Scottish Premiership round-up: Rangers close gap, Warnock takes over

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Scottish Premiership round-up: Rangers close gap, Warnock takes over

Rangers manager Philippe Clement and Aberdeen's Neil Warnock
Rangers manager Philippe Clement and Aberdeen's Neil WarnockProfimedia
In this regular feature, Flashscore UK's Ste Carson compiles some key talking points from the last couple of weeks in Scottish football's top flight.

Rangers close the gap

Celtic beat Rangers in December to put a bit of fresh air between the two sides, who are - as ever - gunning for the Premiership title.

But the 'Gers have gone on a five-match winning spree since then, keeping the pressure on their bitter rivals.

Despite dropping just two points since their win over Rangers, Celtic find themselves ahead of the pack by a sliver.

Top of the pile
Top of the pileFlashscore

Thankfully, for the Celts, a stoppage-time winner by Adam Idah ensured all three points were secured in a tight 2-1 win against Hibernian earlier this week.

Had Hibs been able to see out the draw, it would have presented Rangers with a chance to leapfrog Celtic with their in-hand game.

But such tight circumstances show that the reigning Scottish champions are unlikely to be able to run away with the title as they have done in recent years.

Warnock takes over at Aberdeen

After seemingly ending his managerial days in England with an emotional return - out of retirement, no less - to Huddersfield Town, Neil Warnock has taken over at Aberdeen.

It is, albeit, a short-term contract, but the man's appetite for the sport could see him stick around beyond the end of the current season, when his deal is set to expire.

Warnock has been a manager for five decades - in which he has established a reputation for stabilising clubs and guiding them to safety from relegation.

His career highlight to date is managing London's Queens Park Rangers to the Premier League after winning the Championship title in 2010/11.

Warnock shares a laugh with Shayden Morris
Warnock shares a laugh with Shayden MorrisProfimedia

Warnock replaces Barry Robson, who left Aberdeen rooted in the Premiership's bottom half.

A defeat to the aforementioned Rangers at the Ibrox was the 75-year-old's welcome to Scottish football.

Aberdeen face League Two side Bonnyrigg Rose in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup this weekend, which could very well see Warnock get his first win.

How far can Kilmarnock go?

At the beginning of the season, not many people would have predicted that Kilmarnock would be perched in fourth place.

The Killie find themselves 12 points behind third-placed Hearts, to be fair, but they have put up a wall of their own - ten points ahead of both Dundee FC and Hibernian and 11 ahead of Motherwell and Aberdeen.

St Mirren are close behind Kilmarnock, just one point off, but they have been more inconsistent than the Killie over the course of the season thus far.

It bodes well for the East Ayrshire side that they are in this position and it does beg the question of just how far could they go.

Rolling the clock back to the 2018/19 season, Kilmarnock were able to finish third under Steve Clarke - an improvement on fifth the year prior.

The Killie were promoted from the Championship two years ago under the guidance of Derek McInnes and this season is already a vast improvement on their first back in the top flight.

The full standings
The full standingsFlashscore

Results

February 6-7th

Kilmarnock 1-0 Livingston

St Johnstone 0-1 Hearts

Hibernian 1-2 Celtic

St Mirren 2-0 Dundee FC

Motherwell 5-0 Ross County

Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen

Ste Carson
Ste CarsonFlashscore
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