MUCH has changed since Rangers went top of the Scottish Building Society SWP1 table on December 13. An emphatic 5-0 win over Glasgow City meant all the momentum was with the winning side, even if their advantage was confined to goal difference.
Five months on and there's a sense of deja vu about this pandemic-hit season. The sides meet again this afternoon, with City, as they were in December, three points clear and Rangers knowing a win will put them back on top on goal difference.
It's a huge four days for the three leading teams as City also travel to play Celtic on Wednesday night. Wins in both games would make the defending champions overwhelming favourites to extend their unprecedented sequence of Scottish titles to 14.
Back in December the three player switch from City to Rangers a fortnight earlier had a huge bearing on the outcome of the Broadwood match. That imbalance has been redressed by City's January signings, making today's televised encounter at the Rangers Training Centre the most intriguing of the season so far.
Celtic, who have also been strengthened by new players and will expect to pick up three points against Motherwell today, are not out of it either. They should benefit no matter the outcome between Rangers and City, but the second available Champions League place may be a more realistic target for the side sitting third in the table.
There has, so far at least, been a remarkable symmetry to the games between the top three. City have comfortably beaten Celtic twice and lost heavily to Rangers once, while Celtic have beaten Rangers 1-0 on both occasions.
Spartans sit fourth in the table, making their head coach, Debbi McCulloch, very well placed to pass judgement on the sides above. When pushed she thinks Rangers are most likely to win the title, with City second favourites and Celtic holding an outside chance.
“It's a difficult one to call,” she admitted. “Any of the three can win the league, but Glasgow City and Rangers are the best teams I feel we've competed against this season.
“Rangers have only conceded four goals – that's an absolutely remarkable defensive record and their back four is very, very difficult to break down. You look at Glasgow City's attacking power and Celtic's midfield – they all have very different strengths and weaknesses.
“Glasgow City have definitely strengthened. We saw that in their game against us on Sunday. They've brought in a lot of experience and Arna Asgrimsdottir has solidified the back four. That can give a team so much more confidence.
“Rangers' speed of play is probably the fastest we've come up against this season. I'm going to go for them to win the title – but City have the experience and resilience and every single time anybody has written them off they've always produced.”
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SHELLEY Kerr's first game in charge of Scotland was a friendly in Hungary in 2017 – and there's every chance a match there could be the first for her successor also. The World Cup qualifying fixtures were released on Friday with the Hungarians, away, being the first Group B assignment on September 17.
There will be friendlies before that next month, but no guarantee that a new head coach will be in place. A shortlist has now been compiled, but while the intention is for an appointment to be made ahead of the June games, the availability of the successful candidate to start immediately is another matter.
Going back to the draw, the away game against Group B top seeds Spain is on November 30 with the return on April 12. Venues have yet to be confirmed.
A few hours before the fixtures were released it was announced that Kerr has landed a new role with the Football Association. She will be the technical lead of England women's “how we play” coaching strategy and manage its implementation across the national teams and coaches.
Might there also be a role for Kerr on the Team GB coaching staff for Tokyo? She does, after all, have World Cup experience and it would add to the fig leaf that the squad represents all the four home nations as opposed to the reality that it is England with add ons.
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Also on Friday, Scottish Women's Football confirmed they have decided on the successor to Fiona McIntyre as CEO. I suspect it was no coincidence that the Scottish election was held the previous day – if my hunch is correct the successful candidate is extremely well connected in political circles.
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