Archive August 8, 2025

We’re only a week in and we’ve had chat of board ultimatums, leaked teams, the Old Firm being split, a European revolution from our Scottish teams and a Dundee United fan falling down a flight of stairs three times.

Scottish football has delivered already, but what will week two have in store?

Celtic started their title defence last week against St Mirren – the team who held them to a draw in the final game of the last Premiership campaign.

Having this time overcome the stubborn Buddies thanks to a late goal, Brendan Rodgers ‘ side will next hope to also gain some kind of revenge over the team who denied them a domestic treble in the season’s finale at Hampden.

Like Celtic, the Scottish Cup winners are playing only their second match of the season. The first ended in a 2-0 defeat by Heart of Midlothian.

Aberdeen had headed to Edinburgh with their fans believing they had strengthened thanks to Jimmy Thelin’s summer rebuild. Celtic, on the other hand, arrive at Pittodrie with some among their support suggesting their squad is, if anything, weaker than the one which lost in that Scottish Cup final.

However, the Hampden penalty shoot-out win apart, Aberdeen’s record against Celtic is fairly horrendous and they had not beaten the Glasgow side in their 30 previous meetings.

Rodgers ‘ team were ruthless at Pittodrie on their last visit in May – their second 5-1 scoreline against the Dons in a row and their second win there in succession.

Martin Boyle grabbed most of the headlines, the Australia forward bagging both goals in Hibernian’s excellent 2-0 win away to Partizan Belgrade in Thursday’s Conference League qualifier.

But, while the Aberdeen-born 32-year-old was the star man as he notched goals 100 and 101 for the Leith outfit, team-mate Kieron Bowie was enhancing his growing reputation further in a team full of heroes.

The 22-year-old’s physicality troubled the Serb side’s defence throughout and it was fouls on the striker that led to Vukasin Durdevic’s 34th-minute sending off and the 70th-minute spot-kick that puts Hibs in pole position to reach the play-off round.

That came on the back of Bowie scoring both goals in Saturday’s 2-1 win away to Dundee in their Premiership opener, with Kilmarnock, who have lost in their latest five visits to Easter Road, next in his sights on Sunday.

He has come a long way in a short time since his three years with Fulham came to an end last summer after a loan spell in League One with Northampton Town and having had to wait until February to make his first Premiership start.

Six goals in 23 games for Hibs last season may not seem like a prolific total for a striker, but since that first start, he has the best minutes per goal rate of any player to score more than twice in the Scottish top-flight.

On the face of it, albeit on the evidence of only four unbeaten games, little has changed at Ibrox since Barry Ferguson was replaced with Russell Martin as head coach this summer.

Despite summer comings and goings, Rangers remain stubborn and clinical in European competition, while less than convincing domestically.

Having been fortunate to even escape Fir Park with a 1-1 draw in their Premiership opener against Motherwell, Martin’s side already trail reigning champions Celtic by two points in what he has stated is his priority competition this season.

Strong words about egos, followed by the dropping of four players, including captain James Tavernier and the much-lauded Nicolas Raskin, seemed to do the trick, but it is in the Premiership where Rangers ‘ mentality has been most under scrutiny and where Martin must earn his managerial spurs.

Dundee would appear to be ideal opposition for their home league opener given Steven Pressley’s own troubles in his first months as their head coach.

On top of their failure to qualify from their League Cup group and some fan disappointment at his appointment, the former Rangers centre-half’s side lost their opening-weekend game 2-1 to Hibernian.

Dundee managed just two attempts on goal – their fewest in a Premiership home game since October 2018 against Celtic – and that came amid Pressley’s admission that summer recruitment has proved equally troublesome.

History does not provide much promise for the visitors either given Rangers are unbeaten in their last 17 meetings with Dundee, winning 14 of them, since a 2-1 defeat at Dens Park in November 2017.

All three league matches between Dundee United and Hearts last season finished as 1-0 wins to the away side, with the Tangerines winning two of those and the Jam Tarts the other.

Chris Woakes says rehabilitation “could be a risk he’s willing to take” to be fit for the Ashes, rather than having surgery on the shoulder injury sustained in England’s fifth Test defeat against India.

The 36-year-old is waiting for the results of a scan after suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder on day one at the Oval.

England had ruled him out of the rest of the Test, but he still stepped out to bat with his left arm in a sling as they chased what would have been a series-clinching victory on a dramatic final morning.

The first Ashes Test begins in Perth on 21 November.

“I’m waiting to see what the extent of the damage is but I think the options will be to have surgery or to go down a rehab route and try and get it as strong as possible,” Woakes told BBC Sport.

“I suppose naturally with that there will be a chance of a reoccurrence, but I suppose that could be a risk that you’re just willing to take sort of thing.

“From what I’ve heard from physios and specialists is that the rehab of a surgery option would be closer to four months or three to four months. That’s obviously touching on the Ashes and Australia so it makes it tricky.

England needed 17 runs when Woakes came out at number 11. He did not face a ball but ran four runs, before Gus Atkinson was bowled to give India a six-run victory and leave the series level at 2-2.

Woakes received widespread praise from the public and across the sporting world for his bravery – something the all-rounder says he found surprising.

“In my eyes it was never a question [of going out to bat]. It was just a matter of ‘I was always going to do that’ and I believed anyone else in that dressing room would have done the same. So it’s not like it was just me making that decision,” he said.

“But yeah, I suppose it’s quite surprising how much people have sent the love, sent the support and said how brave it was. But as I said, in my eyes it was just business as usual.

“When you get the opportunity, you do what’s best for your team. In that moment it was to go out there and try and find a way with Gus at the other end to try and get us over the line.