15 May 2022

Mark McGhee departs Dundee and an emotional day for champions – what we learned

15 May 2022

There was little at stake on the final weekend of the cinch Premiership campaign, with all the key issues already resolved.

However, Rangers, Hearts and St Johnstone all still have some season-defining matches to come.

Here, the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the weekend’s action.

Emotional day at Celtic

Celtic’s Tom Rogic walks off the pitch after being substituted (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Emotion was swirling around Celtic Park on trophy day on Saturday as Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton said goodbye to the fans after nine years of service to the club. The players, who had won a remarkable 34 medals between them, were given a standing ovation in the sixth and 18th minutes respectively – representing their shirt numbers.

Australia midfielder Rogic was clearly emotional when he was replaced just after the hour mark by James McCarthy and Bitton, the Israel international, was given five minutes at the end when he took over from skipper Callum McGregor. Following the 6-0 win over Motherwell both players brought the trophy out to the pitch for the presentation and enjoyed their final moments in the Hoops.

Rangers in good fettle for Seville

With nothing at stake in their final league match, Rangers boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst had the luxury of resting 10 key men ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

A mixture of fringe men and youngsters eased to an impressive 3-1 win away to Hearts, maintaining the feelgood factor for the buoyant travelling support ahead of their historic trip to Seville.

Saints focus on Friday

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson faces a relegation play-off (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson rested several key men for Sunday’s trip to Hibernian, with the focus primarily on Friday’s critical Premiership play-off final first leg away to Inverness.

Saints are battling to preserve their top-flight status at the end of a difficult campaign and none of the fringe men staked much of a claim for inclusion in the Highlands as they lost 4-0 at Easter Road.

Davidson brushed off the defeat in Edinburgh afterwards, implying it will have little bearing on his team’s mindset ahead of the play-off.

Hearts’ final fitness conundrum

Robbie Neilson has injury concerns to contend with (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

Robbie Neilson has not had things easy in terms of planning his Hearts Scottish Cup final line-up in advance. The Jambos manager has had to contend with fitness issues surrounding several key men over the past month.

Although everyone bar long-term absentee Beni Baningime has managed to squeeze in some game time ahead of Saturday’s final, there are still question marks over how fit and sharp the likes of Michael Smith, John Souttar, Craig Halkett and Cammy Devlin are in the run-up to the Hampden showpiece against Rangers.

Muddying the waters further, top scorer Liam Boyce went off with a groin strain in Saturday’s league game against the Ibrox men. Few would be able to predict Neilson’s exact starting XI at this stage.

McGhee leaves Dundee on a downer

It was announced on Saturday that Dundee would not be renewing the contract of manager Mark McGhee. Twenty-four hours later, the 64-year-old oversaw a 2-1 defeat at Livingston in his final game in charge of a dismal reign which brought a total of one win from 14.

Dundee are now looking for a new manager to get them out of the Championship after what looks like an ill-advised decision in February to sack James McPake, the man who brought them up from the second tier a year ago.

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox