THE fat lady has sung – it's all over, for another few months at least.
Rangers managed to finish their long and arduous campaign on a high with a hard-earned victory over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup Final, but there can be no denying that, when it came to the really big prizes this season, they missed the boa
t.
Celtic's remarkable SPL comeback was completed at Tannadice last Thursday in what was a fitting tribute to their former first-team coach, Tommy Burns, who died just days earlier.
It's often said that the league table never lies, but it doesn't exactly tell the whole truth either.
To my mind, Rangers effectively conceded the title by dropping points in the last month when, in ordinary circumstances, they would surely have fared much better.
The fixture congestion proved to be the main obstacle for Walter Smith and his players, more so than Celtic rediscovering their best form in the last seven games.
There are undoubtedly lessons to be learned for those on the SPL board, none more so than the ridiculous end to the season when Rangers were asked to play four games in eight days, this kind of situation cannot be allowed to happen again.
The obvious solution would be to schedule more midweek fixtures earlier in the season when the weather is good, the pitches are decent and the players are still fresh.
By setting up one round of midweek matches in August, September and October it would give the SPL more margin for error, even allowing for some of the unusual and unpredictable circumstances that arose last season, in particular the cancellation of games due to Phil O'Donnell's death and Rangers' extraordinary run in all three cup competitions.
In some ways, the SPL made a rod for its own back in postponing domestic fixtures involving the Old Firm to help Scotland's preparation for their crucial match against Italy in November and also the following month when they allowed Rangers to put back their fixture against Gretna so that they could have a free week leading up to their Champions League game with Lyon.
How ironic, that on both occasions it made no difference whatsoever – Scotland lost to Italy and missed out on Euro 2008 qualification and Rangers were beaten by Lyon, forcing them into the knockout stages of the less prestigious UEFA Cup.
Having set a precedent, the SPL are going to find it hard to knock teams back when they ask for games to be postponed in the future.
Overall though, I would say that this season has been a very good one.
Celtic ended up as champions for the third season in a row and, in doing so, lifted Gordon Strachan, pictured, into the realms of legendary status as he became only the third man in the club's history to achieve such a feat.
Strange then, that despite winning five trophies in three seasons at Celtic, as well as taking them to the last 16 of the Champions League twice, he has yet to win over many of the fans.
People have their own views on why this is but his reaction to the press after last Thursday's triumph at Tannadice told its own story.
Despite having just seen his team win the league he spent less than two minutes in the media room and departed without answering any questions.
He also refused to do an interview with Setanta, even though it happens to be a contractual requirement for every SPL manager.
There is a suggestion that three years in charge at Celtic, or Rangers for that matter, is stressful enough for any man.
If that happens to apply to Gordon Strachan, then now would be as good a time as any to walk out the door with his head held high.
The full article contains 648 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
