We’ve reached the half-way stage in the SPL for this season, give or take a few games, so it’s about time for Inside Left to take a look at how the season has been going for all the senior clubs in Scotland. We’ll also take a look at how our predictions for the season are doing and reveal our nominations for Team of the Season (so far) and Player of the Season (so far) once we’ve gone through all the teams.
In yesterdays review, we looked at the top four teams in the league. In the second part of a three-part series, we look at the teams taking up 5th to 8th place in the table.
Hibernian
Hibernian. We like them. Hell, any club that gets referenced in cult flick Trainspotting and Inside Left’s favourite Proclaimers tune ‘The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues’ has to be worth a wee look. Last season’s sixth place finish was disappointing but not unexpected. The Hibees never got higher than fourth during the previous campaign and a series of results going their way on the final day dropped them from fifth to sixth, and a big reduction in prize money. This season has not all been plain sailing, manager Mixu Paatelainen (now in his full first season in charge) in particular having felt the wrath of the referees and the SFA, spending quite a lot of the beginning of the season watching from the stands.
The Good..
The return to Easter Road of the prodigal son Derek Riordan, following his largely undistinguished spell at Parkhead, has created one of the most exciting strike-forces outside of Glasgow, namely Messrs Fletcher, Riordan and Nish. Between them, they’ve scored 17 goals so far this season and are one of the reasons why the Hibees are now in fifth place in the league, albeit six points behind city rivals Hearts.
The Bad..
Just as well they can score, because a goal difference of -1 says it all. Having a deadly strike force is only any good if you have a watertight defence to match. 22 goals for, 23 against is what the table says and clearly needs to be looked at. David van Zanten and Soeleymane Bamba where drafted in to strengthen the defence, while in goal the club have cant seem to decide on McNeil or Ma-Kalambay.
The other thing (and this is becoming a common theme for Scottish clubs this season, and we’ve yet to cover Motherwell) is that Intertoto Cup exit prior to the start of the season against IF Elfsborg, a team that would later be knocked out by Irish part-timers St Patricks Athletic. Kind of says it all really..
Transfers..
Nothing too noteworthy, apart from Riordan of course. Since the season started, Clayton Donaldson (Crewe), Martin Canning (Hamilton) and Sean Lynch (Falkirk) have all departed.
From the Sublime…
Sorry to keep harping on about this, but seriously, that front-line has all the potential of being this generations ‘Famous Five’, providing Stephen Fletcher doesn’t get sold to some mid-table English EPL side as the persistent rumours about his future seems to suggest.
To the Ridiculous..
Thanks to a 3-4 defeat to Morton in the League Cup, Edinburgh are not represented in this years competition. While Hearts went out to Airdrie (who were in mid-table in the First Division), Morton where bottom at the time. Dear oh dear.
The Outlook..
Hibs are definitely a club capable of a top-six finish. The risk of losing Stephen Fletcher has been mitigated by the signing (on a pre-contract deal) of Jonatan Johansson though manager Paatelainen insists that this does not mean Fletcher is on his way out. We think differently and the loss of Fletcher, and the subsequent break-up of that front line could cost Hibs at least one place in the table.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen are Scotland’s third biggest team, potentially. A fourth placed finish last year - thanks to that memorable win against Rangers on the last day – bookended a season for the Dons in which they tasted European highs (4-0 thumping of Copenhagen) and domestic lows (losing to Queen of the South in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup). In other words – another typical campaign. This season has been distinctly average so far, despite some good summer purchases. Aberdeen cant defend with confidence, they cant score and the club even turned on the fans at one point, a recipe for success in anyone’s book.
The Good..
Sone Aluko. The pacey left winger signed on a permanent deal from Birmingham City at the start of the season – a fantastic coup by Jimmy Calderwood. In a largely mediocre team, Aluko stands out thanks to some great performances. Club finances are also in good shape so the credit crunch should not hit Pittodrie.
The Bad..
The Dons got off to a poor start, not winning a game at home until the start of November. That record officially made Aberdeen the worst club in Britain for a short while. The defence is also not performing well, giving away daft goals and leads. Calderwood’s obsession with Richard Foster seems to know no bounds either. He’s pacey for sure, but he’s not really very good …
Transfers..
Unusually for the club, quite a few players have come through the door. Some good (Mark Kerr, Charlie Mulgrew, Jared Hodgkiss and, as previously mentioned, Sone Aluko), some bad (Bertrand Bossu, a backup for Jamie Langfield in goal) and some indifferent (hard-man Tommy Wright, yet to start a game for the Dons).
From the Sublime..
Sure they lost, but the 3-2 defeat to Celtic and the first half against Rangers in that 2-0 defeat showed that the Dons are capable of putting up a good show when they need to.
To the Ridiculous..
Scraping past Ayr United in the League Cup was followed by a solid thumping at the hands of Kilmarnock – that’s at least one piece of silverware that will not be troubling the tin of silver polish at Pittodrie this season. In an effort to deflect attention away from the disaster happening on the (away) pitches, the club only went and blamed unrealistic expectations the supporters have for the teams poor performances, something that did not go down well with the Red Army. And oh God, that 4-0 panelling by Peterhead (in which Aberdeen fielded a full-strength squad) during the pre-season is a nightmare best forgotten.
The Outlook..
The Dons are too inconsistent, so don’t expect them to make third spot this season. Fifth or sixth is possible, anything beyond that is a miracle. Some silverware might be nice as well and which might be enough to keep Calderwood in a job at the end of the season.
Kilmarnock
Killie are one of the great yo-yo teams in the SPL. Not that they get relegated, but rather that they generally follow a bad season with a good one. Last season, where it not for the desperately poor Gretna, Killie would have finished bottom of the league. The season before, they finished fifth. This season they got off to a good start. In August, the club won three and drew one in the league and made progress in the Co-op Cup with a win at Brechin, all without conceding a goal in the SPL. That sort of record wins prizes – a Manager of the Month for Jim Jefferies, the SPL’s longest serving manager. Since then, it has been a bit harder for the Rugby Park club. Heavy defeats to Celtic (twice), Rangers and, ahem, Inverness Caley where offset with good results against Aberdeen and Dundee United.
The Good..
Hanging on to manager Jim Jefferies. With every passing year life at Rugby Park must get harder, yet Jefferies hangs on in there. Why is this good – well, who else would take over? The club doesn’t have much in the way of money, finding players is always a problem if you’re in a bit of a backwater (sorry Killie fans) and with an average attendance of 5900 this season, you’re not going to life from gate receipts alone. So, keep your manager, stay consistent. Other than that, Mehdi Taouil has impressed in midfield, while journeyman midfielder David Fernandez has found a home after indifferent spells at Celtic and Dundee United. Alan Combe has had a good season in goal, which leads us directly to …
The Bad..
Alan Combe is out of contract in January and looks set to leave the club to go to either Hearts or Hibs, two clubs in desperate need of a good goalkeeper. Chad Harpur, Damien Rascle and Peter Logan are all waiting in the wings. Fills you with confidence doesn’t it? Jim Jefferies is also looking for a striker to solve the goal-scoring problems with former Aberdeen and Dundee United striker Robbie Winters set to be high on the list.
Transfers..
No new faces since the start of the season. Gary Wales went to Raith Rovers.
From the Sublime..
That start to the season, the wins over ’stronger’ teams – Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United.
To the Ridiculous..
The fuss about the postponed game against Aberdeen last weekend looks set to rumble on. The SPL is set to launch an inquiry into the events leading up to the cancellation of the game, which, depending on who you believe was due to wrong weather reports, forgetting to switch on the heating or just plain stupidity. The repercussions, which could include fines and points deductions are not what Killie need right now.
The Outlook..
Going by past seasons, Kilmarnock are due a good season. However, ‘WDWWWLLWLWWLLLLLWLL’ is football speak for inconsistency, the worst nightmare for any team looking to break in the top half of the table. We expect Killie to finish in the bottom half this season.
Falkirk
Jings, where did they come from all of a sudden? The eight place they currently hold (for the third time this season) is very much the high point for a club that plays nice football, but which just doesn’t seem to get the breaks. John Hughes has built a good squad around an experienced spine (McNamara, Bullen, Lovell and Higden) augmenting it with a sprinkling of youth – Arfield, Barr, Oljenik and Flinders.
The Good..
A good manager who has built Falkirk into a team with a reputation for pretty football. Also, while they’re still losing more than they’re winning, they generally avoid the heavy defeats that sides towards this end of the table can generally expect. Of the teams in this particular group of teams, only Hibs have scored more and conceded fewer goals at home.
The Bad..
Playing pretty football does not a title-challenge make; just ask Arsenal. Falkirk play good football but lack that ruthless final ball. The Bairns have been in the bottom half of the table all season, mainly on the back of a terrible away record. Four defeats in eight attempts, scoring ten goals but conceding fifteen. For the super-anoraks amongst you, the most commons scores at games involving Falkirk is 1-1 (24%), 0-1 and 1-2 (22%) and 1-1 (38%). The heaviest defeat so far was that 3-0 away to Celtic.
Transfers..
Nothing of note. Sean Lynch was signed from Falkirk after the season started, but the youngster has only made one appearance so far, coming on as a substitute for Graham Barr in the 4-1 win over Hamilton back in September.
From the Sublime..
Aside from the style of football the first team play, the U19’s are doing rather well, reaching the Quarter-finals of the Youth Cup. That kind of investment in bringing youngsters through the ranks is how clubs at this end of the table have to survive, so it’s nice to see a club that seems to be rather good at it.
To the Ridiculous..
Ball boys are being replaced with ball builders at Falkirk. Building contractor Ogilvie is building a new South Stand – and the traditional ball boys have been banned on health and safety grounds from nipping into the site on matchdays. An Ogilvie worker – a “mature ball person” – is on hand to lob the ball back whenever it was booted into the site.
The Outlook..
Hmm, not good if you ask us. They wont get relegated, but we cant see them making it out of the bottom 4, let alone the bottom 6.
That’s it for now. We’re back tomorrow with the bottom half of the table – Motherwell, Inverness, St. Mirren and Hamilton.
Related posts:
- Scottish Fitba Weekender
- The Scottish Football Four to Follow
- The SPL Weekend Preview
- The Monday Ballbag – Scottish football round-up
- The Scottish Football Weekend Gala Roundup
Tags: Aberdeen, Falkirk, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, SPL