David Tanner excited for Scottish Premiership campaign to start
Saturday 6 August 2016 00:42, UK
Sky Sports' Scottish football presenter David Tanner says the Scottish Premiership gets a re-boot with the return of Rangers and he's relishing an opening weekend in which you can enjoy two live games on Sky Sports.
When the Border Force officer looked up from my passport and asked: "Are you looking forward to the Old Firm being back?" it was a sign that the world will now be far more engaged with Scottish football. This was at Heathrow Airport, by the way, I didn't even get as far as Scotland before somebody mentioned the Old Firm.
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Psychologically, my summer holiday ended right there and then in Terminal 5. Before my passport had been scanned, my mind went into fast forward-mode all the way to the opening set of SPFL fixtures! Then, even faster than a Scottish suntan fades, my thoughts moved onto September 10 when Celtic and Rangers meet on league duty for the first time since the spring of 2012. The pre-match adrenaline had started racing over a fortnight before the first whistle would sound!
As I crossed the border point and into the United Kingdom, I also moved into season 2016-17. All thanks to the man in the Border Force uniform!
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The opening weekend of any football campaign brings with it new hope for supporters and also for the football professionals, whatever their role in the game. There is a feeling that this more than just a new campaign.
In my view, the game at the top level in Scotland is being given a total re-boot. This season will be totally different from the four which immediately preceded it.
Rangers - like Celtic - are box office in stadia (they've sold over 41,000 season tickets) and they deliver fantastic numbers for all of the media companies.
But the magic ingredient that Rangers' return brings the game is that they will re-engage in their feud with Celtic. We were given a sneak preview of what to expect in the epic Scottish Cup semi-final in which Rangers defied the odds to win albeit on penalties.
Celtic were diminished without their rivals. Without a title race, the Premiership was diminished (credit to Aberdeen for getting very close to Celtic in the last two seasons). Crowds dropped at Celtic Park and part of the top tier was closed.
Top players were sold - they always have been, of course, just not in such numbers. The affable Ronny Deila was the poster boy for the recession. He wouldn't have been appointed if Rangers hadn't been in a different league and now that they are back, he's not there.
The stunning appointment of Brendan Rodgers - thanks to the personal intervention of principal shareholder Dermot Desmond - signalled that Celtic also plan to up the ante again and rise to whatever challenge their rivals can muster.
Celtic supporters have responded and it was fantastic for me to be at a packed Celtic Park on Wednesday night against Astana. Despite the manager complaining about the fans being nervous, I thought the atmosphere was fantastic. There is a feeling of togetherness at Parkhead again and that wasn't the vibe from the early stages of Deila's tenure.
I think Celtic lacked purpose last season. And, this time, you can't blame Deila.
The purpose of Celtic is to beat Rangers. Europe is a bonus. And the purpose of Rangers to beat Celtic. Again, UEFA competition is an extra. They need to master the other to win the title.
Simple, really. But now that shared purpose has been rediscovered. Green and blue are together again. And they, like lovers, make each other complete. Well, maybe not lovers!
Whether Rangers are good enough to genuinely challenge Celtic remains to be seen. I went along to Ibrox last Saturday to see their final preparatory game against Burnley. Andre Gray scored a hat trick…easily.
Rangers fans had better hope that the centre of defence - so often criticised in the Championship last season - is shored up, and fast. It's foolish to make judgements in pre-season, of course, but if a team is only as strong as its weakest link, then Rangers could be vulnerable.
A great title race defines a league and without the excitement of one, a league suffers. It is not guaranteed that one of Glasgow's big two will win the Premiership this season. Aberdeen - who did some sensational business by persuading top goalscorer Adam Rooney to sign a new deal on the eve of the league season - Hearts and others will surely look at Leicester City for inspiration.
In what is Sky Sports' biggest ever season for football, we'll have up to 30 live matches from the Ladbrokes Premiership on Sky Sports, up to 12 Scottish Cup ties and coverage of Scotland's World Cup campaign starting in Malta just under a month. We'll have more of the best games including every Old Firm derby. I can't wait!
We start on Saturday at noon, live from Ibrox on both Sky Sports 1 and 5. Hamilton Accies are the visitors and the game falls 1,546 days after Rangers last played in the top league, a 4-0 win against St Johnstone on the day Charles Green arrived at the club.
I'll be joined in the studio by two Ibrox legends - Sky's Neil McCann and his former-teammate Lorenzo Amoruso. The Italian was a massive personality at Ibrox and he won the treble on two occasions, skippering Dick Advocaat's side to the clean sweep in 1999. He deserved his place in the club Hall of Fame. And he always talks a good game!
Reporter Luke Shanley speaks to one of Rangers' new signings, Niko Kranjcar, the former Tottenham and Portsmouth midfielder. You can enjoy an extended version by downloading it from On Demand. Luke and Niko were born on the same day (August 13, 1984); you can judge for yourself which of them had the hardest paper round!
On Sunday from 2pm, we're with the champions, who start to their title defence at Tynecastle on Sky Sports 1 and 5. It's Brendan's league debut in Scotland and the ferocious atmosphere at Tynecastle will make this one a cracker.
Celtic successfully navigated an awkward Champions League qualifier on Wednesday and can take great heart from that. The injury suffered by Patrick Roberts is a blow for Celtic as the on-loan Manchester City man tormented Hearts in the final two meetings of last season.
Hearts are without crocked captain Alim Ozturk for the opener but January signing John Souttar should fill in at centre back. I'm excited to see how Tony Watt does during his spell on loan in Gorgie from Charlton.
One of the fondest memories of my career is seeing him literally bouncing off the walls - and I mean literally - in the tunnel at Celtic Park minutes after he had scored the winner against Barcelona. A wonderful moment in time!
He obviously has talent but other key aspects have been lacking in his professional life; hopefully he can sort himself out and help Hearts challenge for the title.
Hearts start the season on the back foot after a humiliating Europe League exit. The man at the taxi office at Edinburgh Airport (who went to both legs of the doomed tie) reminded me of that when I completed the last leg of my journey home from the sun.
I bumped into Robbie Neilson at Tynecastle on Friday and he seems have moved on from defeat in a game that was played when his players should still have been on holiday themselves.
Hearts will be sharper with an additional two weeks of preparation completed. The phoney is now over for all of the clubs.
It's great to be back - here we go again!
