Grumpy Soo-sider Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 48 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said: Always good to see folk putting their neck on the line when it comes to predictions. Absolutely. I'm grateful that you appreciate the depth of my analysis. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiegoDiego Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 18 minutes ago, Claudia Gentile said: Fair enough. Apologies, sometimes hard to pick up the intended tone on here at first reading. No problem at all. Hope you have a smashing evening, sir. 3 minutes ago, Grumpy Soo-sider said: Absolutely. I'm grateful that you appreciate the depth of my analysis. On the bright side, you'll be the most accurate. Suppose I've backed myself into a corner now where I need to post my prediction: Partick Thistle (f**k it, why not) Livingston Ayr Dunfermline Raith (everyone's predicting them top three, so I'll look like a genius if this comes true) Morton Airdrie (won't be as bad as everyone thinks) Falkirk (won't be as good as everyone thinks) Queen's Park Hamilton. Ayr to beat Dunfermline then Livi in the playoffs, but lose 5-2 on aggregate to Motherwell in the final. A QP in turmoil lose to Montrose in the semis who then lose to Arbroath in El Anguso. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayrunitedfw Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 1. Raith Rovers- were 14 points clear of 3rd place last season and have managed to keep a hold of the vast majority of their main players while adding a few experienced players. 2. Partick Thistle- A front there of Chalmers-Graham- Fitzpatrick should run riot in this league. Only thing that’s making me favour Rovers is I think they have more squad depth than Thistle. 3. Ayr United- I’m maybe looking at things through black and white tinted specs however given the business we’ve done this summer I don’t see any reason why we can’t achieve a playoff place as a minimum. Only player whos moved on that I’m sorry to see go is Logan Chalmers. On paper the signings of Oakley, McMann and Henderson are very good. 4. Falkirk- Completely romped league 1 last season and when you look at how well Airdrie done this season you’ve got to fancy them for at least a playoff place. Have a settled team so expect them to get off to a fast start while other teams are still gelling. 5. Livingston- Livingston were by some margin the worst team in the Scottish Premiership last season. Have signed a load of players but none that scream out at me. I do however really rate Stephen Kelly and he should comfortably be one of the best players in the league. Should have enough about them to avoid being dragged into any relegation trouble but not sure they’ll have enough to push for promotion. 6. Greenock Morton- Seemed to have a disastrous start to their squad building losing Crawford, Oakley, Strapp and Murihead however since then seem to have signed really well. Giving the signings it seems Imrie might be going away from Morton’s physical style. Will be interesting to see how that pans out. 7. Airdrieonians- Expecting a bit of a drop off from them this season. Have lost a good few of their starting players from last season and I don’t really know anything about the players they have brought in. I’m probably underestimating them too since we took 12/12 from them last season 8. Dunfermline Athletic- Just missing out on the relegation playoffs. Don’t seem to have done much transfer business yet. Don’t really rate McPake either and suspect he’ll be the first manager to walk/be sacked. 9. Hamilton Accies- A big part of this prediction will be what version of Charlie Albinson they get. If it’s the one from this season they could be in bother however if it’s the one from 22/23 he’ll be up there as one of the best keepers in the league. Chucking a three year deal at Oli Shaw is very bold, if he recaptures his form from his last stint in this league he’ll be a very good signing and no reason the accies can’t be up there. 10. Queens Park- Narrowly avoided relegation last season and don’t seem to have strengthened. In Ruari Paton and Dom Thomas they have two of the better players in the league however apart from that there doesn’t seem to be much in the squad and if anything happens to either of them then they are in serious bother. It’s obviously been said loads but the league is wide open this season. Every team will fancy making the playoffs as a bare minimum. There’s also 4 weeks till the league kicks off so plenty of transfer business to be done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par-adise Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 My I'll-informed take on where we are before the competitive season starts. Airdrie - lost a lot of key players over the summer and replaced them with a lot of unknowns and youngsters. Can see it being a difficult second season but then they were written off by many last year. Ayr - solid recruitment, Dowds and Oakley could be a good partnership. Bit dodgy looking at the back though, probably slogging it out for a play off spot. Dunfermline - only lost one key player over the summer (Edwards) and can put out a strong first XI, but still need a few bodies: a GK, left sided defensive cover, a midfielder, and a left sided winger would be good. Think we have the best signing of the league so far in Chris Kane. Anything short of a playoff spot will be deemed a failure but can't imagine we'll be setting the world alight. Falkirk - not believing the hype. Not that much different from the squad that didn't lay a glove on us two years ago, and we're not very good. Morton - lost Oakley and Muirhead, recruitment screams bottom half of the championship, and 40 year old Kirk Broadfoot at the back. 8th-10th for sure. Hamilton - will be battling relegation but think they'll be competent enough to at least no be whipping boys. Livi - don't seem to have gone into meltdown as I thought they might. Top 3 seems likely. Partick - really solid recruitment and my bet for league winner if I had to, but that depends heavily on Brian Graham doing Brian Graham things. Queens Park - recruitment not very inspiring so far. St Johnstone to buy Paton in January resulting in a slump in form and bottom 2 finish. Raith - best chance of winning this league in 30+ years. On paper have strengthened the weakest part of the team last season (defense). Probably need another centre forward? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuldReekie Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 On 28/05/2024 at 22:47, AuldReekie said: Raith Livi Partick Queens Park Falkirk Pars Airdrie Morton Ayr Hamilton Having followed some of the pre-season prep and signings, thought I'd update my prediction ahead of league cup: Livi Partick Raith Ayr Pars Falkirk Queens Park Airdrie Morton Hamilton While Raith made the early moves and their defence looks Premiership quality, not convinced they've quite strengthened in attack - and if they don't fly in first quarter, can see things getting mighty tense in Kirkcaldy. By far, under the most pressure this season I think. Still not sure what to make of Livi but I expect them to be strong enough to match Partick and Raith, and over the course of the season I think they'll navigate bumps in the road better. Partick have probably the best balance of last year's Championship teams but a lot will depend on whether they can get the same again from Brian Graham. I'd like to think most of those teams aiming for promotion playoffs have a better plan for dealing with him - and he's not getting any younger. Ayr feel like they have potential for breaking out after the summer. Couple of decent signings and I imagine Brown will have given them a bit of an edge they've been missing heading into this campaign. Beyond that, slightly encouraged by Pars' pre-season and signing of Kane/Wotherspoon but a combination of questionable GK/defence and an inability to score does not make for success. Hope to be proven wrong but still think we'll be in the middle third this season along with Falkirk, Queen's Park, Airdrie and Morton. Not seen enough from Hamilton to know that they've have prepped for the step up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferguson Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 I couldn't come up with a concrete prediction if I tried, but I reckon the league will likely be battled out in 4 split sections. Top 4, in any order Raith, Livi, Partick and Ayr. All 4 have either held onto their best players or recruited quite well this summer. All seem to be financially out-muscling the rest of the league and that will probably show over the 36 games. Ayr the least likely to finish top for me. Middle of the pack, again any order 5th-7th Morton, Dunfermline and Falkirk. Morton have recruited well and look exciting in pre season but the teams above ransacking us for our best players gives them an obvious edge, Dunfermline aren't getting me off my seat but they'll have enough to not go down, Falkirk have held onto basically their whole squad but the majority of them have shown to be nothing more than average Championship players in the past - not getting the hype around them. Any of these 3 teams could very realistically break into either playoffs, but it would be a slight surprise either way for me. Relegation battle, any order 8th-10th Airdrie, Hamilton and Queens Park. Airdrie have lost a lot of key players and don't seem to have replaced them with anything of the same standard. Hamilton's defence would give you nightmares and I'm not all that scared of their attacking options. Queen's Park seem to have just been doing nothing all summer? Sub-par team last season, looks to be a poor effort at building on it this year so far. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuctifano Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) This thread shows how things can ebb and flow over pre season- about 4 weeks ago I'd have had Morton nailed on bottom 2 and Falkirk in the top 4 somewhere but with the signings Morton have made and Falkirk appearing to largely go with the same team as last year I'd have them both in the middle of the pack now, but that could change again if Falkirk do get a couple of decent signings in. I think for Thistle a lot will depend on whether we can get an upgrade at keeper - Mitchell probably won't lose us too many games but he won't win us any single handed either-and what happens at CF. Graham seems to be getting better with age but that can't last forever both in terms of form and injury and if he was to be out for a while, Diack is still a bit too raw, so who we get in as backup will be key. For the sake of the thread, and I will revise this after the LC group stages: Raith Livi Thistle Ayr Falkirk Morton Dunfermline Airdrie Hamilton QP Edited July 8 by Fuctifano 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossBFaeDundee Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) As gutted as I was that Raith didn't get over the line last season, this looks to be an exciting Championship season if only for the fact that it feels like almost every team has a decent shot of mounting some kind of title challenge, and all of them could at least look towards the play-offs. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked if first and last place are separated by only 15-20 points come season's end. Airdrie - Big turnover for last season's surprise package that wasn't really a surprise, and I hadn't realised just how many new and largely unknown players they had brought in already. Big ask to repeat last season's heroics, but I fully expect Rhys McCabe to have this lot as hard to beat as anyone in this league will be. Ayr - Hard not to be impressed by Broony's signings so far, I feel like Dowds and Oakley could be the best striking force in the league, and other good additions like Scott McMann look like they'll add well to a team that still has a few key pieces from their 2nd place finish a couple of seasons ago. They really feel like a squad that's a couple more additions away from being a proper title contender and gaining promotion for the first time in 47 years. Dunfermline - Not seen much activity from them which surprises me given the excellent chance to return to the top division for the first time since 2012, but on paper they still have a decent play-off calibre squad that hasn't seen much departures. Chris Kane signing on permanently is great news, and Spoony finally joining them too could be a coup, should he (say it with me!) keep himself fit. We play the Pars in a friendly on Wednesday so will get a better idea of how they look then. Falkirk - Considering how well teams often do coming up from the 3rd tier, you'd imagine last season's invincibles would be in line to immediately challenge up at the top in this league too. They've largely avoided losing star players, with Callumn Morrison on a new deal being the pick of the bunch and looks to continue being a top player next season. Not much in incomings though aside from a proven Championship goalscorer in Michael McKenna. Big question will be how well last season's team which ripped part-time teams apart will handle the step up, but it feels like they're gonna do just fine and at least challenge for the play-offs. Greenock Morton - With their budget it'll be hard for Imrie to keep up the fight and losing Oakley feels like a killer, but Morton know how to sign shrewdly and have brought in some decent-looking defensive reinforcements. Big questions about where the goals will be coming from though, hard not to see them fighting to stay up. Hamilton Accies - John Rankin built a solid clear no. 2 in League One last season, and on the face of it their signings so far have been pretty good. The question for me is will it be enough? Oli Shaw looks like a bit of a coup for a club like Accies but I feel like there's a reason for him ending up at NDP. They should have a decent midfield at least imo (mainly cos I know how Williamson and Maguire play lol) but I do think they'll be at the bottom end of the table. Livingston - Wasn't getting how people were so confident that Livi would be a top 3 team, but signing Ryan McGowan was a very good move from Martindale. As for the rest of their signings, it's the usual case of throwing at a dartboard to find a gem, with only McAlear looking intriguing to me albeit with the caveat that is his lacklustre spell with Ayr. Still, they've kept a few players who should be of very good quality for this league and I'm sure they will around the play-offs, potential higher. Partick - If there was a clear favourite in this pretty even race, then Kris Doolan's men look the part. The best balanced side in this league the last few seasons, and some nice looking additions have given them a solid amount of depth and quality that will absolutely have them hunting for a return to the top flight with silverware in tow. Queen's Park - Davidson did a good job of keeping QPFC up last season, but not much change seems to have come about so far, with Roddy Macgregor from ICT being the only addition of note. Still have plenty of gamechangers in their team with Dom Thomas and Ruari Paton (who needs a new dance partner after Cillian Sheridan's departure), and the X factor will be how much Grant Savoury can contribute after his season-long injury, as before it he was one of the most exciting talents in this league. Still feels like staying up would be a big achievement, and if they lose Paton like they did Murray then it could become untenable. Raith - It might just be me but it really felt like last season was the season for Raith, and whatever they put together this time will struggle to match that mix of magic moments and good fortune. Still, they've not lost anyone major with top players like Vaughan, Easton and Stanton all still around and have added talent in Lewis Stevenson, Paul Hanlon and Shaun Byrne permanently. Make no doubt, they will definitely be a title contender this season, but can they hit those same heights in a likely easier title race? If they can, they're almost certainly returning to the top league for the first time since 1997. Right, prediction time. Reckon at least 3rd-6th to be super tight, perhaps even more teams involved. Bottom 3-4 teams really hard to separate too, will likely change before the first kick off of the Championship season. 1st. Partick Thistle 2nd. Raith Rovers 3rd. Ayr United 4th. Livingston 5th. Falkirk 6th. Dunfermline Athletic 7th. Airdrieonians 8th. Hamilton Accies 9th. Greenock Morton 10th. Queen's Park Edited July 8 by RossBFaeDundee 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggerG Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 5 hours ago, par-adise said: My I'll-informed take on where we are before the competitive season starts. Airdrie - lost a lot of key players over the summer and replaced them with a lot of unknowns and youngsters. Can see it being a difficult second season but then they were written off by many last year. Ayr - solid recruitment, Dowds and Oakley could be a good partnership. Bit dodgy looking at the back though, probably slogging it out for a play off spot. Dunfermline - only lost one key player over the summer (Edwards) and can put out a strong first XI, but still need a few bodies: a GK, left sided defensive cover, a midfielder, and a left sided winger would be good. Think we have the best signing of the league so far in Chris Kane. Anything short of a playoff spot will be deemed a failure but can't imagine we'll be setting the world alight. Falkirk - not believing the hype. Not that much different from the squad that didn't lay a glove on us two years ago, and we're not very good. Morton - lost Oakley and Muirhead, recruitment screams bottom half of the championship, and 40 year old Kirk Broadfoot at the back. 8th-10th for sure. Hamilton - will be battling relegation but think they'll be competent enough to at least no be whipping boys. Livi - don't seem to have gone into meltdown as I thought they might. Top 3 seems likely. Partick - really solid recruitment and my bet for league winner if I had to, but that depends heavily on Brian Graham doing Brian Graham things. Queens Park - recruitment not very inspiring so far. St Johnstone to buy Paton in January resulting in a slump in form and bottom 2 finish. Raith - best chance of winning this league in 30+ years. On paper have strengthened the weakest part of the team last season (defense). Probably need another centre forward? Spot on mate, other than Hogarth, Lang, Adams, Spencer, Tait, Ross, Agyeman, MacIver, Shanley, McKenna and Miller of course! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggie Perrin Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 5 hours ago, par-adise said: My I'll-informed take on where we are before the competitive season starts. Airdrie - lost a lot of key players over the summer and replaced them with a lot of unknowns and youngsters. Can see it being a difficult second season but then they were written off by many last year. Ayr - solid recruitment, Dowds and Oakley could be a good partnership. Bit dodgy looking at the back though, probably slogging it out for a play off spot. Dunfermline - only lost one key player over the summer (Edwards) and can put out a strong first XI, but still need a few bodies: a GK, left sided defensive cover, a midfielder, and a left sided winger would be good. Think we have the best signing of the league so far in Chris Kane. Anything short of a playoff spot will be deemed a failure but can't imagine we'll be setting the world alight. Falkirk - not believing the hype. Not that much different from the squad that didn't lay a glove on us two years ago, and we're not very good. Morton - lost Oakley and Muirhead, recruitment screams bottom half of the championship, and 40 year old Kirk Broadfoot at the back. 8th-10th for sure. Hamilton - will be battling relegation but think they'll be competent enough to at least no be whipping boys. Livi - don't seem to have gone into meltdown as I thought they might. Top 3 seems likely. Partick - really solid recruitment and my bet for league winner if I had to, but that depends heavily on Brian Graham doing Brian Graham things. Queens Park - recruitment not very inspiring so far. St Johnstone to buy Paton in January resulting in a slump in form and bottom 2 finish. Raith - best chance of winning this league in 30+ years. On paper have strengthened the weakest part of the team last season (defense). Probably need another centre forward? Really strange thing to say that Falkirk are not much different from the side of two years ago. Probably 6 changes to the preferred starting line up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par-adise Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 14 minutes ago, ShaggerG said: Spot on mate, other than Hogarth, Lang, Adams, Spencer, Tait, Ross, Agyeman, MacIver, Shanley, McKenna and Miller of course! Apologies, you've added a few lads who have been poor to average in the championship previously. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langtounlaud Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 1st Partick 2nd Raith 3rd Livi 4th Ayr 5th Falkirk 6th Dunfermline 7th Morton 8th Airdrie 9th Hamilton 10th Queens Park Think this will be the closest league in a while, with not many points separating 1st to 10th. Top 4 could be in an combination, same with 5th to 10th. Don't think the Rovers will get as many last minute goals as last season but, alternatively, we've strengthened our weakest area. A couple more decent signings/loans and we'll be up there. Going to be some season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPM Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 (edited) Very unpredictable TBH. There will be a team near the top that will surprise everyone. Also can see one of the “big spenders” not doing as well as expected. 1. Partick 2. Livingston 3. Hamilton 4. Falkirk 5. Ayr utd 6. Raith 7. Dunfermline 8. Morton 9. Airdrie 10 Queens Park Edited July 9 by BPM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsforlife Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 3 minutes ago, BPM said: Very unpredictable TBH. There will be a team near the top that will surprise everyone. Also can see one of the “big spenders” not doing as well as expected. 1. Partick 2. Livingston 3. Hamilton 4. Falkirk 5. Ayr utd 6. Raith 7. Ayr Utd 8. Morton 9. Airdrie 10 Queens Park Are we that shite that Ayr take us over halfway through the season but they are also that shite despite having 2 clubs they can't get either into the top 4? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bairn in Exile Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 5 hours ago, BPM said: Very unpredictable TBH. There will be a team near the top that will surprise everyone. Also can see one of the “big spenders” not doing as well as expected. 1. Partick 2. Livingston 3. Hamilton 4. Falkirk 5. Ayr utd 6. Raith 7. Ayr Utd 8. Morton 9. Airdrie 10 Queens Park I love it BPM, can't even bring yourself to write Scumfermline! A true Falkirk fan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPM Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 5 hours ago, Bairn in Exile said: I love it BPM, can't even bring yourself to write Scumfermline! A true Falkirk fan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPM Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 10 hours ago, parsforlife said: Are we that shite that Ayr take us over halfway through the season but they are also that shite despite having 2 clubs they can't get either into the top 4? Oh you can have 7th if you insist 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamonds02 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 1. Partick 2. Raith 3. Airdrie 4. Ayr 5. Livi 6. Morton 7. Hamilton 8. Falkirk 9. Queens Park 10. Dunfermline 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcintyre_gmfc Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Raith Partick Livi Morton Ayr Airdrie Dunfermline Falkirk Queens Park Hamilton A really close league this year, a few teams including ourselves have recruited well. If we can get a number 9 in I fancy our chances of getting top 4. I think the bottom 3 is a stick on - neither team have recruited well so far, and with Falkirk having one of their main players in Aidan Nesbitt I think they’ll struggle again in this league. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowshed Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 (edited) 3 minutes ago, mcintyre_gmfc said: Raith Partick Livi Morton Ayr Airdrie Dunfermline Falkirk Queens Park Hamilton A really close league this year, a few teams including ourselves have recruited well. If we can get a number 9 in I fancy our chances of getting top 4. I think the bottom 3 is a stick on - neither team have recruited well so far, and with Falkirk having one of their main players in Aidan Nesbitt I think they’ll struggle again in this league. Don’t forget Oliver that guy is muck Edited July 9 by Cowshed 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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