A massive weekend in Scottish football has shifted the picture at both ends of the Premiership
Youssef Chermiti of Rangers celebrates scoring against Hearts (Image: Getty Images)
Where do you stand on Youssef Chermiti after his hat-trick derailed Hearts’ title bid?
KEITH JACKSON: Who knows? Scottish football has entered into some sort of twilight zone this season where absolutely nothing seems to make any sense. Chermiti is either a liability and a waste of £8m or a potentially priceless game changer in the title race. Take your own pick.
ANDY NEWPORT: He’s a player that must bamboozle the bears. One day they are slaughtering him for his Fir Park faux pas, the next hailing him for a remarkable treble. If Rangers win the title he’ll have played his part with his Parkhead double – but let’s not kid ourselves that he’s the finished article. Rohl still needs to find a more reliable frontman.
MICHAEL GANNON: Chermiti has produced the goods in two huge matches this season – but he needs to do it on a weekly basis. He has the tools to be a proper handful and it’s all about consistency.
GAVIN BERRY: One thing is for sure you can’t knock his character. Many players would have crumbled under the criticism – many have in the past – but he keeps bouncing back. And you can’t forget he’s only 21 as well. There’s definitely a player in there and fans will just have to accept he will be inconsistent but has the quality to have a major say in the title race.
Another game, another injury time winner. Is it beginning to feel as if Celtic’s name is on the title?
KEITH JACKSON: Resilience is getting them through right now. But the fact that the champions are in this crisis position so often points to the issues Martin O’Neill is attempting to manage with little help from above. He’s cobbling this together in spite of the men upstairs..
ANDY NEWPORT: It might look like they are pushing their luck with these last-gasp heroics but moments like that will supercharge a dressing room. With confidence surging through their veins, the Hoops will believe they are destined for the title – but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from this campaign is that you can never predict the outcome. For me it’s still too tight to call.
Celtic’s Julian Araujo celebrates scoring in the 97th minute
MICHAEL GANNON: The late heroics are keeping Celtic in the fight but they need to raise the performance levels or they can forget about the title. The challenges ahead are only going to get tougher and they won’t keep getting out of jail.
GAVIN BERRY: Given it’s happened against teams all languishing at the wrong end of the table then you would have to say it’s unlikely they can keep doing that for the remaining games of the season. Then again…
Are St Mirren now in serious trouble or are the League Cup winners too good to go down?
KEITH JACKSON: They should be too good for the drop but their form and results say otherwise. With Kilmarnock improving under Neil McCann and Billy Dodds it does feel as if there could be a serious problem developing in Paisley.
ANDY NEWPORT: Injuries have hampered Stephen Robinson but you can’t ignore the fact they’ve won only two league games from the 11 played since that Hampden triumph. The Paisley panic is justified.
MICHAEL GANNON: Saints are in danger of sleep walking in to the relegation play-off but they have enough quality to wake up in time to avoid it.
GAVIN BERRY: Stephen Robinson sounds exasperated and a manager struggling to come up with the answers right now. They’re definitely not too good to go down, that’s for sure and right now they look like the team most likely to end up in the relegation play-off as Kilmarnock and Dundee are showing promise.
Should Saturday’s Calcutta Cup win be enough to keep Gregor Townsend in a job?
KEITH JACKSON: No. Beating England every year might be enjoyable but it’s nowhere near enough. In fact, these regular wins might be part of the problem where Townsend is concerned as they are continually papering over the cracks.
ANDY NEWPORT: It doesn’t look like the SRU are minded to make a change mid-tournament but we now have to see that performance backed up against the Welsh in Cardiff. Beating the Auld Enemy has become a regular occurrence for this Scotland side – almost as common as their failure to perform at a consistently high level.
MICHAEL GANNON: It should ease some of the pressure. Townsend has overseen some tremendous results over the years but some horrendous ones as well. He needs consistency and some strong results in the rest of the Six Nations.
GAVIN BERRY: It doesn’t really change anything – in fact, it probably makes the defeat to Italy in Rome in the Six Nations opener even more galling. The superb win over England shows what his squad is capable of when they’re on it which begs the question why they can’t produce that kind of spirited display against the other nations