SPL Predictions 2010/11

Scotland's top division returns on Saturday starting the SPL 2010/11 season. It all gets underway with an early kick-off between 1st Division champions Inverness taking on SPL runners up Celtic.

This is my preview on who i think will win the SPL , why they will win it , who will make Europe and who will be relegated. I will also add in who i think will win the CIS and Scottish cup. I have already taken Ross County to win the ALBA Challenge Cup , so that wee bet is going not bad just now as they made the 1/4 finals the other night.

ok here goes.....

CHAMPIONS - Rangers....Why??? , well they can do the thing that Celtic cant DEFEND. You can argue that Rangers defence is even stronger with Andy Webster returning from his loan spell at Utd. The Gers back 5 will be the same as it was last season , Bougherra is still there although Danny Wilson has left for Liverpool. Steve Davis has now moved into the centre of midfield beside Edu and McCulloch and now Rangers look even more solid. Kenny miller will be the lone striker with Naismith and Lafferty supporting from the wings. This is Rangers weakest point in the squad , yes they have lost players but really on 2 of them were first 11 picks (Thomson and Boyd). Novo , Beasley , Smith were all bit part players last season. Rangers need to buy 3-4 players to cement their squad , this week they have been strongly linked to Tommy Smith , James Beattie add to this Jelavic from Rapid then rangers would have the squad to go after their 3rd straight Title.


Runners up - Celtic....Why?? , as mentioned above its their defence that will let Neil Lennon down. Braga have already proved this and now Celtic have a very big game in the Europa League vs Utrecht. If Celtic lose that then there will be trouble early. Celtic have bought some good players in Juarez and Hooper , Murphy might do a job as will Israeli Kayal. Celtic have also paid a big wage for Welshman Joe Ledley so they will be looking for a return from him. With a few weeks till the transfer window Celtic still have a chance to buy some defenders but that might have to wait as Aiden McGeady has still not followed Artur Boruc and left the club. Again Celtic are link with Bellamy but with a wage of 90k a week it would break the bank unless all the Mcgeady money is used for it.

3rd - Hearts....Why?? , Jim Jefferies has bout 3 very good players who should fit into his SPL side nicely. Kyle and Elliot should give the Jam Tarts the goal threat they have been missing in the last few seasons whilst Darren Barr can help shore up a pretty decent defence. The reason i think they will get 3rd is that Dundee Utd haven't really improved their squad , so although it will be close , Hearts will get that 3rd spot but only if Romanov keeps his nose out of the 1st team affairs. Easier said than done.

4th - Dundee Utd....Why?? , Utd have just not added enough quality to their squad to fend of the other contenders. Douglas has been signed from Queens Park and Mentel from Man City , Utd need more especially if Gordon Strachan continues buying half of the Spl. Goodwillie and Conway are big players for Utd and will be expected to keep up the Consistency they showed that helped Utd get the results to stay 3rd last season and win the Scottish Cup. So far there is no new news of signings for Utd but if they can get another 2-3 in then they might be able to catch Hearts.

5th - Hibs....Why?? , 1 word CONSISTENCY. Last season Hibs were excellent up to December then they fell away and nearly lost their European place. They have goals aplenty with Riordan , Stokes and Nish and have strengthened at the back with Hart coming in from Preston. In midfield Manager Hughes has found a gem in De Graaf , he looks the part and scored twice in Hibs European defeat with Maribor. Hibs play exciting football but need to be consistent right through the season if they want to challenge for 3rd place , they are always a danger in the 1 off games in the cup and i think that might be Hibs best chance of glory this season.

6th - Aberdeen....Why?? , i wasn't going to pick Aberdeen to finish 6th but with the Signing of Paul Hartley i think that he might be the experience this Aberdeen needs to push into the top 6 after a terrible season 09/10. Mcghee has bought 6 players so far this summer to add some of the decent players he has at the club. Its a big season for Sone Aluko , the man has talent but only chooses to use it sparingly. The Langfield , Diamond , Hartley , Makie spine of the Aberdeen team is more than decent so its about time they and the rest of the Aberdeen team stepped up to the plate and stop under-achieving. McGhee has been given the tools , he must use them or he will end up sacked.

7th - Motherwell...Why?? , even with a small squad i feel Motherwell's secret weapon is former Scotland boss Craig Brown. Brown has already guided them through 2 rounds in Europe with only OB Odense standing between them and the Europa League Group stage. Ruddy , Coke , O'brien and Jutkiewicz have left but "well" still have Craigan , Hateley , Murphy and Sutton so like Aberdeen they have a decent spine of the team. Darren Randolf has come in from Charlton and has looked solid in goals so that was another good find. Motherwell fans should not expect the miracles of last season , getting into Europe again was huge but Brown's budget was cut again so to expect a 4th straight year in European competition will be a long shot. Motherwell i feel will be Aberdeen closest and most dangerous challengers for that 6th place finish.

8th - St Johnstone....Why?? , they will continue to play with that attacking style that saw them score many goals but also concede a few as well. Manager McInnes has signed some decent players from England like Dobie , Parkin and Haber. Jody Morris will be the captain and man mountain Duberry will remain at the back. Experienced keeper Encklemen has also been signed too battle for the no.1 Grahame Smith. Up front St Johnstone will be looking to Colin Samuel and Peter MacDonald to supply the goals with new signing Cleveland Taylor chipping in. I just feel that this season St Johnstone will be that step ahead of the bottom 3-4 so it will be a good job done again by Derek McInnes keeping then in the SPL.

9th - Inverness.....Why?? , Inverness have a winning team that will score goals in the SPL. Rooney along with Blumstein will be an excellent partnership if used. Inverness have also snapped up the very good former Partick Thistle keeper Jon Tuffey who was linked with Rangers. With a very experienced back 4 Inverness will always be hard to beat especially at home. Terry Butcher did a great job last season by timing their promotion bid to perfection. Keeping Inverness up will be their first target , getting as high up the table will be 2nd and a good cup run 3rd. If Inverness stay up the fans will be happy , i think they will quite easily.

10th - Kilmarnock.....Why?? , as we get to the bottom 3 it will be very close to who will actually be relegated. I dont really rate Mixu Paatelainen but i think he has added some decent players to his squad. Mehdi Taouil is a decent player as is Bryson , the experienced players will be asked to dig in , in what will be a long hard season for the Ayrshire men. New signing David Silva (no not that one) has signed from CSKA Sofia so it will be interesting to see what the winger offers. If Killie survive this season then it a great achievement. Killie will need to do without Kevin Kyle's goals , replace them and Killie will be ok. With Hamilton losing key players and St Mirren having a new manager , this could be the key for Killie to stay up....JUST.

11th - Hamilton.....why?? , Billy Reid has a better and more experienced squad than St Mirren. Yes Hamilton lost Mcarthur to Wigan but have made 8 signing with plenty of SPL experience. Flair will be provided by Portuguese twins Marco and Flavio Paixão , midfielder Alex Neil looked very good in patches although he needs to get over his injury's. Goalkeeper Tomas Cerny is still at Hamilton , hes a very very good goalkeeper who will be worth many points to a relegation battle team. To me Hamilton have just enough to stay up , it all really depends on how the St Mirren players from the lower divisons signed this year adapt to the SPL.

Relegated - St Mirren....why?? , Well they have lost long standing manager Gus McPherson but have replaced him with double promotion winning manager Danny Lennon. Can Lennon like his players make the step up?. St Mirren just dont score enough goals , that one of the major reason i think they will go down. Paul McGowan will add goals as hes on loan from Celtic but players like Dargo have failed to impress and score in a consistant manner. Andy Dorman and Billy Mehmet has left leaving a void of midfield to front goals. My main contention with St Mirren is that they have signed a few players form lower leagues , if they dont adapt then St Mirren might be in trouble. Four players are from Lennon's former club Cowdenbeath so its players the mangers knows and probably feels he can trust that will help the buddies in this relegation scrap. It will be close but the lack of goals will tell , St Mirren to go down.


League Cup - Hearts , rangers have bigger fish to fry and Celtic will be more intesrested in Europe etc , Hearts have a good tight Squad so they are my pick.

Scottish Cup - Celtic , by this time of the season Rangers will be going for the SPL title only leaving Celtic to power home in the 1 off games in the cup. Celtic might also win the League cup but all will depend on celtic still being in Europe and the amount of game they need to play.