Our Four to Follow for this week begins at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen v Rangers
After Celtic, the team most Rangers fans want to beat is Aberdeen, the up-starts from the East coast. In the past this fixture has seen some titanic struggles, but the history this fixture brings with it rarely makes for pretty football. Passionate and committed, yes. Pretty, no.
Rangers are still smarting from their European exit by Stuttgart on Tuesday. The result left them at the bottom of their group, with even the trapdoor to the Europa League closed off to them. It will allow Walter Smith to focus on retaining their league title however, so expect Rangers to go all-out to win this one, especially as Celtic have an easy game at home to St Mirren tomorrow.
It's said that Aberdeen raise their game for the visit of the Old Firm. It's a pity they couldn't do that every week. The season so far (and remember, I'm biased) has been dire, and with chairman Stewart Milne not prepared to spend any more on the club, we can probably expect much more of the same in the years to come.
To make matters worse, McGhee has been warned that he must deliver Aberdeen's ambitions without spending a penny on transfers. The club apparently has debts of around £9m and need to somehow find £30m to build their new stadium, now that any further expansion or rebuilding of the clubs current home has been ruled out.
Aberdeen's last victory over Rangers at Pittodrie was at the end of the 2007/08 season, a win which denied Rangers the SPL title. Since then it's been fairly even, with Rangers win 2 out of the last five meetings, the rest ending in a draw.
McGhee has warned his players to get their act together and get in amongst the goals. 10 goals in 12 outings is pretty poor for a team with the ambitions that Stewart Milne has placed upon them, but don't expect that goal tally to be added to tomorrow. Rangers are out to prove a point (i.e. that they're not as bad as the non-Scottish media makes them out to be) and with half the squad up for sale come January, they'll be wanting to impress potential buyers.
Expect a tough game, with Rangers just coming out on top 1-2.
Strathspey Thistle v Fort William
This fixture has been top of my particular wish list for some time. The two worst teams in senior football finally meet up in scenic Granton-on-Spey. Most teams who welcome Fort William to their grounds are, in the main, not being over-confident in predicting an easy win. But it's Strathspey Thistle, and not Fort William that currently prop up the Highland League.
With only 2 points following draws against Turriff United and Brora Rangers, they're only a point behind the Fort whose first win in 2 years came against Turriff earlier in the season.
Fort William face the unlikely scenario of going into this game as favourites. A win tomorrow, coupled with a defeat for Rothes at Lossiemouth could see Fort William achieve their highest league position for some time - 16th - so there's a lot to play for. And, assuming the game goes ahead, Fort William get a chance to advance even further up the table next Saturday when Strathspey come to Claggan Park for the return fixture. Imagine, Fort William in mid-table. Watch this space, it just might happen!
Considering Fort William managed to win away from home, we'll go for an away win again, 1-3. The revolution starts here!
Partick Thistle v Inverness Caley Thistle
The only league fixture taking place in the SFL this weekend is up in Glasgow. The battle of the Thistles will be an interesting tie, given the tightness of the First Division at the moment: three teams - Caley, Partick and Raith - clog up the middle of the table on 22 points, with Dunfermline only one point behind them in 7th place.
Caley Thistle lost out on silverware on Sunday when they lost 3-2 in a thrilling Challenge Cup final to Dundee. With Terry Butcher now being a full-time Caley manager again, he'll be looking to get a result here tomorrow to close the gap at the top and bring SPL football back to Inverness.
Partick Thistle lost 3-1 to Dunfermline in their last fixture back on the 14th, so they'll be a little rusty going in to this game. It will be the first time since April 2002 that these two sides have met in the league. On that day, it was Caley who ran out winners, with three goals from Graeme Stewart, Paul Ritchie and Dennis Wyness.
The win made little difference to either team: Caley where mid-table, and Partick had already been assured of promotion to the SPL several weeks previously. Their tenure in the top flight lasted until season 2003/04 when they where replaced by - you guessed it - Inverness Caley.
Tough game to call, but we fancy Caley to be a wee bit sharper than Partick Thistle. We'll go for a 2-0 win for Terry Butcher's team.
Clyde v Livingston
Clyde's troubles continue. Bottom of the Second division and without a manager (John Brown was sacked earlier in the week), broke and with the council constantly on their back, life sure ain't easy as a Bully Wee. Tomorrow they welcome high-flying Livingston to the Broadwood. Livi are back on top of the Third division and cruising to automatic promotion when they'll probably replace Clyde (assuming Clyde are still around then of course).
Clyde are at full strength and go into this game with former Dundee, Morton Queen's Park and Albion Rovers manager John McCormack at the helm, though not on a permanent basis. Two teams then, once facing an uncertain future, the other whose future seems a little more assured than it did a few months ago.
Clyde are not playing well, but might lift their game for their interim coach. Despite that, we fancy Livingston to be stronger, and we'll back them to win by a large margin - 3-1.
Other SPL fixtures
Celtic v St Mirren
Celtic get a chance to overtake Rangers with what, on paper at least, would be an easy enough fixture in any other season. Celtic's defeat in the last minute at Dundee United last week does not alleviate the pressure on Tony Mowbray for whom a return to Scotland has not been as welcome as he would have wanted. St Mirren did well against Hibs last week and they're placed higher in the league than most people would have thought.
Nevertheless, got to expect Celtic to win this one. Anything short of victory would put Mowbray in a rather sticky position.
Hibernian v Falkirk
Hibernian suffered a bit of setback against St Mirren last week, but they have a chance to stake their claim on third spot when they play Falkirk. Falkirk are going through a decent spell at the minute with that 3-3 draw against Celtic and the 2-0 win over Hamilton last Saturday. They'd have wished for a kinder draw this weekend, because they're only a win away from 9th place.
Kilmarnock v Hearts
Kilmarnock continue to form, i.e. very inconsistently. A heavy defeat at Ibrox last week and a surprise defeat for Hearts against St Johnstone sets up a nice game that both team will really want - need - to win to avoid dropping into the danger zone. Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo is under more pressure than his opposite number Jim Jefferies to deliver, given last season and a pesky owner in the wings. Expect this to be a dour game, with Killie coming out on top.
Motherwell v Dundee United
Three points separate Motherwell from Dundee United. Jim Gannon has done well to fill the void left by Mark McGhee's departure - his predecessor is really struggling with his new side, while Gannon has led his team slowly but surely up the league. There's a lot of anxious fans at Tannadice waiting to see whether Craig Levein will jump ship to take on the Scotland job, or whether he'll stay to finish what he started. Dundee United, together with Hibs are best positioned of all the teams in the SPL to split the Old Firm this season, given how poor the Glasgow giants have been so far. For that reason, we reckon Levein will stay. Expect a United win tomorrow.
St Johnstone v Hamilton
Perth side St Johnstone are holding their own in their first season back in the SPL for ages. Sitting just below mid-table, they'll want to put points on the board to make sure they're safe come next May. And it's against teams such as Hamilton where they'll be hoping to get those points. Accies have only two wins from their last 10 games, but in the last few weeks they've held Motherwell and Dundee United to a draw. Back in October this game ended in a 2-0 win for St Johnstone, which is pretty much the way we see this one going.
The remaining fixtures this weekend are as follows:
The Homecoming Scottish Cup
Airdrie Utd v Queen of South
Albion v Elgin
Cowdenbeath v Alloa
Deveronvale v Ayr
Edinburgh City v Keith
Irvine Meadow v Arbroath
Montrose v East Fife
Morton v Dumbarton
Raith v Peterhead
Ross County v Berwick
Spartans v Forfar
Stenhousemuir v Cove Rangers
Stirling v Auchinleck Talbot
Threave Rovers v Inverurie Locos
Wick Academy v Brechin
Scot-Ads Highland Football League
Formartine Utd v Brora
Forres Mechanics v Rothes
Fraserburgh v Clachnacuddin
Huntly v Turriff United
Lossiemouth v Buckie Thistle
Agree with us, or are we speaking mince again? Let us know with a wee comment.
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