O'Neill's back, Hibs v Rangers & flying Kyziridis

11 hours ago 2

Shaun Maloney, Martin O'Neill, Mohamed Diomande, Nicolas Raskin, and Alexandros Kyziridis Image source, SNS

ByColin MoffatBBC Sport Scotland and Thomas DuncanBBC Sport Scotland

A tumultous 48 hours in Scottish football rolls on to Wednesday night as 10 of the Premiership's sides face off on what promises to be a blockbuster evening.

Staggeringly, Martin O'Neill will be in the home dugout at Parkhead for the first time in 20 years as Celtic host Falkirk in the wake of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation.

New Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has only been in the door a week and has his first win, but a big test against third-placed Hibernian at Easter Road awaits.

Meanwhile, high-flying Hearts will aim to take advantage of any further Glasgow woe when they visit St Mirren with an eight-point lead at the top.

That's without even touching on a high-pressure game for struggling Aberdeen at Kilmarnock, and the rest of the tightly-packed table.

Game of the night: Hibernian v Rangers

There's a lot on the line at Easter Road as Hibernian aim to go a full 12 months without a home defeat in the league, while every game is big right now for Rangers as they bid to claw back ground after a dismal start to the season.

Hibs have won two in a row after being hamstrung by careless draws and David Gray's side are unbeaten in their past three Premiership meetings with Rangers.

However, the Hibees faithful have not celebrated a top-flight success at home against Rangers since September 2006 and they did surrender rather meekly at Ibrox in the Premier Sports Cup last month.

In Sunday's 2-1 victory at Aberdeen, Hibs should have been out of sight before conceding in the dying embers.

The defence appears more solid now Grant Hanley has had a run of four successive starts and record signing Thibault Klidje is looking to score for the third game running but there is still a nagging feeling Gray should be getting more from an array of exciting attacking talent.

There were positive signs for new boss Rohl as Rangers finally delivered a first home league win of the campaign against Kilmarnock.

Rangers played with greater tempo and tenacity and there were potentially significant goals for Danilo and Youssef Chermiti, two players in grave need of a confidence boost.

Rohl would love to end a club record run of 24 competitive away games without a clean sheet but seems likely to place more emphasis on the other end of the pitch.

These two served up a 3-3 and a 2-2 in Edinburgh last term and another end-to-end thriller would not come as any surprise.

Manager in the spotlight: Martin O'Neill (Celtic)

So many eyes will be drawn to Celtic Park where O'Neill will make his unexpected return alongside his former player, Shaun Maloney.

Given the unexpected nature of Rodgers' departure, the fact Maloney has had one training session, and O'Neill only arrived at the club on Tuesday means an overhaul of Celtic's personnel and playing style seems unlikely.

The duo have to work with what they've got, which is a squad Rodgers infamously described as akin to a Honda Civic, with injuries to key players.

A meek and damaging defeat by Hearts laid those faults bare, and there is the backdrop of a protest planned by some fans before the game.

O'Neill said himself the job is to win, and dropping points to newly-promoted Falkirk at home to potentially fall further behind Hearts would be a horror start.

It is an unenviable task for O'Neill and Maloney, but maybe dusting off the boots and famous sweatshirt will inspire some of the old magic from his first spell.

Player to watch: Alexandros Kyziridis (Hearts)

The Greek winger rattled in his third league strike of the season in Sunday's 3-1 win over Celtic as pacesetters Hearts laid down an emphatic marker.

The 25-year-old is already a fans' hero, with his positive running causing havoc.

Opponents know he likes to cut inside and have a pop with his right foot but stopping him is another matter. Kyziridis has had three shots on target from outside the penalty area and they've all gone in.

He also sits atop the club's assists chart, laying on four Premiership goals.

One of those assists came at Livingston and was followed by a stoppage-time winner as Kyziridis helped turn the game as a half-time substitute.

Since then, Derek McInnes has named the same starting XI for five successive victories and Kyziridis will be among the first of the names on the team sheet as Hearts bid to improve on a run of just one win in their past eight visits to St Mirren in all competitions.

Read Entire Article
Industri | Energi | Artis | Global