Scotsman deputy editor Alan Young speaks to sports editor Mark Atkinson about the weekend Scottish Cup semi final draws between Aberdeen and Celtic and Rangers and Hearts
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00:00 Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Friday. I'm Alan Young, I am
00:14 Deputy Editor of the Scotsman. I'm joined today by our Sport Editor, Mark Atkinson.
00:19 Take a look ahead to the Sporting Weekend, hi Mark.
00:22 Hello Alan.
00:23 Let's have a look at the front page first off. No surprise what we're splashing on today,
00:29 a story that is on pretty much every front page in Scotland and that is the rearrest
00:36 and charge of former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell as part of the long-running police
00:44 probe into SNP finances. We are keeping a close eye on developments around that story
00:51 obviously. But Mark, completely away from politics, let's take a look ahead to the main
01:02 events of the sporting calendar this weekend and it's the return of the Scottish Cup.
01:08 That's right Alan, Scottish Cup semi-final weekend. Always one that I look forward to,
01:12 I must say. Both games being played at Hampden. The first one is at half past twelve, Aberdeen
01:18 take on the holders, Celtic. And then on Sunday we have Rangers against Hearts. I think you
01:24 have to say that's two pretty mouth-watering Scottish Cup ties.
01:29 Absolutely. Given a bit of added spice by events during the week?
01:36 Yeah, yeah I think so. I think Celtic will almost certainly have a spring in their step
01:42 given that Rangers have dropped points in the two matches that they've played since
01:47 Celtic were last in action. Rangers of course lost at Ross County and then drew at Dundee
01:54 on Sunday and Wednesday respectively. Which means Celtic are three points clear with five
01:59 games to go in the league with a superior goal difference of five. So you have to imagine
02:04 that confidence, despite not having played for a week, will be pretty high in the Celtic
02:08 camp. We'll hear from Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic players later today. Conversely,
02:15 Rangers go to Hampden now on Sunday with quite a lot of pressure and expectation on their
02:19 shoulders. Their players have come under fierce criticism from their fans because of the performances
02:26 in Dingwall and at Den's Park. And they're playing a Hearts team who haven't beaten them
02:31 this season but are going very, very well themselves. They are third in the league.
02:36 They have one of the best players in the league right now in Lawrence Shankland. And their
02:41 manager Stephen Naismith, who spoke yesterday to the press, he was in, I wouldn't say he
02:45 was in a confident mood, but he was certainly quite bullish about his team's prospects.
02:50 And he knows that his team is improving and maturing and they can cause Rangers problems.
02:56 That semi-final in particular I think is the one that will have the most eyes on it with
03:00 the potential shock.
03:03 What's your predictions? Impossible to say?
03:07 I don't like doing predictions, Alan, but because it's you I will give you one. I do
03:13 think Celtic will have too much for Aberdeen. While Aberdeen have stabilised under caretaker
03:18 manager Peter Leeman, and the news this week that Jimmy Thielen will arrive in the summer
03:24 will no doubt act as a boost to all of Petardrie, I just think Celtic will be too strong. They're
03:29 playing very well. Aberdeen are without Graeme Shinney, their captain, who's suspended.
03:34 I think that will have a big impact on the midfield battle. So I would be surprised if
03:38 Aberdeen turn Celtic over.
03:40 And the other one, I still think Rangers are probably too strong for hearts, even though
03:47 what's happened this week. I do think Philippe Clameau is a strong manager and he will get
03:51 a reaction out of this Rangers team. But that one is much tighter to call. But I suspect
03:58 come Sunday afternoon, if I had to go with what the final will be, I think it will be
04:02 an all-firm final. But I do think this game on Sunday will be instant packed and could
04:07 be very interesting.
04:08 Great, look forward to it. So what else to look out for this weekend?
04:13 I think the Scottish Cup definitely takes pride of place this weekend. Down south we
04:20 have the FA Cup semi-finals. For me, they're always inferior to the Scottish Cup, but they
04:24 are quite nice ties. We have Man City, Chelsea and then we have Coventry City against Man
04:30 United. That feels like a 1980s FA Cup semi-final. Man United are so unpredictable right now that
04:36 you would not pack them with a certainty to win against Coventry, although they will go
04:42 in as heavy favourites. So those are the two FA Cup ties. There's no premiership action
04:47 in Scotland this weekend. There are some games in the EPL. And away from the football, rugby
04:52 we have both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh playing this weekend. Glasgow Warriors take
04:57 on Sharks tonight. They're second in the URC, having a really good season under Franco Smith.
05:02 And for those that enjoyed the Grand National last weekend, they can get their horse racing
05:07 fix at Ayr, where the Scottish Grand National takes place. The favourite currently is a
05:14 very Scottish sounding horse, McDermott, although he's trained in Ireland by the Grand National
05:18 winning trainer, Willie Mullins. So busy enough weekend, but I think it's all about the Scottish
05:24 Cup.
05:25 Great stuff. Thanks very much, Mark. And you can follow us all at scottsman.com as ever.
05:31 If you're on site, please do subscribe if you can, and you will not miss a thing. And
05:36 if you're out and about today, please do pick up a copy of the paper from me and from Mark.
05:41 So bye for now.
05:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]