Pundit Ally McCoist admits he has been left unsurprised by the SPFL's decision to pencil in the first Celtic vs Rangers clash for October.
The Premiership rivals discovered their fixture fate for the 20/21 season on Monday morning with the first meeting between the pair set for October 17 on matchday 11.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon floated the idea of pushing the first derby of the season back ever further to allow as many fans as possible to attend.
But league secretary Ian Blair insisted last month it would be "impossible" to delay Scottish football's marquee match-up until supporters were guaranteed to be back inside stadiums amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
McCoist, a vocal proponent of calling the 19/20 season, has revealed he was certain that the plum Celtic vs Rangers fixture would take place as late as possible and couldn't resist a one-liner aimed at Hampden's decision makers.
On his talkSPORT radio show, he quipped: "I bet it's just the computer, I imagine."
That was before the Rangers goal king was left apoplectic when he found out who the club he loves will be facing on the opening day of the season.
He added: "You're joking, you're winding me up, it's not Aberdeen away?
And he was less than impressed when he found Neil Lennon's side would start their season against Hamilton on August 2.
McCoist said: "These (fixtures) might be factually correct but you're winding me up, I know that for a fact."
The 58-year-old then circled back to the irst fixture between the Glasgow giants and that led host Laura Woods to respond: "You are right, it does look like it has been scheduled as late as possible.
"You know the later it is, the more chance it is of having supporters inside the stadium.
Before McCoist interjected, saying: "How is that fair on Hearts and Dundee United? We're rescheduling the Celtic game to later on, or, wait a minute, is it just the luck of the computer?"
