- Published
And in the relative blink of an eye, the new Scottish Premiership season is upon us with much to live up to compared to last time, an epic campaign that looked like making the impossible possible for month upon month.
asserted
impossible → publish → month
How Scotland, and other parts of the world, became entranced by the fairytale only for the reality of sport's essential brutality to hit them square between the eyes at Celtic Park on denouement day.
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reality → entrance → day
If there is a non-Glasgow team capable of roughing up the big two as Heart of Midlothian did repeatedly last season then we're in for a wild ride.
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we → be → ride
If this league campaign goes to the final three minutes on the final day, if the domestic football story to beat all domestic football stories is in touching distance as the campaign swings for home next spring then we'll be blessed.
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we → go → home
Nobody will be betting a brass farthing on history repeating itself, though.
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history → bet → itself
True, nobody really saw Hearts coming last time, but does lightning strike twice?
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lightning → see → ?
Will anyone challenge Old Firm again?
Hearts are in transition under new management and a raft of new players in the post-Derek McInnes, Lawrence Shankland age.
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Hearts → challenge → age
They'll take time to settle.
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They → take → time
Motherwell, so easy on the eye last season, have had their guts ripped out in the summer and are also rebuilding, albeit playing with the same easy style as before.
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guts → have → style
It would take a brave soul to support any claim for an Old Firm-challenging run, but in Stephen Robinson's first full season, they should go a whole lot better than last term.
uncertain
they → take → term
Hibernian have the potential to push hard for third, but consistency problems follow them around year upon year.
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problems → have → year
Falkirk, the other top-six club, would see a repeat of last season as a fantastic outcome, which it would be.
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it → see → outcome
The plaintive cry is that young Scottish footballers get a chance to play a part in all this, that clubs trust their youth for a change.
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clubs → get → change
It's an appeal made this time every year and, for the most part, ignored.
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It → make → part
We look to be back in the realms of a two-horse race and the two horses have experienced jockeys now, not two Old Firm apprentices like Russell Martin and Wilfried Nancy.
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horses → look → Martin
Hearts did so many outstanding things in taking the race to the wire, but both of those hapless characters helped them on their way.
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both → do → way
In Martin O'Neill and McInnes, the capacity for Celtic and Rangers slapstick, and that of an outsider causing them tremors, has been dramatically reduced.
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capacity → cause → tremors
The surreal cameos of Martin and Nancy and Hearts' thrilling surge that reverberated around the UK, Europe and parts of the wider world were just a few of things that made last season unmatchable in terms of drama and genuine gobsmacking moments.
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season → reverberate → drama
The fall of Brendan Rodgers, and Dermot Desmond's startling evisceration of a celebrated manager, could only be rivalled if Celtic's major shareholder suddenly takes a flamethrower to his relationship with O'Neill.
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shareholder → rival → O'Neill
Desmond's son, Ross, thought it a good idea to declare football war on the club's own supporters at an annual meeting that was promptly cancelled.
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that → think → meeting
On the really dark side, Peter Lawwell, the titan of 20 years at Parkhead, left while citing intolerable abuse of a section of the support that lost the run of themselves.
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that → leave → themselves
Danny Rohl came and went at Rangers.
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Rohl → come → Rangers
Jimmy Thelin exited Aberdeen.
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Thelin → exit → Aberdeen
St Mirren won a League Cup in thrilling circumstances and then almost got themselves relegated.
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themselves → win → circumstances
Everybody fell in love with Jens Berthel Askou's Motherwell.
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Everybody → fall → Motherwell
Praise was heaped on the quality of Falkirk's football.
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Praise → heap → football
At the start of the season nobody foresaw much, if any, of this.
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nobody → foresee → this
What was more predictable then, as it is now, is the toxic nature of some of what goes around the biggest games.
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what → go → games
As a club, Hearts have every right to remain livid at the crass goading of their players during the invasion that greeted Celtic's title win - and the tokenistic sanction that followed it.
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that → have → it
Their recommendation, one of many, was that the SFA and Scottish Professional Football League start to get serious with stand closures and then stadium closures as a direct consequence of misbehaviour.
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SFA → start → misbehaviour
How long before the mettle of the governing bodies is tested?
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mettle → test → bodies
And how long before the independent report, in the face of resistance from the most powerful clubs in the land, is quietly forgotten about?
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report → forget → land
In the coming seasons, the narratives don't just begin and end on the pitch.
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narratives → come → pitch
The standards of refereeing will be under the microscope like never before after the contentious and title-defining calls came in a mad flurry at the end of last season.
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calls → define → season
We want the drama and the storylines of much of the campaign just gone, but we could do without the poisonous way it all finished in the final week or two.
uncertain
it → want → week
Controversial decisions, threats to officials, a noxious atmosphere culminating with Celtic fans squaring up to Hearts players - it was a pitiful end to what been a thrilling season.
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what → culminate → players
to argue against the familiar sight of old rivals going head-to-head for the title
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rivals → argue → title
The Celtic board spent much of last season and practically every day of the summer getting monstered by elements among their own support.
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board → spend → support
They have, though, delivered two significant signings for huge money - Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran.
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They → deliver → money
Hogh is the pedigree striker that Celtic have lacked since Kyogo Furuhashi was around.
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Furuhashi → lack → that
…and 11 more, not listed.
