Given the finale that the SWPL has enjoyed across recent seasons, it would be a risk to suggest that this week offers definitive insight into where the title is going.
But there is a mouth-watering week ahead that will certainly offer a signpost as to just where eyes will be turning for the conclusive weeks of the season.
Rangers host Celtic this afternoon at Broadwood knowing that a win dismisses Elena Sadiku’s side from the Championship race. Neither Sadiku nor Jo Potter are likely to say so and there will few others who will publicly stick their head above the parapet, but the reality is that defeat would leave Celtic 10 points behind Rangers – and potentially 12 behind league leaders
Hibs who play Hearts at Meadowbank this afternoon.
Having lost their last three leagues games, this is not a Celtic side who have exhibited anything akin to the form of champions.
Sadiku insisted after the defeat to Glasgow City a few weeks back that she would not surrender the title but the problem is that the fighting talk has been just that; talk.
And talk is cheap.
Should Celtic emerge with nothing from this afternoon’s contest in Broadwood, the reality is that they would be in a very real fight to land third place this season. That is maybe not the kind of battle that Sadiku had in mind when she referenced this afternoon’s game as being ‘a war.’
There is a strong argument to suggest Celtic’s position is reflective of just where the priority is given to the women’s side when it comes to club governance but, ultimately, this is a team that has underachieved throughout this season.
It hit its peak in qualifying for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, an achievement worthy of the praise and adulation that was directed towards Sadiku, who became the youngest coach across either the men’s or women’s tournament.
There was a shortlist on the FIFA Best awards too just to underline the fact that a title winning inaugural season and Champions League qualification had not gone under the radar.
If there was no real surprise that Europe’s premier women’s tournament shone a light on just how far the Scottish game has to go to catch up – and Real Madrid made it to the quarter-finals and Chelsea are in the semi-finals – the real struggle was to balance so many games.
Yet, the damage that was done domestically for Celtic was repaired when they played catch-up following the winter break.
It has been in recent months when they have truly unravelled. Sadiku’s side beat Glasgow City in only the second game of the season but since then have struggled in any games against the top three.
This afternoon when all looks as though it is lost, it will be intriguing to see if there is a reaction or a meek acceptance that this season had left them in its slipstream.
AND ANOTHER THING
Another new broom heads into Hampden next month.
The appointment of Melissa Andreatta, subject to full visa clearance, means that there will be a new manager in place for the penultimate Nations League game against Austria in May.
She has her work cut out for her.
Scotland were left to lick their wounds this week after a pummelling in Germany. It is, of course, the hope that kills you. Caroline Weir’s first-half goal had sent Scotland into the break with a lead that their performance had merited.
But the second-half collapse as the hosts went through the gears was a sobering reminder of the chasm that exists at this level between Scotland and elite opposition.
Few would expect them to be in a position to challenge Germany, currently ranked third in the FIFA world rankings, but there has to be a way in which Scotland revert to type; difficult to beat, tough to break down, capable of protecting a lead.
To get there the signs all point to making significant changes, in personnel and in mentality.
There is sympathy too for Mick McArdle who briefly held the reigns.
He will revert back to his role as head of elite women’s football but any chance of getting the job on a permanent basis was hindered by the hand he was dealt; getting results in Nations League A as Scotland headed into the campaign with a hangover from the doomed European Championship play-offs was always going to an arduous ask.
He deserved credit for the introduction of some of the younger players – Emma Lawton started every game under his watch – with the squad selection offering an indication of the direction of travel that Scotland need to take.
Certainly, there is a significant road ahead for Andreatta, one of only a handful of women who hold the AFC Pro Diploma, as Scotland play catch-up.
AND FINALLY
The news last week that Queen’s Park could axe the women’s team in light of the club’s current situation is a devasting blow for those at the club.
Currently at the bottom end of the table, it brings into question just what it means not just for the players who will be affected but also for the league.
The optics of the women’s team going out of the game because of finance – and the reality is that the outlay for the women’s side is paltry – is something that will cause a rippled of uncertainty around other clubs.
