cinch Heritage: Scottish Premiership Thread 2022/23

[Joe Qunt]

Thought I'd best put this up now. Let's hear your predictions or thoughts before the start of the season. Also nice to know how many Cabbers follow the best, most cinchy league in the world.

[monkfromhavana]

Yes! Finally the thread I've been waiting for!

I'd tip either Rangers or Celtic to win the league.

Going down... it's out of Killie, Motherwell or St. Johnstone, and I struggle to see St. Johnstone having as poor a season as last.

So:

Celtic
Rangers
Hearts (make loads of chances and I think Shankland will stick them away)
Hibernian
Aberdeen
Ross County (how they got Dhanda is beyond me)
Dundee United (lack of goalscorer, unless Fletcher bangs in 20)
Livingston
St. Mirren
St. Johnstone
Kilmarnock
Motherwell

[Clatty McCutcheon]

St Johnstone already had a fair number of ageing injury-prone players (Stevie May, Murray Davidson) and have acquired a few more (Andy Considine, Jamie Murphy, Graham Carey) and I think they will struggle again.

St Mirren have looked really poor for the last while too, and have signed an eclectic selection of unknown quantities - think they'll be near the bottom.

Hibs have been shambolic in recent times and I don't think they'll be as high as fourth.

Was indeed starting to look like Motherwell were going to be the prime relegation candidates (its either 2 or 3 wins in 2022 so far, I think) but now Alexander has gone I'll reserve judgement until we see who we get as manager.

Can't disagree with Celtic, Rangers and Hearts (some way behind) in 1, 2 and 3 (boring, boring, boring). Dundee to yo-yo back up from the abyss again.

[Joe Qunt]

Celtic
Rangers
Hearts (make loads of chances and I think Shankland will stick them away)
Hibernian
Aberdeen
Ross County (how they got Dhanda is beyond me)
Dundee United (lack of goalscorer, unless Fletcher bangs in 20)
Livingston
St. Mirren
St. Johnstone
Kilmarnock
Motherwell

Bold choice putting Hibs that high. I think Ross County have a better chance. Aberdeen may well sink lower too. Motherwell are basically fucked right?

I think Killie will stay up, St Johnstone to go down.

[monkfromhavana]

I do have a soft spot for Hibs, so that mixed together with a degree of unfamiliarity with the League. Also thought that McGeady might be the difference (but he's injured now).

I think a lot depends as well on how Aberdeen have spent the Ramsay cash. Seems that they have gone the usual route when a Scottish team gets a tiny buit of money to spend, spunking it away on unknown Albanians, Macedonians, the odd itinerant Brazilian and Birmingham City's 4th choice goalkeeper (See also, St. Mirren).

[monkfromhavana]

I'll be honest, as long as Montrose have a good season, I can't be fucked about the rest of it.

[Rizla]

Pains me to say it but yes, I'll be amazed if Hibs even manage the traditional mildly promising start to the season with the fixtures as they are, I've no confidence in the set up at the moment, we've already fucked ourselves out of the league cup. Grim slog of a season ahead. Bottom 6 and a potential relegation battle, why not, keep it interesting. Hearts to briefly look like bothering the weegies but not really, probs 3rd again. Celtic to win. Rangers to re-ban the BBC within the first 5 games.

[monkfromhavana]

I hope Dundee United do well, largely due to a kinship I have made with one of their fans due to Cov cult hero Max Biamou moving to them last season. Upon hearing his signing, we bombarded them with messages of how fantastic he was, but then he just disappeared. Probably just missing Cov (in the early part of the season when he was without a club he'd starting attending Cov's games - home and away - as a fan).

[jamiefairlie]

St Johnstone already had a fair number of ageing injury-prone players (Stevie May, Murray Davidson) and have acquired a few more (Andy Considine, Jamie Murphy, Graham Carey) and I think they will struggle again.

St Mirren have looked really poor for the last while too, and have signed an eclectic selection of unknown quantities - think they'll be near the bottom.

Hibs have been shambolic in recent times and I don't think they'll be as high as fourth.

Was indeed starting to look like Motherwell were going to be the prime relegation candidates (its either 2 or 3 wins in 2022 so far, I think) but now Alexander has gone I'll reserve judgement until we see who we get as manager.

Can't disagree with Celtic, Rangers and Hearts (some way behind) in 1, 2 and 3 (boring, boring, boring). Dundee to yo-yo back up from the abyss again.

Imagine being so shite you're forced to resign before the season even starts.

Overall, anyone but Rangers, so Celtic then.

[jobotic]

First 45 minutes of the season have gone splendidly.

[Rizla]

First 45 minutes of the season have gone splendidly.

Ha! Lovely stuff. 83% possession!

[sevendaughters]

I think this is the season the Generals are due.

[monkfromhavana]

If it stays like this, that's Celtic a shoo-in for the title.

[Joe Qunt]

Ah well. Was good while it lasted.

[Joe Qunt]

Fine first half from the Celts here. Greg Taylor's been very influential. Good header from Welsh too. No complaints so far.

Aberdeen managed to get back into things just before halftime, hopefully that's the limit of their performance today. They've not looked fantastic, but still need to be wary.

[Joe Qunt]

Good win to start the league off. Controlled the game from the start and didn't let Aberdeen find any kind of rhythm. The crossing was very intelligent, you could see what the passing player wanted from each ball.

Only thing that let us down was the finishing. A lot of those chances went begging, something that shouldn't be happening with a team as well drilled as this.

Taylor is my MotM with Jota, Welsh and Abada playing particularly well. Impressive little cameo from Mooy too. Kyogo and Giakoumakis weren't at their best today.

[monkfromhavana]

That's Motherwell staying up then.

There's a poster on Twitter I follow who's always talking up the SPL and having a pop at some English folks criticising it and some of the players.

I feel that they're both right, Celtic and Rangers would be fine in the Premier League and there are good players at all clubs, but on the other end of the scale, there has been the history of English strikers who've struggled at almost all levels in England going up to Scotland and scoring bags of goals (Billy McKay, Louis Moult etc) then coming back to England and being useless again. If you put Motherwell in the English Championship I'm pretty sure that they would be relegated.

Thoughts?

[Joe Qunt]

Thoughts?

I agree with you but I don't think many clubs in Europe could compete in the Championship, even fewer in the Premier League. What other country's second division has a wage bill like the Championship's? Let alone have four professional leagues.

Read an article on The Athletic that argued the Premier League was already the "Super League". They operate on a different plane entirely to the rest of the world. I don't think it's a knock against the Scottish league to say not many clubs would do well. It's already an achievement for them to be ranked so highly in Europe (8/9th I believe).

[monkfromhavana]

This guy seems quite adamant that Ross County would hold their own in the Championship, which to me is pretty ridiculous. You could say, "Oh, with the money they would get in the championship, they would" but that argument would work with Stalybridge Celtic just as well.

I understand not talking Scottish football down, but there's also being realistic about where you're at.

[Joe Qunt]

This guy seems quite adamant that Ross County would hold their own in the Championship, which to me is pretty ridiculous. You could say, "Oh, with the money they would get in the championship, they would" but that argument would work with Stalybridge Celtic just as well.

I understand not talking Scottish football down, but there's also being realistic about where you're at.

That's a very difficult claim to make. They don't get TV or prize money at the start of the season, so his argument doesn't even make sense. Every club in the Premiership - bar Glasgow, Edinburgh clubs and Aberdeen - would struggle in the Championship.

[monkfromhavana]

I think the league should be expanded anyway, they might just as well have 2 leagues. Playing the same team 4 times a season must be soul destroying.

[AllisonSays]

I've moved to Scotland so going to start following this. Can't go with either of the big guys because I'm Northern Irish and also because I like an underdog - might start going to Partick Thistle, which is cheap enough anyway.

One thing I'll miss from England is the nascent fascism the vibrant and fun non league scene which, as far as I can tell, doesn't exist in the same way in Scotland.

[Joe Qunt]

I've moved to Scotland so going to start following this. Can't go with either of the big guys because I'm Northern Irish and also because I like an underdog - might start going to Partick Thistle, which is cheap enough anyway.

Aye but Catholic thistle or Protestant thistle?

[Clatty McCutcheon]

on the other end of the scale, there has been the history of English strikers who've struggled at almost all levels in England going up to Scotland and scoring bags of goals (Billy McKay, Louis Moult etc) then coming back to England and being useless again. If you put Motherwell in the English Championship I'm pretty sure that they would be relegated.

Thoughts?

On the other hand, there've also been quite a few players who looked poor to indifferent in Scotland who seem to have done well in the lower leagues in England, and climbed up the ladder a bit with transfer fees changing hands for them. Keeping an eye out for ex-Motherwell players, I've noticed that Ryan Bowman (who has roughly as much footballing ability as a plank of wood) and Danny Johnson seem to have been banging in goals (albeit in the lowest leagues). Stockley, who was with Aberdeen, and Stockton, who scored 0 goals at Hearts, seem to be well thought of players in the lower English leagues. There've been some players who've come up from the lower leagues in England who've been very good, but some of the very worst players I've seen in the Scottish football have come from the lower English leagues, sometimes with a large number of games in League 1 etc. Equally, some Scottish players I thought would do well down south didn't, and others I thought distinctly mediocre have done quite well.

[AllisonSays]

Aye but Catholic thistle or Protestant thistle?

Haha, I assume there's separate stands!

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Patrick Thistle are the flag of convenience for all Scottish media figures who are unwilling to publicly admit to supporting one of the ugly sisters.

I quite liked Firhill as a ground when it had terracing behind both goals. One end now has a small generic modern stand with ugly student flats behind it (the club having sold off part of their land to raise funds, I believe). The other just has a big grassy embankment (fuck knows what's going on there). Progress, eh?

[jamiefairlie]

I've moved to Scotland so going to start following this. Can't go with either of the big guys because I'm Northern Irish and also because I like an underdog - might start going to Partick Thistle, which is cheap enough anyway.

One thing I'll miss from England is the nascent fascism the vibrant and fun non league scene which, as far as I can tell, doesn't exist in the same way in Scotland.

Actually not true, since they created a proper pyramid in Scotland there's a lot of interest in the non-league setup. Worth investigating.

[jamiefairlie]

I think the league should be expanded anyway, they might just as well have 2 leagues. Playing the same team 4 times a season must be soul destroying.

Agreed, I'd rather have a proper league with only two games per opponent each but the bigot brothers seem to kill this concept.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

It's a bit of a weird mixture at non-league level in Scotland at the moment though, with some proper two-men-and-a-dog clubs mingling with university sides and some (mostly ex-Junior) clubs with decent-sized supports and a bit of ambition.

Over time, I think more of the ex-Junior sides will come to the fore in the Lowland League and more of the small rural clubs and nonentity clubs will drop out. The promotion and relegation is too slow/limited though.

[AllisonSays]

Actually not true, since they created a proper pyramid in Scotland there's a lot of interest in the non-league setup. Worth investigating.

Ah fair play, thanks! I've vaguely followed the whole Open Goal/Broomhill thing but I'll take a proper look and see if there are any decent nonleague teams nearby.