Premiership

When Don Robertson’s whistle peeped – it could just about be heard through the celebratory chants of the 3,000+ strong travelling support – Valakari let it all out.

The energetic manager was emotional, ecstatic and a little bit exhausted as he immersed himself in the post-match scenes.

The supporters were chanting his name from the 80th minute onwards and a few of his players lifted him up like they will do with the Championship trophy on Friday night after playing Raith Rovers – live on BBC Scotland.

He has masterminded what Williams calls “the most enjoyable season going and watching Saints since Tommy Wright was there”.

Wright, of course, oversaw the landmark 2014 Scottish Cup win during his impressive seven-year stint.

By no means does Williams’ sentiment diminish the cup double achieved under Wright’s successor Callum Davidson, but this has been a league campaign built on utter consistency – while the first 10 games were “totally brilliant”.

“It’s been nice to have that feeling back, but I think the novelty would wear off after one season,” he added, not wanting to get too familiar with the second tier.

Thankfully for those of a Perthshire-Saints persuasion, they can put their notifications for the Premiership back on. In two games time, their full attention will be back on the top flight.

How do they reckon they’ll fare once there, though?

“We’re in a decent place, better than we were last time,” Williams said.

“There’ll be a lot of guys maybe looking for more opportunities elsewhere next season, but hopefully the core of the squad can stay as it’d be good to see them have a crack at the Premiership because they’ve done us really well this season.”

That they have. Now they get to party just as hard too…

For a club of Glentoran’s stature, it is hard to believe they are without a title in 17 years.

It has been a long wait for their supporters, who came out in their numbers, and that is why Friday’s game felt so significant to the club.

If Larne pick up the point they need against the Swifts, Glentoran will end the season without a trophy but things could have played out so differently.

They lost the BetMcLean Cup final to bitter rivals Linfield thanks to Chris McKee’s extra-time penalty, while the Irish Cup and County Antrim Shield both slipped away in shootout defeats.

After clawing their way back into the title race after looking out of contention before Christmas, the Glens look like they will come up just short in the league. It’s all about the fine margins.

“Whether we win the league next week or not, I think we have made huge improvements as a football club but that doesn’t take away the disappointment,” Devine said.

“Second, third – it is nothing and we have to accept that. We need a snooker and if we can get a snooker next week, it is important that we uphold our side of the bargain.

“I thank the fans with all my heart. This is a massive club that deserves success.”

Devine said the lack of a clinical edge was “painful” but his players “emptied the tank”.

They will now have to rebound as they travel to the north coast with hope, rather than expectation.

“We are not out of it, we have one more game left in the current campaign to try make sure we get a win,” Devine added.

“This league has thrown up a lot of shocks and surprises and crazy results over the years and hopefully we can do our side of the bargain, but Larne are firmly in the driving seat with a home game to go.”

Since 2024, European governing body Uefa has given club coefficients over the latest five-year period an important role via something called “title-holder rebalancing”.

Therefore, should the Champions League winners have also qualified for the league phase via their domestic league position, “the club with the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying will enter the league phase directly instead of the original round they had qualified for”.

Ironically, last season’s beneficiaries were Olympiakos, with European champions Paris St-Germain having already qualified as French title winners.

The Piraeus side had finished seven points behind Athens neighbours AEK in the Greek Super League but this season the positions look likely to be reversed.

A 1-0 defeat at home to an AEK side for whom former Hearts left-back James Penrice was back in the starting line-up after a two-game absence leaves Olympiakos five points adrift of the leaders.

Indeed, Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side have slipped to third behind PAOK Salonica, who drew 0-0 at home to Panathinaikos with former Celtic left-back Greg Taylor an unused substitute on the bench.

There are five games left of the title play-offs, during which the top four play one another twice and statisticians suggest Olympiakos only have a 16% chance of securing a 49th domestic title.

Olympiakos are again the club with the most co-efficient points from countries outside the top six in Europe but, if they fail to retain that title, Rangers are next in line for that spot straight into the Champions League’s league phase.

There will be more than a few Rangers supporters monitoring the results when AEK entertain PAOK while Panathinaikos host Olympiakos next on Sunday, 19 April.

But here come the discrepancies. As well as the Dundee derby, United will have one other home game after the split but all four of Aberdeen, Killie, Livi and St Mirren have been to Tannadice in the league twice already this season. One will have to make a third trip, though it is unlikely to be north-east rivals Aberdeen.

There is a similar dilemma with Kilmarnock. They are due to have two home games, with probably one of those against United.

However, Aberdeen, Dundee and St Mirren have all already been to Rugby Park twice this season. One of those three will need to make a third trip to East Ayrshire.

Bottom side Livi should travel to St Mirren, but they have already visited each of Aberdeen, Dundee, United and Killie twice and will face a third trip to one of those four clubs.

Livi are 11 points adrift and would be a maximum of 14 points adrift with five games to go if they lose their last game before the split – hence, while favourites for automatic relegation, it will not be arithmetically confirmed until after the post-split fixtures are announced and at least one round of them have been played.

No matter which way you cut it, the SPFL faces an unenviable task in scheduling the Premiership’s final five rounds of fixtures.

After this weekend’s games, the Premiership will take a two-week hiatus to accommodate the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

Then, from the weekend of 25 and 26 April, it is top-six and bottom-six fixtures through until mid-May, with the cup final and relegation play-off taking place thereafter.

Where does that leave Rangers, then?

Head coach Danny Rohl has been the subject of criticism from fans of the Ibrox club after his players failed to capitalise on total domination during their Old Firm cup exit last weekend.

And with the German’s side six points off top spot – a margin that could be extended by the time they start against managerless St Mirren on Sunday (12:00) – there is increased pressure and little room for error.

Craig McLeish, Jamie Langfield and Allan McManus will lead an interim team for the League Cup holders and Scottish Cup semi-finalists, who are scrapping for their top-flight status, following Stephen Robinson’s departure to Aberdeen.

The Paisley club have won just one of their past 13 Premiership matches – which came against leaders Hearts – but Rangers’ recent form is not too clever either.

Rohl and his players are now facing questions about mentality – an all too familiar story at Ibrox – despite the 36-year-old saying a month ago that he was heartened by a mindset shift in his players.

A defeat at Tynecastle in December was followed by a run of seven wins and a draw in eight league matches, but Rangers have since won one of their past four league games – a 4-2 victory against Hearts.

That form stretches to one win in five when you include Sunday’s cup game. In fact, they have won just three of their past nine in all competitions.

If this alarming drop-off is not addressed urgently, it will prove terminal for Rangers’ title hopes and intensify the pressure on Rohl from a demanding support.