Former Scotland international Kevin Gallacher believes the recent conspiracy theories floated by his former teammate Ally McCoist regarding the Scottish Premiership fixture list will only provide Celtic with extra motivation.
The SPFL recently announced the final schedule for the tightly contested title race between Celtic, Rangers, and Hearts. The release instantly sparked debate. McCoist suggested Celtic are pulling the strings in Scottish football after the champions were awarded three home matches in their final five games, including a closing weekend clash against Hearts.
The schedule also bypassed the tradition of giving the league leaders a home match on the final day, leaving Hearts supporters frustrated over missing out on a potential home stadium trophy celebration. Meanwhile, a section of the Rangers fanbase expressed fears that Celtic might intentionally lose their final game to Hearts if they are already out of the title race, purely to stop Rangers from winning the league.
Writing for the Sunday Post, Gallacher dismissed these theories and warned that such talk could backfire on Rangers. The scenario feels familiar to the former striker, reminding him of his time at Blackburn Rovers during the tense 1994 to 1995 Premier League title race against Manchester United.
Heading into the final matchday of that season, Blackburn traveled to Anfield to face Liverpool. Because Blackburn manager Kenny Dalglish was a Liverpool legend, popular opinion dictated that Liverpool would hand Blackburn an easy victory to ensure bitter rivals Manchester United did not win the league.
However, Liverpool played fiercely and beat Blackburn 2-1. Gallacher and his team only secured the title because West Ham managed to hold Manchester United to a draw in their respective fixture.
Gallacher points to this historic match as proof that professional pride always outweighs outside noise. He explained that while players might find conspiracy theories amusing, their competitive integrity prevents them from throwing games. He concluded that accusing a team of planning to lose on purpose is the quickest way to make them fight even harder for a victory.