Five things we learned from the Scottish football weekend

After a matchday in which all 12 Ladbrokes Premiership teams found the back of the net, we look at five things from the Scottish football weekend.

Hearts manager Ian Cathro (left) consults with his assistant Austin McPhee during the 1 - 1 draw with Partick Thistle at Tynecastle. Pitcure: Craig Foy/SNS

Ian Cathro is not being afforded a honeymoon period

When you split opinion and cause as much of a stir as Ian Cathro did when being appointed as Hearts manager, the initial run of results are always going to come under much scrutiny. Unfortunately for Cathro, he has kicked off his management career with a defeat at Ibrox, before escaping with a point from a home match against Partick Thistle.

It seems that some of the more unforgiving sections of the Hearts support are already on his back, too. Booing his decision to replace Bjorn Johnsen with Robbie Muirhead and booing one of his other subs, Conor Sammon, so much that they began to sarcastically cheer whenever the IRish striker did something well.

Griffiths’ spell out of the Celtic side has not adversely affected him

If his short, frustrating spell on the sidelines as he tried to force his way back into the Celtic time after injury - and into the Scotland squad after being snubbed, again - raised any doubts over Leigh Griffiths’ suitability in the Celtic attack, he has answer those doubts with his third goal in three matches.

The Scotland striker’s return to goalscoring form display’s Brendan Rodgers’ ability to to keep a striker motivated and hungry when he’s not playing. It also shows that Griffiths and Dembele can play together. The latter may have been dropped to the bench for Dundee’s visit, but the two linked together to score the winning goal versus Hamilton in midweek. They also combined to score a somewhat crucial goal in the Betfred Cup semi-final a few months back.

Second place is Rangers’ to lose

Mark Warburton’s side recorded their first run of three consecutive league wins this season on Friday night with victory over Hamilton. The win is a culmination of Rangers sorting out a lot of their issues. Lee Hodson has given them one fewer marauding full-back, therefore a more solid defence; the midfield has a better balance to it; and the forwards are all coming to form.

A number of question marks were raised about Rangers’ credentials in the first quarter of the season, they are on their way to answering those now and have made second place theirs to lose.

Kris Commons is going to take time to get up to speed

Hibernian started the match versus Morton with a back three and wingbacks, allowing them to play three central midfielders and a strike partnership. They still found themselves overrun by Jim Duffy’s Morton, however.

One of their central midfielders, the most advanced of the three, was Kris Commons who arrived on emergency loan from Celtic this week. Fitness, match fitness, call it what you will, part of the reason Hibs were overrun was because they were effectively a man down in the centre of the park at times. There’s no doubting Commons’ talent, though, and it will only be fair to judge him once he’s been given the chance to improve his sharpness.

Hamilton may be in trouble now

It’s a precarious situation for any of the seven clubs below St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership, but perhaps there is an argument to be made that Hamilton are in trouble more than most. They are in the middle of the toughest run of fixtures they will face all season, coming off the back of back-to-back defeats against Rangers and Celtic. Next they face Celtic once again, before travelling to Pittodrie.

With the departure of Ali Crawford a distinct possibility in January, Hamilton may be made to rue the 22 points they have lost from winning positions already this season.

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