Bonkers decision to reject Rangers position over winter break will lead to 2008 style nightmare - Derek Clark

On Tuesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that from Boxing Day, only 500 spectators would be allowed entry into football stadia in Scotland due to the rising number of Omicron Covid cases.

Now, surely that figure is based on science?

Not quite, as national clinical director, Jason Leitch explained.

"Of course, you have to draw the line somewhere, we’ve drawn it at a variety of points over the last little while,” he said.

"It’s very difficult to choose a number, you can either choose zero, 10,000 or somewhere in between.

"It’s a judgement, it’s of course based on trying to keep the risk as low as you possibly can but the alternative is just to close them down completely.

"There isn’t a particular public health route that takes you to 500 people.”

This decision alone is not only contentious but disastrous to so many people working in and around football clubs who are set to lose out on valuable income over the festive period.

The fact it’s not been made under scientific advice is even more galling.

READ MORE: Neil Doncaster issues fixture congestion warning after SPFL vote to reschedule winter break amid Covid restrictions

We’re told the restrictions will be in place for up to three weeks which prompted discussions between board members of several Premiership clubs as they looked to minimise the financial impact it could have.

Talk of bringing the winter break forward two weeks was quickly being mooted with the idea that supporters would somehow be allowed entry once the three week period was over.

Let me start by saying this seems totally delusional.

Jason Leitch has already confirmed we likely won’t see the peak of the Omicron variant until late January/early February therefore this notion that SPFL clubs can expect packed stadia again within three weeks is palpable nonsense.

And if that's not enough, the SNP themselves have openly admitted the three-week timeframe won't likely be enough to get supporters back.

Westminster leader Ian Blackford said on Twitter: "Can I completely endorse what Hibs have proposed. This is common sense. Bring forward the winter break, perhaps extend it for a short while and look forward to welcoming back fans."

Despite what Blackford says, the decision made by the SPFL makes no sense.

Many have questioned why the Boxing Day fixtures are taking place given the restrictions that will now surround the matches and rightly so. Put quite simply though, they can't afford not to play that round of matches.

The much-maligned SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster attempted to explain the reasoning behind the decision during an interview on Sky Sports this morning.

He said: “We have had intense and positive discussions with all cinch SPFL clubs over the past 24 hours, since the announcement by the Scottish Government of a three-week period of restrictions on fans attending matches.

“We have advised our clubs that any postponements increase the risk of further disruption to an already highly congested fixture calendar.

“There are mixed views amongst cinch Premiership clubs about what to do for the best.

“However, a majority favour the postponement of fixtures to give a chance for games scheduled to be played over the festive period to be played in front of fans, once the three-week period of restrictions comes to an end.

“The SPFL Board has agreed to postpone the 29 December and New Year cinch Premiership fixture cards.”

"We've used the two available slots that exist. Although so many clubs wanted to postpone all three festive games, there simply isn't the space on the calendar to do that.

"We had two slots in January and the beginning of February, which we've used to put the 29 December and New Year games into, but there really isn't any further room."

There are alarm bells ringing there in almost every utterance.

Firstly, stating there is no further room to fit in postponed fixtures highlights the problem with bringing forward the break.

The weather in Scotland in January and February is unpredictable, to say the least, and there is a greater chance of adverse conditions wreaking havoc on games. Therefore to voluntarily give up dates for fixtures is like using all your lifelines on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on your first question. It’s completely unnecessary given it's highly unlikely fans are going to be allowed back into the grounds by then.

There is a real threat of a fixture pile-up like the one we witnessed in 2007-08 when Rangers performed heroics to progress to a European final only to face the prospect of playing six league games in 18 days with the UEFA Cup final sandwiched in between and a Scottish Cup final just two days on from their last league match.

With the World Cup taking place at the end of the year, there is more pressure than ever on the season-ending on May 15th.

Of course, not all clubs agreed on said proposals with Rangers and Ross County preferring to stick to the original schedule and in the long run, you can’t help but feel they’ll be proved right.

Rangers’ rearranged fixtures with Aberdeen and Celtic will now take place on Tuesday 18th January and Wednesday 2nd February respectively.

The Old Firm date is one that indicates there will be very few fans present given it will be the first time in over a decade that the powder keg clash has been played on a midweek evening.

READ MORE: Why Rangers' AFCON rule salvation looks doomed amid stark Neil Doncaster assessment

That’s not to mention the fact that both clubs will potentially be missing several key first-team players due to international duty.

From a Rangers perspective, Joe Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun are likely to be called up to the Nigeria squad for the AFCON and the Super Eagles are expected to reach the latter stages of the competition which would rule them out of the derby.

Alfredo Morelos may be missing if he’s called up to the Colombia squad for their match with Argentina which takes place the day before the Old Firm encounter, Kemar Roofe may be away with Jamaica and Scott Arfield may be called up to the Canadian squad for their World Cup qualifiers.

From a Celtic standpoint, they could potentially be missing Tom Rogic, Kyogo Furuhashi and Ismaila Soro.

We have a scenario where we are showcasing the marquee Scottish fixture to a worldwide audience without star performers being available.

Therefore the argument to cancel the match on the original date of January 2nd seems even more bizarre.

Who knows, the Scottish Government may allow full houses again three weeks but the overwhelming likelihood is strong restrictions will continue for a considerable period afterwards. It makes the decision to scrap fixtures at this stage of the campaign an almighty gamble and one that might well throw our game back into chaos further down the road.