There is a lot of paranoid rubbish in Scottish football but you really wonder just what the SPL were thinking in sending us to Parkhead for the last game of the campaign. Should Rangers fail to win at Kilmarnock it will be in our interests to lose to Celtic as it would guarantee a place in the Europa League regardless of whether the cup final is won or lost. You can only imagine the reaction if we concede a silly goal late on which turns out to be important...
'Well attack at Parkhead
However, while no one at Fir Park will admit to throwing the game, it seems certain that preparing for the cup final will involve a squad rotation so heavy our first eleven will hardly be recognisable. Anyone with the slightest niggle will be protected while key figures such as Randolph, Lasley, Jennings, Humphrey, Murphy and Sutton will surely be wrapped in cotton wool.
A debut for Lee Hollis would seem likely while Page, Forbes, Carswell, Pollock, Casagolda and McHugh are all candidates to start as well. There is a flip side to resting players though – some fringe players will be given the chance to play and a good, or terrible, performance could be what decides their cup final fate one way or another.
In all likelihood Rangers will win at Rugby Park to render our game irrelevant but few people gave us a chance against Celtic in similar circumstances in 2005. There seems little doubt Celtic will have too much for whatever team we put out but in losing the league and before a cup final, they too may take it easy and settle for a dull 2-0 win.