Early 2023/24 predictions

[Diamonds_Are_Forever]

36 minutes ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

1. Dundee United - A boring prediction, but as others have said they'll punt Goodwin if it doesn't look like happening, and they should have enough quality in the squad already to do it.

2. Partick Thistle - f**k it, I'm getting carried away. Lost half our team, but I think we've recruited relatively well so far, and Doolan has done a very impressive job so far. If he keeps that up, we should do well.

3. Raith Rovers - I think they've recruited well, and should be a decent side. I think Murray is a good manager as well, and should get a decent tune out of what they have.

4. Ayr United - If they've got the replacement for Akinyemi correct, then they'll do well. If they haven't then, they won't finish this high up but given they've got the striker right for the last two seasons, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

5. Greenock Morton - Another season of just missing out for Imrie's men. They desperately need depth to their squad, but I think the Rangers tie will allow them to get that, and Imrie has worked wonders so far and I see no signs of that stopping.

6. Dunfermline Athletic - I could be well off on this one, but I think they'll be very stodgy and hard to break down, but I'm not quite sure if they have the fire power to get further up the division.

7. Queen's Park - A season of transition for QP, I think. They'll be a bit like Raith were last season, never really in trouble of going down, but also never really looking likely to break into the top spots either.

8. Inverness Caley Thistle - I thought they looked absolutely shite against Dundee, so this might be just that, but I can see them having a tough time. Like Thistle, they've lost some of their best players in Allerdice and Deas, and not replaced them as far as I can see.

9. Arbroath - I've made my feelings on Arbroath quite clear throughout the thread. I don't think they're up to much, and I think they'll have another poor season.

10. Airdrieonians - might be biased by my personal dislike of them, but as far as I can see they have a very thin squad, and essentially no players on the books who are proven at Championship level. A good league cup campaign, but being good for four games doesn't mean you'll do it over 36.

We still have several coming in we obviously aren’t going into a league campaign with 4 defenders

[oneteaminglasgow]

Just now, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

We still have several coming in we obviously aren’t going into a league campaign with 4 defenders

I mean, obviously I know that. But unless all of them are proven at Championship level, it doesn't change my view.

[diegomarahenry]

Our league cup form was 

Stirling Albion - Draw, in hindsight, not a bad result, they look a well organised team, but we should of beat them and laboured a draw
Stenny - win, uninspiring but not in any real danger
St Johnstone - Win, seemed a fantastic result at the time, still a good result but they are shite
Alloa - win, they were the worst team I have seen in recent memory

We lost Dipo, there is 25+ goals a season gone, but we could have kept him and he could have got injured and we would have spent the whole season playing the same way and get relegated, Him leaving has meant that we have to do something different now. 

McGeady probably wont play much, Murphy has been outstanding though and I hope that we haven't just switched from a one man team with Dipo to a one man team with Murphy and we are going to adapt more. 
The issue with full backs hasn't been addressed and our three senior midfielders are much the same, we didn't really solve that problem from last year, kind of added to it. 
The new signings have added something but time will tell how useful they will be. 

I think we will do ok this season, depends on how quickly teams work us out and if Bullen has a plan B up his Gillet this year and who else we bring in. 

[Diamonds_Are_Forever]

37 minutes ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

I mean, obviously I know that. But unless all of them are proven at Championship level, it doesn't change my view.

We’ll have money to spend aswell as one of our youngsters is away ti Crystal Palace

[Smokerson]

5 hours ago, Dunning1874 said:

There are a lot of massive assumptions being made by some Arbroath fans about all their recruitment necessarily being better last season.

Steele might be an improvement on what you had in defence last season, but he's a 21 year old who's never played at this level before. If he ends up being the first choice right back, it'll certainly be very impressive if he's an improvement on Oakley who you started last season with. Aware of that trap I've laid myself here, yes, Oakley was also getting his first real experience of first team football at 19, but the odds of someone being that good are different with a highly rated loanee from Birmingham and a signing from East Fife.

Stowe might be able to make the creative contribution from out wide you were sorely lacking last season, but he's 24 and he's never played at a higher level than the East of Scotland Premier. It's an absolutely huge leap to the Championship.

Slater has spent the last four years in League Two, McIntosh was part of the side which finished bottom last season (although scored a creditable 8 goals), Hylton has had one good season in his career and lived off it since but still found himself in the 7th tier of English football last season, Norey, Bird and Turan are all in the unproven category as well.

If even half of them turn out to be good then sure, Arbroath probably will have a better squad than last season in that case, but this is very much up for debate as it stands and with the disaster that Campbell's recruitment was last summer it could easily be misplaced confidence to assume he's made it a better job of it this time.

That’s an outstanding amount of knowledge of our team / recruitment / new players. I would suggest you have a bit too much time on your hands. 

[D'Jaffo]

1 minute ago, Smokerson said:

That’s an outstanding amount of knowledge of our team / recruitment / new players. I would suggest you have a bit too much time on your hands. 

Literally takes 10 minutes to look at the players you’ve signed and to judge whether they look better than last years signings. 

[Smokerson]

Just now, D'Jaffo said:

Literally takes 10 minutes to look at the players you’ve signed and to judge whether they look better than last years signings. 

I couldn’t give a toss who anyone else signs to be honest. We’ve seen most of them in pre season and it’s definitely a lot better than last season. We were in a sorry state.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

Goes without saying that this will, once again, be a brutally competitive league, likely with numerous teams in contention near the top; big question, though, is how many remain close enough to the bottom to risk getting sucked in. Ridiculously hard to predict, as others have said, so here goes, with the usual provisos about 'fine margins', etc:

1. Dundee Utd. This year's version of a rabble from Dundee who will eventually stumble to a title, possibly more dramatically than their city brethren. They basically get two shots at winning it: one with Goodwin, knowing that, even if he fucks up and they have to sack him, it's highly unlikely that anyone else builds up too much of a lead to be caught; the other, if necessary, with manager unknown, who gets to splash a bit of money in January. You'd love to think it won't work one of these days, but I fear it will.

2. Raith Rovers. Big proviso here is that their defence currently looks pretty thin, like many other teams in the league, but the money seems to be there to fix that between now and the end of August. Middle to front they look very good and I'd be surprised if they don't at least make the play-offs.

3. Morton. I underestimated where we'd finish last year and may be over-cooking it this time, but I think Imrie's building a team and an approach that is perfectly suited to this league... and I trust him to make further additions that will push us on further. Looking forward to supporters of other teams complaining that we're 'too physical' and 'don't play enough football', because that will mean it's working. (If Jai Quitongo ever learns how to cut the ball back from the byline, this prediction is upgraded to 1st, by about 20 points...)

4. Partick Thistle. Not quite as strong a squad as last year, but Doolan clearly has the backing of the players who are still there and, as with Raith, I'd expect one or two further signings at the back and maybe in midfield. Don't look strong enough to make a challenge for 1st, unless everbody else shits the bed, but surely have enough for a play-off.

5. Ayr Utd. The other team, with Morton, I underestimated last year, on the basis that I felt too many of their signings were unknown quantities: Kirk and, obvs, Akinyemi quickly turned that on its head. There are fewer variables this time around - Murphy, in particular, should have a huge impact at this level - but the reason I'm putting them outside the play-offs is that, unlike the above teams, it looks as though they might settle, more or less, for the defence they have; and assuming no one steps up with 25 goals for them, I don't think that will be enough.

6. Dunfermline. Sportscene types were salivating about them making an immediate challenge at the top of the Championship on the back of a very impressive campaign in League One... but I just don't see it. Think they'll be absolutely fine, maybe even flirting with the play-offs, but would be very surprised if there aren't five teams in front of them at the end of the season.

7. Inverness CT. I'm going for 7th, but this is my candidate for potential 'crisis club' this time around. The squad is kinda 'ok', perfectly capable of competing, but financial reality - at last - means they might not be in a position to strengthen further... and they've been so complacent about leaving Dodds in charge you feel they almost deserve to pay the price. So I'm going for 'as you were', but wouldn't be surprised if they're forced to sack the manager at some point... at which point anything's possible (in a bad way, y'understand).

8. Airdrie. Have a feeling they're pretty well adapted for what this league requires and wouldn't be at all surprised to see them stay up. Home record will be crucial and I quite fancy them to turn a few teams over there. McCabe may turn out to be a manager with a future and this is his chance to show it.

9. Arbroath.  Campbell, whatever you think of him, has become a victim of his own success, with Arbroath supporters falling into the trap of thinking 'that season' was anything other than utterly exceptional. Truth is what they did two seasons ago will never be repeated and, although they still have a couple of players I'd bite your hand off for, I think the time has come for them to face a play-off for the right to stay in the league (ideally against Falkirk, so we can all support them).

10. Queen's Park. We're told again and again that this 'isn't Gretna', it's some marvellous experiment in youth development, a paradigm shift in how to approach club building (club that is, as opposed to an actual fuckin ground to play in)... so I think it's time to accept that and move to the logical conclusion that, if it really is primarily about youth development, then they're about to get eaten alive in the context of this league. Their form in the last part of last season was relegation form; the manager, perhaps realising he'd been rumbled, promptly walked; their defence was a shambles and hasn't been improved; they appear to think they're playing a different game from everybody else... doon.

[TxRover]

1. Dundee United
2. Dunfermline
3. Raith
4. Partick
5. ICT
6. Queen's Park
7. Morton
8. Ayr
9. Arbroath
10. Airdrie

[Mon eh Ton]

12 hours ago, Smokerson said:

We look a lot better than last season, at this stage last year we were a complete shambles and it dragged on to christmas.

At this stage last year you won every game in your league cup group, conceded only one goal in doing so, and disposed of the same St Mirren that pumped you a fortnight ago.

We'll take your word that there's an improvement in being beaten by Forfar and needing penalties to beat Cowdenbeath.

The league cup group stage could, of course, be entirely meaningless - but apparently your win against Montrose restored the "natural order" in Angus, so we'll trust your fans that it does, in fact, matter.

[AyrAtlanta]

1. Ayr United

…

9. Morton

10. Airdrie

 

My head however says:

1. Dundee United

2. Dunfermline

3. Caley

4. Ayr United

5. Morton

6. Partick

7. Raith

8. Queens Park

9. Airdrie

10. Arbroath

I could probably wake up tomorrow and give you a different order because about 5 of them are randomly placed. There are far too many factors that can change everything to go into detail about these picks and not look like a complete tool by October. Just read them and scroll thank you.

[Aufc]

18 hours ago, clashcityrocker said:

Last season Arbroath played the complete season without a striker (Hilson put in a  great shift, but he's not an out right striker).

This season Arbroath have 4 strikers and have recruited well - once the players start to gel things will click.

Still a couple of signings to be announced - so things are looking good at Gayfield HQ.

 

Aye one of the is Leighton mcintosh who is pish. As mentioned elsewhere, two of the other three are pretty unknown. The boy Bird looked ok on Saturday but he was up against 40 year Sean Dillon and didn’t absolutely boss him. Time will tell. 

14 hours ago, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

Enjoying laughing at all these predictions with everyone underestimating us

 

9 hours ago, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

We’ll have money to spend aswell as one of our youngsters is away ti Crystal Palace

Are people underestimating us? I don’t think they are. They are rightly saying we should be favourites to go down. We finished second in league 1 last season and got up via penalties in the play offs. We haven’t really signed many players aside from a couple of loans from hibs. We lost Callum smith who was a very good player. Why would we not be favourites to go down? It’s all well and good winning a couple of games in the league cup but harder to do over 36 games. Prime example is the first game of the season where Josh Rae is out and, at the moment, David Hutton, will be in goal. Time will tell. 

[Jives Miguel]

1. Dundee Utd
2. Morton
3. ICT
4. Raith
5. Partick
6. Dunfermline
7. Ayr
8. Airdrie
9. Queen's Park
10. Arbroath

[vikingTON]

The 36 games is key. I'd expect Airdrie to start well over the first quarter and pick up quite a few wins, but it's a totally different task grinding out points by November or February. There are no Clydes or Peterheads at this level to restore confidence - you're either up to the task most weeks or you are sinking down the table. There's nothing to suggest that Airdrie are equipped to do that - compared to Arbroath and Dick 'dick' Campbell who have experience of that over a few years now. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by vikingTON

[vikingTON]

1. Dundee United

2. Dunfermline 

3. Partick

4. Raith

5. Morton 

6. Queens Park 

7. Inverness 

8. Ayr

9. Arbroath

10. Airdrie 

2nd-8th is almost entirely interchangeable in my view, and I'm only about 10% confident that 9/10th won't involve different teams as well.

I've favoured Dunfermline on the grounds that positive  momentum from last season, a strong defensive record and the financial potential to strengthen in January will give them a slight edge over the rest of the pack. 

There's usually one team that flounders below expectations of their squad on paper. I've gone for Ayr but it could be any one of the others; most likely Morton if Imrie gets an offer to manage elsewhere. QP is also a 0% confidence prediction. 

As for Morton, I think we could be in for a slightly frustrating campaign unless we add very well with the additional budget that the Rangers game will allow. The team is already well organised and will be as infuriating to play against as it was last season, but the right side of defence is a major issue. We also may have been relying too much on avoiding injuries to key players and the form of attacking players to get close last season - I'm not seeing Muirhead repeating last season's numbers right now. While we have the potential to reach the play-offs on paper we should fall short of that and are not guaranteed to stay out of trouble. 

[Jives Miguel]

If only Airdrie fans were as precious as they are in this thread about the racists and Nazis in their fanbase, wearing an Orange Order inspired away kit, and generally being a Currant Buns tribute act. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Jives Miguel

[Spider Rico]

Whilst our team isn’t as packed full of untested youngsters as people might think, our starting team is likely to feature 4 who had little or no  experience outside of age group football before now so we will be very reliant on them being a) up to it and b) getting there quickly. The signs from the league cup campaign were mixed at best I would say.

I do have real concerns that we will struggle this season, particularly in away games,  with the signs being that other than a starting right back, any further additions are likely to be back up. 

A lot will depend on whether the “south coast 3” end up being as influential as Malachi Boateng (now in the Premiership) or rather David Boateng (subbed at half time whenever he started)

 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Spider Rico

[Glenmavis Diamond]

Every team has their overly critical fans, their happy clappers, their sensible and level headed fans and their share of pure roasters. Without exception. 

And when the league starts on Saturday, even those who try to pretend they don't fall into a certain category will revert to type. 

Guaranteed there will be some eyebrow raising and shock results in the first few weeks. It always happens. And the knee jerk panicking will commence from some, whilst the level headed will say how there's a long way to go etc etc. 

I fully expect our first game away to Dunfermline to be tough. Every game this season will be tough. So if we win it, we're not gonna win the league, just like if we lose it, we're not going to be cannon fodder. I'm just going to try and enjoy the ride and hope Airdrie  manage to do enough to consolidate this season and build from there. 

 

[Aufc]

1 hour ago, Jives Miguel said:

If only Airdrie fans were as precious as they are in this thread about the racists and Nazis in their fanbase, wearing an Orange Order inspired away kit, and generally being a Currant Buns tribute act. 

3/10. Must do better 

[mychurch]

I think Partick, Ayr and Queens will all have hangovers from last years campaign. The team going down doesn’t always bounce back up, so I’d have them as 50/50 to be Champions. With them it will be Morton and Dunfermline. Injuries and sheer luck will determine the winner. 
 

Arbroath have had their Leicester moment and I think they will be down. Shame, but they have had a good run. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by mychurch