This weekend we could well have a new name at the top of the SPL table for this first time since October – however briefly. The top two clash in the Scottish First division, while in the Second Stranraer survive another day as they prepare to take on Stirling Albion. Cowdenbeath hope to continue their good run of form when they meet Albion and hope that second placed Stenhousemuir slip up against Montrose; and Ross Jack takes charge of his first game as the new Elgin manager. In the Highland League, could this be the weekend Fort William and Brora Rangers finally get a win?
Inside Left looks forward to another busy weekend of football in Scotland.
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen v Rangers (SPL Game of the Day)
In the early kick-off, Rangers take on Aberdeen at Pittodrie where a win for Walter Smith’s men would see them leapfrog Celtic into pole position at the top of the league. The lead may not last long, for if Celtic beat Hibs at Parkhead later on that day, then they’ll return to the top. Rangers would do well to remember the last two meetings at Pittodrie – a 2-0 defeat on the last day of last season’s competition, and the 1-1 draw earlier this year. Aberdeen are on a high of course following that win over Celtic last week and are relishing the chance to inflict back-to-back defeats on the Old Firm. For both sides there’s a lot to play for. For the Dons, a win would keep them in third spot and potentially keep Calderwood at the club, while for Rangers the psychological advantage of being ahead of Celtic at the top of the table will spur them on. Tough to call, a game that could go either way.
Celtic v Hibernian
Celtic’s lead at the top of the table, at one stage some seven points, had gradually been eroded following poor results against Dundee United (2-2) and of course last weekends thumping at the hands of Aberdeen (4-2). One of the other teams to get one over Strachan are tomorrow’s opponents Hibernian, who beat them 2-0 at Easter Road at the start of December. Hibs have huffed and puffed through their last games, picking up only 1 win in the six games since that win over Celtic and now find themselves off the pace, five points behind city rivals Hearts in 5th place.
Dundee Utd v St Mirren
Dundee United had been going well in the league – unbeaten in seven outings (including two 2-2 draws with the Old Firm), the game against Motherwell last weekend was no more than a formality. But football is a cruel game, and United where handed their arses on a plate at the end of the 4-0 trashing – at Tannadice! Craig Levein will have read his team the riot act we imaging so expect better from United this weekend. St. Mirren have managed to put a wee run of form together, neatly sandwiched between defeats by United and Hibs last week. In between those two games, they went unbeaten for five games, picking up a handsome and much needed 13 points that lifted them well clear of the relegation zone.
Hearts v Inverness CT
Alas, poor Caley. Managerless, stuck at the bottom of the table and playing a team they don’t exactly have a great home record against. The list of candidates who sent their CV to the club numbers 30, according to latest reports anyway, and is said to include such names as John Robertson (who didn’t do very well last time he was at the club) and two other managers with terrible records in football management, Terry Butcher and, somewhat bizarrely, Ossie Ardiles. Whoever takes on the job is in for a torrid time: the club have not won a game since their 2-1 win over Kilmarnock back in November and fan expectation of SPL football next season is high, as well as financially critical. Hearts trundle on and come into this game after two good wins on the road against Kilmarnock (league) and Hibernian (Scottish Cup). Only two defeats in the nince games since they last played Caley in November makes them odds on favourite for this game.
Motherwell v Falkirk
Could Motherwell finally be turning the corner? Recent form seems to suggest so anyway as McGhee leads his under performing side to wins over Hearts and, somewhat spectacularly, Dundee United. Unbeaten in four games, Motherwell now sit in 7th place and mid-table mediocrity. Whether they’ll achieve the highs of last season is doubtful, but as long as they can continue their form, they’ll be OK. They take on Falkirk, second bottom of the league and another side, like Caley who have not had an easy time of it lately. Interestingly enough, Falkirk’s last league win was against Motherwell, a 1-0 win at home in November. With Caley expected to lose tomorrow, a Falkirk win would leave them in 11th place but that extra bit of daylight to separate 11th from 12th could mean a lot come the end of the season.
Kilmarnock v Hamilton (Sunday)
I just cannot figure out Kilmarnock. Suddenly they’re doing well, the next they’re completely rubbish. Since the last meeting with Hamilton (a 1-0 defeat), Killie have won just 2 of their last five games, losing three and drawing the other one. They eventually got past bogey team Ayr United in the Scottish Cup replay in mid-week and go into Sunday’s game knowing that if Motherwell lost the day before, a win would put them one place higher in the League. For most of the teams in this half of the table, fifth spot – come the league split in April – is the one to aim for; it should be achievable, if only Killie can get some consistency going. Hamilton are six points clear of bottom place and as long as Inverness continue to struggle, it looks like they’ll go against our prediction and stay up this season. They’re getting results against teams from this end of the league so it looks like Hamilton have found their comfort zone. Just dont ask about Rangers …
Scottish First Division
Without doubt the game of the weekend is the game in Perth between league leaders St. Johnstone and second placed Dunfermline. There was talk of manager Derek McInnes being spirited away to Caley Thistle, but lets be honest – McInnes would be mad to go to Caley. If he hangs on, he could be enjoying SPL football in the warm Perth sunshine, as opposed to the frozen Arctic waste that is Inverness. Saints lead the table by some margin, though a closer look at their recent results suggest a team that is not quite firing on all cylinders. Despite putting a good run of form together in the first half of the season, since November, Saints have struggled through games against opposition you’d expect them to have beaten: 2-2 with Clyde, 1-1 against Dundee and Airdrie, 0-0 against Queen of the South. In fact, since the win over Dunfermline back in November, Saints have won only 2 of their last eight games. And that’s one less than Dunfermline over the same period.
Airdrie Utd v Dundee is a must-win game for Airdrie. A defeat, coupled with a win for Queen of the South would see them six points adrift at the bottom of the league, a position we cant see them getting out of. Clyde’s rehabilitation continues. The Bully Wee are now in 8th spot – not quite safety but it’s certainly looking a lot better than it did a few months ago. They play another side that has shown signs of improvement, Ross County. Livingston take on Morton at Cappielow. A win for Paul Hegarty’s side could see them into second place, hopefully taking their minds off the rather messy financials going on at the Almondvale. It would not surprise us at all if Hegarty was one of the names on the list to take over at Inverness, a case of jump before you’re pushed perhaps? Last year’s Scottish Cup finalists Queen of the South play Partick Thistle, another side in the hunt for that lucrative promotion to the SPL.
Scottish Second Division
Alloa v Raith should be another easy three points for the team from Kircaldy. Raith are seven points ahead in the Second division, but while they should not take that lead for granted (just ask Celtic), things are looking good.
Brechin have taken a bit of a turn for the worse in recent months. The Glebe Park outfit once lead the league but they’ve slipped back to third spot, 11 points behind the leaders. They take on Neale Cooper’s Peterhead, who failed in their bid to play Celtic in the next round of the Scottish Cup. Their mid-week defeat at Hampden to Queen’s Park means that the league campaign takes first priority. Their victors, Queen’s Park take on third-placed East Fife, while all eyes will be on Stairs Park, Stranraer as another struggling Dumfries and Galloway side take to the field. Stranraer welcome Stirling Albion to town. Let’s hope Stranraer get more than 250 people through the turnstiles, as any income they receive might be the difference between survival and extinction.
In the final Second division game of the weekend, Ayr and Abroath do battle on Sunday.
Scottish Third Division
There’s no real stand-out games in the Third, other than perhaps keeping an eye out for Elgin City as they start their spell under new manager Jack Ross. The City are miles behind Berwick Rangers (19 points) which ordinarily would mean ‘relegation assured’, but this is the Scottish Third division, so even if Elgin lose every game between now and the end of the season by 11-0 it would make not a jot of difference. Planning for next season is very much high on the list of priorities for Ross, who has said that he’ll be focussing on bringing players through the youth ranks in an effort to get Elgin City back on the map. Or off the bottom of the table, whichever comes first. He’s taking on a massive task. Elgin City are gash, and as this is Jack’s first managerial role he’ll have his work cut out.
Elsewhere, Annan Athletic continue to fly the flag for Dumfries and Galloway – the Galabankies are nicely mid-table and doing well. Good crowds (better on average than fellow Gallowegians Stranraer, a division above them) and decent results have seen to it that Annan’s inaugural season in the senior leagues has passed off better than many (including us) had predicted. Annan take on East Stirling at the Galabank tomorrow.
Berwick face a tough tie across the county, away to Dumbarton. Another one of the early pace setters, Dumbarton have slipped a wee bit of late, currently sitting uncomfortable in third spot, level on points with East Stirlingshire and only two points ahead of fifth placed Montrose. And speaking of which, Montrose are away at Stenhousemuir tomorrow (another early leader in the Third division). Stennie are in second place, two points behind Cowdenbeath who have – on paper at least – a relatively easy tie at home to Albion Rovers.
The Highland League
Anyone looking at the Highland League table would wonder how it all works. Of the 15 teams in the league (and bear with me here), only four have played all 16 games, 4 have played only 15 games, 2 have played only 14, 2 have played only 13 games while 2 have played only 11 games. It’s all down to several factors of course, namely the inordinate amount of Cup competitions these teams play in and the godawful weather in the North of Scotland at this time of year.
Inside Left favourite, Banff based Deveronvale still lead the table by just two points from Keith, with eight points separating second from seventh. Next comes a wee gap before we continue with the teams from eight down to twelfth, where 9 points make all the difference. Beyond 12th we end up in no-mans land, where three teams keep the rest of the league in shooting practice. Between the three teams at this end of the league – Rothes, Brora and Fort William – there have only been 24 goals scored, while conceding a net-busting 129 along the way. Neither Brora nor Fort William have won a game this season.
Inverurie Locos prepare for next weeks re-arranged Scottish Cup tie with Motherwell by traveling a short distance up the coast to Fraserburgh. Forres Mechanics hope to put the disappointment of their 6-1 drubbing by Forfar behind them by scoring a few against Brora Rangers (given the stats above, that should not be too much bother).
The remaining fixtures are
Buckie Thistle v Fort William
Cove Rangers v Clachnacuddin
Huntly v Deveronvale
Nairn County v Lossiemouth
Wick Academy v Rothes
Ok, that’s your lot for this weekend. If you’re going to any of the games, do drop us a note afterwards to tell us how your team got on!
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