Performance of the Week - Week 40

It’s Monday, which means it’s Performance of the Week time, Inside Left’s opportunity to give recognition to those teams, players and events in the week just passed that deserve a special mention for services rendered in the name of Scottish football. As always we have three nominations for you to choose from, so without further waffling, here are this weeks nominations, each one carefully hand-picked by the staff of Inside Left.

East Fife, for their continued good run in the second division. Undefeated in the league since the 2-1 defeat at home to Queens Park five games ago, they beat league leaders Ayr 3-0 at the weekend. The Fifers have only lost three times in the league so far but their season has not been too bad. Their cracking form at the end of last season had them go 11 games undefeated and which led to eventual promotion to the Second division. Certainly, compared to their fellow promotees (Stranraer, currently second bottom and in financial crisis, and Arbroath, in bit of a free-fall at the minute are third bottom), East Fife are doing well thank you very much. In fifth spot, one behind the play-off places, we had East Fife doing well this season, and so far they've not let us down.

The Scottish Football authorities, for somehow keeping Rangers and Celtic apart for another League Cup  round, something they're actually quite good at. In another closed-door, non-televised draw, the powers that be have paired up Celtic with Kilmarnock, a team they've already beaten, while Rangers get a home game against Hamilton, another side whose form has taken somewhat of a dip. Not that we're implying anything of course, we know it makes sound financial sense to have the Old Firm in the final rather than say, Dundee, but really, you'd think that these two sides would meet more regularly in the Cup other than in the final. In the last few years (2007/08, 2006/07, 2003/04, 1999/00, 1996/97 and 1991/92) they've avoided each other at the Quarter Final stages of the competition. Alright, there have been some years when the teams met (2005/06 and 2004/05 they met with Celtic and Rangers winning one each) but it was only in 2002/03 that the league struck gold by having both halves of the Old Firm in the final. Occasionally it does go wrong mind you. We've had Hibs in the final twice in the last few years playing non Old Firm opposition (Livingston and Kilmarnock), but these finals are few and far between. Anyway, like we said, we're not implying anything, and calls from Donald Findlay QC on behalf of the Scottish Football League in relation to this article are not appreciated.

Inverness Caley, for finally getting a home win. It's taken a while but Caley are no longer a member of the 'zero home wins' league, leaving only St. Mirren and Aberdeen, along with powerhouses such as Clyde, Morton, Forfar and Elgin to keep the flame of home-game ineptitude burning. Their 3-1 win over Kilmarnock, their first home win since the 6-1 demolition of Gretna back in May pushed Thistle into fourth spot.

That’s it for this week. Leave a comment with your choice or, better yet, nominate your own. See you all next week!

28.09// The Weekend Roundup

Aye aye and welcome to another round-up of Scotland's football action.

We've got a batch of SPL games to get through, there is the action in the Scottish Football League to tell you about as well as some interesting scores and stats from the First Round of the Scottish Cup. Fort William, a regular name to appear on Inside Left where also in action and, as usual, they didn't disappoint. Keep reading on to find out how they got on.

But we start with a promise to you, dear readers.

We've said it before, but we really must stop doing predictions. We're fine with the match previews, but then we just wont let it rest would we? No, we have to go that extra bit and guess the scoreline. Once again, Inside Left shames itself with it's atrocious predictions: of the six we made, we got two right. The rest ... dear oh dear. So we pledge never, ever to do predictions again.

So, which ones did we get right? Easy: the two Old Firm scores. A bit like shooting fish in a barrel really, what else did we expect would happen? Well, for one we didn't think we'd find Aberdeen leading Celtic at Parkhead. Former Celtic player Charlie Mulgrew scored twice to give the Dons a 2-1 lead with 25 minutes to go, but it was not to be: Aberdeen eventually went down 3-2 and another three league places. Although we're disappointed with the result, the score line, and the fact that Celtic had to come from behind says more about their performance than it does about Aberdeen's.

Rangers won comfortably at Easter Road to consolidate their position at the top of the SPL. Kenny Miller's two goals will go a long way in helping the Rangers faithful to overcome their initial doubts about the Scotland international place at Ibrox. Madjid Bougherra completed the scoring as Rangers win 3-0.

Elsewhere, Dundee United trounced Hearts at Tannadice. A good write-up can be found courtesy of the Arab Blog, so you can get all the details there (just make sure you come back here). We had Hearts winning here on the basis of United's performance in the game against Aberdeen together with the sheer joy the Hearts players must have been feeling on being paid (at last) which would be reflected on the pitch in a tour de force of free flowing attacking football. But no, once again we get it completely arseways, and instead of a United pounding, we get a cracking victory.

Falkirk and Hamilton. Away win we said. Wrong. Low scoring game? Wrong again. A cracking 4-1 win, the equal highest scoring game in the SPL this weekend. We're happy for John Hughes and the Bairns for finally getting off the bottom of the table. Hamilton might feel a bit unlucky as they where by far the better side in the first half, but aye well, if you cant get the ball in the net, it doesn't do you much good.

We shudder to think what we said about the Caley versus Kilmarnock game, but we bet it wasn't the way this game actually turned out. A high scoring game (we did get that bit right), pretty much par for the course between these two sides. Are Killie starting the inevitable slide we had them down for at the start of the season? Time will tell, but well done to Caley for coming back from behind and for getting their first home win of the season.

Lastly,  Motherwell also had to come from behind to beat St. Mirren. Billy Mehmet had put the Paisley side ahead on the half-hour, but Motherwell recovered to take the three points and an all important morale boosting victory. The defeat puts St. Mirren back in their place, i.e. bottom.

So, twenty-three goals in six games, 21 yellow cards and three orderings off. Rangers and Celtic lead the table, Hearts in third, four points behind Celtic. It seems as if parity has returned to Scottish football.

Lower Division Round-up

Livingston go three points clear at the top of the First Division following their 3-1 win over Partick Thistle. Queen of the South move up into second thanks to their 2-0 win over Clyde, while there where much needed victories for Ross County and St. Johnstone, who beat close rivals Dundee 2-0 in an exciting game that saw the Saints denied two penalties. Paul Sheering and Steven Milne scored for the Perth side. Morton remain bottom, but where unlucky not to get all three points. Leading Dunfermline right into the last minute, Ross Campbell equalised for the Pars.

In the Second Division, only 228 people turned out in Stranraer to see an exciting game with 11 bookings and two remarkable come-backs by Arbroath. The game finished 2-2. Ayr United suffered a surprise defeat in Methil at the hands of East Fife. Both teams had where reduced to 10 men by the end of the game. The 3-0 defeat sees Ayr slip down to third place. Peterhead remain in second place despite only managing a goalless draw against Stirling Albion (their fourth in eight games).

Far be it for us to gossip like a daft fishwifey, but there's a few punters putting money on Peterhead's Neale Cooper being the next manager of Aberdeen. Just remember where you read it first.

Brechin City return to the top of the table. Their 2-0 win over Raith Rovers has them leading the table by one point from Peterhead and Ayr. Alloa remain bottom as they lost 1-0 away to Queen's Park.

Down in the Third Division, Stenhousemuir survived a scare at Albion Rovers, but take the three points thanks to an own goal by Albion's Michael McGowan. Annan Athletic lose again, this time 3-0 away to Berwick Rangers. Two penalties in the second half killed of the game which saw Annan's Gary Brown sent off for deliberate handball. Cowdenbeath beat Montrose 2-1 to remain in second place. The Gable Endies had Chris McLeod sent off for dangerous play. Elgin get another dose of 'Goals Against' as they go down 5-2 to East Stirling - at least they managed to complete the game with all 11 players on the pitch (they had three sent off in the 6-1 defeat to Albion last week).

The final game saw Forfar and Dumbarton sharing the points. An own goal from Forfar's Stephen Tulloch opened the days scoring and Paul McLeod's goal just after the restart looked as if it would be enough for Dumbarton. But Forfar fought back thanks to goals from Johnny Russell and Graham Gibson.

Scottish Cup, First Round

There where a lot of goals in the First-round of this years Scottish Cup. 72 goals in 18 games or an average of four per game. Ten of those 72 goals came in one game, the one at Spain Park, Aberdeen between Junior North Premier League side Banks O' Dee and - who else - Fort William FC. For most teams, a 10-0 gubbing would be a record of some sort but, as regular readers of Inside Left will know, not for Fort William. For the Fort, it's just another Saturday. Ritchie Taylor scored a hat-trick for the The Rechabites.

There were wins for Highland League sides Fraserburgh, Clachnacuddin, Huntly, Inverurie Locos (who beat fellow league side Deveronvale), Buckie Thistle and Wick Academy. Lossiemouth and Nairn County both lost (Nairn to Third Division applicants Edinburgh City), while Brora Rangers and Forres Mechanics all face a replay.

Right, that's it for another weekend! We told you it'd be good!

25.09// The Midweek Update

Not quite midweek but, aye well.  So that's another exciting Scottish League Cup round out of the way, thank God.  Note that we're refusing to call it by it's proper name, the somewhat long-winded Co-Operative Insurance Cup, because it sounds a little vague and doesn't convey any of the weight and gravitas that a domestic Cup competition ought to bring with it. At least with the 'Scottish League Cup', you know where you are; the name "Co-Operative Insurance Cup" makes it sound like it should be up there with other diddy competitions like the Johnstone's Paint trophy and the FA Community Shield.

Perhaps this explains why some teams just don't take it altogether seriously, because they forget it's actually an important trophy that just could lead to European qualification, instead treating it as a nice opportunity to try out some youngsters, or to give those players you cant shift for love nor money a run-out in the first team in the vain hope that club scouts might have decided that there was nothing better on the telly and decided to go to the game instead.

And not taking it seriously is something that you could certainly accuse Aberdeen FC of. In what was something akin to a shit-fest of epic proportions, Jimmy Calderwood's team succumbed to another defeat (a heavy one at that) at the hands of Kilmarnock and another glorious early-round exit. A goal behind before Calderwood et al even had a chance to sit down, the Dons responded with an equalizer soon after, but it all went downhill from there. Another quality display saw three goals in half an hour go in at the Red end and once again the defensive partnership of Severin (a midfielder really) and Diamond was left wanting. Aberdeen play Celtic on Saturday - God help them. A good victory for Killie though, who showed the class that has seen them lose only 2 games this season (and that to the Old Firm).

Elsewhere, Rangers made heavy work of their game against Partick Thistle, needing an extra-time goal from Pedro Mendes four minutes before penalties, while the eagerly anticipated (well, to us anyway) Lanarkshire derby saw Hamilton emerge the winners in an exciting game against Motherwell that also needed to go to extra-time. Two sending's off ('Wells Chris Porter and Accies' Simon Mensing) and a flurry of yellow cards ensured that the next meeting of these two sides on the 1st November will be another cracking affair.

The next round of games takes place at the end of October, with only Dunfermline left to represent the great unwashed masses of the lower leagues. The lineup of fixtures sees Rangers avoiding Celtic (the 'square' ball trick worked again):  Rangers are rewarded with (yet) another home game against Hamilton, Falkirk travel north to Inverness, Kilmarnock get another crack at Celtic while it's the battle of the dun's as Dunfermline take on Dundee United.

In the context of our current financial climate, you could forgive the Hearts players and fans for skipping a heart(s) beat when news broke of the staff not getting paid. It looks like the panic is over - for now. The players will have been paid their wages, the 'technical hitch' having been resolved. Regular readers of Inside Left know how we feel about Hearts, so it's with tongue firmly in cheek that we say that "technical hitch" is probably pseudo-speak for "completely slipped Romanov's mind". This is an opinion shared by the great Charles 'Chick' Young who on his BBC blog dusts off all his old cliches and asserts that Romanov has probably lost all interest in Hearts now that his other club Kaunus are a major European force. With the credit crunch in full force, Romanov might be thinking about cutting costs - remember that Hearts have larger debts than the Old Firm combined. Talks of a players strike if wages continue to be unpaid where dismissed by captain Christope Berra earlier in the week but we're not altogether confident that Hearts are out of the woods just yet. The Tynecastle side need Romanov more than Romanov needs them and should his company get into difficulties, the possible effect that would have on Hearts - and Scottish football - would be catastrophic.

And speaking of finances - at the other end of the league (and scale), Stranraer this week voted to change from Stranraer FC to The Stranraer Football Club Limited. The club are in debt to the tune of £250k and need to raise the cash in order to ensure their survival. Currently in bottom place in the Second Division, signs of cost-cutting have included not paying for overnight stay following the game away to Peterhead, players packing their own sandwiches for journeys to away games, and the sale of two to three players.  With low attendances also not covering players wages (just over 300 turned up for the game against Stirling Albion and only 279 for the game against Brechin City) the club are in serious trouble and a solution to ensure the future of football in Stranraer needs to be found urgently.

Congratulations go out to Keith and Nairn County. Keith where crowned Aberdeenshire Cup champions when they beat Huntly 5-2, a low score by Highland League standards. It was the Morayshire sides first win in the competition since 1980. The final started out on a sour note for Keith, with goalkeeper Ross Bremner getting injured in the warm-up. Also celebrating silverware this week are Nairn County, who beat an Inverness Caley U19 side to lift the ITP Solutions' North Cup.

Right, that's it for now. Back tomorrow with our look-ahead to the weekend's action.

Scottish League Cup Third-round Preview

The magic of the cup sometimes throws up some interesting fixtures.

With only SPL and First Division teams remaining in the competition, there's many a senior team that looks upon a game against lower league opposition with some trepidation. Witness for example Hibs and Hearts' exit in the last round, or Aberdeen's exit on penalties to Queens Park two years ago in the same competition. Of the five SPL teams in last nights round of games, only one - St. Mirren - didn't make it into the next round, beaten 2-0 away at Dunfermline.  Celtic, Falkirk, Dundee United and Inverness Caley all progressed.

Tonight sees the conclusion to the games in this third-round, when Rangers travel across the river to Firhill and their game against Partick Thistle and Aberdeen travel south to Kilmarnock. Of most interest though is the tie at Motherwell's Fir Park for the game against their rivals from across the motorway, Hamilton Academicals.

If you threw a stone hard enough across the motorway that divides the two towns, you'd probably make the other side. As derby games go, this is not on the same level as say, an Old Firm derby but given the proximity and the infrequency with which these teams face each other, tonight is something of a special evening. Their last meeting was in August 2005, ironically in the same competition. Motherwell came out 2-1 winners on the night thanks to goals from Scott McDonald and James Hamilton. Accies, then in the First Division having been promoted from the Second Division the year before, finished third in the season that brought St. Mirren to the SPL.

Motherwell find themselves near the foot of the table, pretty much the complete opposite of where they spent most of last season. Disappointing results such as the opening day loss to Hearts, the narrow defeats to Aberdeen and Rangers, as well as the 2-4 thumping by Celtic the week before last have made for an uncomfortable start to this latest campaign. Hamilton on the other hand have so far exceeded expectations by forging a set of results that saw them top the table after two games. Currently in sixth place, the Accies can look back on a good fightback against Aberdeen the other week for an example of the kind of form that saw them crowned First Division champions with several weeks of the season still to go. While last weeks defeat to Hibs and, before that, Hearts and Kilmarnock, came against teams above them in the league, worthy of note is that the Accies only two wins this season came against teams that are below them in the league (Caley, Aberdeen and United). Given that kind of form, you'd expect the Accies to pull off another win tonight. But wins against their more illustrious Lanarkshire cousins are hard to come by. In their 117 meetings, Motherwell have emerged winners on 60 occasions while Hamilton can claim 32 scalps. In fact, you'd have to go back to the last meeting between the two in the 1988/89 season for Accies last win against Motherwell.

But Motherwell are hurting after those back to back defeats to Rangers, Nancy and Celtic and their standing as, according to manager Mark McGhee anyway, the 'senior' club in the area is at stake (along with any bragging rights) should they lose tonight. So with more than just the next round of a largely insignificant Cup at stake, this is going to be one of those games that's either going to turn into a classic 6-6 after penalties, or a dreary encounter following a simple tap-in in the first minute. Neither team have reported any additional injuries since the weekend, so a nearly full selection will be available to both Reid and McGhee.

Aberdeen make another long journey south for their game against Kilmarnock. Following on from last weeks poor display against Dundee United (the Dons have yet to win a game at home this season), Jimmy Calderwood will be hoping to get a win against a Kilmarnock side that have been impressive so far this season. If nothing else, Aberdeen are lucky to be playing Kilmarnock; a defeat against a fellow SPL team would not be as bad as a defeat to lower league opposition (Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup last season for example) and while the pressure on Calderwood and Nicholl continues unabated, they might be forgiven for losing against an in-form side.  Aberdeen head south without the injured Andrew Considine, while both Darren Mackie, who picked up a knock in Saturdays game, as well as Richard Forster who had an unusually good game at right back against United are expected to be fit. For Killie, Danny Invincible and David Hay are both unavailable for selection, having picked up injuries in Saturdays 3-1 defeat to Celtic.

It took two attempts for Rangers to get past Partick Thistle in the Scottish Cup last season, so everyone at Ibrox is aware of another potential banana-skin moment. Rangers however are flying in the league at the minute while Thistle are second in the First division following their 2-1 win at bottom club Morton at the weekend. Doubts remain over keeper Alan McGregor and the exact reasons for his exclusion from the first team. The back-up to Craig Gordon in the Scotland goal was controversially dropped after his clanger against Kilmarnock two weeks ago, though stories have begun to leak out that Smith dropped the 26 year-old because of his somewhat unsavoury off-field antics. Whichever it is, Neil Alexander will take up position between the posts tonight.

22.09// The Week In Football

Aye aye again. We just wanted to update you with all that's happening in Scottish football this week, along with a wee site update.

This week sees the next round of the Co-operative Insurance Cup (better known as the League Cup). This round sees Celtic in action against First Division league leaders Livingston, but the tie of the round is undoubtedly the one taking pace at Fir Park tomorrow night when Motherwell take on Hamilton. The only other all-SPL game is between Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

SPL leaders Rangers take on Partick Thistle while elsewhere there are home ties for Dundee United (against Airdrie), Dunfermline, who take on St. Mirren, Falkirk, who host Queen of the South and Division One bottom side Morton welcome Inverness Caley to Greenock.  The games take place this Tuesday and Wednesday, with all fixtures kicking off at 19:45.

This week we'll be launching a new sister site on Inside Left: The Northern Lights  will be dedicated to all things related to Aberdeen FC and will allow us to vent our spleen without compromising the neutrality of Inside Left.  We will also complete our countdown to the greatest Scottish European club nights when we reveal the No. 1 game, and we have two new 'Who Are Ya?' profiles we'd like to share with you.

Along with our other regular features - Off The Ball, If You Know Your History and our tasty Meat Pies - just remember where to come for the best in Scottish football: Inside Left.

Performance of the Week - Week 39

It’s Monday, which means it’s Performance of the Week time, Inside Left's opportunity to give recognition to those teams, players and events in the week just passed that deserve a special mention for services rendered in the name of Scottish football. As always we have four nominations for you to choose from, so without further waffling, here are this weeks nominations, each one carefully hand-picked by the staff of Inside Left.

Dundee United, for their first win of the season.  It's been a long time coming, but they've finally done it. After a series of poor results and poor performances, it took a match against their New Firm rivals to bring home the first three-pointer of the season. In truth, it was a poor match and where it not for Tommy Wright's moment of lunacy just after the restart we doubt very much United would have scored; a draw would have been a fairer result. But sure, don't listen to me - I'm just a bitter and twisted Aberdeen supporter frustrated at his teams inability to win a game at home. Francisco Sandaza looks a class act and defensively United looked pretty solid. On their few forays into Aberdeen's penalty area, they certainly looked a lot more dangerous. Next week they take on Hearts, their gaffer's old team at Tannadice; can United use this win as a springboard to greater things?

The two Edinburgh teams for sneaking up on the rest of the league. We've not been kind to Hibs and Hearts (Scotland's very own comedy duo) here at Inside Left, mainly because they've just been so crap this season. Or at least, we thought so until a sobering look at the league table wiped the smile of our faces. There's the New Firm propping up the table,  while the Old Firm are joined by two of Edina's finest in third and fourth spot.  How in the hell did that happen? Well, partly thanks to other results (Killie and Hamilton losing), but also due to both Hibs and Hearts grinding out the results. Hearts are the only team other than Rangers not to have lost at home this season, while Hibs have managed to limit the damage away from home with a win, a draw and a loss. The possible blips on the horizon? Well, Hearts are financed by a man who runs a large investment bank. We live in interesting times - if Lehman Brothers can go bust, what's to stop Romanov's bank going the same way? Tales last week from Tynecastle about the players not getting paid should not be dismissed lightly. Does anyone remember Gretna?

Albion Rovers for the highest scoring game of the week. Just to prove that it's not just the Highland League that has a monopoly on high scoring games, on a Saturday where the top division produced a miserly 5 goals in four games (the highest scoring game was the 1-1 at Love Street) it took Coatbridge's finest to get the blood racing. A cracking six goals courtesy of two hat-tricks took their away goals tally to 11, a number they share with fellow division team Forfar. And to emphasise just how good that is, consider that the team with the next highest away goals tally in Scotland's top league is Celtic, with a rather poor eight. Elgin City had three players sent off in that game which takes a wee bit of the shine off the result, but nevertheless, well done Albion. The result moves the Wee Rovers up to 7th. Elgin stay bottom on just four points.

Derek Riordan, on his dramatic comeback. Lost in the Parkhead wilderness since his move there in 2006 (he made just over 20 appearances, scoring five times), his full debut against St. Mirren came in a team that consisted mainly of reserves and other Strachan cast-offs. Caught between a rock and a hard place - a manager that wouldn't play him or sell him (Celtic turned down a £400k offer from Burnley) - Riordan's public frustration at not being selected was not doing him any good. With the likes of Scott McDonald, Georgios Samaras, Vennegoor of Hesselink ahead of him in the pecking order, he was never going to get selected for first team duties. Courted by Hearts during the summer, he opted instead to go back to Hibs, his first team for whom he made more than 120 appearances, scoring 54 goals along the way. His return to the side as a substitute in the second half last week against Dundee United (in the number '01' shirt, his old shirt 10 having been given to Colin Nish), was his first game for quite some time. Warmly welcomed by the Hibs following, he was clearly short of match fitness and lacked the sharpness the Hibees where used to. But it all came good this week when he came on for Stephen Fletcher early in the second half and fired in a cracker of a goal from outside the area. It all reads a bit like an extra-cheesy Roy Of The Rovers  story - "local boy returns to his old club to score the winner". 

The magic of football indeed.

That's it for this week. Leave a comment with your choice or, better yet, nominate your own. See you all next week!

20.09// The Weekend Round-up

Aye aye, and welcome to the round-up of the weekend's action across Scotland. It was low scores all around the top division in Scotland today. Dundee United record their first win of the season away at Aberdeen courtesy of a second half penalty (1-0), Hearts beat Inverness Caley with a single goal in the first 10 minutes and Hamilton Accies failed to extend their winning run as they go down 0-1 to Hibernian: Derek Riordan scored on his return to fitness. Compared to those games there was a veritable goal feast at Love Street as St. Mirren and Falkirk fight out a 1-1 draw.

Thankfully there's always the lower leagues to keep us entertained. There where plenty of goals in the First Division, with both Livingston and Dunfermline scoring three as they beat Dundee and Ross County respectively. St. Johnstone where fifteen minutes from their second league win in a row until Queen of the South's Jim Thomson levelled matters (and make amends for his own-goal earlier on in the game). Elsewhere there was a win for Clyde against Airdrie and Morton's poor season continue when they lost to Partick Thistle.

Peterhead sit proudly a-top the Second Division. Their 4-0 win against Stranraer did the job as Raith Rovers, another side that could have gone top only managed to draw at Stirling. A Paul McManus hat-trick (which included two penalties) was enough for East Fife to see off Alloa while the game between Arbroath and Queens Park ended 1-1. Ayr and Brechin play on Sunday, so Peterhead wont be expecting their stay at the top to last long.

Bobby Barr and Kevin Watt grab a hat-trick each as they help Albion demolish Elgin 1-6. Elgin got a hat-trick of their own as Craig Campbell, Kenny Gilbert and David Niven where sent off. Cowdenbeath slipped up at Dumbarton; an exciting end to the match saw two goals in the last minute as The Sons' Ben Gordon wins the game with the last kick of the match. His goal cancelled out Paul McQuade's equaliser only seconds before. That loss allowed Stenhousemuir to extend their lead at the top as they recorded a comfortable win against Berwick Rangers. Montrose move up to third thanks to their 3-0 win at home to East Stirling while Annan Athletic lose 3-1 at home to Forfar Athletic.

Up in the Highland League, four goals where enough for Cove Rangers against Buckie Thistle - Jamie Watt scored in the first minute in that game. In the only other league game, Deveronvale had to come from behind to beat Fraserburgh; Gary Clark scored an own goal in the 20th minute before Mark Chisholm saved the points for Vale. The Banff side stay top of the Highland League, a point ahead of Inverurie Loco Works.

A look at the tables then ahead of tomorrows fixtures. In the SPL, Rangers still lead by three points from Celtic who play Kilmarnock tomorrow. Dundee United are lifted off the bottom following their win today, replaced by Falkirk who could only draw with St. Mirren. Hearts move into second place. In the First Division, Livingston remain on top, early leaders Dundee slip down to fifth. Morton remain at the bottom.

Peterhead lead the Second Division table ahead of the tie between Brechin and Ayr on Sunday while in the Third Stenhousemuir are building up a commanding lead from second placed Montrose. Annan remain mid-table while Elgin are still propping up the league.

Premier League	Scottish Division One
1  Rangers     5  13 2  Hearts      6  12 3  Celtic      5  10 4  Kilmarnock  5  10 5  Hibernian   6  10 6  Hamilton    6   9 7  Inverness   6   7 8  Aberdeen    6   7 9  St Mirren   6   5 10 Dundee Utd  6   5 11 Motherwell  5   4 12 Falkirk     6   4	1  Livingston    7  15 2  Partick       7  13 3  QoS           7  12 4  Dunfermline   7  11 5  Dundee        7  11 6  Airdrie Utd   7   9 7  Clyde         7   9 8  St Johnstone  7   8 9  Ross County   7   4 10 Morton        7   3
Scottish Division Two	Scottish Division Three
1  Peterhead   7  14 2  Ayr         6  14 3  Raith       7  13 4  Brechin     6  12 5  East Fife   7   9 6  Stirling    7   9 7  Queens Park 7   6 8  Arbroath    7   5 9  Alloa       7   4 10 Stranraer   7   4	1  Stenhousemuir 7  17 2  Montrose      7  13 3  Dumbarton     7  12 4  Cowdenbeath   7  12 5  Annan         7  11 6  Forfar        7  10 7  Albion        7   9 8  Berwick       7   5 9  East Stirling 7   4 10 Elgin         7   4

20.09// The Weekend's Fitba

It's another gala weekend of domestic football action across Scotland this weekend. We have the first of this season's New Firm Derby's to look forward to, and Kilmarnock face the green half of the Old Firm when Celtic travel down to Ayrshire. Can Kilmarnock keep up with Rangers at the top? Will Celtic bounce back from that disappointing midweek European result?

Down in the Scottish Football League, the games to keep an eye out for include Dundee at home to league leaders Livingston, Ayr United taking on Brechin City in the clash of the top two in the Second Division, while in the Third it's all eyes on Cowdenbeath as they face a tricky tie to Dumbarton.  It's a quiet weekend in the Highland League with only two league games on the fixture list.  League leaders Deveronvale can extend their lead at the top if they beat Fraserburgh.

We begin our round-up with the top game in the Scottish Premier League and the clash at Pittodrie between two teams that where once a powerful force in Scottish football. The New Firm Derby between Aberdeen and Dundee United may have lost a lot of it's importance since Rangers and Celtic have re-imposed themselves on the game north of the border, but the fixture is still eagerly contested.

Aberdeen v Dundee United
Aberdeen and Dundee lie about 65 miles apart on the north-east coast of Scotland. Aberdeen, the larger of the two towns lies between the rivers Dee to the south and Don to the north, while Dundee is situated on the north bank of the Tay Estuary. It was to that location that Dundee owed it's early wealth. A major town during the industrial revolution, the city grew thanks to a flourishing jute industry and rose to become one of the more important towns in Scotland, at a time when Aberdeen was still a small and largely insignificant fishing port. The decline of the jute industry and other traditional heavy industries on which the town had become dependent (such as shipbuilding) led to a decline in the cities fortunes, and by the 1970's, Dundee had entered a recession, with unemployment rising to 14% by 1981. In contrast, Aberdeen had begin to flourish during this time. The discovery of North Sea oil led to Aberdeen entering a boom period that saw it's population grow to over 200,000 and the city establish itself as the Oil Capital of Europe.

This rivalry between the two cities was not just economic or social. The two football teams in the towns had also begun to improve. Dundee United had slowly been overtaking it's larger and more illustrious rival Dundee in terms of league and cup success. By the mid 70's, a United team under the management of Jim McLean (assisted then by a young Walter Smith) had reached the Scottish Cup final in 1973 and in the league the team had achieved a third place in '78 and '79; they would eventually win their first - and to date only - League championship in 1983. Back-to-back League Cups in 1980 and 1981 completed the silverware. European success was also nearly theirs, as the Terrors reached the semi-final of the European Cup (where they gave A.S. Roma a scare, eventually losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate). In then 1986/87 season United went one further when they became the first Scottish club to reach the Uefa Cup final, where they lost to IFK Gothenburg.

During this time, Aberdeen had also slowly begun to improve. Under the guidance of new manager Alex Ferguson (freshly sacked from his post at St. Mirren), the Dons had won the league in 1980, a feat they repeated in 1984 and 1985. Add to that two European trophies and several domestic Cups (the Scottish Cup in 82, 83 and 84) during this time and you can safely say that between them, Aberdeen and Dundee United where the two best sides in Scotland.

What these two teams - now dubbed 'the New Firm' - achieved more than anything else was to break the dominance of Rangers and Celtic during this time. Aberdeen's league win in the 1984/85 season would be the last time that a side outside of Glasgow would win the league. Heavy investment at Ibrox and Parkhead saw these two teams slowly re-impose themselves on the league and by the end of the 80's, normal service had resumed. Both Aberdeen and United would continue to challenge for silverware, but neither team would challenge the Old Firm again.

Despite the downturn of both Aberdeen and Dundee United's fortunes in later years (years of mid-table mediocrity, United's relegation in 1995, Aberdeen's near relegation in 2000 and a revolving managerial door at Aberdeen: consider that Dundee United had only one manager during most of this period, while Aberdeen had four), this fixture remains an important and exciting fixture. Fans of Aberdeen could - indeed would - argue that Rangers are their biggest rivals, but a win against the upstarts down the A90 is a highly valued prize. This rivalry does not seem to apply to the transfer market though - the current Aberdeen squad has four ex-United players: Lee Miller, Lee Mair, Stuart Duff and Mark Kerr. It's pretty much one way traffic however, with the last Aberdeen player moving to United was back in 2000, when Jamie Buchan moved south to United.

The Game
Tomorrows fixture is the 162nd time the teams have met in the league. Aberdeen have won 64 of those encounters, while United have won 51. Dundee United are currently bottom of the SPL, having lost all their league games so far (with two exceptions, the 1-1 draws with  Motherwell and Celtic) while Aberdeen are having another one of their typically inconsistent seasons - eighth in the league and yet to win a game at home. United will be under pressure to get a result as it's a question how long the United fans will sustain this league position. Similarly, Jimmy Calderwood's love-hate relationship with the fans will continue as long as Aberdeen continue to lose games in the manner they lost on Saturday against Hamilton. Two defensive blunders cost Aberdeen the points. Zander Diamond looks to be back following his injury so hopefully sense will prevail in the heart of the Aberdeen defence. For United, Willow Flood, Warren Feeney and Roy O'Donovan are all out.

Last season, the two sides played four games with two wins and two defeats each. It's going to be a tight game and with both teams struggling with their form (Aberdeen's home form and United's general league form) we're going to have to go for a draw.

We'll take a look at Sunday's games between Rangers and Motherwell and Celtic and Kilmarnock tomorrow, so for now we'll quickly run through the remaining a games in the various Scottish Leagues:

Hamilton v Hibernian Hamilton finally ended their losing streak with a good win against a terrible Aberdeen side. The Accies had been on terrific form with good wins against a luckless Dundee United and Inverness that saw them top of the table after two games, but then a wee dip against Kilmarnock and Hearts saw them slide down the table. Billy Reid was relieved no doubt to get back to winning ways against Aberdeen at the weekend where young striker James McCarthey scored the winning goal and picked up Young Player of the Month Award. The team now lies fourth in the table, not one that we expect the team to be in come the end of the season, but you have to grant it to them: they're playing well and are surpassing many a pundits expectations. Forward Richard Offiong is yet to get into the sort of form that saw him Division One top scorer last season but while we wait for that form to return, in Tom Stevenson, Brian Easton and current top scorer David Graham, Reid has a young and talented squad that will do the Accies nicely into the future. Can they sustain the form though, that's the question? Hibernian also won last week against Dundee United with goals from Stephen Fletcher. Derek Riordan returned to his former club and though far from fit, he'll be a welcome and quality addition to the team. Hibs' form had been somewhat erratic to date: defeats to Motherwell and Kilmarnock in the league sandwiched that awful defeat in the cup to Division One bottom club Morton. Still, you cant help but get the feeling that things are on the up at Easter Road. It's been a while since these two sides played each other and you'd need to go back to 1986 for the last Accies win (a 3-1 away win) but you shouldn't read too much into that. Remember that the Accies have been in Divison One all of those intervening years. Somewhat ominously, Hibs' record league win came against Hamilton, a tasty 11-1 back in November 1965. We think it'll be a closer game than that and go with an away win.

Hearts v Inverness CT Hearts have not had a bad start to the season. The defeat to Rangers and the loss on penalties to Airdrie in the League Cup aside, new manager Csaba Lazlo cant be too unhappy. Despite last weeks defeat to Falkirk, a game in which Hearts probably deserved more than they got, the Edinburgh side are on a good run. Caley have only lost two of their games so far, most recently against St. Mirren last week. Since the opening day fixture win at Aberdeen, Caley have racked up wins against teams from the bottom half of the table so against Hearts they'll be in for a tough test. Craig Brewster's team don't have a good record in the capital, having only won 5 of the 15 games they've played there since promotion to the SPL back in 2004. Interestingly, both of Caley's wins this season (against Aberdeen and Falkirk) came on the road - the team has yet to win a home game. We go for a draw. St Mirren v Falkirk Here we have two teams that both picked up their first wins of the season last week. St. Mirren beat Caley away while Falkirk got the three points against Hearts courtesy of a last minute winner from youngster Scott Arfield (who scored twice in the 4-0 win when the sides met in February this year). Neither of these sides are having a good time of it in the league so far so this game will either end in a draw as both these teams are quite evenly balanced right now, or a veritable goal feast. The trouble is that the Buddies have  yet to score a home goal and the Bairns are fairly letting them in on the road, with six goals conceded so far on their travels. This game just has goalless draw written all over it.

Scottish First Division

Queen of the South will be looking for Livingston slip up against Dundee as a win in their game against troubled St. Johnstone would see the Doonhamers go top of the division. Airdrie must be on a high since they beat Livingston at the Almondvale last week - Clyde travel to the Excelsior Stadium tomorrow following their 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle earlier in the week. Speaking of Thistle, they welcome bottom club Morton to Firhill. The Ton drew with Queen of the South in their last game, but that elusive first win seems a long way off somehow. They must be wondering what they have to do to get that vibe they had when they beat Hibs in the League Cup back in August. Ross County make another long journey south, this time to Dunfermline. County are still without a home win in the league. Not that it matters as they're playing away tomorrow, against a Pars side that got off to a good start in the league but whose form has taken a dip. A series of draws and defeats means that Dunfermline have not won a game since the 16th of August, and that against a St. Johnstone side going through some kind of crisis at the time

Scottish Second Division

The game of the weekend in the Second Division isn't until Sunday, when Ayr and Brechin face each other. Ayr are flying high at the moment, their only defeat this season coming against SPL team Aberdeen in the League Cup. A few draws aside, Ayr have won all their games. Brechin beat local rivals Arbroath 3-1 last weekend. Both Raith and Peterhead could go top if they win their games against Stirling and Stranraer respectively and Raith could even go clear should the game at Somerset Park end in a draw. Down at the bottom of the table, the teams in 6th to 9th all play each other: Queens Park take on an Arbroath side who have not won a game since the start of the season, while East Fife take on second bottom Alloa.

Scottish Third Division

This season's surprise package Annan Athletic could go top of the table if they beat Forfar and both Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir slip up. Cowdenbeath face a tricky tie away at Dumbarton while Stenhousemuir host eigth-placed Berwick Rangers. Bottom side Elgin will be hoping for their first home win of the season when they take on Albion Rovers while East Stirlingshire, without a win in six games so far take on fourth placed Montrose.

17.09// The Midweek Update

Aye aye all, it's Wednesday and that means it's time for the midweek update! It has not been a particularly busy week so far in the world of Scottish football, but that is about to change in the next two days as several important games take place in European competitions, as well as a potentially important night for Formartine United as they're joined by local rivals Turriff United in the quest for entry into the Highland League.

Saturday's league action was not without it's drama. Falkirk finally got a win under their belt as they beat Hearts 2-1. It was very much a case of the old guard holding the fort while the young 'uns got on with the business of scoring. Jackie McNamara played a cracking game by all accounts, as did goal scorer (and former Hearts player Nell McCann) while Darren Barr, Kevin McBride and scorer of the winning goal Scott Arfield all put in winning displays for the Bairns.

Aberdeen are still looking for their first win at home as they went down 2-1 to Hamilton. An early lead through Gary McDonald was cancelled out thanks to some sloppy defending by Considine and Forster allowing first Davie Graham and then highly-rated youngster James McCarthy to nip in and steal the three points. It looks like being another one of those seasons of crazy highs and absurd lows for Jimmy Calderwood's men, as Aberdeen continue their inconsistent season.

They Dons next face Dundee United in the New Firm derby, a game that has somewhat lost it's shine since the resurgence of the Old Firm, but nevertheless, this is a game that always gets the passion going. United are bottom of the league, the result of their 2-1 defeat away to Hibernian at the weekend. Two goals from Stephen Fletcher proved enough for Mixu's team. Lee Wilkie got the consolation goal for United. Two noteworthy events - the sending off of Hibs débutante Souleymane Bamba just after the restart and the return of former Easter Road favourite Derek Riordan to the green-and-white. Riordan has just returned from Parkhead exile and though he looked as sluggish and unfit as something that's particularly sluggish and unfit, his presence on the pitch boosted the Easter Road side in a game from which they where largely absent. United where perhaps unlucky to lose the game: Ma-Kalambay in the Hibs goal had a good game, while the United strikers couldn't strike a cow's arse with a banjo, missing a few sitters that even Inside Left could have put away.

Kris Boyd continued his run of fine form as he scored twice against his old side as he helped Rangers beat Kilmarnock 2-1 at Ibrox. Alan McGregor was to blame for Killie's goal when he misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing Frazer Wright to drive home from three yards out. Rangers fought back though and eventually got the three points with two goals in four minutes as Boyd converted a spot kick and then fired home from close range shortly afterwards.

Celtic and Motherwell got ready for their European games in midweek when they faced each other at Fir Park. Celtic powered into an early lead, going into half-time with a four goal advantage, Shaun Maloney, Scott McDonald and two goals from Georgios Samaras getting the goals. John Sutton and David Clarkson restored some pride for Motherwell after the break, but all in all, not the best way to get ready for your first European game since 1995.

The only other team in the SPL not to have won a game, won their game on Saturday. St. Mirren came from behind to beat Inverness Caley Thistle up in Inverness. Caley took the lead through an Adam Rooney penalty before Billy Mehmet restored parity after the break. Despite Caley starting the second half the stronger of the two teams it would be St. Mirren that would have the most to cheer about when Garry Brady connected well with a Stephen McGinn cross and put the ball high into the Caley net.

In the First Division there was a win at long last for St. Johnstone as they overcame Ross County 2-1 up in Dingwall. The games between Dundee and Dunfermline and Morton against Queen of the South all ended goalless, fortunately for Livingston who remain top thanks to those results despite going down 2-1 at home to Airdrie Unied.

In the Second Division there where derby day wins for Brechin who beat Arbroath 3-1 in a game that saw one player sent off following his somewhat vocal protests against referee John McLean's decision to disallow a goal that had - according to the Arbroath players anyway - clearly crossed the line. Stirling Albion emerged the winners in their game against Alloa (3-2) while elsewhere there where wins for Peterhead and Ayr United. The game between Raith Rovers and East Fife ended one goal apiece.

There were more crap refereeing performances in the Third Division in the game between Forfar and Montrose. Referee Garry Hilland made two decisions of such shocking ineptitude: the first, when he overruled his linesman after Forfars Johnny Russell was scythed down in the penalty box, and the second when he red-carded Montrose's Chris McLeod for a tackle that at most would have earned a yellow card.  League leaders Stenhousemuir had a comfortable win against East Stirlingshire, while Cowdenbeath, Annan and Dumbarton all recorded victories in their games against Berwick Rangers, Elgin City and Albion Rovers respectively.

European Games

Celtic and Motherwell are all in action this week in Europe. Celtic start the ball rolling when they take on Danish side AaB Aalborg in their opening game in the Champions League. Gordon Strachan has a full strength squad to chose from as he hopes to break the Hoops' jinx of never having won an opening fixture in this competition. Perhaps lucky then that they're playing Aalborg tonight. The Danes are currently ninth in their domestic league, just one place above Nordsjaelland, the team that put out Queen of the South in the Uefa Cup.

Motherwell kick of their European adventure against French side Nancy tomorrow evening. Mark McGhee's team have not exactly been setting the heather alight in the league so far so they should expect a tough game tomorrow night. Nancy - AS Nancy Lorraine, to give them their full title - are well down the table in France at the minute, having only won one of their last seven games so far.

Highland League

The Highland League management committee meets tomorrow evening to review the submissions of the two Aberdeenshire Junior outfits who have applied to join the League. Regulars readers of Inside Left will know that the Highland League intends to move to 16 teams in time for the 2009/10 season and both Formartine United and Turriff United - the two sides that have applied - are strong candidates. Turriff United, currently 11th in the Superleague after drawing their first two games, play their homes games at the 1,000 capacity The Haughs ground. Managed by former Peterhead goalkeeper Jim Will, Turriff have a  ground that nearly meets league criteria and have planning permission to put up new floodlights. According to Turriff chairman George Manson, the club also have a better league record than their Pitmedden based rivals. The town of Turriff lies at the point where the Burn of Turriff flows into the River Deveron and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Huntly, Keith, Banff and Inverurie, towns that already have a Highland League presence, making for a potentially interesting local rivalry.

The Highland League currently has an uneven number of teams, so accepting both teams would not present too many logistical issues when making up the league schedules. The league may however chose to wait until a third team submits an application, eventually ending up with an 18-team league. Elgin City, Alness, Golspie Sutherland and Banks O'Dee are among the other teams widely tipped as favourites to considering making an application. (Elaine Garrow)

Performance Of The Week - Week 38

Ah, it's good to be back behind the controls, albeit heavily jet-lagged and suffering from heatstroke, the result of sitting on the top deck of tour bus in 37c heat with no sun cream.  Despite the conditions and limited internet access, we still managed to bring you a few updates this week, underlining once again the fact that Inside Left is simply the best Scottish football site on the internet today - but more of that later..

It's Monday, which means it’s Performance of the Week time. This week we have four nominations for you to choose from. You know the deal - we like to recognise those teams, players and events in the week just passed that deserve a special mention for services rendered in the name of Scottish football. So without further waffling, here are the nominations, each one lovingly hand-picked by the staff of Inside Left.

Fort William, for getting their first points on the board. They're not off the bottom of the table and Jose Mourinho won't be sending any scouts down the town just yet, but still, every great journey starts with a single step. Or a single point in the case of Fort William. This weekend the mighty Fort drew 1-1 with fellow strugglers Wick Academy. Amazingly, they where only three minutes away from a first victory in over a year (their 4-2 win against Rothes last season come on the 22nd September) when they where denied the three points by Wick substitute Greg Shearer. Robert McGillivray scored Fort William’s goal on 70 minutes. It's only a matter of time before they get their first win as the Fort have been gradually improving in their last few fixtures. A single point from six games, they could in theory go up as far as 12th place if results go their way, as all of the teams above them are playing higher placed opposition next weekend. Fort William’s next game is on the 11th of October against Buckie Thistle. The revolution starts here - just remember where you read it first!

Scotland & George Burley, for keeping Scotland on track for WC2010 qualification (for now at least). To be honest, we're not sure that they should appear on this list. We had a bit of a heated discussion in the office whether Scotland beating Iceland is worthy of a 'Performance of the Week' award, as Scotland beating Iceland is something that they've always done. But you have to look at this result in context. The game against Macedonia wasn't good, and neither where Macedonia - Scotland just didn't play well on the day. Burley was vilified in some quarters of the press for the team’s performance so a result was needed to not only get the Scotland campaign back on track, but also to restore a little faith in the man himself. Well, he didn't disappoint. A good result and a good performance from the whole team, coupled with results going our way (i.e. Holland beating Macedonia) has Scotland back on top of the group with two easy home games coming up (Norway in October and Iceland in April). OK, so there's a tricky away fixture to Holland in March, but you'd expect the Scots to get the six points against the Scandinavians, right?

Falkirk, for finally getting their first win under their belt. We've said it before, but Falkirk simply deserve more than their results are showing. They play nice football and manager John Hughes is a brave man for at least trying to play attractive football. They ain't no Arsenal, but he's showing that it can be done in Scotland. We predicted a win for Hearts in this game, but sneakily suspected that this game could be the upset of the day. Like Fort William, Falkirk are due a win and who better to get that win against than Scotland's very own version of Newcastle United, Heart of Midlithuania - and for extra laughs, the scorer of Falkirk's first goal was Neil McCann, who used to play for Hearts.

The readers of Inside Left. Since we started back in May, we've received over 50,000 unique hits on the site. It's the sort of growth we had not expected when we started Inside Left, and it will certainly spur us on to keep growing the site, adding more features and stories to keep you coming back for more. We have some interesting new features in the pipeline, including a new batch of articles in our popular 'Who Are Ya?' and 'If You Know Your History' series, and a new site design that will give a better overview of the articles while at the same time giving us a platform on which Inside Left can grow and constantly improve. Lastly, we're in negotiations with some fairly high profile internet sites to provide Scottish football content for them, something we're very excited about, as this will go a long way to fulfilling one of the prime objectives we set when we started Inside Left, namely, to bring Scottish football to the (internet) masses.

Right, that's the list of nominations for this week. Let us know who you think deserves the prize for Performance of the Week (or contribute your own) and we'll let the lucky winner know once the votes have been counted. Until next week!

13.09// The Weekend's Fitba

After the break for the World Cup Qualifiers (which saw the national side play two games as they began their World Cup qualification bid) it's back to league action for the four divisions in Scottish domestic football. As always, this week sees the usual mix of interesting fixtures, not least in Division Two and Three where a few gala derby-day games take place. We preview all of those, as well as look ahead to the action in the rest of the league.

It's a limited preview today as we're still in Singapore and our internet access is restricted, but we'll do our best to bring you the best Scottish league football previews on the internet today! Right, let's get on with the action. We start, as always, in the top flight with the Inside Left Match of the Day.

Scottish Premier League

Match of the Day: Rangers vs Kilmarnock
The top of the table clash features two teams that many pundits didn't expect to see at these giddy heights. Rangers, if you read the newspapers, had gone into self-destruct mode following that exit to that team in that competition. A player exodus threatened, ripped up season ticket books and scarves on the pitch where expected to signal the beginning of the end for Smith and Murray and all at Castle Greyskull, but oh, how quickly things can turn around: a week is a long time in Scottish Premier League football. Pedro Mendes, Maurice Edu, even Kenny Miller are proving to be quality purchases. Defender Kirk Broadfoot, making his debut in a dark blue jersey got on the scoresheet in midweek against Iceland and with that morale boosting, two-fingers-up-at-the-critics win against Celtic the other week, you could say things are going rather well at Ibrox. Kilmarnock, their opponents tomorrow, are a bit of a surprise package. Jim Jefferies just picked up the Manager of the Month Award, one he richly deserves. Working on a limited budget with a small and unfashionable team, Jefferies has done well to keep Killie in the SPL over the years and even better to get them into joint second spot. Stealth form, thats what we'd call it. Quietly stringing the results together, all done just off the radar. Their games against Hibs, St. Mirren, Hamilton just seemed to go unnoticed until last weekend when they beat Dundee United in some style and there, all of a sudden, they were: top of the table with Rangers. It'll be an interesting encounter which Rangers should win, but hopefully Kilmarnock will give Ibrox side a run for their money. And should Killie win, remember our theory about Kilmarnock being a cyclical team? It's on the site somewhere, go find it - you might be surprised ...

Aberdeen vs Hamilton
The blistering form that saw Hamilton rise to the top of the table after the first two games of the season has somewhat left them, so they'll be looking to get their campaign back on track when they visit Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The Dons look to make it four unbeaten games in a row. Their strength lies in defence, with no goals conceded since the game against Rangers earlier on in the season, while their weakness lies up front. Three goals in three games is way too low for a team that's expecting to be a challenger for the third spot. We go for an Aberdeen win.

Falkirk vs Hearts
Falkirk currently lie bottom of the table with zero points, their pretty flowing football so far failing to produce any results. They can expect a rough ride again this Saturday for the visit of 3rd placed Hearts. Despite some setbacks (League Cup exit at the hands of lower league opposition), the Jambo's are stringing the results together and go into the game on the back of two wins against teams from the lower half of the league, Hamilton and St. Mirren. We'll go with the Jambo's to win.

Hibernian vs Dundee United
Two other teams that are struggling to get going meet at Easter Road. Hibernian and Dundee United are seriously under-performing. United are in 10th place, with no wins, two draws and that defeat last week against Kilmarnock. It's not quite crisis time yet for Levein, but he'd be wanting to get at least one three-pointer on the board to keep the team - and the fans - happy. Hibernian lie in 8th spot, with only the win against Falkirk to show for the efforts so far. The green half of Edinburgh also got knocked out of the League Cup against lower league opposition - life for Mixu Paatelainen has not been easy so far. As the home performance against Falkirk showed, the Hibees are capable of putting in a good performance, and with United struggling still we'll go for a Hibs win in this game.

Inverness vs St. Mirren
The battle of the relegation candidates. Ok, so it's only the fifth game and, in fairness Caley are doing fine up in fifth place, but these are two teams we're expecting to slowly sink to the bottom any time soon. It's a journey that's a lot shorter for St. Mirren - they're in 11th place. They've gotten some good performances, if not results, with narrow defeats in all their games to date and if the referees would only cut them some slack, they might just stay in 11th place and watch Caley slip beneath them come the end of the season. Caley are strong at home, so we'll go with a Caley win.

Motherwell vs Celtic
The Steelmen got their first win of the season last week against Hibernian. A timely win it has to be said, because it wasn't look too good for Marc McGhee there for a while. It's a shame that they're not going to get a chance to extend that winning run because this Saturday they welcome Celtic to Fir Park. The Hoops are (possibly) still reeling from that humiliating defeat to Rangers in front of their own crowd the other week and are looking for someone to take it out on. Away fixtures are always tough even if you are one half of the Old Firm, but we'll go with a Celtic win here.

Scottish Division One

Clyde got their first win of the season last week against a poor St. Johnstone side and they'll be looking to continue that form against Partick Thistle when they visit the Broadwood Stadium. Thistle had a wee blip last week when they lost to bottom club Ross County, but otherwise they're in fine fettle. Dundee lost their grip at the top of the table last week when they went down to Queen of the South. They take on Dunfermline, who also lost last week when they went down 1-2 at home to the team that overtook both Dundee and Dunfermline, Livingston. The Livi Lions take on Airdrie at Almondvale. Airdrie beat Morton 5-0 last week (two sides that knocked out SPL opposition in the midweek cup action), while two goals from Andy Griffiths saw Livingston beat Dunfermline to rise to the top of the First Division. Second placed Queen of the South's fine season continues as they take on bottom side Morton in Greenock, while Ross County hope to pour more misery on Perth side St. Johnstone. Ten goals in three games for the Saints sounds good - unfortunately they're all entries in the 'GA' column.

Scottish Division Two

Aside from the game at Hampden (Queens Park vs Peterhead) and in Stranraer (Stranraer vs Ayr), there's three derby games in the Second Division this weekend, starting with ....

Stirling Albion vs Alloa
The Gods have not always been kind to Stirling Albion. The clubs nickname, or at least one of them, is the Yo-Yos. This has nothing to do with gangsta rap you understand, but rather their inability to stay in one division longer than one or two seasons. Two years ago they won promotion to the First, beating Airdrie in the play-offs, only to drop straight back down again the next, thus setting up this juicy tie against their local rivals from down the road in Clackmannanshire, Alloa Athletic. Alloa, aka “The Wasps”, have been regulars in the Second division since around 2003.  Formed in 1883, it wasn’t until 1921 that Alloa where elected into the Scottish Football League, having previously played its games in the Scottish Football Union and the Central Football League. The games between these two have had some interesting score lines. In 2007, Albion beat Alloa 5-0, while in 1999, Alloa beat Albion by seven goals to nil. Aside from the League, the two sides will also meet in the Stirlingshire Cup this year, a competition Stirling Albion have been rather successful in, winning it 13 times. Alloa last won the cup in 1997.

Stirling Albion are the holders of quite a few intriguing records in Scottish football. For example, in the 80/81 season, Albion went without scoring a league goal for eight months, still managing to finish second bottom (Berwick Rangers ended the season below them). They’re also the first Scottish team to play on artificial turf and hold the record Scottish Cup score when they beat Selkirk 20-0. Selkirk is something of a goal-mine for these two sides, as Alloa’s highest ever score also came against the Borders team.

Raith vs East Fife
Kircaldy vs. Methill, the Fife derby. It’s been a while since Sam Leitch’s famous, if incorrect, assertion that there’ll be dancing on the streets of Raith; the Kircaldy side last played top flight football in 1996 and have not had much to cheer about of late. Methill meanwhile, eight miles up the coast from Kircaldy, is home to East Fife, promoted last year from the Third division on the back of a strong season that saw them crowned champions in March 2008. These two sides have not played each other in the league since they were both in the First division in 1988. It’s a match-up East Fife will want to forget; they played five times that season, losing all but two of the games, including a 7-1 drubbing in Kircaldy.

Raith Rovers where once managed by Claude Anelka, brother of Chelsea bench-warmer Nicolas Anelka. He offered £300,000 to any team that would let him manage them; Raith duly obliged and Claude set them on course for a disastrous season that saw him quit halfway through and ended with Raith’s relegation to the Second division. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is said to be a fan of the club. East Fife are the youngest of the four Fife based teams (Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Raith Rovers) having been founded in 1903.

Brechin vs Arbroath
One half of the Angus quartet of teams play each other on the 13th. Arbroath won promotion to the Second division after they beat (and subsequently relegated) Cowdenbeath. Brechin are establishing themselves in the Second division since their promotion in 2001. They made the news in January when, after fielding two ineligible players in the Scottish Cup win against Hamilton, Brechin where thrown out of the competition. Although Arbroath’s traditional rivals Montrose are still in the Third, their games against Brechin have also had their moments: the last time these two where in the same division in season 2004/05, Brechin beat them on all but one occasion, when a 2-2 draw shared the points. Brechin scored four goals in each of their wins over the Lichties! Mind you, Arbroath got their own back when, in their last encounter in August 2006, they knocked Brechin out of the Challenge Cup.

Arbroath play their home matches at Gayfield Park, which holds the record for being the closest stadium to the sea in European football (around five metres from the high tide line).

Scottish Division Three

Like the Second Division, there are two derby games taking place. We'll preview them in a minute, but if you're near Cowdenbeath (Cowdenbeath vs Berwick), Coatbridge (Albion vs Dumbarton) or up in Elgin (Elgin vs Annan) then get yourself along to those games and cheer on the teams.

East Stirlingshire vs Stenhousemuir
On either side of the Forth and Clyde Canal, there are two teams that have never played each other outside of the Second or Third division. East Stirlingshire, based in Falkirk, and Stenhousemuir, 7 miles up the M9 have both been playing in the Third division since 1998. In that time, Stenhousemuir have gotten two huge victories over East Stirlingshire, namely a 6-0 drubbing in 2004 and a 7-0 demolition in 2006. It’s worth noting though that this was at the time when ‘the Shire’ where arguably one of the worst teams in Britain, a season in which they finished on eight points,  lost the right to vote at league meetings and became the subject of a successful book ‘Pointless - A Season With Britain’s Worst Football Team’. The publicity East Stirlingshire got did bring some good fortune however; following a documentary about the club on Norwegian television, an East Stirlingshire supporters club was founded in Norway, currently numbering some 6,000 members.

Forfar vs Montrose
The other half of the Angus quartet, Forfar and Montrose lie 22 miles apart and, like East Stirlingshire and Stenhousemuir, are pretty familiar with each other having played in the same division since 1994. Forfar hold the advantage with 50 victories in the 115 games played between the sides, Montrose winning 42. The games are generally not high-scoring, though there have been some notable exceptions such as an 8-2 win for Montrose in 1963 and a 7-0 win for Forfar way back in 1932.

Forfar finished bottom of the Third Division last year, taking over from East Stirlingshire who had finished bottom every season since 2002/03.  Montrose missed out on promotion this season when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Stranraer.

Scot-Ads Highland League

There's action in the Highland's this weekend also as the league continues and the next round of the SFA North Region Challenge Cup reaches the semi-finals. This sets up a cracking round of games featuring teams from the north-east, starting in Banff where league leaders Deveronvale take on league champions Cove Rangers. Up the coast in the Broch, Fraserburgh welcome another high-flying team to their ground, as Inverurie make the journey up the A90 (or the A948 if they're taking the scenic route).

The full fixture list in the Highlands this weekend is:

Scot-Ads Highland League

Clachnacuddin vs  Forres Mechanics
Fort William  vs  Wick Academy
Nairn County  vs  Keith
Rothes        vs  Huntly

SFA North Region Challenge Cup

Deveronvale   vs  Cove Rangers
Fraserburgh   vs  Inverurie Loco Works

There'll be no results round-up tomorrow as we're travelling back home, but we'll be back behind the keyboard on Monday with our Performance of the Week Award for which you can send us your nominations now!

Match Day: Iceland 1:2 Scotland

It may have started brightly and ended on somewhat of a sour note, but the facts stand for themselves: two goals, one from Kirk Broadfoot, the other from James McFadden where enough to give George Burley his first win in charge of the national side as the three puts Scotland's challenge for World Cup 2010 firmly back on track.  Captain Stephen McManus was sent off just before the final whistle for a deliberate handball,  setting up an exciting and frantic final 20 minutes. The team managed to hang on to their slender lead and now find themselves equal on points with Macedonia and Holland, who played last night in Skopje - the Macedonians lost 1-2.  We next face Norway at Hampden on the 11th October.

As we're still stuck in Singapore we didn't see the game  but looking at the line-up, Burley went for a 4-5-1 or  maybe even 4-3-3: can someone confirm?

Match Review BBC

Match Programme: Iceland vs Scotland

George Burley will get another chance tonight to record his first victory since taking over from Alex McLeish as Scotland manager and, more importantly, his first victory in the World Cup qualifying campaign when his Scotland side take on Iceland in Reykjavik.

Normally we'd have inserted the word 'minnows'  in front of 'Iceland', but, despite Scotland's 16th place in the FIFA World Rankings, the gap between the national team and those considered minnows is becoming smaller and the games are becoming tougher.  The statistics tells us that Iceland have not beaten Scotland in four attempts and unlike Scotland, they've never qualified for a major ranking tournament. Certainly, anyone looking at the fixture on paper would immediately put money on Scotland to win tonight.  But we all know that statistics don't always tell the complete story, that football is, as it always has been, a funny old game and that results, no matter how 'minnow' the opposition requires a fair application of blood, sweat and tears.

And there was certainly plenty of sweat on Saturday against Macedonia. Scotland went down to a fifth minute goal following a free-kick award that was, to put it mildly, soft but nevertheless does not excuse the fact that Naumoski should never have been given the time and space to drill the ball into the net from close range after Craig Gordon tipped the ball onto the post. The next 85 minutes was one of frustration against a side that looked comfortable and competent on the ball and which on more than one occasion caused a few skipped heartbeats in the Tartan end of the ground.   There was nothing to be ashamed of in the defeat in Skopje. The Macedonians where the better side, they played the better football, they had all the possession and a fair share of luck and, to put it simply, deserved to win the game.  Technically superior to the Scots, their first-touch was better, their passing crisper and their movement always dangerous.

So with one game down and seven yet to go, what can Burley do to turn the fortunes around and get the Tartan Army's march on South Africa back on track? Well, obviously a win would do just nicely, and against Iceland you'd expect us to get three points (then again, we said that about Macedonia also). We clearly don't want to start playing the 'if the results elsewhere go our way' game just yet, but it would also really help Burley's cause if  Macedonia lose to Holland tonight.  With home advantage in October when the Norwegians come to Glasgow, a victory in that game would put us firmly back in the driving seat. So, all is not by any means lost.

The second thing worth trying is reverting back to a 4-5-1 formation that McLeish and Smith used throughout most of the previous campaigns and which has paid dividends. We don't like the formation, but it suits the sort of football that Scotland play - physical midfield to shut down the opposition, then a quick counter-attack.

And if we must go with 4-4-2, then let's try changing our front pairing. In defence and in midfield we're happy, but we've never been convinced by the Miller/McFadden combo up front. Certainly they're good players, but like England (i.e. the Gerard/Lampard conundrum), they're two players who just never quite seem to click on the day. McFadden, technically the better of the two, tends to hangs on to the ball too long (in our opinion), while Miller just isn't fit for this game having only just recovered from a ham-string injury. We'd really like to see Fletcher - who scored twice for the U21's last week - up front, perhaps partnering McFadden, or Kris Boyd and Fletcher.

In any case, tonight will be a tough game for the Scots, because we're a team that excels as underdogs, never as favourites. It's a role that worked for us against France and Italy; whenever we're put in as favourites, we crumble under the weighty expectation of the nation, the fans and the press,  and our performances suffer as a result. Let's not expect too much from tonight's game.

Just the three points will be fine.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Group Nine
Iceland V Scotland
Venue: Laugardalsvollur Stadium, Reykjavik
Date: Wednesday, 10 September
Kick-off: 1930 BST

Off The Ball: Aye fond farewell (for now)

Aye aye all, just a quick update for you for a wee while. The powers that be have decided that in the absence of any league football in Scotland, now is the best time for Inside Left to go travelling. We'll be in Singapore until next Sunday so updates will be sporadic and probably at very odd times in the day. We know you'll miss us, but don't worry, we'll be back. And if you really cant wait, then there's always our various features for you to plough your way through. The links are on the left hand side.

Some things then for your diary - once Scotland have seen off the Macedonians this afternoon, there's the next fixture against Iceland to look forward to. I don't know how many of you are going to that game, but it'll be a refreshing change from the heat in Skopje - the weather forecast for next Wednesday is 11c and pishing rain. Anyway, an easy 3 points we reckon, but of course we'll never publicly say that, given our track record of predicting games so far. There's the Highland League of course, with games this weekend and in mid-week when Buckie take on Keith.

May we recommend some links to tide you over? Worth checking out is the London Hearts Supporters Club, a fabulous site with lots and lots of history and info about the Jambos. Other good Scottish links include Scotzine, Fitba Daft and the The Arab Blog, while The Onion Bag, Some People Are On The Pitch, Pitch Invasion and Midfield Dynamo are all general football favourites - again, links are on the left.

Enjoy the games, whichever one you are watching.

[caption id="attachment_2101" align="aligncenter" width="243" caption="Until we meet again, at a dockside near you ... "][/caption]

Match Programme: Macedonia vs Scotland

Scotland take on the Macedonia tomorrow in Skopje, looking for their first win under George Burley. It's a win that could not come at a more important time, as this is not just another friendly but the first in a series of two games the national side will play in their campaign to qualify for the World Cup in 2010.  Following the game in Macedonia, Scotland travel to Iceland for their second Group 9 game on the 10th September.

It wouldn't be a Scotland international fixture without the usual crop of injuries and call-offs. The Scots travel to Skopje with several notable omissions, forcing manager George Burley to make some last minute changes to his team. This week, Kevin Thomson, Kevin McNaughton and Callum Davidson joined James Morrison, David Weir, goalkeeper David Marshall and Garry O'Connor on the list of players unavailable for the game. Aberdeen's Jamie Langfield was called up (the first Aberdeen player in a Scotland selection for quite some time) along with Rangers' Kirk Broadfoot and Hearts' Michael Stewart.

Macedonia are not without their injuries worries; Goran Popov is out for the game, and coach Katanec is watching anxiously for the injury to star player Goran Pandev, who plays his football with Italian giants Lazio, to heal before the game.

While Scotland where labouring against Northern Ireland at Hampden, Macedonia put in the sort of performance that, if not exactly against tough opposition - Luxembourg - at least got the ball in the net, always a morale booster when you're about to start an important series of games. Before that game, Katanec's side fought out two creditable draws, the first against Euro '08 qualifiers (and flops) Poland and the second at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

If Scotland have not won a game since Burley took over (P3, D2, L1), the quality of the sides we have played - Croatia (1:1, a side that Macedonia, in something of a shock result beat 2:0 in November of last year), Czech Republic (1:3) and Northern Ireland (0:0) - will have given the Scots the tougher work-out, but will it be enough to get a result against a side about which we know very little, and in conditions that do not come naturally to peely-waly Scots. The game will be played in the middle of the afternoon under a blazing sun, with the temperature predicted to rise to a very non-Scottish 34c.

But it's not beyond us.

Our defence looks solid, if not spectacular. Gordon or McGregor are both excellent keepers, Berra and Barr showed promise in the game against Northern Ireland, as did Brown and Thomson (sadly out tomorrow)  in midfield. We'd have liked to have seen O'Connor up front, if only for a bit of height in an otherwise small front line and knock balls down to a poaching striker. It's not to be though: O'Connor is also out, so more likely than not it'll be McFadden and Miller up front. Kenny Miller, back from the brink of eternal Rangers supporters condemnation by scoring twice against arch-rivals Celtic at the weekend should be in good spirits and fired up for the game. But despite Burley's claims that it's partnership that needs time to gel, the time for gelling is over, and this is a game Scotland can ill afford to lose. With group 9 favourites Holland still to come (a team we're not expected to beat), Scotland realistically need to get at least four points from this game and the one against Iceland next week.

We'd love to hear your views - leave a comment with your predictions and opinions of the game.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Group Nine
Macedonia v Scotland
Venue: City Stadium, Skopje
Date: Saturday, 6 September
Kick-off: 1400 BST
Coverage: Setanta Sports, BBC Radio Scotland and http://macedoniantv.blogspot.com

Scotland U21 3:1 Slovenia U21

Goals from Steven Fletcher and Garry Kenneth took the Scotland's U21's comfortably past the Slovenia U21 side at the Falkirk Stadium last night.  Fletcher scored in the first minute when McCormack threaded the ball through the Slovenian defence allowing the Hibernian striker to fire the ball past Koprivec. The second goal came through Kenneth, reacting first to the rebound from a Charlie Mulgrew's free-kick and it was the Aberdeen defender who set up the third goal: his cross from the left found Fletcher, free from his marker, who headed the ball across the goal and into the net. An excellent evening for Scotland looked to be capped when the Scots where awarded a penalty, but Mulgrew's tame spot kick was easily saved.

Scotland play their final qualifying match against Denmark next week.

Scotland U21: MacDonald, Cuthbert, Considine, Kenneth, Wallace, Arfield, McDonald (Robertson 88), Lennon (Hamill 78), Mulgrew, McCormack, Fletcher (Elliot 88).

Off The Ball: Thursday Update

The Inside Left kiss-of-death continues. As soon as we say that a team are playing well, stringing the results together and generally impressing, they go and lose. So it was that Deveronvale, mentioned in yesterdays early season review lost to local rivals Huntly in the Aberdeenshire Cup. Goals from Mike Ewen sank 'Vale at Christie Park, a defeat made bitter-sweet as Ewen is a former Deveronvale player. Mark Chisholm got a consolation goal. It was another typical Highland League affair, with plenty of bookings (thirteen yellow cards where handed out), seven minutes of injury time and one sending off as Gary Clark picked up his second yellow early on in the second half. Huntly 2:1 Deveronvale.

The Highland League action continues on the weekend when Cove Rangers take on Fort William (a high scoring fixture last season, can Cove repeat their win against an improving Fort?). Deveronvale take on Lossiemouth and Forres take on Rothes. Nairn County welcome Clachnacuddin and Inverurie Locos, joint leaders with Deveronvale make the long trip north to Wick. Huntly against Keith and Fraserburgh against Brora completes the lineup. All games kick-off at 3pm. Remember what we said the other day - the 'High' in 'Highland' stands for 'high scores', so if you're in the area, go and watch a game!

Queen of the South find themselves in the second spot in the First Division with their win over Ross County last night. The Doonhamers had two penalty claims dismissed either side of half-time, the first when Mark McCulloch appeared to handle the ball when he blocked a Jamie McQuicklen's cross, the second when Paul Lawson went down heavily in the box. It took a goal three minutes from time by David Wetherston, a 20-yard rasper, to seal the win for the Dumfries side. Final score, Queen of the South 1:0 Ross County.

Some worrying news: Stranraer appear to be in financial difficulties. The BBC is reporting that the club are nearly a quarter of a million pounds in debt and are taking steps to avoid administration. Sean Niven, vice chairman at the club is keen to point out that the club is not in immediate danger of going under, but that costs must be cut in order to guarantee the mid-to-long term survival of the club. Stranraer are one of several clubs to have faced financial troubles in recent years. Gretna's rise and demise is well documented, as are Clydebank's and Airdrieonians'. Dundee, Raith Rovers, Livingston, East Fife and East Stirlingshire similarly had financial difficulties but recovered through a combination of supporters-trusts, buy-outs and community actions. Stranraer are currently lying in bottom place in the Second Division.

Rights, that's it for today. There's no games this weekend in the league (apart from the Highland League of course), instead, there's the Scotland game against Macedonia to look forward to. Mind you, with the amount of call-offs, it is going to be another nervy affair. We'll have a preview of that game in tomorrow's match programme.