24/25 Predictions

[Otis Blue]

10 hours ago, The Moonster said:

Said the above in the League 2 predictions. Annan looking absolute stick ons for it in League 1 tbqhwy. 

Yep, basing too much on the LC group games hardly ever stands the test of time.

Edited July 25 by Otis Blue

[1320Lichtie]

Going by highlights - reading threads - assessing signings etc a wee brief summary of how I think it’ll go. 

In regards to Arbroath I have been very happy with seeing our new signings McAdams, Bisland and Wilkie in the flesh, think all 3 and especially the first 2 have been impressive.
 

I think Keith Watson, Callum Gallagher and Gavin Reilly are all good signings on paper without having seen any of them actually play for us yet. 

 

Of the guys that have remained from last year Colin Hamilton will probably miss a very long time which is a real shame. ToB and Scotty Stewart are cracking players and Gold and Steele are very reliable. Murray and Dow seemed to have gained a yard after pre season and look sharp.
 

I think we are shaping up quite well and would expect another 2/3 good signings. I have concerns over the overall negativity around the club and McIntyre just now though and with all the wee knocks we have and new players to bed in I think it’ll take a wee while to get going. 
 

 

I have seen Annan too. I fully understand that they pumped us in this LC section, deserved winners and on the day made us look pretty embarrassing albeit a very makeshift Arbroath team who went down to 10 early on. Just going off of last season and the signings they’ve made this season compared to other teams in and around the league I think they’ll be battling in and around the bottom. Tommy Goss however looks a real handful and it is genuine shite yourself stuff every time the ball goes into the box he is that much of a nuisance. Really liked what I seen from him and Annan are a likeable enough club that I can’t wait to visit on an away day again so I hope they do well. 
 

Cove to me I cannot figure out to save myself they’ve still got some really good players on paper and some of the OGs like Yule, Fyvie, Scully and Megginson. Added a young guy who scored a load in the Highland League too but something just feels off and I really do not rate Paul Hartley. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from them and think they could go either way.

 

Dumbarton for me could maybe be a bit of a dark horse? I really liked what I seen from the wee ginger man on the highlights last season and Ruth looked like he’d turned into a really decent all round centre forward too. They’ll also have that feel good factor and added some physicality and legs in midfield and uptop too. I think they might do really well. 
 

Stenhousemuir - straight away the wee guy Yates stands out. Seen his screamer in the LC section and looks like a real threat. Across the rest of their team they just seem really steady and like a good unit. I am really not looking forward to playing them on their flag day I think it will be a tough tough game against a settled side. Loved DJ as a keeper too. I think they’ll be ok and not in either play off mix come May. 
 

 

Montrose - I mean what can you say. They will be exactly the same as last season. Well organised, good experience and got a guy who will score them goals. Think they’ll be pushing for play offs again. Wee bit of me wonders how their older stalwarts will get on with another year under their belts, seen a few of ours fall away in the last year or so, so know how much that can affect the team overall. 
 

 

Alloa - now I never seen much of them last year but I notice and I am familiar with a lot of the names still - they’ll be very much the same and another that will be wanting play offs, maybe potential title push if the man Rankin really kicks on and they get some good loans in who knows. 
 

Inverness - If they do not get their investors in, I’m guessing they will, then I think they will be safe and pushing for the play offs. If investment comes in and they can push the boat out a wee bit and get some good signings think they’ll be wanting to win the league. Whether Ferguson (kind of like McIntyre) can pull it off is another question entirely though. 
 

 

Kelty - what a result v Hibs. Do not know anything about them other than the fact Scott Allan has went there and taken the number 7 top (must be more into the David Beckham Man United phase instead of the LA Galaxy phase at the moment). Don’t know much about their other players. Only played them once a few years ago now when it was the Kevin Thomson years and they seemed to be chucking the cash about a bit. Seem a more likeable club now and Tidser seems like a good lad. I have a feeling they might struggle for some reason but not entirely sure what I’m basing that on. 
 

QoTs - now I have put them on my league winners coupon this season. I just think that they’re FT - everyone seems to be behind their manager and it’s a good fresh start. Really wanted us to sign Reece Lyon and think he’s a real midfield dynamo that will do well for them. They’ve got Kennedy who has always flattered to deceive but at same time shown flashes of real quality. Not sure about Hogarth or the top end of the pitch but they’ve got time to strengthen there. I feel like they’re maybe the safest bet to be decent and although I’ve tipped them to win the league I also don’t think I would be surprised if they finished 5th.

 

 

 

Right now this looks like a really really tough league to call. I think it’ll be a bit all over the place the whole way through as well. I am hoping that is beneficial to us with everyone beating everyone and keeping it tight because I really fancy us to have a slow start. 
 

Really looking forward to it and good luck to everyone and their teams this season. 

[qos_75]

1. Arbroath

2. Alloa

3. Queens

4. Cove

5. Montrose

6. Kelty

7. Annan

8. Inverness 

9. Dumbarton

10 Stenhousemuir

[LeodhasXD]

1. Queen of the South

2. Arbroath

3. Alloa

4. Annan

5. Cove

6. Dumbarton

7. Kelty

8. Montrose

9.Stenhousemuir 

 

LIQUIDATED Inverness bLOCHain Thistle

Edited July 28 by LeodhasXD

[StewartyMac]

1 - Alloa
2 - Queen of the South
3 - Inverness CT
4 - Arbroath
5 - Annan
6 - Montrose
7 - Cove Rangers
8 - Kelty Hearts
9 - Dumbarton
10 - Stenhousemuir
 

[Claudia Gentile]

1. QoS

2. Arbroath

3. Montrose

4. Alloa

5. Cove

6. Kelty

7. Dumbarton 

8. Annan.

9. Stenhousemuir 

10. The Caley

[Ian Mcleod]

On 28/06/2024 at 23:31, Ian Mcleod said:

Still very early days so I will come back to this after the premier sports cup games but right now for League 1 this season I would go with

1st Queen Of The South 

2nd Alloa

3rd Arbroath

4th Kelty Hearts 

5th Montrose 

6th Cove Rangers 

7th Dumbarton 

8th Stenhousemuir 

9th Annan Athletic 

10th Inverness (no that's not a joke) 

Final Prediction following the conclusion of the League Cup 

1st Queen Of The South- admittedly i also predicted Queen Of The South to win the league this time last season and it was clear to say that it didn't age well however I really do think that Peter Murphy is a really good appointment and that they've made a lot of good signings such as Reece Lyon and Kai Kennedy in my opinion both are championship level players and Murphy has mostly brought in players he's worked with in the past that he trusts they'll still be looking to bring in a few more but at the moment I think they will win the league.

2nd Alloa- Andy Graham has done really well since he's came in at Alloa and they done really well last season and if they had beaten us in the playoffs i do think they would have went on and beat Inverness. The problem though is they have now lost guys like Bobby Wales, Ethan Sutherland and Taylor Stevens who were massive for them last season and have the hard task of replacing those players in the next month as the loans start happening it will be really tough for them to replace those players with the same quality. Luke Rankin looks an interesting prospect as well. Overall I think Alloa will just miss out on the title. 

3rd Arbroath- they've built a good league 1 squad a lot of players with experience in this league and have 2 good L1 strikers in Reiley and Gallagher and I'm expecting them to be at the top end of the league and make the playoffs does seem like the jury is out though on Jim McIntyre after quite a brutal end to last season. 

4th Montrose- they've kept things pretty much the same as last season had quite a decent league cup campaign even though they didn't make it out the group seem to have competed well with both Motherwell and Partick Thistle and won against both Clyde and Edinburgh City. Like pretty much every side in this league the loan market in the next month will play a huge part in their season and I wouldn't rule out a potential title challenge for Montrose they've been constantly 3rd or 4th for a few seasons apart from one season where they finished 7th. If they're ever going to get promoted to the Championship this season might be the best chance they'll get. 

5th Kelty Hearts- safe to say they've had quite a mixed league campaign with going from that excellent win against Hibs to losing to Peterhead and getting absolutely hammered yesterday against Queens Park. They've lost some important players in Lyon and Bavidge a couple others as well but they've brought in a few good prospects with the loan market still to come in. 

6th Cove Rangers- obviously a full time club that would be wanting to challenge for the title but I honestly can't see that happening as long as Hartley is they're manager not to also mention they've lost their best player in Burrell. 

7th Dumbarton- Main goal this year for Dumbarton will be to remain in the league after winning the playoffs last season can't say I know much about any of the signings they've brought in apart from Shiels who is a L1 player definitely not championship level and Mumbongo which I think it's safe to say I don't rate at all he might be OK at Dumbarton though. Will be interesting to see if Newbury ends up back at Dumbarton on loan after not featuring much for us in the League Cup.

8th Annan Athletic- after the season ended last year I would have probably expected to be predicting Annan to be relegated but they do seem to be a bit better than what I was expecting them to be if I'm being honest I personally don't like Wullie Gibson or Paul McGowan so for that reason I hope they do go down but I do think they've made a few good signings in Max Kilsby and Josh Todd still would expect Jamie Smith to be one of the best keepers in L1 this season and they still have Tommy Goss. 

9th Stenhousemuir- after having a mostly excellent season last year it's safe to say they ended it on quite a bad run after failing to win a single game in the final quarter still deservedly won L2 however they've not really improved that much yet and I think they might end up going straight back down.

10th Inverness- where to start here they've lost pretty much any good players they had have a bunch of average L1 players with youth that probably aren't ready. Duncan Ferguson is their manager who probably couldn't even name 1 player from most clubs in the division judging on some of his interviews who has also now signed his son who was rotten at Forfar. Also seems like an extremely dodgy takeover is happening fair to say that I worry for the future of Inverness. I just can't see how this ends well at all. 

[ecto]

Us 3rd or 4th, Caley 10th

[84yards]

1. QoS

2. Arbroath

3. Alloa

4. Montrose

5. Cove

6. Kelty

7. Annan

8. ICT

9. Dumbarton

10. Stenny

Edited July 30 by 84yards

[DG_RRFC]

1st - Queen of the South 

2nd - Alloa

3rd - Arbroath 

4th - Inverness 

5th - Montrose 

6th - Annan 

7th - Cove 

8th - Kelty 

9th - Stenhousemuir 

10th - Dumbarton 

[Les Cabbage]

1. Arbroath

2. QoS

3. Alloa

4. Cove

5. Annan

6. Montrose

7.  Stenhousemuir

8. Kelty

9. Inverness

10. Dumbarton

[Terry_Tibbs]

On 09/07/2024 at 23:41, Terry_Tibbs said:

1. Arbroath

2. Alloa

3. Queens

4. Cove

5. Dumbarton

6. Montrose

7. Teuchters

8. Kelty

9. Stenhousemuir

10. Annan

Update:

1. Arbroath

2. Alloa

3. Queens

4. Cove

5. Dumbarton

6. Montrose

7. Kelty

8. Annan

9. Stenhousemuir

10. Inverness (most likely liquidated).

[Slipmat]

1.  Arbroath

2.  QOS

3.  Alloa

4.  Montrose

5.  Kelty

6.  Caley

7.  Stenny

8.  Cove

9.  Annan

10.  Dumbarton

[Polarbear]

1. QoS

2. Arbroath

3. Alloa

4. Cove

5. Montrose

6. Inverness

7.  Dumbarton

8. Annan

9. Stenhousemuir

10. Kelty

[19QOS19]

1/2 - Whoever does better at avoiding injuries between Arbroath and QoS 

3 - Alloa

4 - Montrose

5 - Cove 

6 - Kelty 

7 - Dumbarton

8 - Annan * 

9 - ICT * 

10 - Stenny

 

Bottom 5 in any order really. If any of those 5 finish out with the bottom half they'll have had an exceptional season.

*Or 9th and 10th if they go into Adminstration. 

[RossBFaeDundee]

On 09/07/2024 at 21:37, RossBFaeDundee said:

1st. Arbroath
2nd. Alloa Athletic
3rd. Queen of the South
4th. Cove Rangers
5th. Inverness CT
6th. Montrose
7th. Kelly Hearts
8th. Annan Athletic
9th. Dumbarton
10th. Stenhousemuir

This is a really hard league to predict, can't wait to see how it pans out.

1st. Alloa Athletic
2nd. Arbroath
3rd. Queen of the South
4th. Montrose
5th. Cove Rangers
6th. Annan Athletic
7th. Inverness CT
8th. Kelty Hearts
9th. Dumbarton
10th. Stenhousemuir

Updated predictions, I know I shouldn’t let Legue Cup group stage games dictate how I think a full season could go, but I did see 3 of the teams and was quite impressed by Annan, and gobsmacked by Inverness despite being fully aware of how bad things are. Arbroath were alright, Innes Murray looks like he should be a stand out in L1, but I now think Alloa will sneak it.

[Gibby82]

1. Alloa

2. Annan

3. Arbroath 

4. Montrose

5. Queens

6. Dumbarton

7. Cove

8. Kelty

8. Inverness

10. Stenhousemuir

 

[Otis Blue]

A few folk seem to think Queens could take the title ... but for me where we are just now, Queens just don't have the fire power up front to be serious title contenders. I think we'll be fine at the back and our midfield could be decent, but we lack depth and will suffer with the inevitable injuries. Hoping there might be some further additions in August though that might make the difference.

[SmokeyJoe]

Haven’t seen any teams play in this league only seen the Arbroath thread and the carry on with ICT. Going in blind and on vibes

 

1 QOTS

2 Arbroath

3 Alloa 

4 Montrose 

5 cove 

6 kelty

7 annan

8 stenny  

9 ICT 

10 Dumbarton 

 

did have Alloa 2nd Arbroath 3rd but swapped that to keep us the best PT in the land  

Edited July 31 by SmokeyJoe

[Sir Tarmo]

The League Cup group stages are pre season for the vast majority of teams in the lower leagues. They mean absolutely nada. 
 

We narrowly lost to Annan, and then pumped Bonnyrigg, while Bonnyrigg beat Annan on penalties. Our heavily rotated under 12 side then took Arbroath to penalties, and lost, a side that had just been beaten easily by Annan. You can’t read much into it.