A tough away day at Easter Road or time to work on the training ground at Auchenhowie? What would be better four days before a do-or-die Champions League playoff against PSV Eindhoven? It’s a choice Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s counterpart Ruud van Nistelrooy was given and he opted for time to work with his players rather than take on Volendam in the Eredivisie.
As things stand Rangers will travel across the M8 for a game against Lee Johnson’s Hibs on the same weekend ahead of the second leg against the Dutch side on August 24 in Eindhoven. Van Bronckhorst, it appears, hasn’t been given that choice. But should he? Ally McCoist took the opportunity to reopen old wounds as he recalled the bitter 2008 fixture row when his side were forced to play a staggering five games in 11 days as they chased UEFA Cup and league glory and Walter Smith’s flagging side came up short in both.
Recalling how former SFA President George Peat said one prominent chairman at the time told him NOT to help Rangers with his competition, the Scottish Cup, also in the equation at the time when it came to the possibility of moving fixtures. The season was extended back then but not long enough in the eyes of the Ibrox side. So, do the SPFL do enough to help Scottish clubs in Europe and should Rangers look to postpone their game against Hibs or, at the very least, be given the option? Here, Record Sport’s Gavin Berry and Graeme Young debate the hot topic.
