, completely away from politics, let's take a look ahead to the main

01:02 events of the sporting calendar this weekend and it's the return of the Scottish Cup.

01:08 That's right Alan, Scottish Cup semi-final weekend. Always one that I look forward to,

01:12 I must say. Both games being played at Hampden. The first one is at half past twelve, Aberdeen

01:18 take on the holders, Celtic. And then on Sunday we have Rangers against Hearts. I think you

01:24 have to say that's two pretty mouth-watering Scottish Cup ties.

01:29 Absolutely. Given a bit of added spice by events during the week?

01:36 Yeah, yeah I think so. I think Celtic will almost certainly have a spring in their step

01:42 given that Rangers have dropped points in the two matches that they've played since

01:47 Celtic were last in action. Rangers of course lost at Ross County and then drew at Dundee

01:54 on Sunday and Wednesday respectively. Which means Celtic are three points clear with five

01:59 games to go in the league with a superior goal difference of five. So you have to imagine

02:04 that confidence, despite not having played for a week, will be pretty high in the Celtic

02:08 camp. We'll hear from Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic players later today. Conversely,

02:15 Rangers go to Hampden now on Sunday with quite a lot of pressure and expectation on their

02:19 shoulders. Their players have come under fierce criticism from their fans because of the performances

02:26 in Dingwall and at Den's Park. And they're playing a Hearts team who haven't beaten them

02:31 this season but are going very, very well themselves. They are third in the league.

02:36 They have one of the best players in the league right now in Lawrence Shankland. And their

02:41 manager Stephen Naismith, who spoke yesterday to the press, he was in, I wouldn't say he

02:45 was in a confident mood, but he was certainly quite bullish about his team's prospects.

02:50 And he knows that his team is improving and maturing and they can cause Rangers problems.

02:56 That semi-final in particular I think is the one that will have the most eyes on it with

03:00 the potential shock.

03:03 What's your predictions? Impossible to say?

03:07 I don't like doing predictions, Alan, but because it's you I will give you one. I do

03:13 think Celtic will have too much for Aberdeen. While Aberdeen have stabilised under caretaker

03:18 manager Peter Leeman, and the news this week that Jimmy Thielen will arrive in the summer

03:24 will no doubt act as a boost to all of Petardrie, I just think Celtic will be too strong. They're

03:29 playing very well. Aberdeen are without Graeme Shinney, their captain, who's suspended.

03:34 I think that will have a big impact on the midfield battle. So I would be surprised if

03:38 Aberdeen turn Celtic over.

03:40 And the other one, I still think Rangers are probably too strong for hearts, even though

03:47 what's happened this week. I do think Philippe Clameau is a strong manager and he will get

03:51 a reaction out of this Rangers team. But that one is much tighter to call. But I suspect

03:58 come Sunday afternoon, if I had to go with what the final will be, I think it will be

04:02 an all-firm final. But I do think this game on Sunday will be instant packed and could

04:07 be very interesting.

04:08 Great, look forward to it. So what else to look out for this weekend?

04:13 I think the Scottish Cup definitely takes pride of place this weekend. Down south we

04:20 have the FA Cup semi-finals. For me, they're always inferior to the Scottish Cup, but they

04:24 are quite nice ties. We have Man City, Chelsea and then we have Coventry City against Man

04:30 United. That feels like a 1980s FA Cup semi-final. Man United are so unpredictable right now that

04:36 you would not pack them with a certainty to win against Coventry, although they will go

04:42 in as heavy favourites. So those are the two FA Cup ties. There's no premiership action

04:47 in Scotland this weekend. There are some games in the EPL. And away from the football, rugby

04:52 we have both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh playing this weekend. Glasgow Warriors take

04:57 on Sharks tonight. They're second in the URC, having a really good season under Franco Smith.

05:02 And for those that enjoyed the Grand National last weekend, they can get their horse racing

05:07 fix at Ayr, where the Scottish Grand National takes place. The favourite currently is a

05:14 very Scottish sounding horse, McDermott, although he's trained in Ireland by the Grand National

05:18 winning trainer, Willie Mullins. So busy enough weekend, but I think it's all about the Scottish

05:24 Cup.

05:25 Great stuff. Thanks very much, Mark. And you can follow us all at scottsman.com as ever.

05:31 If you're on site, please do subscribe if you can, and you will not miss a thing. And

05:36 if you're out and about today, please do pick up a copy of the paper from me and from Mark.

05:41 So bye for now.

05:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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