FIGHTING FOR THE TITLE
Heart of Midlothian, Rangers and Hibernian: one of Scottish football’s great teams would spend at least two seasons in the Championship – or so most pundits predicted. Hearts dominated from the start. The Jambos were a cohesive unit, boasting a solid defence, a dangerous goal threat, and smart manager in Robbie Neilson. Hibs finished 21 points behind their Edinburgh rivals, and came out second best against Rangers in the play-off semi-final. The final hurdle, blocking Rangers from a return to the Premiership, came in the form of Motherwell. After a dreadful season in the Premiership, dropping from second to 11th in twelve months, most expected the Steelmen to lose out in the final.
But Motherwell didn’t roll over. Stuart McCall’s former club demolished Gers 6-1 over the tie, forcing the Govan club to settle for another season in Scotland’s second tier. A defeat for Rangers; a hilarious moment for supporters of the other 41 clubs in the SPFL.
McCall’s services were not retained at Ibrox from the 2015/16 campaign. Instead, for once, Rangers made a smart choice: Mark Warburton. The stock-market-trader-turned-manager built his reputation at Brentford, guiding them from League One to the cusp of the Premiership play-offs; achieved on a small budget and making use of his expertise in development football. However, the Bees decided to change their management model. Their decision to bring in a director of football meant the end of Warburton’s tenure, and, along with his second-in-command, David Weir, he’s made the move to Ibrox.
The challenge he faces is similar to the one Alan Stubbs faced last summer: rebuilding a squad in desperate need of confidence. 11 of the players involved in Gers calamitous 14/15 campaign were cut as soon as the season ended, but Warburton has been careful in choosing his targets and has indicated that he might promote some of the youth prospects at the club. Just four, so far, have been recruited as part of Rangers recruitment drive. Rob Kiernan arrived from Wigan, having spent most of his career on loan at various clubs, for around £200,000, and should line up in the centre of defence alongside the one of the most surprising signings made this summer: Danny Wilson. The ex-Hearts captain led the Jambos back to the Premiership, having been linked to Celtic for some time, but opted to remain in the Championship and return to the club he spent his early career at. The other signings are ‘keeper Wes Foderingham – perhaps a challenger for Cammy Bell’s number one jersey, after his disastrous error against the Steelmen – and winger Andy Halliday, who scored the third of Bradford’s four in their memorable defeat of Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup.
For Warburton, he has little time to settle. Automatic promotion is expected – a route through the play-offs would rather be avoided. But in that challenge, Rangers face stiff competition from Hibs.
Alan Stubbs looked despondent as Rangers guaranteed another season in the Championship for the Hibees. Three times over the course of the campaign Hibs had beaten Gers in convincing fashion – a 4-0 thrashing of their promotion rivals being the highlight – but in their final confrontation of the normal season, a resurgent, organised Rangers strolled to three points and eliminated the threat of Hibs’ influential midfield foursome. Do Hibs still lack the mental strength to get the job done? That is the question facing Stubbs’ side this season.
There’s been little change at Easter Road this summer. Stubbs has retained the core of his squad – as long as the rumours surrounding Scott Allan remain rumours – and, aside from Scott Robertson, none of the six departing the club could be viewed as first-team players. The one disappointment is that it’s looking doubtful that Dylan McGeouch will be returning for another loan spell in Edinburgh. With both Robertson and McGeouch out, it’ll be interesting to see whether Stubbs retains the diamond midfield or changes to a more traditional flat four. One positive, however, is that Hibs have made some decent signings in the market. Mark Oxley, released by Hull, has joined on a permanent basis, and Antonio Reguero, former Ross County ‘keeper, has been brought in as back-up. The most interesting signings, though, are those of James Keatings and Daniel Carmichael. The former Hearts striker notched 11 goals and six assists in 29 appearances last season – alongside Jason Cummings, Farid El Alagui and Dominique Malonga Stubbs has an abundance of effective attacking options at his disposal. Carmichael, meanwhile, made 11 assists on the right-flank for Queen of the South over the course of the season.
THE PLAY-OFF CHALLENGERS
Mistake-after-mistake is the tagline of St Mirren’s catastrophic 2014/15 campaign. The Buddies made the puzzling choice to replace Danny Lennon with Tommy Craig, whose single experience as a manager came at Charleroi in the Belgian Pro-League – he lasted five months in the role. Craig lasted 19 games and, continuing the trend, the club appointed Gary Teale, with no experience, to guide St Mirren to survival. It didn’t work. The Buddies suffered 26 defeats during the course of the campaign, picking up an abysmal 30 points, and finished rock-bottom of the league.
The 2015/16 season is off to a more positive start. Ian Murray, after over-achieving at Dumbarton with limited resources, has taken over the reins at St Mirren Park – his predecessors haven’t set much of a precedent for him to match. One positive of relegation is that the club have cut most of the baggage – the likes of Viktor Genev, Jeroen Tesselaar and Yoann Arquin have all been released. The one loss of note is that of John McGinn. The 20-year-old, perhaps a little frustrated after being injured at the hands of his captain – Steven Thompson pierced tossed a pole at McGinn, piercing his leg, and tried to call it ‘banter’ – departed the club and has begun legal proceedings for the incident. Just three have joined the club: former Sons’ attacking midfielder Scott Agnew, energetic Celtic youth Paul McMullan and Motherwell midfielder Stuart Carswell. An optimistic St Mirren supporter would suggest that this season in the Championship offers a chance for the developing prospects in the side – Jason Naismith, Stephen Mallan, Lewis McLear – to mature against weaker opponents. The one argument against that argument is that it’s not guaranteed St Mirren are bound to return at the first time of asking; aside from Rangers and Hibs, the likes of Raith Rovers, Queen of the South and Falkirk should also be challenging for a spot in the play-offs.
Falkirk should be favourites to finish ahead of Raith and Queen of the South. While the former are too inconsistent, going through spells of dreadful form, and the latter have suffered a deluge of departures, Falkirk have – aside from ‘keeper Jamie MacDonald and striker Rory Loy – managed to retain the core of their squad. Paul Watson, who should line up alongside Peter Grant in the heart of defence, should help shore up the defence, and Bob McHugh, in from Motherwell, might help John Baird up-front.
In comparison, Queen of the South have suffered as a result of their 2014/15 exploits. Daniel Carmichael, Kevin Holt, Mark Durnan, Gavin Reilly and Ian McShane have all been snapped up, leaving James Fowler in a tough position – a task made even harder considering those remaining are the older ones. That being said, Fowler has been active in the market, bringing in ten players so far. Of course, such a turnover on the park could backfire – just look at Dunfermline – but he had little option, and the likes of Dale Hilson and Ryan Conroy might make those losses a bit less painful.
For Raith supporters, there’s frustration that their side, challenging their Fife rivals for promotion to the Premiership just four years ago, seem to be stuck in an endless, tedious mid-table battle; one that has had a detrimental effect on attendances at Stark’s Park. Grant Murray’s regime came to an end after a 4-0 thumping, at home, from Livingston, making it five successive defeats, and for Ray McKinnon, having impressed at Brechin City, the main task is to bring to an end the inconsistent spells that have dogged Raith in previous seasons. None of the departures should have a major impact on the team’s chances – Christian Nade managed just six league goals in 27 appearances, and the signing of Kyle Benedictus should make up for the loss of Paul Watson – but the one concern for Raith supporters to ponder is the lack of a consistent, reliable goal-scorer.
SCRAPPING TO SURVIVE
Out of the four remaining on this list, Livingston have the best chance of challenging for a mid-table position. Victories in four out of their final six games – including defeats of Raith, Queen of the South and Falkirk – highlight improved performances, even if those three sides might have relaxed coming into the final phase of the season, and Mark Burchill has made some signings capable of lifting the Lions up the table. Liam Buchanan, scorer of 14 of Alloa’s 34 league goals, is a great signing, and alongside Jordan White, whose 11 goals capped off a decent debut season for the former Albion Rovers striker, the pair could form quite a dangerous partnership.
The last time Morton featured in a Championship fixture, Hamilton handed them a humiliating 10-2 defeat. Jim Duffy, a more pragmatic hand, rebuilt the squad, trimmed the fat and brought the Greenock side back up at the first time of asking. It was by no means done in style – the Mons lost 11 matches during the campaign (more than the other top five teams) – but at least Morton aren’t going to become the next Dunfermline; trapped in the third tier and complaining about the size of the club compared to the league. Morton will have to make do without their top scorer Declan McManus. The striker notched 20 goals last season but signed a pre-contract agreement to join Fleetwood Town. Apart from that, Duffy has retained the core of his squad, and has added Frank McKeown to shore up the defence – in from Stranraer, the one side to boast a better defensive record than Morton last term – and winger Bobby Barr, who made 13 assists in 27 appearances for Brechin.
Have Dumbarton reached their peak? The Sons spent 25 weeks –18 consecutive – in 7th place, lacking a consistent enough record to chase the play-off pack, but having enough quality to create a gap ahead of the relegation threatened group. Ian Murray, rewarded for his work underneath the rock, left to join St Mirren, and Stranraer manager, Stephen Aitken, another who is used to overachieving with smaller budgets, has come in as his replacement. His immediate task is sorting out their terrible defensive record. Dumbarton conceded 79 goals last season – only seven fewer than the Cowdenbeath side who lost 10-0 to Hearts. Aitken has tried to rectify this by signing centre-backs Darren Barr and Gregor Buchanan, left-back Mark Docherty from Alloa and goalkeeper Mark Brown from Ross County. Aitken will also have to been concerned about their 2015 record. The club accumulated a mere 12 points in those 18 fixtures; form which would place them among the relegation candidates if not sorted out. On top of all that, goals are still an issue. In their nine victories, Dumbarton won seven of them by just one goal – the anti-Alloa if you will – scoring just 36 all season.
Alloa just survived. 3-1 at the end of the first-leg of the play-off final, the Wasps stung Forfar three times at Recreation Park to retain their Championship status. Their chances of another survival, on paper, look slimmer this time round. If Alloa are to cling on to their Championship status, Danny Lennon needs to find regular scorers – a task made more challenging after Liam Buchanan’s departure. The Wasps conceded 56 goals last season, fewer than Cowdenbeath, Raith and Dumbarton, but scored just 34 times. Of the 21 games lost last season, 12 were by one goal and eight finished 1-0 – some of those tight losses need to be turned into points. Omar Kader, in from Forfar, should add pace on the right flank, but, at the time of writing, of the other 14 additions made to the squad, none are strikers. Lennon needs to address this.
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