League 1 23/24 Final table predictions

[HopeStreetCadette]

1. Falkirk 

Honestly can see us anywhere from 1st to 4th but this has to be our season… right?

2. Hamilton

Made a few decent signings to be fair and will most likely be challenging at the top end of the table.

3. Cove

The coffers being filled will be an advantage ahead of most teams in the league and should have a decent enough squad to be challenging. The Hartley factor however stops any title charges.

4. QOS

Was impressed with their improvements towards the end of last season and think they will sneak into the playoffs.

5. Stirling Albion

Didn’t think much of Stirling until seeing recent results. Think they could potentially sneak into that last playoff spot but most likely will be hanging around mid-table.

6. Kelty Hearts

Can’t really see them challenging at either end of the table. Liked the look of Daramola up top and think his goals prevent them from trouble at the wrong end of the table.

7. Alloa

Can see a regression from Alloa this season, not bad enough to be troubled with relegation but enough for a fairly uneventful season.

8. Montrose

Struggled last season and can see it continuing on into this season. A decent manager in Petrie keeps them afloat.

9. Edinburgh City

I can see Edinburgh’s 2nd season in L1 being tougher for them although will be saved from the automatic drop by a poor looking Annan team.

10. Annan Athletic

It doesn’t look like many improvements have been made to the squad and can see a long season ahead for the Galabankies. 

[MazzyStar]

1. Queens

2. Falkirk 

3. Cove

4. Hamilton

5. Stirling 

6. Montrose 

7. Alloa

8. Edinburgh 

9. Kelty 

10. Annan 

[Les Cabbage]

Hamilton

QoS

Falkirk

Alloa

Cove

Kelty

Montrose

Stirling

Annan

Edinburgh City

[jagfox]

1. Falkirk

=======

2. Hamilton

3. QoS

4. Alloa

=======

5. Cove 

6. Stirling 

7. Kelty Hearts

8. Montrose

---‐-----

9. Annan

=======

10. Edinburgh

 

[ebobsboy]

On 30/07/2023 at 14:46, bridge of allan bairn said:

Ok, the friendlies and league cup group matches are out of the way and its less than a week to league kick off so time to have a go...

1. HAMILTON

2. QoS

3. COVE

4. FALKIRK

5. ALLOA

6. STIRLING

7. MONTROSE

8. KELTY

9. ANNAN

10. EDINBURGH

In terms of my own club Falkirk, with the existing manager and squad I can see us having another tough season, not to dissimilar to previous seasons, especially if we don't get off to a good start. Main issues IMO are the lack of a right back (which would free up the talented Yeats for cover for midfield), the lack of a natural goal scorer and not knowing what style of team we want to be, or being able to tactically change things during matches once we are inevitably found out. If we get a couple of decent loanees in soon then it could make all the difference. I do believe we have a good enough squad to win this league if deployed and motivated correctly, however based on what I've seen the last 4 or 5 months that's not likely. I expect McGlynn to persist with zonal marking at corners, a largely isolated front man, no plan B, mistakes arising from playing out from the back and starting with players like McGinn, who of course in his time was an excellent player but very regretably time has now caught up on him and should be used very sparingly, for example when we need a cool head to see games out. I really like McGlynn and want him to succeed, however, I think there is every chance we could have a new manager in place (cheap and potentially logical option might be McGinn!?) before Christmas.

I think Hamilton have signed well and see them doing well, my only doubt about them is how Rankin will be as a manager, however Airdrie seemed to do well with a relatively inexperienced manager last year so he may do okay.

I think Stirling could be the surprise team finishing comfortably mid table and registering a few "shock" results.

If anyone can sabotage us it's McGlynn. It's a crucial season for the club. The heat will be on him very quickly if we don't get off to a good start and he knows it, fail and it's probably his last job as a football manager. 

 

[Otis Blue]

On 16/07/2023 at 11:08, Otis Blue said:

My wild guess - caveat alert - I seem to have even less knowledge than normal of the squads across all of the clubs this season (and that's saying something) ...

1 - Hamilton's Academicals - seem to have made solid quality signings for this level, and they never lose to Queens so that's worth a 10 point start

2 - Falkirk's Bairns - despite the last 5 years or so, you just can't ignore the likely effect of that Big Club budget, despite what their management does

3 - Cove's Rangers - don't know why really, it's not from any knowledge but more a sense that there's money at that club

4 - The Mighty Mo - something of a wild shout probably, but they have goals aplenty up front and goals get you up the table

5 - The Beautiful South - hopefully I'm wrong, and I so want it to work out for Marvin - but I just can't see the "Goals For" column being kept busy with the current forwards in the squad (hopefully we do some more business in the window yet)

6 - Stirling's Albion - purely a guess here, but I sense that they'll not struggle and will be a solid mid-table side.  Looking forward to visiting Forthbank.

7 - Alloa's Athletic - could be a harsh forecast here, I've never known an Alloa side that wasn't solid and hard to beat - and they always trouble Queens

8 - Annan's other Athletic - four southern derbies will reap some rewards I fear, but ultimately the squad quality might prevent a higher placing

9 - Kelty's Jambos - won't have quite the same funding as before (I think) and may struggle to avoid the "doon" playoff spot

10 - The City of Edinburgh - continued upheavals at the club again this season, what it means I don't know - sorry in advance, but I fear for them this season and the new Meadowbank's just no place to watch the fitba'

I think the bottom half of the table is far harder to predict than the top half - and this season I don't expect two sides to be cut adrift like Clyde/Peterhead were last season, so I'm expecting a much tighter league this time around.

So that's the LC group stage over and we've now seen some idea of how the squads perform in competitive games - but of course the LC group stages are notorious for throwing up odd scores as we know from past experience - hence, treat with caution.  That said, my re-take is .....

1 - Accies - no change - still think their signings have been solid quality and finishing second behind Livi in the LC was decent enough

2 - Bairns - again, no change - did well enough in the LC, just being pipped by Doolan's good Jags side.  Can they match Accies over the full season?

3 - Cove - again, no change - almost matched Accies in the LC.  Being funded, but for how long?  Will make the playoffs you'd think.

4 - Queens - up from 5th - seriously tempting fate here - unbeaten in the LC groups and should've done better.  Bartley seems to be doing good stuff at Palmy but (barring other signings) can our midfield/forwards contribute enough goals - tbf Reilly and wee McKechnie hit the net a few times in the LC, but over a full season?

5 - Stirling - up from 6th - a stellar LC group stage including that thumping win at Perth - there's clearly a decent side at Forthbank, and only my shameless bias prevents them from being 4th - could easily be in the playoffs.

6 - Kelty - up from 9th - solid mid-table in the LC group with County and Morton just ahead of them - plus they have a potential gem up front in Tiwi Daramola and will carry a goal threat at this level.  Don't think it'll be enough to trouble the playoffs, but should be safe.

7 - Montrose - down from 4th - struggled a bit in their LC group and I'm not sure they'll have enough in their squad this season - but of course they do have that potent front line ... will it be enough though?

8 - Alloa - down from 7th - bottom of their LC group and with a heavily negative goal difference - they'll give Queens problems cos they always do, but I think they'll not trouble the promotion playoffs this year without further squad additions.  Will be safe though.

9 - Annan - down from 8th - bottom of their LC group - I'm still expecting them to take points off Queens in the derbies, but something tells me they'll struggle to avoid the doon playoffs.

10 - Edinburgh - still 10th - again, bottom of their LC group - upheaval behind the scenes/lack of funding, still think they'll have a battle on to stay in L1 this season.

[Bairn in Exile]

1. Falkirk

2. QoTS

3. Hamilton

4. Cove

5. Stirling

6. Alloa

7. Montrose

8. Kelty

9. Annan 

10. Edinburgh

 

This has to be our season to go up because simply, we can't afford not to. No promotion and we’ll have to go part-time and that has to be avoided at all costs.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Bairn in Exile

[Otis Blue]

1 hour ago, Bairn in Exile said:

1. Falkirk

2. QoTS

3. Hamilton

4. Cove

5. Stirling

6. Alloa

7. Montrose

8. Kelty

9. Annan 

10. Edinburgh

 

This has to be our season to go up because simply, we can't afford not to. No promotion and we’ll have to go part-time and that has to be avoided at all costs.

With the Bairns significantly larger fan base at this level, going PT isn't really a threat though is it.

You're right though, in that this looks like a relatively weak L1 this season and so should be a big opportunity for the Bairns to finally escape the seaside. The problem I think is gonna be Accies who look strong at this level - and winning the league is the only real option cos the playoffs will be tough.

[Bairn in Exile]

4 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

With the Bairns significantly larger fan base at this level, going PT isn't really a threat though is it.

You're right though, in that this looks like a relatively weak L1 this season and so should be a big opportunity for the Bairns to finally escape the seaside. The problem I think is gonna be Accies who look strong at this level - and winning the league is the only real option cos the playoffs will be tough.

Our financial woes are fairly well documented so part-time football is a real possibility, unfortunately.

 

Yep, promoted as champions or nowt, shit or bust.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Bairn in Exile

[19QOS19]

1 hour ago, Bairn in Exile said:

Yep, promoted as champions or nowt, shit or bust.

Surely the manner in which you go up wouldn't make a difference as long as you go up? 

[Bairn in Exile]

2 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

Surely the manner in which you go up wouldn't make a difference as long as you go up? 

You would think but I really don't believe that McGlynn has what it takes to win in a play-off situation. I am a man of a certain age and I don't want my old ticker to go through another play-off shambles like the season just gone.

[Skyline Drifter]

2 hours ago, Bairn in Exile said:

Our financial woes are fairly well documented so part-time football is a real possibility, unfortunately.

Yep, promoted as champions or nowt, shit or bust.

That you continue to have financial "holes" of hundreds of thousands despite your income levels suggests you're either wasting money in all sorts of ways or you have enormous fixed costs (such as stadium rents or loan repayments) that won't be remotely solved or even affected by going part-time in playing terms.

I'm far from convinced that the act of going part time is a particular catch all money saver anyway. If you need to make big savings you do it by halving wages. It needn't necessarily mean going part time and if you wish to remain a good part time side a la Arbroath, Montrose, Alloa, etc then in reality you're going to have to pay the majority of your players something close to full time wages for the lowest full time sides anyway (us, Hamilton, Airdrie, etc). There's not much else you'll save by going part time. Do you pay for training facilities or train at TFS? If you're not paying for training facilities on an hourly basis then training less often won't change anything much. You won't really need any less football staff. If you feed the players daily at lunch you can probably save that but it's picking at holes really. In reality it's all about payroll. The better part time sides are paying equivalent wages to the poorer full time sides. It's basically about which market you think you can make the best of. A club the size of Falkirk should be a full time club and shouldn't be considering dropping otherwise, even if it means sweeping about at a lower full time market than you have been.

[Bairn in Exile]

2 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

That you continue to have financial "holes" of hundreds of thousands despite your income levels suggests you're either wasting money in all sorts of ways and you have enormous fixed costs (such as stadium rents or loan repayments)

Asked and answered. We have been very badly managed for too many years which is why we are in the state that we are in.

[Ian Mcleod]

On 30/06/2023 at 12:51, Ian Mcleod said:

Currently I would go 

1st Hamilton (C)

2nd Falkirk 

3rd Alloa (P)

4th QOTS 

5th Montrose 

6th Cove 

7th Stirling 

8th Annan 

9th Edinburgh City (R)

10th Kelty Hearts (R)

As it's getting closer to The first match now I'm going to get my final Prediction in

1st Queen Of The South 

Personally for me I think Queens actually have a weaker squad than both Accies and Falkirk the difference though will be that Bartley will be able to grind results out far better than Rankin and Mcglynn which will see them win the league. I do expect they will probably add a couple of more loan signings in the coming weeks.

2nd Falkirk

Another 2nd for Falkirk for me I don't think they will win the league and I think they will lose in the playoffs. 

3rd Accies (P)

Now on to my own team for me we have far the best squad in the league but the problem will be Rankin which will see us miss out on winning the league. We have this negative mentality of when we go 1-0 up we start getting deeper and deeper rather than finish the team off which cost us on Saturday and will cost us many times this season if we keep doing it. If we were to have Rankin gone by the end of September and got someone like Ian McCall in I would be confident that we can win the league but with Rankin in charge I think if promotion is going to happen it will have to come through the playoffs.

4th Alloa

They've had a very tough pre season but it does seem like they are missing a couple key players in Scott Taggart and Luke Donnelly. I think the loan market in the next month will be huge in Alloas season. I've seen a lot of people put Alloa 6/7/8th some even relegation trouble however with Rice in charge I don't see that happening in league 1. I think they will surprise people again and make the playoffs.

5th Montrose 

They've got one of the best best striking partnerships in the league with Hester and McAlister however I think the rest of the squad is a bit weak compared to the top 4 which will see them just miss out on playoffs they are still needing a couple of signings. However 5th in league 1 for Montrose would certainly not be a bad finish. I really like Stewart Petrie as well.

6th Cove Rangers 

A lot of very strange signings. An abysmal manager who is only there because he has family connections. Going part time to full time after struggling financially when being part time. What could go wrong here.

7th Stirling Albion 

They've had the best pre season results in the league. And fair play to them on making it to the next round of the league cup. I think the main goal for Stirling this year will be to stay up and go again next year which I think they will be able to do fairly comfortably.

8th Kelty 

At first I had Kelty to finish bottom but they've seem to made a couple of decent league 1 signings and from what I've heard Tiwi Daramola is supposed to be some player. I think the main goal this year for Kelty like Stirling will be to stay in the division.

9th Annan (R)

This is a tough one I don't actually think Annan have had a terrible pre season but the league is looking quite strong and they might not have enough to stay up. I would expect that they will probably have a couple of loan signings come in from Carlise by the end of the window which might help them stay in the league. If they do stay up it would be some achievement but currently i don't think they have enough.

10th Edinburgh City (R)

This just looks a disaster of a season incoming. If you go through every team in the league you can pick out 1 or 2 players who are standouts and would probably start for every team in the league. You can't do that with Edinburgh the full team looks very mediocre. And I can't see any other finish than rock bottom I also predict that they will be cut adrift at the bottom.

[Otis Blue]

5 hours ago, Ian Mcleod said:

.....

1st Queen Of The South 

Personally for me I think Queens actually have a weaker squad than both Accies and Falkirk the difference though will be that Bartley will be able to grind results out far better than Rankin and Mcglynn which will see them win the league. I do expect they will probably add a couple of more loan signings in the coming weeks.

Good overall post this ...

Whilst I don't agree with this (top) placing, I think this is a fair summary. We do have a weaker squad and to come out on top Bartley will need to outperform both Rankin and McGlynn. I hope he does, but of course this would sadly attract better offers from larger suitors and we'd lose him. Ever the lot of a diddy club but would be a win-win for both parties in the short term at least which is why he's here after all.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Otis Blue

[Ian Mcleod]

49 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

Good overall post this ...

Whilst I don't agree with this (top) placing, I think this is a fair summary. We do have a weaker squad and to come out on top Bartley will need to outperform both Rankin and McGlynn. I hope he does, but of course this would sadly attract better offers from larger suitors and we'd lose him. Ever the lot of a diddy club but would be a win-win for both parties in the short term at least which is why he's here after all.

Yeah the worst case scenario for QOTS would be that you finished 2nd and didn't win the playoffs but Bartley still got a better role elsewhere. 

[Otis Blue]

1 hour ago, Ian Mcleod said:

Yeah the worst case scenario for QOTS would be that you finished 2nd and didn't win the playoffs but Bartley still got a better role elsewhere. 

You never know, if he did get us back to the Championship he might hang on for a second season to see if he could consolidate our position up there again ... which would reflect well on his CV, given that he's still a rookie manager ... but then again, clutching at any available straw is what I do.

[Ian Mcleod]

29 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

You never know, if he did get us back to the Championship he might hang on for a second season to see if he could consolidate our position up there again ... which would reflect well on his CV, given that he's still a rookie manager ... but then again, clutching at any available straw is what I do.

I think either way Bartley will be a good appointment for QOTS and will eventually get a role at a bigger club I would much rather Bartley than Rankin I will say that. However accies fans at first thought Rankin would be good at it's went terribly so far. 

[bod]

A successful young rookie manager at a club in this league will have it's own downside!

[Otis Blue]

15 minutes ago, bod said:

A successful young rookie manager at a club in this league will have it's own downside!

Aye, nearly all clubs have their place in the food chain and are subject to predators from higher levels - very, very few aren't. Still, it would be a nice problem to have ... just hopefully not early on.