2022/23 League Predictions

[Yabba's Turd]

12 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

Hearts will do well I think this season. They have added Shankland, a proper goalscorer at this level and already have Boyce, McKay, Mackay-Steven. Fancy them to finish 3rd and possibly even win a Cup.

Sounds like you would be better off with an ST for gorgie road

[Kmac]

Unfortunately, I can’t see anything other than a bottom 3 finish on the horizon. 
We are extremely devoid of quality, confidence, strikers, competent centre halves and a plan. All in all, this is going to be a pretty dire season.

[pretzel]

15 hours ago, MJC_mkII said:

They have added Shankland, a proper goalscorer at this level

In around 50 Scottish Premiership appearances he has scored like 8 goals, his record down the leagues with Ayr and Dundee Utd was not too shabby but he was stinking in the top tier with Aberdeen and quite average when he got promoted with United, tremendous business from all at Tannadice to get the fee that they did. I do however agree Hearts will be the best of the rest again as they have retained most of the side that achieved that feat last season.

I'm not really sure what to make of from 4th to 12th tbh, Aberdeen and Hibernian you would suspect would be much better, the Dons have spent some serious cash so it will be interesting to see how they get on, Johnson at Hibs hasn't exactly endeared himself to the fans at Leith with his early League Cup exit, I thought McGeady would have been a decent signing for them but he has been poor so far.

Dundee United have added a few impressive additions but much like us I felt they rode there luck last season, Watt didn't set the heather on fire when he joined them his biggest impact was derailing our campaign but I think he might have a decent partnership with Fletcher, on paper though their squad doesn't jump out as being all that amazing.

I know we fit into this bracket as well but Livingston, County, Killie, St Johnstone and St Mirren will all be much of a muchness tbh, I suspect County will be fine as they have added some decent quality. Almondvale seems to be a tough but to crack for most teams these days so another mid table finish for them, McInnes at Killie has added some proven Scottish Premiership players but I feel they will still struggle as will both the Saint's.

Cautiously optimistic but I actually think the continuity of our squad will actually serve us well this season and mid table mediocrity awaits, we have a favourable start fixtures wise so we really need to hit the ground running. 

Rangers
Celtic
Hearts
Aberdeen
Dundee United
Motherwell
Hibernian
Livingston
Ross County
Kilmarnock
St Johnstone
St Mirren

[C&A not the shop]

I think this year there will be 3 sets of 4 teams bunched quite close. 

 

Rangers and Celtic obviously top 2 but I think Hearts will be closer than any team has been for a while. Not in danger of finishing in the top 2 but close enough for it to be a thing for a bit. Aberdeen also I expect to have a good year.

The middle group, fighting for top 6 and the last euro spot will be United, Hibs, Killie and us or County (I think Malky for all he's an idiot has done very well there).

Last group St Mirren, St Johnstone, Livi and the other of us or County.

Anything above 9th will be a decent season for us. If we make top 6 it'll be a great year. I'd take 10th if we won the league Cup (and definitely for a Scottish cup)

[Big Stall]

With GA and no new signings then at best 10th sadly

[Ya Bezzer!]

Obviously Rangers and Celtic at the top.  I think Celtic have that bit more consistency and Rangers squad is far to big at present which can cause problems.

I think Hearts will probably be third again but I can see them going backwards.  Their form in the second half of last season was poorer than the first and their performance in the Cup Final (and at FIr Park) was pretty dreadful.  They are nothing special but their home record will probably clinch third.

I'd expect Dundee United to do relatively well again and finish Top 6.

That's the four I'd definitely expect to be Top 6.

Bottom three will be between St Mirren, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone and I think it will be St Johnstone that will finish bottom.  If it hadn't been for Callum Hendry they would probably gone down last season and he has moved on.  I also think Davidson's behaviour as manager was pretty erratic under pressure and their squad has an injury prone/past their prime look about it.  Their goal scoring record is terrible over the past few seasons and they depended on a defence that has mostly been dismantled now - Rooney, Kerr, Clark, etc.

The rest of the teams will fight it out for the bottom Top 6 and top Bottom 6 positions and it's hard to determine any order right now.  Aberdeen did well in the league cup and their are all sorts of positive news stories coming out but exactly the same thing happened last season when Scott Brown was going to lead them to glory.  They had a very weak group in the cup and I think they will find things tougher when the league starts up.  Hibs were terrible last season and don't look to have improved much.   Livingston are a very well run club with a good manager and surprisingly excellent recruitment history for their size.  I think they will be fine.  Ross County will probably finish bottom 6 but I think they will finish above the bottom three. 

Then we have us.  I'd expect us to finish somewhere between 5th and 9th.  

[Spiderpig]

We won't win the league, we will not get relegated or end up in the playoffs, for me it's at worst another top 6 finish and a chase for the Euro places again. 

Don't really care where the other 11 teams finish although if I could pick it would be Livi bottom and Killie relegated via the playoffs to finally get rid of the shitey plastic pitches from the premiership.

[wellfan]

Seventh. 

[joewarkfanclub]

On 7/27/2022 at 3:48 PM, joewarkfanclub said:

My predictions......

1. Celtic

2. Rangers

3. Aberdeen

4. Hearts

5. Dundee United

6. Kilmarnock

7. Motherwell

8. Hibs

9. Ross County

10. Livingston

11. St Mirren

12. St Johnstone

Based only on the early league cup games and our first outing, I think the top 5 are a stick on. Hibs should be the other top 6 club as they have the resources but Im not sure there owner hasnt had another brainfart in his choice of manager. The rest of the teams are much of a muchness for me and it will come down to who can grind out the most points over the season.

Im now thinking.......

Celtic

Rangers

Hearts

Aberdeen

Hibs

Motherwell

Dundee United

Ross County

Kilmarnock

Livingston

St Mirren

St Johnstone

 

[texanwellfan]

What European places are up for grabs at the end of this season? I did try googling but couldn’t find answer. 

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:

What European places are up for grabs at the end of this season? I did try googling but couldn’t find answer. 

Same as it was this year I think, 2 CL places, 1 EL place and 2 ECL spots. Not 100% sure if the champions go into CL groups like this year and if the entry rounds are the same for the other teams, think all that depends on any changes to the country and team coefficients.

[texanwellfan]

40 minutes ago, Spiderpig said:

Same as it was this year I think, 2 CL places, 1 EL place and 2 ECL spots. Not 100% sure if the champions go into CL groups like this year and if the entry rounds are the same for the other teams, think all that depends on any changes to the country and team coefficients.

Does that include Scottish cup as well or just for the league? The reason I ask is that bbc site has league table partitioned as 1,2 + 3 + 4,5

[Spiderpig]

1 hour ago, texanwellfan said:

Does that include Scottish cup as well or just for the league? The reason I ask is that bbc site has league table partitioned as 1,2 + 3 + 4,5

The Scottish cup winners get the Europa league place, so if one of the uglies wins the Cup then 3rd place in the league gets it as Hearts done this year, so potentially only top 4 will get Europe if say St Mirren or Killie  etc win the cup. That's my understanding of it as it stands.

[steelboy]

With Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee United having slow starts it's possible that a relatively low points total will take 4th and 5th again.

Obviously we still have a lot to prove but if we get through the first two rounds in the mix then it's achievable. Hopefully Killie and County get marooned in the bottom two spots to give us some breathing space. 

[Stuwell2]

I think, similar to last season, teams will go on a run of good and bad games which will result in 6 teams chasing 5th & 6th spot leading up to the split. Basically the arse cheeks and Hearts will be there, another team will pull away and get a top 6 spot - hopefully us- two teams will be trying to avoid relegation- hopefully not us - and the rest fighting/ grinding out games. 

[Big Stall]

I'm certainly more optimistic about our chances after that Aberdeen result, but maybe we need to wait to see the effect for a few games.  Were we really good or were Aberdeen really shite? If we can keep up the level of improvement we saw, and make it count over the next three matches then we should hopefully have a good idea of our trajectory this season.

[weeyin]

I wouldn't go as far as saying Aberdeen were outcoached, but it's difficult for any team to figure out what tactics to use when playing a team with a new manager and new ideas.  Our movement on the ball and pressing off it definitely gave them problems.

The bigger tests for us will come once teams have seen our new approach a few times and come up with plans to counteract it - but it's still more likely to succeed than punting long balls and playing for seconds.

[Yorkyred]

This season like last will be the old firm running away with it, Hearts an easy third, and everyone else a level of poor with anyone capable of beating anyone. With all the talk of Aberdeen, Hibs, Dundee United being stronger has anyone seen it yet ? Any team with even a touch of ability will make top six it’s going to be that bad again, little real quality.

[Haggischomper]

I wouldn't go as far as saying Aberdeen were outcoached

Jim Goodwin is the manager. They will ALWAYS be outcoached.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[DYW]

I ain’t always wanting quality , we’re from the shire , what I demands passion ! 

[DYW]

I will take 5th this year for us. Some above , some below but we can think , on the right track I hope .

[El Grew]

Fans shouldn’t get too carried away. It’s just one game and as the old adage says, one swallow does not a summer make.

For me, although the win was great and very welcome I was more interested in how we set up and played because this is a truer indicator of future performances and in this respect it was highly encouraging.  However, given the turmoil over the past 9 months or so I would be more than happy if we retained our top flight status this season and laid a foundation for the future. Anything else would be a bonus.

[GazzyB]

I disagree, a club of our size should be aspiring to finish in the top six. We should be competing with Dundee Utd, Aberdeen and Hibs for a European spot this season, and it saddens me to think our ambitions are “anything above relegation is a bonus”, should that be what the club’s goals are.

 

The second half vs St Johnstone and the Aberdeen game show we CAN play, we are a good team with some good footballers. Let’s set some lofty but achievable targets, we are more than capable.

[Stuwell2]

I’m somewhere between ElGrew and GazzyB, I think that we have a decent enough team to avoid relegation but we still have a weak defence that will need strengthened and better cover from midfield if we are to achieve anything above 7th or 8th place. 
If we get those areas sorted and have a bit of luck then I think we could push for a European spot and even have a good cup run. 
Looking  forward to the season but expect a lot of ups and downs along the way so buckle up folks and ffs, when we get a bad result sit down for a couple of hours, let your anger clear before posting a rant.

[Yorkyred]

5 minutes ago, Stuwell2 said:

I’m somewhere between ElGrew and GazzyB, I think that we have a decent enough team to avoid relegation but we still have a weak defence that will need strengthened and better cover from midfield if we are to achieve anything above 7th or 8th place. 
If we get those areas sorted and have a bit of luck then I think we could push for a European spot and even have a good cup run. 
Looking  forward to the season but expect a lot of ups and downs along the way so buckle up folks and ffs, when we get a bad result sit down for a couple of hours, let your anger clear before posting a rant.

Good luck with that one.