Posts Tagged: Preview

Match Day / Match Programme — Comments Off
19
Feb 10

Scottish Football Weekender

Oh Jesus, here we go again.

Another weekend of anguished scanning of the Sky Sports website while I’m pushing the kids around IKEA. At the risk of going on about it, can Aberdeen get back to winning ways? The omens don’t look good as Falkirk, their opponents tomorrow are – if not already, then certainly come May – a lower division side, meaning it’s going to be another afternoon of clenched buttocks for all associated with the Granite City.

Another team with problems all their own are Celtic who, in keeping with the tradition of these previews starts off our tour of the Scottish football fixtures across all four divisions. Alphabet-tastic! Continue reading →

Match Day / Match Programme — Comments Off
12
Feb 10

The Scottish Football Weekender (13 Feb)

Phew. The games are coming thick and fast. We’ve only just recovered from Wednesday night and lo, here comes another batch of top-flight action. As I was saying to The Scottish Football Blog during their live-cast from the Motherwell-Rangers game on Wednesday, it was a strange evening altogether: Celtic picked up points, Rangers dropped them at time we didn’t think they would, United got pounded by a team at the bottom of the league and Aberdeen scored two goals. In the same game.

It’s really quite remarkable, as David Coleman used to say.

But hey, we’re not the backward looking types here: we look forward. Forward to another weekend of action, beginning with…. Continue reading →

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15
Jan 10

The Scottish Fitba Weekender

It’s been a while, but at last we’ve a full set of games on a Saturday. Send the kids to the neighbours, the wife down the shops and yourself down the stadium, as we look forward to another weekender full of top (well, ok-ish) footballing skills, thrills and dodgy refereeing decisions!

We’ve no time this week for our preview of Scottish Football League fixtures, so today’s weekender will be confined purely to the SPL. Beginning, in perfect alphabetical order with .. Continue reading →

Features — Comments Off
6
Feb 09

The Gala Weekend Scottish Football Preview

The fifth round of the Scottish Cup takes place this weekend. As you’d expect at this stage of the competition, there’s no fewer than four all-SPL ties. For those of you following teams in the SFL, there’s three interesting games for you too; East Fife, Queens Park and Forfar all take on SPL opposition.

We preview the weekends action, and the staff at Inside Left give us their views and predictions on the weekends action (standard disclaimers apply). We begin this weekends preview with the Fifth round Scottish Cup fixtures.

The Homecoming Scottish Cup

Aberdeen v East Fife

A win for Aberdeen in this game should be the end result, but you just never know. Aberdeen are one of those sides that can surprise you and as we’ve already seen in this years Cup competition, they’re not always comfortable playing lower league opposition. The Dons are in good form, now having won seven games in a row at Pittodrie. East Fife have won quite impressively in recent weeks (Stenhousemuir, Arbroath and Queen’s Park), but the 3-0 defeat against Peterhead last Saturday put an end to that run. My prediction: possibly tight, a car crash waiting to happen. 2-0 to Aberdeen (SG)

Airdrie v Dunfermline

(postponed, frozen pitch)
A nice all First Division tie. The Pars lost, somewhat surprisingly, at home to Queen of the South last week. Despite a good start to the season, Dunfermline now lie six points behind St Johnstone (who have two games in hand). Against Airdrie then, I fancy them to get a result. (DG)

Celtic v Queen’s Park

A clash of two of the giants of the Scottish game, and the first one since 1986. The days when Queen’s Park regularly beat their Glasgow rivals are long gone – we’re talking the 1890’s – and I don’t see anything other than a thumping Celtic win here tomorrow either. Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has already come out saying he wont underestimate Queen’s, and will be putting out a strong side to make sure of a victory. My prediction: a gala day out for Queen’s, a comfortable win for Celtic. (AK)

Forfar v Rangers

(Sunday)
Provided this game goes ahead, expect Rangers to cruise to an easy victory here. That’s not to take anything away from Forfar, but Rangers are simply going to be too strong. If I was Walter Smith, I’d put out a full strength team, and try and break some scoring records. Nothing boosts morale like a good double-digit victory against some hapless opponents. In the past Rangers have come close (9-1, 7-0, 5-2, 6-0), but no cigar. Player lower league teams comes with a certain degree of risk – mainly injuries to fragile SPL players not accustomed to the pitch and the more heavy-handed approach commonly found the lower down you go in the leagues – but the Quarter Final beckons for Rangers. (SG)

Throw Ins : Scottish Cup news from the BBC

Aberdeen v East Fife
Celtic v Queen’s Park
Forfar v Rangers

Hamilton v Dundee United

Hamilton have yet to lose to United in the League this season, and their fortunes have taken a bit of a turn of late. Recent wins against Hearts, Inverness Kilmarnock and Aberdeen have seen the team rise into mid-table safety, defying our pre-season predictions of a swift return to the First division. United lost to Rangers last weekend, the first time they’ve been beaten by either half of the Old Firm this season. Both United and Hamilton survived the January transfer window reasonably intact; United lost Willo Flood to Celtic, but got Paul Caddis and Cillian Sheridan in return on loan, while Hamilton got aonther Celtic youngster, Rocco Quinn (loan) as well as former Gretna hitman Kenny Deuchar. It should be an interesting game; I’ve got to go for a United win. (AK)

In the other games, Hearts take on Falkirk (Hearts win), Inverness go for their first win under Terry Butcher when they take on Kilmarnock (a 1-1 draw, Killie to win the replay), while St Mirren travel the short distance to Motherwell (a St Mirren win)

Scottish First Division

Livingston v Dundee

The Livingston bandwagon rolls on. The much-rumoured players strike over unpaid wages failed to materialise which was just as well really – the 4-2 win over Ross County, coupled with Partick Thistle’s home defeat against bottom side Airdrie now puts Livi only 1 point behind Thistle. Following the departure of James McPake to Coventry in the January transfer window, Chris Innes has been named as new club captain. Innes, who arrived on a free transfer over the summer was previously captain at Gretna. Dundee will be going for their first back-to-back win this season; the Dee beat Clyde 2-1 last weekend.

Ross County v St Johnstone

Ross County, with new player-coach Craig Brewster welcome title contenders St Johnstone to Dingwall. The Saints good run of form has come to a bit of a halt of late, with goalless draws against Thistle and Morton. In fact, Derek McInnes’ men haven’t won a game since the end of December. Weather played a large part of that (they’ve got two games in hand) but only four goals in seven outings is not the sort of form that’ll keep you at the top of the table for too long. Admittedly they’re not losing, but you’d have to wonder how all those dropped points are going to impact them come May.

Scottish Second Division

Alloa narrowly lost to Arbroath last weekend, a second-half penalty proving to be the difference. The Wasps face another tricky tie this weekend when Ayr United visit. Ayr United had a cracking game against league leaders Raith Rovers last weekend (2-2), doing well to come back from 2-0 down to earn a share of the points. Peterhead, who won 3-0 away at East Fife, welcome Arbroath while struggling Stranraer (who drew 1-1 with Queens Park) will play Brechin.

Scottish Third Division

Aside from Forfar and Cowdenbeath, there’s a full fixture card in the Third division. Montrose will be looking for a win to keep them in the play-off places; they take on second from bottom Berwick Rangers. East Stirling could jump into fourth spot should Montrose lose, but they’ll need to beat Albion Rovers to do so. Stenhousemuir will move to within a point of Cowdenbeath with a win over Annan, but there’s little Elgin City can do to prevent them from finishing bottom of the league. Adrift by some 19 points, they take on third placed Dumbarton.

Highland Football League

It remains to be seen how many of these games will get the go-ahead, but the games to keep an eye out for are the local derby up in Buckie, as well as the game up at Bellslea Park when second placed Keith take on a much improved Fraserburgh side, currently lying four points behind the Maroons. Defending champions Cove Rangers take on Nairn County. Inverurie Locos will hope to put the disappointment of their Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Motherwell behind them when Clachnacuddin come to Harlaw Park. Lossiemouth make a relatively short trip (some 143 miles each way) to play Wick Academy.

The full fixture lists looks like this:

Buckie Thistle v Deveronvale
Cove Rangers v Nairn County
Fort William v Rothes
Fraserburgh v Keith
Huntly v Forres Mechanics
Inverurie Loco Works v Clachnacuddin
Wick Academy v Lossiemouth

The Inside Left Predictions

Doug Gillman

The meeting between Forfar and Rangers will be a slaughter so it’s probably best to stay away from Station Park if you’re of a nervous disposition – or a Forfar fan. Like our erstwhile Editor, I believe the Aberdeen-East Fife game has upset written all over it. In the league,  Dumbarton are in action this weekend against bottom side Elgin City – an easy three points by any standards given our respective league positions, though it took a Ray Logan goal 15 minutes from time to salvage a point back in August.  With Cowdenbeath not playing, second placed Stenhousemuir have a good opportunity to close the gap with a win over Annan Athletic.

Elaine Garrow

Who needs the Scottish Cup for thrills when without doubt the biggest game this weekend is the meeting between Buckie Thistle and Deveronvale at the Victoria Ground. Deveronvale are unbeaten away from home in the league this season though of course they’ll be out to avenge that 2-0 defeat up in Banff back in November – it was the first win for new Buckie boss Gregg Carrol and set them off on a run of results that now has the Jags in fourth place – seven points behind league leaders Deveronvale. Given the proximity of the teams in the Highland League, practically every fixture is a derby game, but this one is one of the more keenly contested.

As for the other games – I reckon Fort William might win this weekend. They play third from bottom Rothes at home (weather permitting of course) a team to whom they lost 3-0 in August, but only 1-0 in their second meeting back in November. They’ve got to win sometime – perhaps this is the one? Craig Brewser, the ‘Peter Pan’ of football, puts on his boots once again as he takes to the field in the dark blue of Ross County. The 42 year-old has signed on as player-coach with the Dingwall team following his sacking from Inverness Caley the other week. He’s on the team sheet for the league game against St Johnstone, but whether he’ll actually get on remains to be seen.

Andy Kennedy

Clearly the game of the weekend is up at Pittodrie. And I say that not just as an Aberdeen fan, but because if there’s going to be any shocks or upsets this weekend, you can bet the barn that this is where it’s going to happen. Surprisingly (or perhaps ominously) East Fife have a good Scottish Cup record against the Dons, having won the majority of the Cup fixtures the two teams have played. The most recent meeting was back in 1965, when East Fife won 1-0 in a replay with Aberdeen’s only(!) Cup win against East Fife was back in 1959. On paper of course, Aberdeen are easy favourites but our performances against Ayr United and Alloa in the previous rounds would suggest that we’re not comfortable against lower league opposition. Jimmy Calderwood has already said he’ll put out a strong squad, no doubt hoping to avoid the Queen of the South incident from last year.

Elsewhere, I fear for Forfar – history is not on their side in this fixture. A full house at Station Park should spur the team on, but you cant help feeling it’s going to be a long afternoon. Terry Butcher faces another stern test in the form of Kilmarnock. They did well last week to get that draw with Celtic and the confidence it must have given them will do them well against Killie. The results went against Thistle (both Falkirk and Hamilton won), making the task that Butcher faces to keep Caley from the drop much harder still but the point (any point) is welcome at this stage.

Match Programme — 1 Comment
30
Jan 09

The Gala Weekend Scottish Football Preview

In the SPL we have two teams for whom tomorrow’s game takes on that wee bit of a special meaning.

St. Mirren play their first game at their new ground when Kilmarnock come to visit, while on Sunday, Terry Butcher takes charge of his first game as the new manager of Inverness Caley. It’s going to be a tough run-in to the end of the season, so what better way to get yourself settled in with a game against Celtic, fresh from their marathon League Cup semi-final against Dundee United in midweek. The 21 penalties it took to decide the winner included both goalkeepers taking a shot from 18-yards, but in a touch of complete irony it was Willo Flood who eventually missed the crucial penalty. Flood, who had a medical before (almost) completing his (possible) move to Celtic yesterday, scored a penalty earlier on in the shootout.

We could be wrong, but Willo Flood may well be the first player to lose a semi-final game but still end up playing in the final. Or would he be cup-tied? Do correct us if we’re wrong, we can be reached via the usual channels.

Elsewhere, Falkirk meet Aberdeen again. A tough gig for John Hughes’ men, but the good news for Falkirk is that Aberdeen’s away record is not great. The bad news is that Falkirk’s home record is not much better, Aberdeen are on a run of form at the minute, and, with Caley boosted by a new manager, Falkirk need to get a result in this fixture to put some distance between themselves and the Inverness side – they’re only 2 points behind. Lee Miller scored the winner in the last meeting between the sides earlier on in the season, and we reckon it’ll go the same way again: a win for the Dons in this game.

Hamilton got a vital win at home to Kilmarnock last weekend that sees them push their way into the clutch of teams that sit safely in midtable. They meet Hearts, a team no doubt keen to reclaim third spot from Dundee United. The Jambos had a thrilling (or close, depending on your point of view) 3-2 win over Caley last weekend but it was hard work, suggesting perhaps that this game might also be close, or thrilling, or both.

Next up are Hibernian, who take on a much improved Motherwell at Easter Road. Hibs where a touch unlucky (or just crap) to find themselves 2-0 down after only 10 minutes against Celtic last weekend, but the fact the score remained reasonably respectable (3-1) shows that there’s plenty of fighting spirit to be had amongst Mixu’s men. Motherwell look set to lose top scoring striker Chris Porter to Cardiff in the transfer window, but Mark McGhee no doubt will hope that he’s still around for this fixture – the three points could push them into their highest league position of the season so far, and set them up nicely for the league split in April.

Rangers, who where absolutely terrible at Pittodrie last week need to crank it up for the visit of Dundee United to Ibrox. United of course are a team that have given both sides of the Old Firm some tough challenges of late and are, in fact, the only side not to have lost to the Old Firm in regular time this season. United will be tired and possibly a wee bit demoralised after that midweek Cup exit, while Rangers cruised comfortably through against Falkirk to set up their first Final of the season against Celtic. Much depends on Levein’s ability to pick up his troops for this vital clash, while Rangers just need to keep winning to keep up with Celtic. Four points is the difference at the moment, and manager Walter Smith will want to post a good win here tomorrow to send a shot across the Celtic bows and pile on the psychological pressure. If Levein succeeds in rallying the troops, expect a cracking game; otherwise, a comfortable Rangers win.

So, after all that we end up at the two Gala games in the SPL.

St Mirren v Kilmarnock

Normally this is not a game we’d get all excited about. St. Mirren, Kilmarnock, two teams who never quite set the heather alight and whose seasons so far have been pretty anonymous. St Mirren’s shock win over Rangers earlier on in the season and Killie’s wins over Aberdeen and United (both in terrible form at the time) aside, there’s not much that sticks out.

For anyone writing football previews, like me, these kinds of games always cause much scratching of heads, scouring of facts and endless cups of coffee in order to fill the 200-word minimum write-up required for this site. If you’re counting, we’re at word 106 and so far we’ve said nothing interesting about either of these teams. Well, there’s the fact that Killy have signed Kevin Kyle from Coventry on an 18-month contract, or that St Mirren are offering 42-year-old Craig Brewster a chance to pull on his boots and train with the Buddies (although we think Brewster should do the decent thing and sign up at Forfar Athletic, there to do what all decent footballers do and play out his career in the Third division), but other than that …

But wait: there is something about this game that makes it worthy of a paragraph break. This weekend, those fans heading down to Love Street, Paisley PA3 2EJ will be in for a big surprise (and we’re not talking about the apparent ease of parking around the ground). Tomorrows game marks the end of 114 years of football at Love Street and the first game at the new 8,000 seater St Mirren Park (as ‘Love Street’ was originally called). The new stadium, less than a mile from the old one is funded mainly by the sale of Love Street to supermarket chain Tesco’s for £15m, the money also helping to clear the clubs debts. Nice!

Inverness Caley Thistle v Celtic

For all their woes, Caley actually have a good record against Celtic this season. Sure, they lost both games, but the scores (1-0 and 1-2) suggest that on their day, Caley might just pull it off. Added to that belief is the boost that a new manager brings to a club in his first game in charge. Most managers would prefer a gentle introduction to their reign, but not so Terry Butcher we reckon. An ‘uncompromising’ defender (we’d have called him a ‘hard man’ in my day) who loved to get stuck into the opposition, Terry will no doubt be telling his player to make use of the home advantage and push (perhaps literally) Celtic all the way.  It’s important they stamp their authority on this game early on to prevent Celtic taking charge – failure to do so could be lethal. Expect Butcher to get his defence organised a little better than it has been of late, meaning that for Celtic, they’ll have to work hard to get a result. They have the advantage of knowing the Rangers score before they start the game – a defeat for Rangers against United would take some of that pressure off, but should Rangers win, that single point separating the sides at 1230 on Sunday might be the motivation Celtic need to get a good result – and that’s bad news for Caley. An exciting game, we predict a draw: 1-1.

Scottish First Division

With only the one team promoted from the First division, there’s no room for second place. Unlike the SPL, where there is generally always a big gap between the top two and the rest, the First division generally sees a little more in the way of competition and excitement. St. Johnstone still lead proceedings by five points from Dunfermline and Partick Thistle (although both Saints and the Pars have two games in hand). Derek McInnes takes his troops to Greenock this weekend and a tie with Morton. Of the three top teams, they probably have the harder task – Dunfermline take on second bottom Queen of the South while Partick Thistle go one place further down to take on bottom side Airdrie. Dundee meet Clyde in a solid middle-of-the-table clash (a point separates the teams and a win could, in theory move either one of these sides up to fourth or fifth).

All eyes will be on the Almondvale, Livingston where the Livi players are rumoured to not play their game against Ross County as a protest at the somewhat shabby treatment they’ve been getting at the hands of the owners. According to reports, the players have not been paid their wages (for the fifth time in seven months). Not turning up for the game will probably end up with the club incurring heavy fines which, given the financial circumstances is a bit of an own goal. Perhaps (and we’re not suggesting for a moment they do this) scoring a series of own goals might send out a stronger message to the board to stop messing the players about and get their act together. Mind you, knowing the league, they’ll probably get fined for that too …

Scottish Second Division

Like Livingston a division above them, Stranraer are also having a tough time of it. Keith Knox was appointed caretaker-manager earlier on this week, but even if he somehow makes up the seven point gap that separates his team from the rest of the league, he’s got to worry about whether the club will survive that long. It’ll be a tragedy if he keeps the club up (still quite possible with the amount of games left) only for all that effort to go to waste should the club fold under the £250,000 debt the Dumfries side are carrying. They take on Queens Park at Hampden tomorrow.

The Second division game of the weekend takes place in Ayr as second plays first. Raith Rovers lead Ayr United by five points. With six points separating second from third spot, both these sides are ideally placed to fight it out for promotion to the First division. East Fife take on Peterhead, while Brechin will hope that Stirling Albion don’t repeat their eight-goal score against Stranraer last week when the two meet at Glebe Park. Lastly, Arbroath can move up to 8th place if they overcome Alloa at Gayfield Park tomorrow.

Scottish Third Division

The Dumbarton v Montrose game is probably the Third division highlight of the day.  The two teams are in third and fourth respectively with only two points keeping them apart. League leaders Cowdenbeath will hope to extend their lead at the top of the Third division when Annan Athletic come to town. You may remember that the Blue Brazil where Annan’s first opponents in the senior league – the 4-1 win for the Galabankies was a bit of a shock result. Don’t bank on history repeating itself though.  Stenhousemuir welcome bottom side Elgin to town – the City are under new management but have yet to win a game since the appointment. The City’s last game was a very credible 1-1 draw against Cowdenbeath, but that was nearly two weeks ago and Elgin haven’t played a game since. Expect another defeat tomorrow. In the remaining fixtures, East Stirling will hope to finally shake off our ‘Performance of the Week’ curse then they travel to England to play Berwick Rangers, while Forfar, possibly with Craig Brewster in the lineup, meet Albion Rovers.

Scot-Ads Highland Football League

The Highland League committee met on Wednesday to hear four Junior sides present their cases for election into the league. Formartine United, Strathspey Thistle, Banks O’ Dee and Turrif United all applied following the leagues decision to expand from 15 to 16 teams. The lucky applicants will known the outcome at the end of February, but word on the street is that the league may well consider more than one applicant.

We’d like to take this opportunity to mention Fraserburgh manager Charlie Duncan who suffered a heart attack earlier this week; he’s currently in intensive care at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Charlie is expected to make a full recovery, so, on behalf of all at Inside Left, we’d like to wish him a speedy return to health.

The fixtures in the Highland League this weekend are as follows.

Brora v Nairn County
Clachnacuddin v Huntly
Deveronvale v Forres Mechanics
Inverurie Locos v Buckie Thistle
Keith v Wick Academy
Lossiemouth v Fraserburgh
Rothes v Cove Rangers

Right, that’s your lot. As always, let us know how your side got on this weekend!

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23
Jan 09

The Scottish Footie Weekend Preview

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!

The Game — 1 Comment
7
Jan 09

Motherwell v Hearts

Prior to heading into the corresponding fixture with Hearts at this stage last year, Motherwell where riding high in the SPL. Third in the league (a position they’d hold retain right to the end of the season), still in the league cup following wins against Raith Rovers and Hibernian and with new manager Mark McGhee at the helm, things seemed to be going well down in North Lanarkshire.

In a troublesome season that included the death of captain Phil O’Donnell during the 5-3 win against Dundee United in the final game of 2007, and the high-profile cancellation of their game against Celtic (and temporary lodgers Gretna to play some of their games in nearby Livingston) due to a pitch that resembled a World War I battlefield, fuelled by goals from Chris Porter (14), Dave Clarkson (12) and Ross McCormack (8), the side ploughed a steady furrow that saw them hold on to third spot and a valuable UEFA Cup spot. Motherwell finished the season on 60 points, seven ahead of fourth placed Aberdeen (but a massive 26 points behind second placed Rangers).

One year on – almost to the day – the league table tells a very different story. The Steelmen currently lie in 9th place, four points clear from bottom side Inverness Caley and have so far managed only 6 wins, 3 draws and 11 losses – a record that is pretty much a direct opposite to the same statistics last year when McGhee managed to won 11, draw only 2 and losing seven. Losing Ross McCormack over the summer to Cardiff City was a great loss. The young striker became unsettled at the club as manager Mark McGhee seemed to leave to take over the managerial seat at Hearts. A last minute re-think on the steps of the plane to Lithuania made McGhee decide to stay with Motherwell, but by that time McCormack had already left. Poor performances in Europe (a first round UEFA Cup exit at the hands of French minnows Nancy) and the League Cup (a first round exist to South Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton) saw this season get off to a disappointing start. Between the 2-0 defeat to Celtic at the beginning of November to the 3-2 win over Inverness Caley in the final game of 2008, Motherwell didn’t win a single game, scoring two while conceding 13 (mind you, that run did include a credible 0-0 draw with Rangers).

Mark McGhee faces a tough challenge to get Motherwell back up the table, starting with tonight’s game against a team who are doing rather better than last year, Hearts (ironically, these sides met at the same stage of the competition last year, albeit a 2-2 draw in the Scottish Cup).  It’s the second time the teams have played each other this season – back in August it was Hearts who came out on top in the first game of the 2008/09 campaign, recording a 3-2 win in a pulsating game of football with Dave Clarkson scoring both goals for Motherwell. Hearts lost a rather scrappy game away to Aberdeen last week, a game marred by incidents in the tunnel after the game and damage to the visiting teams’ dressing door. Both Marius Zaliukas and Lee Wallace where sent off. Motherwell where away to St Mirren (0-0) in a game remarkable only for the fact that it was the Saints’ last home game before they move to their new ground.

Mark McGhee welcomes back Marc Fitzpatrick, while Calum Elliot returns to the Hearts lineup following his return from his on-loan spell at troubled Livingston.

Site News — 1 Comment
18
Dec 08

(Scottish) Season (2008/09) Greetings

Aye aye everyone.

Just a quick note before we depart for foreign shores. The football might not stop up in Scotland despite the weather or the time of year, but here at Inside Left we like to take a break at this time of year to spend time recovering from our injuries and so on. Before we go though, here’s a quick round-up of all the things you can expect over the next few weeks while we’re gone.

In the SPL, we have one Old Firm derby coming up. On the 27th December, Celtic travel across the river for the second clash of the season. Celtic’s lead over Rangers has been cut to four points, making this game all the more exciting. Celtic of course got trounced 4-2 earlier on in the season in the first Old Firm derby – it was their worst loss to Rangers in years. Celtic still battle with injuries and the rather distracting kerfuffle around the row between Strachan and McGeady is not the sort of thing they need right now as they head towards the end of the year.

Before all that happens though, the game of this weekend is up at Tynecastle where the teams in third, Hearts and Dundee United meet up. There’s another Lanarkshire derby between two sides struggling this season. Hamilton are bottom of the league, while their opponents Motherwell are suffering from second-season blues.

Down in the lower divisions, it´s top versus bottom as St. Johnstone travel to Airdrie. For both sides this is a must-win game; the Saints need to keep that lead they’ve built up going, while Airdrie need to start winning games to keep up with the rest of the league.

In the Second Division, the game to watch is the one happening on the 30th December, when two teams who have been pretty close this season, Brechin and Ayr play each other. With these teams a clear distance away from the team in fourth, they need to win this game to keep up with leaders Raith who themselves face tricky ties away to Arbroath and fourth-placed Peterhead.

In the Third, the game we’re going to watch out for is the derby game between Stenhousemuir and the team with which they’re currently sharing Ochillview Park, East Stirlingshire. The Shire of course are current holders of our prestigious Performance of the Week award – their run of form has gotten our attention and should certainly be catching yours. By the way, if  you’re interested in the fortunes of a team once called  “Britain’s Worst Team”, get yourself along to their website and register for Shire TV, through which you can get all the match highlights for free!

Other than the football, the transfer window opens up again on the 1st January. We’re all keen to know how your clubs will fare in this seasons scrum for players. If you’re not a fan of one of the Old Firm teams, you’ll no doubt be anxiously awaiting which obscure player your clubs has managed to unearth from some other never-heard-of-before competition. Unless you’re a Hearts fan, in which case your next signing will be from Kaunas. Hibs fans – what are the odds of Fletcher still being at the club come the end of January?

From a personal point of view, we hope you like the new Inside Left. To think we nearly did a Gretna and go under a few weeks ago. After some soul searching and honest appraisal we decided to keep going with it. We’ve discovered a new-found enthusiasm for keeping the site going and hell,  a new lick of paint does wonders.

As we approach our first year in existence, we genuinely think we’ve built up one of the best Scottish footie sites on the net. Hopefully you think so too, and who knows, maybe next year we’ll get some of you writing for the site. No pressure though!

We’re back on January 4th, so  all that remains is for us all to wish you, dear readers, a happy Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2009 from all the staff at Inside Left.

 

 

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