2011-12 Predictions

[scottish]

Your chance to take part in this season's competition and win the much-coveted cyber-pint.

Here are the categories. You can cut and paste these and make your own predictions. This forum will remain open up to just after the draw for the Europa League group stages on August 26th. Though by that time it's possible we have no clubs left in Europe. So there's plenty of time to make your forecasts and edit them in the light of events such as transfers/pre-season injuries etc. However, the time and dates of edits are recorded so e.g. forecasting teams to lose in Europe AFTER they've already been eliminated WILL be noticed and no score awarded.

SPL Champions
SPL Runners-up
SPL Third
SPL Relegated

1st Division Champions
1st Division Relegation play-off
1st Division Relegated

2nd Division Champions
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3)
2nd Division Relegation play-off
2nd Division Relegated

3rd Division Champions
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3)
3rd Division Bottom

Scottish Cup Winners

League Cup Winners

Challenge Cup Winners


Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers
Celtic
Hearts
Dundee United



Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack.
2) First team to enter administration.
3) A wildcard daft prediction

[lbb]

SPL Champions - Rangers
SPL Runners-up - Celtic
SPL Third - Hearts
SPL Relegated - St. Mirren

The perennial battle between good and evil will see the Light Blues triumph once again. I was quite impressed with Hearts on Saturday and I expect they'll be comfortably ahead of the rest in the SPL. I don't think there is an obvious relegation candidate and think it might be a bit of a dogfight down there after Hamilton getting cut adrift last year. I toyed with Hibs but they might pick up if Calderwood goes. St. Mirren it is, then.

1st Division Champions - Dundee
1st Division Relegation play-off - Ayr United
1st Division Relegated - Morton

I always tip Dundee and they have to come back up some time.

2nd Division Champions - Forfar
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Cowdenbeath, Airdrie United, Dumbarton
2nd Division Relegation play-off - Stenhousemuir
2nd Division Relegated - Albion Rovers

3rd Division Champions - Stranraer
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Peterhead, Queens Park, Berwick
3rd Division Bottom - East Stirling

Scottish Cup Winners - Rangers

League Cup Winners - Hearts

Challenge Cup Winners - Livingston


Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers - Champions League group stages, Europa League Round of 32
Celtic - Europa League qualifier
Hearts - Europa League qualifier
Dundee United - Oot.

Another triumphant year for Scots clubs in Europe in store. I feel sorry for United, in a way, but we seem to have forgotten the basic rule - you treat the home leg as the away leg and the away leg as the home leg. Dundee United were successful in Europe for years with that idea. These early qualifiers are really killing us though. We seem trapped in a vicious circle with them.

Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack. - Ordinarily, you would check whoever Aberdeen and Hibs have appointed but I don't think Brown will be sacked at Pittodrie and Calderwood will leave Hibs but not sacked. So I'll say Danny Lennon. Aye, I don't like St. Mirren. Anyone got a problem with that?
2) First team to enter administration. - Now that the financial crisis has passed and the economic boom has returned to UK Plc, I think this question is no longer relevant.
3) A wildcard daft prediction - Scotland to qualify for Euro 2012. Yes, you heard me. I'm off to lie down. I'll also add I expect Celtic to beat St. Mirren or Hibs 8-0. Possibly 9-0.

[Skyline Drifter]

Defending my title so I may as well jump early this year!

SPL Champions - Celtic
SPL Runners-up - Rangers
SPL Third - Hearts
SPL Relegated - Dunfermline Athletic

Can't see past the OF for the top two obviously. I doubt anyone can. In contrast to a year ago Celtic look the more settled now so I will plump for them. Lennon has a year under his belt when they should have won the title but blew it. McCoist is out on his own for the first time. Weir is a year older, Miller gone. Rangers overall look a wee bit weaker to me though I haven't paid that much attention. Hearts appear to have more finance and better players than everyone else though I doubt they'll be particularly close to the top two.

Dunfermline were the weakest first division champions in quite some time and looked fairly well outclassed even by St Mirren last night. It'll be a hard season for them.

1st Division Champions - Dundee
1st Division Relegation play-off - Queen of the South
1st Division Relegated - Ayr United

The top is very difficult to predict. It should be Ross County who are clearly out-spending everyone else but they have to find enough goals and I'm not sure they will. Dundee had a magnificent run last year fueled by their indignation. They won't be anything like as good again but they might be good enough. Morton might run them close. They have the goals in their side that no-one else has but I'm unconvinced about their back line. Relegated sides rarely bounce straight back and Accies look to be severely lacking goals also but they too should be there or thereabouts.

At the other end part-timers Ayr will inevitably struggle. As sadly will my own side most likely and I'll predict, with great hope that I'm wrong, that we'll slip to the playoffs. The Gus MacPherson factor might keep us out of it though and the likes of Livingston and Rovers might not be far out of reach.

2nd Division Champions - Brechin City
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Stenhousemuir, Arbroath, Forfar Athletic
2nd Division Relegation play-off - Cowdenbeath
2nd Division Relegated - Albion Rovers

Brechin are rarely far away. Stenny have invested in good players this summer. Abroath will hit the ground running and Forfar were coming good last season.

At the other end there's a temptation to plump for Stirling Albion who have no money but Jocky Scott may just pull a rabbit out of the hat. Colin Cameron on the other hand has much to live up to working with not a lot to follow the previous two. I think Cowdenbeath may struggle badly. Albion Rovers are an obvious pick to slide back where they came from though. I saw them beat Annan in the playoff final last season and they really weren't very good.

3rd Division Champions - Alloa Athletic
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Peterhead, Annan Atheltic, Queens Park
3rd Division Bottom - East Stirling

Alloa and Peterhead have both invested heavily in "star" players for that level of football. At least one of them won't win the league though. That could be very interesting. I've plumped for Hartley to lead Alloa back up with a stronger squad and the pitch meaning fixture pile ups are less likely. Rorry McAllister should shoot Peterhead into the playoffs at least though. Stranraer have imploded so the selection of last year's other two playoff sides to join them again is an reasonable conclusion.

Scottish Cup Winners - Rangers
League Cup Winners - Celtic

As per usual I'll end up getting them the wrong way round again. I went for Celtic for the league though so I'll go the other way for the Scottish Cup. League Cup is equally a toss up.

Challenge Cup Winners - Dundee

Difficult one. Ourselves and County have good records in it but both went out on Saturday past. Leaves 8 first division sides but Morton and Thistle have appalling records in it and tempted though I am to plump for Morton, I won't. Dundee are one of the bigger sides who actually take it seriously (Falkirk likely won't) so I'll go for them.

Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers - Champions League group stages, Europa League Round of 32
Celtic - Europa League group
Hearts - Europa League qualifier - 1 win then out
Dundee United - Already Gone.

Can't see Rangers doing anything. They'll go out in the groups, maybe manage 3rd and lose their first Europa tie. Celtic will make the groups but get no further. I think Hearts will win through a round but probably not make the groups. We're all too late on United obviously. I'd have got it wrong. I thought they'd win a round.

Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack. - Hell knows! Completely random guess at Davie Irons when Stenny decide the police work interferes with his management too much.
2) First team to enter administration. - Falkirk look most perilous
3) A wildcard daft prediction - I try it every year, it will be right eventually: Someone to score an international hat-trcik for Scotland. Also, I said it last year and probably wasn't a million miles wrong. Will try again if it's not cheating to list two (lbb did). Stephen Dobbie to get a Scotland cap.

[Kjell]

SPL Champions - Celtic
SPL Runners-up - Rangers
SPL Third - Hearts
SPL Relegated - Dunfermline

1st Division Champions - Dundee
1st Division Relegation play-off - Queen of the south
1st Division Relegated - Ayr

2nd Division Champions - Brechin
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Cowdenbeath, Forfar, East Fife
2nd Division Relegation play-off - Dumbarton
2nd Division Relegated - Albion

3rd Division Champions - Alloa
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Peterhead, Annan, Queens Park
3rd Division Bottom - East Stirling

Scottish Cup Winners - Hearts

League Cup Winners - Celtic

Challenge Cup Winners - Airdrie

Rangers - Out next week
Celtic - semi final Europa League
Hearts - quarter final Europa League
Dundee United - are they in?

1) First manager to get the sack - Stranraer`s manager
2) First team to enter administration - Stranraer
3) A wildcard daft prediction - El Hadj Diouf not to get booked before christmas

[scottish]

Okay, might as well post mine before I head off for a (well-earned?) break

SPL Champions Celtic
SPL Runners-up Rangers
SPL Third Hearts
SPL Relegated St Johnstone

Celtic have more cash and a more settled squad. Rangers are under new ownership and whether there will be enough money to compete is in doubt given they way the have lost out on players pre-season. Ironically, if their stumbling start continues, they may be forced to bid even higher to get players they want (Goodwillie) and thus have less left in the kitty for the ones they need to replace (Weir). Hearts have no transfer kitty but can and have offered better contracts than any club outside the OF so it's difficult to see past them for third especially as the only real alternative - Dundee United - have lost one of their best players (Craig Conway) and now that he faces no legal charges will surely also lose Goodwillie before the end of the transfer window.

I've picked St Johnstone for the drop not because I think they're any worse than about half a dozen other clubs in the SPL but because they couldn't score goals last season and it's hard to see the players they've brought in - Sheridan, Sandaza, Finnigan - doing that much better.


1st Division Champions Dundee
1st Division Relegation play-off Queen of the South
1st Division Relegated Ayr United

This looks a much tighter division this season with no obvious winners or relegation 'certs.' Dundee should just edge it from Falkirk.

2nd Division Champions East Fife
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) Brechin, Forfar, Arbroath
2nd Division Relegation play-off Albion Rovers
2nd Division Relegated Stirling Albion

Always a bit of a lottery in this division and again no outstanding team. Stirling Albion look to be in freefall and that might give Rovers a shot at avoiding relegation

3rd Division Champions Alloa Athletic
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) Peterhead, Queen's Park, Annan Athletic
3rd Division Bottom East Stirlingshire

Between the relegated clubs IMHO and if Paul Hartley can play a decent enough number of game for Alloa that should make the difference. Rory McAllister's goals will guarantee a top four place for Peterhead and the other two came close last season.

Scottish Cup Winners Rangers

League Cup Winners Rangers

Rationale for the two cup predictions is that if McCoist's/Rangers' luck turns it will be here where with the luck of the draw and so on a team needs to win five times in one competition and four in the other (less if they're any good at penalties). Also the current Celtic team doesn't have 'treble winners' written all over it. I'd like to predict another team for one or both of the cups but in 26 attempts since the establishment of the SPL there have been four non-OF trophy successes, two in either competition, compared to 13 for Rangers and nine for Celtic. That's an average of over once every three seasons and it's only just over a season since the last one.

Challenge Cup Winners Livingston

Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers - Honest, guv, if I'd posted this yesterday I'd have taken them to go against Malmo. Now I'm absolutely convinced they'll be gone next week. Rangers haven't won a European game in nine and only once in the past 22. Incredibly, if Rangers do somehow make it past this round and the next it's possible they might end up in the second pot for the Champions League draw. They'd need two higher ranked clubs to lose.

Celtic - Most intriguing possibility of all simply because we don't know their opponents yet (could even be Malmo if Rangers win next week). If they get through their qualifier they'll definitely have at least a second seeding in the group stage and if four higher ranked clubs lose they'll be in the top pot. OTOH there are German, French, Portuguese, Turkish and Ukrainian sides lurking in the opposite half of the qualifying draw and given that while there will most be likely be different groups for the draw, these won't be geographical, so that'll reduce the chance of Celtic being handed a nice little trip to Ireland or Iceland. So I'll stick my neck out and say they'll go out first time too.

Hearts - Up against a team no one's heard of from a country that's been in the doldrums even longer than Scotland. There can only be one outcome. Hearts to lose. WTF is it with a club that's known it was going to play in Europe for months having a player whose passport has expired?

Dundee United - Less said the better


Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack. Ally McCoist. Not as daft as it sounds. If what is already a poor start by Rangers standards continues he could well go. It doesn't matter what your achievements were as a player, fans will soon turn on the boss if things go wrong as others have discovered in the past. Plus he's an inheritance from the ancien regime. Most new owners like to put their own man in place. Why should Craig Whyte be any different?

2) First team to enter administration. None. Those days are gone now and in the past they must remain

3) A wildcard daft prediction - Scotland to win in Spain. By that time Spain won't need the points. It's already regarded as a meaningless match for the home team. That's why it's in Alicante. If they thought this was important it would be in Seville. So a great opportunity beckons. Let's just hope it's not a situation where we don't need the points either.

[Skyline Drifter]

Hearts - Up against a team no one's heard of from a country that's been in the doldrums even longer than Scotland. There can only be one outcome. Hearts to lose. WTF is it with a club that's known it was going to play in Europe for months having a player whose passport has expired?

For what it's worth, his passport hasn't expired, as wrongly reported initially by several papers, it is however full of visa stamps and has no room for any more so he needs a new one as there wasn't room to stamp a visa in the old one.

In defence of Hearts its something nobody would even think to check. They probably only have a photocopy of his id page showing the expiry. It only came to light when they were sorting out the visas ahead of the trip.

[scottish]

I was going by the report on Sky Sports News on Tuesday which claimed it had expired. Mind you, Jefferies doesn't seem too happy with the club admin according to today's Scotsman.

[Ramalhete]

SPL Champions - Celtic
SPL Runners-up - Rangers
SPL Third - Dundee Utd
SPL Relegated - St. Johnstone


1st Division Champions - Dundee
1st Division Relegation play-off - Ross County
1st Division Relegated - Ayr


2nd Division Champions - Airdrie United
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Cowndenbeath, Brechin, Arbroath
2nd Division Relegation play-off - Forfar
2nd Division Relegated - Albion Rovers


3rd Division Champions - Queens Park
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) - Peterhead, East Stirling, Berwick
3rd Division Bottom - Elgin


Scottish Cup Winners - Rangers
League Cup Winners - Celtic
Challenge Cup Winners - Morton

Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers - Beaten in Group Stages in UEFA
Celtic - Beaten in Group Stages
Hearts - Well beaten by spurs
Dundee United -

Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack. - Paulo Sergio
2) First team to enter administration. - None
3) A wildcard daft prediction a non league side beat a SPL side in SFA Cup

[bobby s]

SPL Champions Celtic
SPL Runners-up Rangers
SPL Third Hibernian
SPL RelegatedDunfermline

1st Division Champions Morton
1st Division Relegation play-off Partick Thistle
1st Division Relegated Ayr

2nd Division Champions Airdrie
2nd Division Promotion play-offs (3) Arbroath, Cowdenbeath, Forar
2nd Division Relegation play-off Stenhousemuir
2nd Division Relegated Albion Rovers

3rd Division Champions Elgin
3rd Division Promotion play-offs (3) Annan, Queens Park, Clyde
3rd Division Bottom Montrose

Scottish Cup Winners Hibernian

League Cup Winners Celtic

Challenge Cup Winners Morton


Plus you can also predict how far our teams will go in Europe.
Rangers Gone in the next round
Celtic Gone in the next round
Hearts Gone in the next round
Dundee United They're already gone



Plus some categories suggested by posters

1) First manager to get the sack. Too late - JJ's already gone
2) First team to enter administration. Dundee
3) A wildcard daft prediction Scotland to qualify for Euro 2012

[scottish]

Pretty close this year though the successes of Kilmarnock, Ross County and Cowdenbeath eluded everybody as did the Rangers mess. I awarded a point to anyone who predicted Celtic would lose in the Europa League qualifiers AND to those who said they'd go in the group stage as that's exactly what happened.

The biggest surprise among those making predictions is that Ramalhete, for so long the undisputed champ, came last this season with just five right out of 27. lbb gt seven from 26 then came Skyline Drifter, Kjell and Bobby S all with eight. But the winner - cue drum-roll and fanfare - was, for the first time ever, ME with ten correct predictions.

And with that, I'll take both the plaudits and the cyber-pint.

[Skyline Drifter]

Pretty close this year though the successes of Kilmarnock, Ross County and Cowdenbeath eluded everybody as did the Rangers mess. I awarded a point to anyone who predicted Celtic would lose in the Europa League qualifiers AND to those who said they'd go in the group stage as that's exactly what happened.

The biggest surprise among those making predictions is that Ramalhete, for so long the undisputed champ, came last this season with just five right out of 27. lbb gt seven from 26 then came Skyline Drifter, Kjell and Bobby S all with eight. But the winner - cue drum-roll and fanfare - was, for the first time ever, ME with ten correct predictions.

And with that, I'll take both the plaudits and the cyber-pint.

Congratulations - though I reckon I got nine correct in there - enjoy the pint.

Looking back a couple of massive bloopers in mine but generally a pretty decent prediction set with a fair few wrong way round predictions which could have handed me the title again (bottom two in the first division for a start).

1st, 2nd and bottom all correct in the SPL and I suspect if Hearts had actually paid their players all year I might have got the full house there.
Wee bit unlucky in the first where I correctly named the bottom two but got them the wrong way round whilst I actually went the length of saying Ross County should win before plumping for Dundee to upset the odds anyway.
Second division was badly wrong to be fair though I did call Arbroath correctly for the playoffs and missed out with Stenny on the last day. Got Albion Rovers a place out too.
Alloa to win was a correct if very obvious call and Queens Park to make the plaoffs and East Stirling to return to bottom of the league were both correct too.
Didn't get anything in the domestic cups though Celtic was a wee bit unlucky in the League Cup.Correct by default about Celtic in the Europa League though (is that the point I didn't get?) and also spot on about Hearts.
Wildcards were all wrong though I do wonder where Falkirk would have been without the League Cup run. I also think a manager other than Levein may have given Dobbie a shot by now.

Back to the drawing board for next year then.

[scottish]

Sorry, nine it was. I must have been counting like a Rangers administrator.

[the hibLOG]

Sorry, nine it was. I must have been counting like a Rangers administrator.

No, you wouldn't have been that close.

[Gorgiewave]

2) First team to enter administration. None. Those days are gone now and in the past they must remain

Whoooosh!!!!!!!

[LEATHERSTOCKING]

Are you doing one for this season?