NafisaCeltic have delivered a statement performance in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers have thrown away another opportunity to strengthen their title position, and controversy surrounding refereeing decisions has reignited questions about how the league table might look without costly VAR mistakes.
The latest round of fixtures produced two very different stories at the top of the table. While Celtic sent a warning to their rivals with a devastating victory over Hearts, Rangers were left frustrated after failing to turn a winning position into three points against Dundee.
But the debate is no longer just about results on the pitch. Several controversial decisions have attracted attention this season, with pundits questioning some calls and Scotland’s head of refereeing, Willie Collum, admitting that a major VAR decision involving Falkirk was wrong.
So, what would the Scottish Premiership table look like if that confirmed mistake had not happened — and have Celtic or Rangers been unfairly affected enough to change their positions?
Celtic’s 7-1 demolition of Hearts was the biggest result of the weekend. The Hoops tore through their opponents to strengthen their position at the summit, turning a potentially difficult fixture into a emphatic victory. The result also increased the pressure on Rangers, who needed a win against Dundee to keep pace with their Glasgow rivals.
Rangers had looked set to take advantage of their opportunity after Badredine Bouanani brought them level before Nico Raskin put them ahead. However, Dan Neil’s costly error allowed Callum Jones to equalise for Dundee, leaving Rangers with a 2-2 draw rather than the three points they desperately wanted.
That result ended Rangers’ seven-match winning run and left them four points behind Celtic after nine league matches. The contrast was striking: Celtic scored seven goals, while Rangers dropped points in a game they had led. The title race remains open, but the latest results have handed Celtic a significant advantage.
However, the league’s refereeing controversies mean supporters are also asking whether every major decision has been handled correctly.
One of the most debated incidents involving Rangers came during their 1-0 Old Firm victory over Celtic in September. Celtic had a goal ruled out for offside, while Emmanuel Fernandez escaped a possible second yellow card after a challenge on Benjamin Nygren. The incidents attracted discussion, but the reports reviewed do not establish that either decision was officially confirmed as an error. Rangers’ later penalty against Hibernian also attracted scrutiny, although Collum defended that decision.
Celtic, meanwhile, have had their own disputed moments. Their disallowed goal against St Johnstone generated disagreement among pundits over whether VAR had enough evidence to intervene. Other incidents have also sparked debate, but a controversial call cannot automatically be treated as a confirmed refereeing mistake simply because supporters or pundits disagree with it.
The most significant confirmed error for this alternative table, however, involved Falkirk.
During their opening league fixture against St Mirren on August 1, Falkirk appeared to have equalised through Ben Parkinson in the second half. VAR intervened after officials judged that Deniss Melniks had committed a punishable handball in the build-up, and the goal was disallowed.
St Mirren eventually won 2-0, with Killian Phillips scoring twice. The decision left Falkirk frustrated, particularly because the disallowed goal would have made it 1-1 with around 20 minutes remaining.
Collum later acknowledged that the decision was wrong. The officials had incorrectly treated Melniks’ action as a punishable handball, meaning Falkirk should have been allowed to keep the goal.
That is an important admission, but it does not automatically mean Falkirk should be awarded a point or that St Mirren should lose points. Even if Parkinson’s goal had stood, the score would have been 1-1 at that moment, and St Mirren still went on to score twice in the actual match. We cannot know how the remaining minutes would have unfolded if the goal had been allowed.
For that reason, the fairest calculation is to restore Falkirk’s disallowed goal while leaving the final result and points unchanged. Falkirk’s goal difference improves by one, while St Mirren’s worsens by one. Neither club gains or loses league points in this conservative adjustment, and no position changes.
Crucially, the evidence reviewed does not establish an equivalent confirmed error that would justify changing Celtic’s or Rangers’ points. A credible alternative table must reflect confirmed mistakes without inventing hypothetical points for incidents whose outcomes cannot be known.
The Scottish Premiership table without the confirmed Falkirk VAR error
The official SPFL table after the October 17–18 fixtures had Celtic on 24 points, Rangers on 20 and Hearts on 16. The table below restores Falkirk’s disallowed goal against St Mirren, adjusting goal difference only. It is a hypothetical calculation, not an alternative table officially published by the SPFL.
Pos.| Team| Played| Points| Official GD| Adjusted GD
1| Celtic| 9| 24| +18| +18
2| Rangers| 9| 20| +6| +6
3| Hearts| 9| 16| +5| +5
4| Dundee| 9| 14| +3| +3
5| St Johnstone| 9| 12| 0| 0
6| Dundee United| 9| 12| -1| -1
7| Aberdeen| 9| 11| 0| 0
8| St Mirren| 9| 10| -8| -9
9| Falkirk| 9| 9| -3| -2
10| Motherwell| 9| 8| -5| -5
11| Kilmarnock| 9| 8| -10| -10
12| Hibernian| 9| 7| -5| -5
The numbers deliver a clear conclusion: the confirmed Falkirk error changes the goal-difference figures, but not the positions of Celtic, Rangers or any other club. Celtic remain top on 24 points, four ahead of Rangers. Rangers remain second after their frustrating draw with Dundee, while Hearts stay third despite their heavy defeat.
That does not mean the wider debate over refereeing is finished. It means a genuinely fair “table without errors” must be based on decisions officially acknowledged as wrong, with points changed only where the evidence supports doing so. On the evidence available, Celtic and Rangers have not been shown to have their current league positions changed by the confirmed Falkirk mistake.
Nafisa
