Not quite Kramer v Kramer but Leanne v Leanne at Ibrox this afternoon as Crichton and Ross take up the opposition dugouts tomorrow afternoon.
The former’s move to Rangers less than a fortnight before the new season kicked off raised a few eyebrows given that she was still involved in City’s pre-season preparations at the time as Ross’s assistant.
Crichton felt as though the move to Rangers was too big a chance to pass up as she looked to go out on her own right in management for the first time.
The duo enjoyed a close relationship both professionally and personally given the fact they played together at a stage when the Scottish women’s game went through a period of significant adjustment and acceleration as the national team made its way to its very first major tournament.
They were also part of a Glasgow City team who are the most accomplished in the Scottish women’s game. In short, they have a long history.
There need not be any cliched chat about no old pal’s act or any of that bluster tomorrow afternoon given the fact that both have established themselves professionally with an inherent will to win.
Ross spoke about the move to Rangers having zero effect on her relationship with Crichton with the dup still enjoying the same friendship off the park with regular calls and chats. She was keen, though, to distance any focus today from what may go on between the two dugouts.
Such was the reluctance from Crichton to have any attention on this aspect of tomorrow’s game that the only pre-match thoughts were presented via the club’s own media channels.
Crichton going up not just against her former club where her service was notable isn’t a first; she was in the dugout at Motherwell as a coach too. But the difference this afternoon is that she is not just a manager in her own right but is going up against players she was coaching just a few months ago.
In any case, while there is ample intrigue off the park there is lots on it too. Glasgow City are the only team in the league so far who can boast a 100% record. The Petershill side look organised, cohesive and threatening; their 5-1 defeat of Eva Olid’s Hearts last weekend on the back of a midweek European tie felt like a statement result. Even at this early stages of the season they look like the team to beat.
Rangers, who lost a core of key players this summer while Crichton had barely time to lace up her boots than the season was kicking off, currently lead the pack by a point.
City would leapfrog them with a win this afternoon – and still have a game in hand to play. Regardless of the fact there are long months of the campaign stretching ahead, this would be a significant advantage.
Certainly, the meeting at Ibrox will be a flavour of how this campaign is going to play out. Both managers will inevitably play down the significance of how it unfolds on and off the park given the embryonic stage of the campaign but there will be much to be read into its outcome.
For a league that becomes increasingly tight in its latter months any breathing space at this stage augurs well.
AND ANOTHER THING
Celtic manager Elena Sadiku is confident that her team has the wherewithal to reclaim the title they lost to Hibs last year but there is are scant evidence levels to anchor the claims in reality.
Sadiku’s side have toiled across the last 12 months when it has come to teams who are their direct rivals for the championship; they have failed to beat Rangers across all competition in their last eight attempts.
Last weekend, at home, they were fortunate to prevail against a Hibs side who went into the game on the back of a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Inter Milan just four days earlier.
It was Grant Scott’s side who looked the most likely to win it in the latter stages of the game as they hit the bar and forced Lisa Rodgers into a series of saves so impressive that she earned a place in the team of the week.
Critics will say that is what she is there for but Celtic’s need for her heroics underlines the fact that this is a side who seem to have a mental block when it comes to taking the points in the big games.
It doesn’t point to a team leading a title charge.
AND FINALLY
Joelle Murray found herself in some pretty impressive company this week.
Honoured by Athletic Club in Spain ahead of their game against Girona on Tuesday night, Murray collected her One Club Woman award with Jamie Carragher – the men’s winner – as she walked out to a stirring rendition of ‘Sunshine of Leith.’
A standing ovation ensued for the former Hibs captain as she collected the trophy that celebrates iconic players who spent the entirety of their careers at one club. As the women’s game progresses the likelihood is that such players become few and far between as the possibility for development and greater financial security becomes more prominent.
It is fitting, though, that Murray was given her moment in the spotlight. There has been very little celebration on Scottish platforms for the women’s game so having her achievements recognised further afield would have been notable.
