Hibs in 'freefall', Rangers improving & Celtic stuttering - your views on the Premiership weekend
- Published
St Johnstone fans enjoyed their team's performance in a hard-fought draw at Celtic Park
Different weekend. Same level of drama.
As ever, week three of the 2023-24 Scottish Premiership season served up a palpable contrast in emotions.
Hibernian's third straight league defeat at home to Livingston resulted in the sacking of manager Lee Johnson, Rangers' comfortable win at Ross County set them up nicely for Wednesday's trip to Eindhoven, and Celtic's goalless draw with St Johnstone raised more questions.
There were also victories for high-flying Motherwell and newly promoted Dundee, with St Mirren and Aberdeen playing out a dramatic four-goal thriller on Sunday.
We asked for your views on the action-packed weekend, so here's the best of them...
Hibs in 'freefall' after 'correct' Johnson sacking
Johnson's Hibs tenure came to an end at the weekend after a third consecutive Premiership defeat leaves the Leith side bottom of the table.
Jordan: My club is in freefall, we can't seem to get the manager appointment correct no matter who we sign. We went from stability in Alan Stubbs, Neil Lennon and Jack Ross to unpredictability in our recent appointments. The board really need to get the next choice working, we have spent too much money to keep failing.
Stephen: I called it on the Sportsound phone-in that I felt he wasn't long for the Hibs job. Glad to see a bit of common sense from Hibs in making this decision, but where do go from here? Who do you get in next?
Fergis: Been on the cards for months now, performances and results were not good enough, despite a huge investment in players. Johnson didn't seem to know his best XI or what formation to play. Correct decision as we are already in freefall, next appointment is huge for club.
Watch: Johnson's last interview as Hibs boss
Chris: I actually have a lot of sympathy for Johnson. It was always going to be a difficult start of the season with European football as well. A good squad of players which had to be rotated. Injuries and suspensions don't help. This is a good squad. Some need to up the ante and others need more belief. The new manager could do a lot with this squad.
Ernie: Too many managers appointed over the last five years and too many substandard players coming and going. The next manager is crucial for club stability along with better player recruitment. Callum Davidson is out of work and I would give him serious consideration. Also more emphasis and investment in the youth system as that is the club's future.
James: The writing was on the wall and Johnson had clearly lost the fanbase. In that scenario it's best to move quickly. No doubt we'll be in the same position in two years time, though.
Win boosts Rangers before PSV decider
James Tavernier hits early goal of the season contender
Rangers fans were pleased to see a 2-0 before Wednesday's Champions League play-off decider against PSV Eindhoven with the tie poised at 2-2
Stu: After being wrote off the first game of the season, you can now see they are starting to click. They are one quality signing away from being a really good team.
Martin: Great performance. Sets us up nice for PSV on Wednesday. We have to be positive and have a go, we can hurt them as long as we believe in ourselves. Come on, let's do it. Team looking better as each game goes by. Great to have Kemar Roofe back and scoring as well. Gives us another option up front.
Anon: I believe having a game on Saturday will be a big positive for Rangers. We are now looking match fit, an advantage neither PSV nor Celtic have going into the next two games.
Meanwhile, Ross County were left to wonder what might have been...
David: Rangers were the better team, but we must start taking chances. Jordan White and Josh Sims had opportunities that stand out. Could have been a different result. Second-half performance was much better.
Change of system hampering Celtic?
Celtic's 0-0 draw with St Johnstone provoked some ire...
Peter: Poor selection costing us dearly. We cannot expect to create goals with neither Liel Abada nor Reo Hatate in the team. Two of the few creative players we have and both struggling to get a start. Why?
Jon: Style of play all wrong. Why bring back this style when it didn't work the first time around?
'Fans need to get used to a new-look Celtic' - Sportscene analysis
Tommy: I think it is blatantly obvious that the players don't want to play Brendan Rodgers' boring, negative football after playing free-flowing, entertaining stuff for two years. Look at Kyogo, a player that scored 30-odd goals last season playing on the shoulder of the last defender. Rodgers has him dropping deep. Absolutely astonishing!
Santino: We won the treble last season playing a specific style of football. Brendan has come in and, for reasons unknown, has decided that we need to play in a different way. We're clearly struggling to break teams down. Why is John Kennedy not getting his laptop out and saying to Brendan that we need to go back to how we were playing last season?
But of course St Johnstone fans were delighted by the result...
Simon: This was a great result considering our start to the season so far. A very much changed but brave line-up. Liam Gordon not starting and the captaincy going to Dan Phillips worked well. It is important now to build on this. Dimitar Mitov looks like a class goalkeeper, he could be the difference between another relegation scrap or a more comfortable league position.
Ian: It was a great battling defensive performance. Full of youngsters with high energy and they all played well. Goalkeeper deserves special praise as he is simply outstanding. Big test now for Steven MacLean to get them keeping possession better and attacking teams, as we need goals.
Allan: Delighted, well done the team, well done Steven MacLean, let's build on it and take all three points off Dundee.
Well turn it around
Motherwell beat Kilmarnock with seconds to spare
Motherwell are one of three teams unbeaten on seven points after Dan Casey and Harry Paton secured a dramatic comeback victory over Kilmarnock.
Anon: Great result and some outstanding performances. Especially Casey, who wanted to win so much.
Norrie: No point talking about the first half. Different team second half and Paton inspired. Missing penalty could have had an adverse effect but the guys battled on. Well deserved.
Ally: The first half was terrible, no urgency or desire and never won a second ball. Too easy to play against and we were bullied. Second half was flipped on its head, Paton brought us a bit of pace and composure in the middle of the park and the two star men got both our goals. Great win with so many injuries in the squad right now.
Not a great day for Killie, though, who suffered their first defeat of the campaign.
Anna: I feel we were done over by the referee, where did he get eight minutes of injury time from? Seemed hellbent on doing what he could to get a Motherwell win. Good first half from us, awful second but we will get better, I'm sure of it.