Season 2009/10 Review: We Love Fitba

SO WE come to the end of another season, and it's not been a vintage one.

Another World Cup qualifying campaign ended in failure, and lame performances by our clubs in Europe did nothing to rehabilitate the reputation of Scottish football.

At least there was no Gretna-like disaster story this year, but be in no doubt that Scottish football is facing a huge crisis just now. With finances under attack from all sides, and supporters' demands as high as ever, managing an SPL club now is probably more difficult now than it's ever been.

Consider the evidence. Half the SPL changed their manager during the season, while St Mirren waited until their last game before dumping Gus McPherson. That's seven out of 12 clubs!

McPherson, in particular, might wonder what on earth he did wrong, having led the Buddies to the League Cup Final (which they really could have won) and kept them up once more.

"The team had got staid", said one unsympathetic supporter. Well, maybe so, but if your team's budget is so tight that Billy Mehmet becomes the talisman you can't afford to keep, you might reasonably ask just how any manager is supposed to build an exciting Buddies team.

"how many punters are willing to pay £50 or more to drag their kid out to an SPL tussle?"

Elsewhere, Kilmarnock fell out with Jim Jefferies, who took Csaba Laszlo's still-warm seat at Hearts, and replaced him with the two Jimmies. Motherwell dumped high-maintenance Jim Gannon and sought comfort with Pa Broon. Falkirk, having fallen for Eddie May's patter, then got rather taken by Stephen Pressley's smooth chat. Dundee United reluctantly allowed Craig Levein to do his duty, but found love on the rebound with his mate Peter Houston.

And Celtic, after the briefest honeymoon, ended their unhappy relationship with Tony Mowbray, and allowed smitten Neil Lennon a chance to try and win their hand.

Other couplings didn't end in divorce, but it wasn't all plain sailing. John Hughes at Hibs and Mark McGhee at Aberdeen - both popular appointments last summer - were under pressure, with plenty of supporters at both clubs asking for them to go.

And Walter Smith and Rangers, while undoubtedly in love, may still part ways this summer. Smith has been working without a contract since January, and with players certain to leave this summer with no guarantee they'll be replaced, he may well feel he's done all he can at Ibrox.

Rangers will crow about their title success, but in truth Celtic's awfulness played as much a part as their own resilience. In a strange way, their League Cup triumph was almost more impressive, because they strength of character in the final to beat a spirited St Mirren with 10 men.

The top level of Scottish football is in a perilous position. No one's got any money, and gates have been sharply lower this season, either through boredom, frustration, or trouble justifying the cost in these straightened times.

Clubs have struggled to persuade even their season ticket holders to turn up, let alone anyone else, and that means that crowds for next season will probably fall again, further squeezing managers' playing budgets. With La Liga and the Premiership on TV, how many punters are willing to pay £50 or more to drag their kid out to an SPL tussle?

Clubs are increasingly realising that bringing through young players from within is the only solution yet, as Henry McLeish's report confirmed, facilities in Scotland are inadequate. Simply put, not enough children are playing football, certainly not in any kind of structured way, and this is being felt all the way through the game. If SPL clubs are struggling, then what hope in the SFL?

The irony is that the SPL was a tighter, more competitive division this season, with many compelling fixtures. The Old Firm did pull away from the pack in the end, but it took them longer than usual, and teams took points off each other all season long. There are plenty of well-drilled, hard-working teams, but they are struggling to captivate their supporters.

Who'd be a manager eh?

- James Atkinson
www.welovefitba.blogspot.com

You can read our  own season review, "How Was The Season for You",  or The Scottish Football Blog's  nostalgic look over the shoulders here, or even The Last Ditch Tackles musings here.

Inside Left is interested in finding out how the season was for you - leave us a comment, or send your article to us and we'll put them on the site. You can get in touch with us via the Contact page

Mince and Tatties 10 // A load of (Jimmy) Bullard

IT IS POOR, I know.

Sorry.

It's a headline designed to get you to click on this link where the only bit of useful info you'll get is the possibility of Hull striker Jimmy Bullard joining up with Celtic on a loan deal, and thus becoming quite possibly the ugliest footballer in Scotland since Davie Dodds.

Yep, it's midweek and there's really nothing much going on in the world of Scottish footie.

I could tell you about the ongoing saga at Glasgow Rangers. I won't use the term 'veteran' to describe the positively sprightly David Weir (he's the same age as me after all, and I wish I looked as good 10 years ago as he does now), but the ever-youthful defender insists he's going to keep playing if manager Smith remains at Ibrox.

And if Smith decided to walk off into the sunset, well, fuck it, he's going to join him. I dunno, 40 seems like a good age to call it quits don't you reckon? The last thing we need is the likes of Weir clogging about the place and keeping back the hordes of talented youngsters coming up at Ibrox.

Mind you, if letting David Weir stay on is required because there are no players coming through the academy, then Rangers must be in deeper shit than at first thought. And Rangers are in deep shit.

Continuing the Walter Smith love-in is the ever popular Nacho Novo, who reckons Walter Smith should be knighted for services to football in the south side of Glasgow. Novo gushes "The gaffer should be knighted after what he has done for this club. When he took over, Rangers were in a terrible state".

Good to see progress has been made then. The knighthood is surely in the post.

Meanwhile, Andrew Ellis and Alastair Johnson are engaging in a war of words about the takeover of the club which may, or may not, ever happen. Like two rutting walruses, the prospective owner and the current chairman are doing as much as is possible to scupper the deal.

Ellis wont commit (apparently, in the ten weeks since he's announced his interest, he's not even been to Ibrox to talk to anyone yet) and Johnson is becoming more sceptical by the day, especially after flying all the way over from the US of A to for a chance to speak to Ellis. As it turns out, Johnson was left hanging around like a Stornoway hooker on the sabbath, and relations have been frosty ever since.

Speaking of ageing, we're not quite done with Celtic. Aside from the Elephant Man, Lennon is also keen to sign another player from Englandshire, namely Arsenal and England defender Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell. The backup to the backup central defender at Arsenal made 11 appearances at the Emirates last season, clearly the sort of form that earns the 35-year old an extension to his current contract. Possibly.

"Scottish football is such an incestuous affair, they'd make Josef Fritzl positively purple in righteous indignation."

Seizing on the chance of Mr Campbell never getting another game for Arsenal in the coming months, Lennon (well, the club, I don't know just how much Lennon has to do with transfer dealings thenow) the Bhoys have been making enquiries about Campbell's availability.

Unfortunately, he's got an offer on the table from Arsenal for another year so we might not be seeing Sol warming the bench for Loovens and Naylor et al this year. Shame really, we could do with some glamour in the SPL now that Elvis has left the division (think about it...).

What else. Ah yes. Aberdeen sign someone. Rory McArdle, it says here. McArdle's Wikipedia entry is only 110 words long, so there's not much to go on. He's a defender, he played for recently promoted Rochdale, he's played for Northern Ireland at U21-level and he's scored at Wembley.

The point here really is not who he is, just that he is. At this stage I'd welcome anyone to Pittodrie if it means getting rid of the woeful Ifil. Mind you, I wonder why we have to sign more defenders. Our season was terrible right enough, but if we had a better midfield and at least two in the side that could score a goal (and who are not Charlie Mulgrew) things might be a lot better next year.

Aberdeen are still in the hunt for 39-goals-in-150-career-appearances scoring dynamo Kevin Kyle. As Scotzine reports, his wage demands - just over three grand - are within the Aberdeen budget, but it would mean not being able to spend money on anyone else this season.

Not that it matters that much: Kyle has apparently also received offers from two Greek clubs, meaning the only Doric Kyle will be hearing about are the pillars at the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, and that Willie Miller may not be the only moustachioed twat Kyle will have to deal with in the coming weeks.

Lastly, Jim Duffy is at pains to point out that his resigning from Second Division side Brechin has nowt to do with the vacant managerial posts at St Mirren and/or Morton. Duffy is possibly still smarting from that pumping his team got at the hands of Cowdenbeath the other week and which keeps them in Division Two for another season where they'll no doubt get pumped by Livingston every eight weeks or so.

Well, if you can't move up the divisions through hard graft and a decent side, then just get a gig with an established SPL side; it worked for Steve Paterson after all.

Duffy's statement comes just after St Mirren played down reports of coaching staff receiving letters telling them not to worry, but a new manager might not want you, so you should be thinking about taking home as much stuff from the stationary cupboard while you still can. The Buddies lost a manager, a director and a top striker in the last few weeks, so understandably nerves are on edge down in Paisley.

Duffy might be regretting his decision. As I predicted in an article I didn't publish, Billy Stark is interested in the job, as are Derek Adams (in a great vote of confidence for Ross County's prospects next season) and Willy McStay, fresh from resigning from some Hungarian club in the misguided belief he's going to be part of the new Celtic managerial line-up.

Still, Scottish football is such an incestuous affair, they'd make Josef Fritzl positively purple in righteous indignation.

Here's how we see it going: Stark to St Mirren, Duffy to Morton, Adams to Scotland U21's, McStay to Brechin. Possibly.

Right. 1083 words, 973 more than you'll find in Rory McArdle's wiki entry. I'm not much of a defender, but I'm pretty good at writing a lot of shite though.

Where's my Wiki entry?

Season 2009/10 Review: The Last Ditch Tackle

THE Old Firm served up their usual two-horse title race, as least for a wee while. The usual suspects chasing Europe and escaping relegation.

Memorable? Nah!

Although I am a Rangers fan and I was delighted with them winning the league, I was more intrigued by what was going on in the lower leagues.

Dundee were throwing money about to try and get back to the SPL, Livingston dropped two leagues as the sorry Angelo Massone affair climaxed and Ross County reaching the Scottish Cup Final. Much better.

In my freelance work I go to a lot of lower league games and for me, the SFL was where it was this season and I think it can only get better.

"Ross County successfully jousting with Hibs and Celtic to reach the Scottish Cup Final was the story of the season without a doubt."

Dundee, in signing the best players from their rival teams in Division One, looked like running away with the title, but started to panic when the finish line was in sight.

Inverness Caley Thistle, as the metaphorical tortoise, crept up quietly and took the prize amidst the lunacy of Dundee sacking manager Jocky Scott and recruiting Gordon Chisholm so late on.

It was an awesome 20-odd game unbeaten run that boosted Caley and their return to the SPL deserves enormous credit, especially for Terry Butcher, who has done well.

Before it all started we had the farce of Livingston demoted two days before the start of the season, with beaten play-off finalists Airdrie and Cowdenbeath promoted to Division One and Division Two respectively.

Livi may have romped to the Division Three crown, but the mess that has been their finances still leaves a bad taste. Ask any other team in the bottom league.

But Ross County successfully jousting with Hibs and Celtic to reach the Scottish Cup Final was the story of the season without a doubt.

Derek Adams' men may have fallen short in losing to Dundee United in the end, but, like Queen of the South two years ago, there is great excitement for County in the season ahead and many observers, myself included, will be keeping an eye out on their progress.

So don't tell me the SPL has been exciting this season. There have been many an occurrence among the other three leagues that would dispute that and that's not even mentioning the last day Division Two drama when Alloa and Stirling had their own "Helicopter Saturday".

I can't wait for it all to start again!

- Craig Anderson
www.thelastditchtackle.wordpress.com

You can read our  own season review, "How Was The Season for You", as well as The Scottish Football Blog's  nostalgic look over the shoulders here.

Inside Left is interested in finding out how the season was for you - leave us a comment, or send your article to us and we'll put them on the site. You can get in touch with us via the Contact page

A pie, a pee and prices: next season in the First Division

SOME fans of the so-called established first division clubs will be looking back at the SPL season just past as one of missed opportunity. Had wee Jimmy not managed to pull off that inspired last match 0-0 draw, we could have been looking forward to the opportunity to sample one of the famous Killie pies twice in a season, which is more than enough reason for rejoicing.

Season 2009/10 Review: The Scottish Football Blog

[caption id="attachment_651" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Scottish Football Blog reviews season 2009/10"][/caption]

WITH the season now finally over, it's time to look back at the season just past. Inside Left asked his fellow Scottish football bloggers for their opinion on how the season was for them.

The Scottish Football Blog gets us under way in the first of the series with their review of season 2009/10. Despite the gloom, there have been some positive things to come out of this season...

It has been a season of money and managers.

It’s been intriguing and frustrating but it could hardly be called vintage. Half the clubs in the SPL failed to score an average of a goal game. The teams finishing in first, sixth and eleventh have a combined debt creeping towards £80 million. It’s hard to see how that can be sustainable in a country of our size with ever diminishing interest in the game.

There was much talk of a real challenge to the Old Firm. Yet Rangers in penury and Celtic taking leave of their sense for most of the season still produced a gap of 18 points at the death. They moved backwards but so did the rest of us. Add a creaking SFA, some poor refereeing and another missed World Cup into the mix and it’s a depressing outlook.

Grounds for optimism? St Johnstone are proof that well run clubs can succeed. Ross County have at least hinted at a hitherto ignored depth of talent and potential that might offer some salvation. If the McLeish Report is not a cure-all, it does at least stimulate conversation.

".. add a creaking SFA, some poor refereeing and another missed World Cup into the mix and it’s a depressing outlook."

The trick will be to build momentum around that conversation – and bloggers have a part to play in that – and turn studies and good intention into improvement: Improvement in the national team, improvement throughout the leagues, improvement in the treatment of fans. If anything this season crystallized the crisis. We can’t run away from it now.

And then, at the bitter end, a sign that everything might be alright. If our football still has the power to enthral, captivate, amaze and astound the way Motherwell’s draw with Hibs did then we’ve still got something unique and special to work with.

- The Scottish Football Blog

Inside Left put up its own season review, "How Was The Season for You" a while back.  We're interested in finding out how the season was for you - leave us a comment, or send your article to us and we'll put them on the site. You can get in touch with us via the contact page.

Mince and Tatties 09 // Congratulations & Commiserations

RIGHT, that's your season well and truly over thenoo!

First off, congratulations go out to Forfar and Cowdenbeath, both of whom won their play-off games on Sunday. Forfar edged out local rivals Arbroath 2-0 with goals from Martyn Fotheringham and Bryan Deasley and thus return to the Second Division for the first time since 2007. Arbroath are relegated to Division Three.

All in all it's a remarkable turnaround for the Loons who finished bottom of the third only three years ago. I'm sure everyone at Station Park is hoping for a longer stay in Division Two than they've had in previous years. Since they dropped out of Division One at the end of season 91/92, the Loons have yo-yo'ed between Divisions Two and Three, including back to back promotion and relegation between 1995 and 1997.

Up a division, and Cowdenbeath beat Brechin 3-0 thanks to a brace from former Raith Rovers and Ayr United player Gareth Wardlaw; Joseph Mbu got the afternoon off to a flyer with a goal in the first fifteen minutes.

The win secures Cowdenbeath's second successive promotion and a return to Division One after nearly fourteen years of trying. Quite how long they'll be there remains to be seen - the club as in financial doo-doo (then again, who isn't these days), but at least the threatened takeover by East of Scotland winners Spartans seems off the agenda for now.

Club owners Alex and David Brewster have buckled to supporter pressure and committed the club to Central Park for the foreseeable future, but even though Spartans may well be denied their spot in Division One, supporters of the Blue Brazil should not rest on their laurels. In a statement released by the club, the owners say:

"There is still a critical need for the supporters, the community and other stakeholders to work together with us to ensure the survival of Cowdenbeath FC – and develop a sustainable community club relocated to a new facility which can serve the community for another 100 plus years. We will do what we can to assist but the onus is on the support and local community – it is your club".

And speaking of financial woes, the election of an all-blue (with some yellow bits) Tory government brings no welcome relief to Team Rangers, as the taxman sends them a bill for unpaid taxes on players wages that the club cleverly paid into offshore accounts, allegedly.

The amount owed comes to a ludicrous £24m, but depending on how far the club are going to pursue the claim this sum may rise to £50m (interest on the outstanding amount while the lawyers do their funky thang) and even £80m if Rangers' lawyers fail to get their law on and lose the appeal.

As you can well imagine it's all very complicated, and there's a lot of 'pass the parcel' going on at Edmiston Drive while the club decides who exactly is liable for the money.

The Byzantine nature of the whole Rangers-Murray International Holdings-Lloyds ownership structure being what it is, it'll take weeks to figure out quite on whose lap the final bill will fall once everyone has stopped playing musical chairs to the tune of "Simply The Best".

Oh, if only there was a German word for laughing at someone else’s misfortune.

There's talk of administration, fire sales, demotion to Division Three and so on. Most of us non-Rangers fans are having a right auld chuckle at this, but let's be honest: nothing is going to happen. It would be hard to imagine an SPL without Rangers, a situation that could be summed up with the expression "never bite the hands that feeds you".

But it's not all bad news: at least Alan McGregor is off the hook, assuming he was ever involved in the alleged sexual assault in the first place which may, or may not, have taken place. Scotzine gets legal on your ass. Unlike McGregor, quite possibly.

Staying with all-things complicated: thanks to Dundee United pumping Ross County on Saturday Motherwell get another shot at being a representative of Scottish football in Europe next season. Don't ask me how or why, but I suspect it's got something to do with United already qualifying because the won the Scottish Cup. Or something. Answers on a postcard please.

Craig Brown is positively ecstatic at the prospect of getting to see a bit more of Europe, even going so far as thinking that the prospect of first round exit at the hands of Barry Town is going to "strengthen his hand in the transfer market."

Hahahahahaha. Oh Craig, you are funny.

Mind you, The Steelmen did a lot better than our other mid-range offerings last season in Europe. Motherwell, than managed by Jim Gannon twice came back from behind to record tremendous victories against leviathans such as Llanelli and Flamurtari before being dumped 6-1 on aggregate by proper football team Steaua Bucharest (incidentally one of the seeded teams that Motherwell might face at this stage of the competition).

United, by the way, can also look forward to challenging fixtures. In amongst the line-up are teams such as big-spending Manchester City, Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund and Porto.

Lastly, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has has "sincerely apologised" to supporters for an "unacceptable" season in a letter to season ticket holders.

And so he should.

After spending more on players than the rest of the SPL put together, you'd think they'd have done better than they did, especially as most of us had written Rangers off at the start of the season with all their problems.

"These changes did not deliver the success we hoped for and ultimately, this season has been unacceptable. For this, we sincerely apologise" - Celtic's Peter Lawwell

Two shock defeats, one rather late-in-the-day expensive loan signing and one managerial change later, the Hoops finished second in the league and had the distinct displeasure of watching Rangers win the league with three games to go. All in all, not a great season by Scottish football standards, but a tremendous laugh for the rest of us.

But never mind the rather impersonal letters. Personally, I think the Japanese get it right on the money when they have their chief-execs in the 'deep bow' position by means of apology whenever the sushi hits the fan.

We should do it in Scotland too.

At every stadium across the country, managers, players and chief-execs should be put on a large rotating stage and made to bow Japanese-style to the assembled hysterical masses.

Willie Miller. Bow! Mark McGhee. Bow! Jim Jefferies. Bow! Jimmy Calderwood. Bow! Kyle Lafferty. Bow! John Hughes. Bow! Gordon Smith. Bow! Steven Pressley. Bow! George Burley. Bow!

Hopefully that'll explain the picture at the top of this posting. Or not. I apologize.

{deep bow}

Season 2009/10 Review: John Hislop

At the start of the season, I would have been happy to be top six, or anywhere above Hearts. With Yogi in charge and a couple of new signings, I was confident that we would at least improve on the previous year under Mixu, but I never for one minute believed that we would be within touching distance of a Champions League place. Yet, well into February, we were only a couple of points behind Celtic, when as usual, the bubble burst and a dreadful set of results saw us drop to fifth.

With two games left, we were only three points in front of Hearts and one behind Motherwell.

According to my calculator, a victory at Fir Park should have been enough to almost guarantee a Europa League place, but if the unthinkable happened and we lost and Hearts won, well that didn’t bear thinking about.

Still, I needn’t have worried as the Hibs took a comfortable lead, and with 25 minutes left we were 6-2 up, singing ‘Cheerio Cheerio Cheerio’ to the Well fans.

Three quick goals and a missed penalty later, we were clinging on for grim death, when some guy on loan from Everton scored the goal of the season to equalise.

Following the Hibs should prepare you for moments like this, but I was still in a state of shock next day. In fact that was probably the reason that a Tory got elected in Scotland, because even now, I have no idea who I voted for, and I suspect most Hibbys were the same.

Even the news that Hearts had drawn against Dundee United and therefore guaranteed us fifth place couldn’t break the gloom.

Whilst it wasn’t quite as bad as the day we went 4-2 up at Tynecastle in injury time and still only drew, it was bad enough.

Eventually, when I had a think about it, I realised that if Rangers beat Motherwell, we only needed a point against the Arabs to take fourth spot and qualify for Europe, so it was up the M90 on Sunday.

Early doors, you could see the United weren’t as up for a midfield battle as us, and their forwards didn’t fancy competing for too many 50-50s with big Sol Bamba, so when Nishy put us in the lead, I dared to dream.

When the news came through that Rangers were 2-0 then 3-1 up I started to relax, and when big Colin scored his fifth goal in two games, I knew that was that.

Nishy has come in for some stick for slagging the Hibs fans for their lack of knowledge, but I am right behind him. I even heard some moaning about how we took our foot off the accelerator in the second half of the seven nil game. There’s just no satisfying some people.

As the game drew to a close, and the fans were singing songs about Bertie Mee and Bill Shankly, somebody shouted that Well had scored two injury time goals at Ibrox. Surely even the Hibs couldn’t throw it away now, and referee Charlie Richmond was politely urged to blow his whistle, which he eventually did.

Phew !!!!

So, my season’s highlights and low points came within four days of each other.

Now where’s that passport?

Dundee United 3-0 Ross County // the end of the dream, the end of the nightmare

Three second-half goals saw a dominant Dundee United win the Scottish Cup with a convincing victory over Ross County.

The first half was a fraught affair with no clear-cut chances until David Goodwillie set the SPL side on their way to victory with an incredible 30-metre lobbed shot to open the scoring in the 61st minute.

The Tangerines doubled their lead in the 75th minute through Craig Conway. A left wing throw-in was flicked on by Goodwillie to release Conway, the midfielder held off the challenge of Gary Miller before stroking his shot past McGovern from 12 yards.

We're a First Division side and we've done exceptionally well to get here. We've been defeated by a very good Dundee United side. I've got no complaints. - Derek Adams

With four minutes left of the match the ball was in the net for the third time as Conway grabbed his second and United’s third to seal the victory. Peter Houston's side saw out the rest of the game comfortably as the United fans celebrated only their second Scottish Cup final victory, while the subdued County followers were left to ponder what could have been.

Ross County had been followed to Hampden Park by 20,000 hopeful Highlanders; but a professional performance by the men from Tannadice proved too much. Derek Adams had few complaints after his Ross County side were beaten.

What a day for the fans, to score two and win, it's unbelievable. I can't wait for tonight - Craig Conway

The First Division side upset the odds in dramatic style in previous rounds with major scalps, but United's second goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of County, who in truth had been a shadow of the side who knocked out Celtic and Hibs in what has been a memorable cup run.

- text extracts taken from The Guardian, The Times & BBC. Reproduced without permission.

Rainy night in Gorgie - Spartans 3-1 Gretna 2008

SPARTANS secured their second trophy of the season last night with a convincing victory over Gretna in the final of the SFA South Regions Challenge Cup.

The Central Taxi’s East of Scotland Premier Division Champions fielded an experienced team in their first ever fixture against a young Gretna side, before a sizeable crowd at a rain soaked Tynecastle.

Despite earlier speculation, there was no place on the bench for Kenyan striker David Etale, who recently resumed training after suffering injuries whilst serving in Afghanistan, and he joined the supporters in the main stand.

The Spartans fans were keen to make themselves heard, and as the game kicked off, they welcomed the visitors with a rousing chorus of ‘You’re no’ famous any more.’

Both teams created early chances before the Edinburgh side took the lead in the 15th minute under bizarre circumstances. A 25 yard back pass from Ian Cumersky appeared harmless but the highly rated Gretna keeper Ian Mitchell appeared to take his eye off the ball which trickled agonisingly under his foot and into the net.

The former Carlisle keeper redeemed himself a few minutes later however with a superb one handed save from a Kadir shot.

As Spartans controlled the game, it was no surprise when they doubled their lead after 35 minutes, when top scorer Keith McLeod pounced on a loose ball in the six yard box before calmly slotting it past Mitchell.

Spartans continued to dominate and 12 minutes into the second half, striker Omar Kadir, who is leaving the club in the summer due to work commitments scored a contender for goal of the season, to effectively kill the game. After picking up the ball on the right wing, the 23 year old Heriot Watt student dribbled past four Gretna defenders before delicately dinking the ball over the keeper into the far corner of the net.

The goal sparked wild celebration amongst the Spartans fans who sang "That’s why we’re champions" and "We’ve won more than Chelsea."

Even the small band of Gretna fans in the main stand applauded, and it was no surprise at the end when Campbell Ogilvie nominated him as man of the match.

Gretna are a good young team who played well, but it was a great goal from Omar. To be fair, he’s been different class all season - Sam Lynch.

Gretna to their credit did not give up, and Dan Rayson scored a consolation goal near the end, firing a 20 yard shot past Flockhart, but the night belonged to Spartans.

At the final whistle, the Spartan Army chanted ‘We want a pyramid’ referring to their hopes of one day gaining entry to the SFL. Ironically a previous bid was rejected in favour of Gretna.

Spartans now meet Stirling University in the King Cup Final on Sunday and Lothian Thistle in the League Cup Final next Wednesday.

After the game, a delighted co manager Sam Lynch told Inside Left "we are pleased with the win. Gretna are a good young team who played well, but it was a great goal from Omar. To be fair, he’s been different class all season."

Commenting on the Clubs website, fellow co-manager Mike Lawson said: "The game at Tynecastle was a great advert for East of Scotland football with both teams enjoying the surroundings by putting on slick passing performances on the large ”Premier” surface."

Lawson continued: "Gretna are a very good side, probably a better side than our boys anticipated and it shows the growing quality in East of Scotland football that such a quality side failed to gain promotion to our premier league.  They are young, play football in the proper manner and along with Stirling University have enhanced our league greatly since joining it two seasons ago.  We have now retained our “Big” cup to go with our second league title in a row and the boys deserve all the credit for the attitude and ability they have shown this season"

Spartans: Flockhart, O'Donnell, Hoskins (Fowlie 78), Gerrard, Sivewright, Archibald, King, Manson (McAuley 75), Henretty (Malin 68), McLeod, Kader. Subs: Smith, Vinelli.

Gretna: Mitchell, Rudd, Wood (Hardman 62), Inglis, Black, Cumersky, Errington (Renyard 58), Rayson, Nicholson, Seggie (McMath 58), Carmichael. Subs: Johnston, Nugent

Crowd 500

Dundee United: a potted Scottish Cup history

OF THE 31 different teams to have appeared in a Scottish Cup final, Dundee United have ended the day as losing finalists on seven occasions, a record bettered only by Celtic and Rangers (obviously), Hibs (9) and Aberdeen (8).

United's first Cup final appearance came in 1974, when a team managed by a 36-year-old Jim MClean, and which included future Aberdeen, Manchester United, Rangers and current Motherwell manager Archie Knox as well current Sky Sports pundit Andy Gray lost out to Celtic. The Hoops, who won 3-0 on the day still had the likes of Kenny Dalglish (he wouldn't leave for Liverpool for another four years), Billy McNeil, Danny McGrain and Jinky Johnstone playing for them.

It would be another eight seasons before United reached their next final. Although they came close in season 77/78 (when Rangers beat them 2-0 in the semi-final in front of a low crowd of 25,000 at Hampden), they lost out to Aberdeen (75), Hibernian ('76), St Mirren ('77 and '79), Rangers ('80) in the intervening years.

Reflecting the rise of Dundee United during the early to mid-80's when, together with Aberdeen, United formed one half of the New Firm, a term coined to describe the ascendancy of the east-coast teams after decade upon decade of west-coast dominance in Scottish football, United's started making regular appearances at Hampden. As well as winning the league in 1983 (in an exciting three-way race between Aberdeen, Celtic and United) and featuring in the 1987 UEFA Cup Final in 1987 (United lost 2-1 to IFK Göteborg: along the way they'd also beaten Barcelona), between 1980 and 1991, United travelled to Glasgow on several occasions.

The League Cup was won in '80 (they beat Aberdeen in a replayed final) and '81 (city rivals Dundee being bat the wrong end of a 3-0 trashing), as well as runners up in '82 and '85 (Rangers on both occasions).

But in between all of that, United reached six Scottish Cup finals. The first, in 1980 ended in a 4-1 defeat against Rangers. To add insult to the injury, United manager Jim McLean's brother Tommy was playing for Rangers in that final. The Arabs would lose finals to Celtic on two occasions during this period: both games, in 1985 and 1988 where lost by 2-1. In between they lost 1-0 to St Mirren in 1987, the last final to feature two all-Scottish sides.

Their last losing final during this period came in 1991, when, after a tremendous game, Motherwell beat United 4-3, with the last Phil O'Donell scoring for the Steelmen. The final (which saw McLean losing to his brother Tommy, by now manager at Motherwell) was to be Jim McLean's last as United manager. After a career spanning nearly 20 years, McLean moved "upstairs", and Ivan Golac was tasked with filling the shoes of a club legend.

The irony that seems to follow United through the Scottish Cup continued on. Golac, at his first time of trying won the Scottish Cup in 1994. Rangers where the losers on this occasion, with Craig Brewster scoring the winning goal against a team managed by McLean's former assistant, Walter Smith.

It would take another eleven years for United to make it into the final. Most of the intervening years are years best forgotten for United fans. The season following their Cup final victory, United where relegated to the First Division. Although they only stayed there for one season, United only managed three top half finishes. This season's final position, 3rd, neatly bookmarks their first season back in the SPL in 1997, when again the team finished the season in third place.

Perhaps reflecting the team's decline over this period, they would reach only one more final, a 1-0 defeat to Celtic in 2005.

For Peter Houston and his team, the game tomorrow is the final chapter on a long and sometimes troubled season, but what better way to round it all off with a piece of silverware - their first in sixteen years.

Ross County: a potted Scottish Cup history

AS befitting a team that only joined the senior league setup in 1994, Ross County don't have much of a Scottish Cup pedigree, making their achievement in getting to Hampden all the more special, even before you consider they spanked Celtic 2-0 in Glasgow in the semi-final.

Ross County, aka the Staggies where three times winners of the Highland League, with back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991. Following their elevation to the Third Division, it took them four seasons to make it to the Second, and another eight years after that to make it to the First Divison where they've remained ever since (season 2007/08 aside when, after finishing bottom of the table they where automatically relegated back to Division Two: the team bounced back to win instant promotion the following season).

According to the club, all 16,000 tickets have been sold for this game (with a further 3,500 being requested by the club), a remarkable achievement considering the town of Dingwall only has a population of just under 6,000 and Counties' stadium, Victoria Park is never filled anywhere near it's 11,000 capacity.

So, just how have Ross County done over the years? Well, this season excepted, since joining the First Division back in season '94, Ross County have never progressed further than the fifth round:

1994-95 Third Round (East Fife 1-0)
1995-96 Third Round (Forfar Athletic 3-0)
1996-97 Third Round (Dunfermline 4-0)
1997-98 Fourth Round (Dundee 3-0)
1998-99 Third Round (Clydebank 2-3)
1999-00 First Round (Forfar 4-2)
2000-01 Fourth Round (Rangers 2-3)
2001-02 Third Round (Hearts 2-1)
2002-03 Third Round (Morton 1-2)
2003-04 Third Round (Celtic 2-0)
2004-05 Fourth Round (Clyde 2-1)
2005-06 Fourth Round (Falkirk 1-0)
2006-07 Fourth Round (Partick Thistle 1-0)
2007-08 Fifth Round (St Johnstone 1-0)
2008-09 Fourth Round (Hamilton Accies 1-0)

Player assistant Manager Craig Brewster will know all about the thrill of a cup final, having scored a scrappy winner for United against Rangers back in 1994. There's no denying that this will be a monumental game for the club.

Tomorrow's encounter is only the fifth time these two teams will have met. Ross County supporters may want hedge their bets: the Staggies have only won one of those games, a 2-1 win in the League Cup back in 1998.

But there's hope yet - guess who scored both of those winning goals? That's right: current manager, Derek Adams.

The 2010 Scottish Cup Final Preview

WHEN Hibs went one up against Ross County in the first minute of the quarter final at Easter Road, I turned to my mate and said smugly: “It’s a shame for their fans, travelling all that way to see their team getting humped.” My equally patronising pal agreed and we both decided that it would be nice to see them get a consolation goal to make the journey home more bearable.

Ninety minutes later, after being comprehensively outplayed, only an Ian Murray goal line clearance kept Hibs in the cup, albeit temporarily.

Now, two months later, those same fans and many more will be heading to Hampden.  Normally, when a ‘wee’  team gets to a major cup final, they will have enjoyed a lucky cup run, playing against other lower division teams, or if they did have to play an SPL team, it was usually Aberdeen.

That accusation could certainly not be levelled against the Dingwall club. Not only did they dispose of the mighty Hibernian, but they then had the audacity to see off Celtic in the semis. Even when they did have fellow ‘wee’ teams, they hammered Stirling Albion nine-nil at Forthview, and easily disposed of Inverurie Locos, to become only the fifth first division club to reach a Scottish Cup Final since the four league system was introduced in 1994.

So, take it from me, Ross County have a great chance of glory on Saturday.

On the other hand, I also watched Hibs go one up in the first minute against Dundee United at Easter Road, then had to endure a lesson in fitba from the men in tangerine, before we finally lost 4-2, so the Arabs are no mugs either. In fact, that was probably the best performance from an away team all season at Easter Road.

Back to Ross County though. Manager Derek Adams deserves all the plaudits going for the work he has done to take his team to the cup final, and to within touching distance of promotion. At only 34, he could become the youngest ever manager to win the Scottish Cup, and is already being tipped for greater things, with media reports this week suggesting that he believes that he has taken the Highlanders as far as he can.

If a ‘better’ offer comes his way, the County chairman is unlikely to stand in his way, since it is his father George.

And while the Staggies fans will also play their part, with an incredible 15,000 tickets sold already, it’s all down to how the players perform on the day.

United on the other hand are the bookies favourites. They also have a ‘rookie’ manager in Peter Houston, who took over from Craig Levine, although if rumours are true, he could be teaming up with his former boss next season at Parkhead.

Whatever happens, it’s been a fantastic season for the Arabs, who were recently tipped to split the Old Firm, before a Neil Lennon inspired Celtic went on a winning run. Their third place finish guarantees European football at Tannadice next year, so it’s perhaps no great surprise that they had one eye on the final when they finished with a lacklustre home performance against Hibs.

One man who will almost certainly play his last match for United in the cup final is on loan defender Andy Webster. The big centre half has displayed the form which saw him gain international recognition earlier in his career, but he is taking nothing for granted and who can blame him. In a career blighted by injury and misfortune, Webster should have already had a cup winner’s medal, but a fall out with Vladamir Romanov resulted in him being dropped for the final when Hearts beat Gretna, despite having played in all the previous rounds.

A FIFA world wide ban followed by a freak injury on his first day at Ibrox partly explains why he is superstitious.

Webster’s battle with County’s Stephen Craig will be one of the deciding factors in the final. The son of former cup winner Joe Craig is desperate to repeat his semi final achievements.

Swiss stopper Mihael Kovacevic will also have his hands full against the conqueror of Hibs, Michael Gardyne, while at the other end Martin Scott will have to contend with Middlesbrough target Morgaro Gomis.

Midfield may see two of Scotland’s most skilful players with Danny Swanson and Paul Di Giacomo up against each other, while young player of the year David Goodwillie won’t have things all his own way against David Boyd who had none other than Robbie Keane in his back pocket during the semi final.

In goal, Michael McGovern, who spent last season kicking his heels at Tannadice is desperate to put one over on his former team mates while Dusan Pernis will need all his concentration.

History favours the Arabs who have beaten Ross County in three out of the four previous meetings since 1995 when the Staggies joined the senior ranks. Their last meeting was at Dingwall earlier this season when United won 2-0 in the third round of the League Cup.

United’s cup final record is nothing to boast about however, losing in seven out of their eight previous appearances. Their only success was when they stopped Rangers winning a second treble in 1994, and ironically the winning goal was a three yard thunderbolt by current Ross County assistant manager, and Dundee United fan Craig Brewster.

One aspect where County do have an advantage though, is the traditional cup final song. Whilst the United squad would give Simon Cowell a heart attack with their rendition of ‘Love is in the Air,’ the Staggies have sought the assistance of local band Torridan to bring out their own adapted version of the Proclaimers’ hit ‘We’re on our way.’

The game is on live on BBC1 and Sky Sports, and if you fancy a flutter, you can get 75-1 on Michael Gardyne scoring first and County winning 1-0.

Whatever happens, it’s sure to be a great day for fans of both sides, and neutrals everywhere.

Gilmour: "we'll see who comes out of the woodwork"

WITH that ringing endorsement, St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour has called on suitably qualified managers to make themselves known to the club. Gilmour claims there has already been a great deal of interest in the job and doesn't fear a shortage of candidates.

In some ways, The Buddies are not an unattractive option for any manager keen to make his mark in the SPL: a nice stadium, at least one international on the books (albeit a Welsh international who has yet to play a game), and a Scottish League Cup final appearance. However, the club has been up for sale for some time, and without any buyers knocking on the door, the future seems uncertain.

Gus McPherson's sacking was probably not a surprise to most football pundits. Despite getting the Buddies promoted to the SPL in 2006, their stay in the top division has not been one tinged with success. In his four years as an SPL manager McPherson - the SPL's longest serving manager following Jefferies' resignation from Kilmarnock - never finished the season higher than 10th. The club flirted with relegation in season 2008/09 when Falkirk's win at Inverness kept the Buddies in the League.

Possibly facing the prospect of a reduced transfer budget and continued uncertainty over the future of the club (St Mirren are up for sale), he probably decided the time was right to leave. Or, St Mirren decided change was needed to make that yearly end-of-season run-in a little less stressful.

Andy Millen, McPherson's assistant, is still at the club but he might be weighing up the future at St Mirren Park. With Andy Dorman, Jack Ross, Chris Innes, Allan Johnston, Garry Brady, Stephen O’Donnell and Steven Robb all out of contract over the summer, Millen might not feel there's enough to work with.

Perhaps this might be a nice way for Mixu Paateleinen, a former player, to get back into the mix (see what I did there?). Or John Robertson, or even Jimmy Calderwood if Killie can't make up their mind about who will have the glorious job of keeping the team in the SPL next season.

Jocky Scott is another possibility - he's available and he started out well with Dundee, leading the team to the top of the table,  but their promotion challenge collapsed towards the end of the season, and after giving up a thirteen-point lead to eventual winners Inverness Caley and losing 3-0 to Airdrie United, Scott was fired. 

Czaba Laszlo is another SPL manager looking for a job: the former Hearts boss is keen to remain in Scotland and might fancy a go at taking on St Mirren, but the Hungarian is probably tired of dealing with restricted budgets.

Mince and Tatties 08: Job Center's yon wey pal!

JINGS, you'd have thought that a new government would have brought about a dramatic change in our fortunes, but no.

I remember vividly belting out D.Ream's "Things Can Only Get Better" back in May 1997 when Tony ambled up Downing Street with Big Bird by his side (things got even better when Aberdeen beat Raith Rovers 2-0 the following day, thus ending a 9-game run without a win), but that optimism and joy was nowhere on show when David Cameron made the same amble the other day, though the bird by his side was a lot fitter.

I could never figure out how voting Tory gets you a Lib-Dem government, but there you go - I know nothing about the intricacies of politics. I just know that red is good for the working man, while blue is good for the overpaid toffs and ne'er-do-wells that pollute the country.

... which neatly brings me around to the point of this latest addition of Mince & Tatties. With the season now but a bad memory for most of our clubs, the great summer sale has begun. For most professional footballers the month of May is a time of great stress, as clubs balance the books and change the locks on the doors.

Falkirk, relegated from the SPL on the final day of the season, get the cull off to a cracking start as they prepare for life in Division One. Portuguese forward Pedro Moutinho, Enoch Showunmi and Vitor Lima where all shown the door, along with Brian Allison, Paul Sludden, Josh Wagenaar, Dayne Robertson and Sean Lynch.

Hearts' wage bill should look a lot lighter now that Laryea Kingston, former captain Michael Stewart (who might be joining former St Mirren striker Billy Mehmet at top Turkish mid-table side Genclerbirligi), Jose Goncalves and Christian Nade look set to leave Tynecastle.

Aberdeen have not been left behind in the clearance sale. Stuart Duff has been told to he can leave the club, while David Grassi, the former Parma and Espanyol defender has been given contract until the end of the year (despite some fairly ropey performances).  Manager McGhee has promised sweeping changes at Pittodrie: Mark Kerr and Charlie Mulgrew are out of contract and look set to leave the club, while back-up keeper Stuart Nelson has not impressed in his few outings between the sticks: expect him to be looking up the 'Classifieds' in the Press & Journal soon.

Hamilton Accies got rid of 11 players yet still remain in business. Alright, so it's mainly their loan players - Mickael Antoine-Curier, who returns to Dundee, Brian Easton (back to Burnley), Gary Inglis (Rangers) , Joel Thomas (Colchester)  and James Wesolowski (Leicester City) - but you have to hope that Billy Reid has some kind of back-up plan in place - he's also losing fringe players  Lucas Akins, Richie Hastings, Gerry O'Connell, Tony Stevenson and David van Zanten.

Over in Glasgow, Kirk Broadfoot is said to be 'desperate' to sign a new deal with Rangers. Further debasing himself, Broadfoot told the Daily Express

"I am a Rangers fan and it is a dream come true every time I pull on that light blue shirt. I loved every day of my last three years at Ibrox and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed I can be here for a few more years to come."

Over in Glasgow-East (Lab), Robbie Keane, part of the unsuccessful Celtic All-Stars returns to London, scuppering any hopes the Celtic faithful had of keeping the 29-year-old at Parkhead. The Irish international, voted Celtic's Fans' Player of the Year, scored 16 goals in 19 appearances for the club, and returns to Spurs where he'll probably be farmed out to Wolves, a club he has a soft spot for, possibly.

Bleeding knuckles & shredded fingertips: Division One blues...

Bleeding knuckles, shredded fingertips or nails bitten to the quick – some First Division chairmen will be spending the close season at the manicurist. Inside Left considers the fortunes of our First Division clubs

AS Jim Ballantyne of Airdrie United stands metaphorically over his hapless squad and management team while the sleet sweeps across Glasgow Green, there may well be a bit of relief mixed in with the regret that his team have not managed to come back from the dead for the third successive season.

Previous lucky escapes came courtesy of the demise of Gretna and last season’s demotion of Livingston following their slide into insolvency, but this time, Jim Duffy’s Brechin (plus a slice of incompetence from the match officials) have disposed of Airdrie at the first play off stage, meaning that it would take a catalogue of disasters to see them appear on the SFL First Division fixtures list for 2010/2011.

Ballantyne has described Airdrie’s relegation as “pretty devastating”, but it can hardly have been surprising given their early season form and an individual with his track record of death, murder and resurrection in footballing terms, with Airdrieonians, Clydebank and Airdrie United, must have been scheming since October. They will be OK in the Second and might even come back up quite soon.

Ballantyne’s devastation will no doubt be matched by relief elsewhere, as teams who lay claim to semi-permanent First Division status, began to see the gap at the bottom reduce and an unholy scramble to safety broke out amongst at least four teams during the last two months of the season.

For a club like Morton, this seems to be an annual event, but had they succumbed, it’s fairly certain that in due course they would come back, supported by Douglas Rae’s benevolence, a solid (if grumpy) home support and a low-cost approach to the creature comforts of having a decent pot for away fans to piss in.

Queens also seem somewhat immune, with a different Rae at the helm and a guarantee of existence for as long as Davie’s hair holds out against the onset of baldness. They’re even making plans to upgrade Palmerston, but given experiences elsewhere in the league, a rush to build new stands that lie empty may not be money well spent.

Turn your attention instead to Partick Thistle, for whom a slide into the Second Division could be the start of a very slippery slope. The Jags end-of-season form was very far from title winning, with only a nil-nil draw with Raith Rovers guaranteeing safety three games from the end. Thistle’s crowds slid inexorably down as the season’s end approached and that Monday night against Rovers, not many more than 1100 folk turned up, which is about 2000 short of break even, according to the Firhill board.

Whilst the Jags have a few very rich men involved at board level, there’s an apparent reluctance to dig as deep as the two Raes. One multi millionaire director is happy to invest in the property company which has bought half of the stadium, but apparently less happy to dribble cash down the parched throat of a club that is losing its way and losing its fans.

And although Dunfermline almost made second place, they showed an early season fragility with a run of defeats in September that surely scared the wits out of their belligerent chairman John Yorkston. The club are deeply in debt via an incestuous arrangement with a holding company and so called “soft” loans from directors, which run well into the millions. Unsubstantiated rumours of severe cash flow problems were circulating during the mid season cold snap. It’s all very well owing vast sums of money to yourself, but when there is a chance that the debt cannot be serviced, it’s time to look out some spare pants, just in case.

What hopes Raith Rovers hold of becoming a “safe” club in the mould of Queens or Thistle seem to rest on John McGlynn’s ability to turn journeyman players into competent performers. The trick needs to be repeated more consistently however, if Rovers are to avoid becoming a yo-yo club like Ayr or Stirling Albion. Rovers’ position as a community owned club is however, both a blessing and a curse and their lack of ready cash will make them more vulnerable than most next time round.

However, whilst the fingernails grow back, the knuckles scab over and fingerprints are once again visible in certain First Division boardrooms, no serious plans are being hatched to woo back the stay away fans, improve the quality of the matchday experience and provide a good excuse for slipping away from the pub before the end of the lunchtime Sky fixture. Instead, the fans forums are awash with rumours of further ticket price increases.

The slide seems inexorable and further casualties seem inevitable, but we’ve been saying that for ages now. Someone recently said that it was “time for change”, but realistically, it’s maybe time for the life support machine to be switched off in some cases. Then we might see real change, in the mould of Clydebank, as fans resurrect their team from the ashes of former glories and boardroom failure – owners, not supporters. No more Steedmans, Massones or Milesons, just Wullie, Davie and their mate Boab who now lives in New Zealand.

Two to Follow: The First and Second division play-offs

We said the other week that the Scottish football season is over, but that would be doing a disservice to four teams for whom there is still everything to play for.

In the first of two games, Brechin and Cowdenbeath will do battle for the right to join Stirling Albion in next years First Division, while Forfar could consign their Angus rivals Arbroath back to the Third division at their expense.

Brechin's 2-1 aggregate win over First division side Airdrie (and which also relegated the Diamonds) was sweet revenge for the Glebe Park outfit. Back in 2008, Brechin where at the receiving end of a 6-1 mauling by Airdrie, which kept Brechin in the Second division for another year. The following season Brechin again made the play-offs, but lost out to 5-2 to Raith Rovers.

Brechin have been a real yo-yo team: promotion to Division One in 1990 was promptly followed by relegation the year after. In 1993, the team again won promotion to the First division, but two back-to-back relegations followed to send the team back down to the Third. In the intervening years Brechin have bounced between the Second and Third divisions, but Jim Duffy's men will try to make it third-time lucky in the play-offs if they can overcome Cowdenbeath over two legs to secure First division football in the town for the first time since 2005/06.

Cowdenbeath beat fellow Second division outfit Alloa to make this final. It's nearly 76 years since The Blue Brazil last played in Divison One. That year they where relegated along with Third Lanark, although hopefully, given the history of Third Lanark that is where the similarities end. Cowdenbeath's financial troubles have been much in the news lately, and with East of Scotland Football League Champions Spartans apparently keen to take Cowdenbeaths place in the Scottish Fooball League, promotion to the First division may well make them more attractive to any raiding parties coming to Central Park.

This season the two sides have met four times, with two draws and one win each. Cowdenbeath will be without Dene Droudge and midfielder Danny MacKay, while Brechin City will need to make do without Jon Seeley, Anton Kurakins, , Willie Dyer and Neil Janczyk.

Arbroath's season has not been one to look back on fondly. Despite a strong start to the season which saw them beath Cowdenbeath 2-1 at Central Park and Dumbarton 3-1 at home, the side slowly drifted down the table - by the start of December they found themselves in 9th place, where they would remain for the rest of the season.

Come the end of the campaign, a complex set of results could have seen them avoid this fixture against Forfar altogether, but it was not to be. Nevertheless, the passage into the Final was considerably easier than they would probably have wished for: the Corinthians of Queens Park where easily dispatched 6-2 over two legs to set up this rather tasty local fixture against Third Division Forfar Athletic.

It's only about 20 miles inland from Abroath to Forfar, so there's talk here of a real derby. Forfar, currently managed by Jim Campbell, squeezed their way past East Stirlingshire over two thrilling ties, emerging at the end of it all with a 3-2 aggregate win, with Stephen Tulloch's 82nd minute goal in the second leg being enough to send Forfar through to the final.

Arbroath, The Red Lichties, have a slightly better record against The Loons at home, having won one more fixture between the two sides over the years. Forfar where the highest scoring home-team in Division Three last year, while on the road only champions Livingston, Berwick Rangers and, somewhat bizarrely Elgin City, scored more.

It's only been 2 years since Forfar finished bottom of the Third division. Under Dick Campbell, who took over from Jim Moffat at the end of the 2007/08 season, Forfar steadily climbed up the table to finish 6th last season, and second during this last campaign. Had it not been for a very strong Livingston side, who knows what might have happened.

The return leg of both games is to be played on Sunday 16th May, the day after the Scottish Cup final between Ross County and Dundee United.

St Mirren sack MacPherson

ST MIRREN have sacked manager Gus MacPherson after almost seven years as manager with the Paisley club.  The Buddies avoided relegation to finish this season in 10th place in the Scottish Premier League.

The Buddies have since finished 11th, 10th, 11th and 10th in their four seasons in the 12-team top flight.  This season, St Mirren reached the final of the Co-operative Insurance Cup but lost out to a late goal from Rangers, despite their opponents having two players sent off.

In a statement, the club said:

We would like to thank Mr MacPherson for all his work and the improvement in the club's league standing since his arrival.  The board feel that the relationship had run its course and that the club requires a change of direction.

MacPherson has been the longest serving manager at St Mirren since WWII and leaves the club on the same day as director Gordon Scott, who has resigned from the board.

Source: BBC

Mince and Tatties 07: Oh no, it's Angelo!

THE season may well be over, but the topsy-turvey world of Scottish football doesn't stop turning just because everyone's away on the big Wallace Arnold coach to the Costa Blanca.

For one, there's our old friend Angelo Massone. Or should we say "oh no, it's Angelo!". Yes, the man who singlehandedly achieved his stated aims of getting Livingston out of the First division (to the Third) is back. Not content with completely ruining one club, he has now revealed plans to buy cash-strapped Kilmarnock in his latest desperate attempt to create some kind of creepy football New World Order (or a "network of European clubs" as he puts it). Whether Killie, who already have plenty of problems of their own, are happy about this is not recorded, but you cant help but think they're a bit torn by the idea.

After all, here is a man with a lot of money who is clearly crazy enough to pump even more of his money into an ailing club. And with his record of ownership you cant deny that Killie, like Livingston, will soon be going places. Angelo hopes to speak to someone at the club over the next few days, but something tells me there's going to be a lot of people hiding behind the sofa at Rugby Park when the doorbell goes. I wonder if Massone would be interested in Rangers ...

Someone who is not going on holiday anytime soon is 'raging' Jim Ballantyne, owner of top Second division side Airdrie United, or indeed any member of the paid playing staff. Pure radge at his sides relegation to Divison Two at the weekend at the hands of Brechin, Ballantyne (a man who, like Massone, bought himself into the league) called his entire squad back for "meaningless training sessions". Not content with ruining manager Kenny Black's daughters 15th birthday party (Black received an SMS ordering his return to the club just as the balloon-bender arrived), Ballantyne also promised to fine each of his players one week’s wage if they don’t report for training. Nice!

Campbell Ogilvie, the man with a first name I simply cannot spell properly no matter how hard I try, is to give up his cushy number as managing director of Hearts to concentrate full-time on his post at the SFA (he's currently vice-president, but he'll take over as president once George Peat fecks off next year).

Ogilvie will be put in charge of the Glorious Five Year Plan on the Putting Right The Total Shite We've Made Of It Over The Years Since David Narey Scored Against Brazil (aka "the McLeish Report"), beginning with the unenviable (but required) task of getting grassroots football on the road to well being.

Ogilvie is clearly the ideal man for the job, having spent several years trying to get money out of his absentee owner, a skill he can put to good use in somehow getting £500m from somewhere to do something, somehow. It's a futile and hopeless task, but nevertheless we wish him well.

Buddies superstriker Billy Mehmet will swap the black and white of St Mirren for the black and red of (here we go) Gençlerbirligi. Nope, never heard of them either. Here they are in glorious website-o-scope. A quick trawl through the site tells us that Mehmet will feel right at home at Genthingie: they're somewhere in the middle of the table with no hope of going anywhere anytime soon, and they've never won the top division, much like St Mirren. Excellent!

Finally, t'is the silly season, so here's some transfers rumours (note the word rumours) for you.

Anthony Stokes will join Celtic for £4.5M with Paul Caddis and Pat McCourt moving in the other direction. To plug the gap in the Hibs defence, Aberdeen pair Zander Diamond and Ritchie Foster will both move south. On the way through the Easter Road doors, they'll have to let Colin Nish pass: he's catching the bus north to Aberdeen with a Tesco carrier bag full of money, over £800,000 in fact. Possibly.

Canny Jim Jefferies will follow the example of several failed Scottish managers by offloading a load of his top players, including Andrew Driver and José Gonçalves to dip his toe in the lower leagues transfer tombola. He could do no worse than starting with a call to Dundee who seem to be clearing the decks in an attempt to qualify for the Dundee Tuesday-night outdoor 5-a-side league. Lastly, Rangers defender Danny Wilson is off to Liverpool for £2.5m (or £4m, depending who you read).

And for anyone who still cares about the man, Tony Mowbray looks set to take over at Coventry, a side formerly managed by Gordon Strachan.

Weird, huh?

Season 2009/10: and how was it for you?

SO, there it is. The Scottish Cup final notwithstanding, the curtain comes down on season 2009/10, the 113th since that sunny day in August 1890, when Rangers defeated Heart of Midlothian 5-2.

Funny how history has a habit of (nearly) repeating itself. While this season Rangers kicked off against Falkirk and not Hearts, the end result was pretty much the same - Rangers champions (albeit joint champions with Dumbarton), Celtic several points behind them, St Mirren somewhere near the bottom. Taking the role of Falkirk in that first season where Cowlairs, a team currently residing in the "where are they now?" files.

Hopefully Falkirk won't go the same way as Cowlairs, a team beset by financial and administrative problems and which eventually went out of business in 1896, but there's many a nervous Bairns fan out there, wondering what the summer will bring.

But how was the season for you and yours?

You can't say it's not been exciting. Celtic, Dundee United, Falkirk, Hearts, Kilmarnock and Motherwell all changed managers at some point during the season. History tells us that changing horses in midstream is generally not a good idea, but with the exception of Falkirk, for the most part it's worked out.

We said it before in another article on this site so we wont go down the road well travelled, but Rangers deserved their title. Despite all their problems, they won the league at a canter. A League Cup would have been matched by a Scottish Cup had it not been for United, and the less said about the European adventures the better, but worthy champions they are. The won the league against a backdrop of financial woes, but with every day bringing news of tax demands, a will-he-wont-he buyer and a bank-induced "buy one, get one free" players sale, it might not all be such plain sailing next season.

About the only team for who Rangers' impending implosion is relevant is Celtic. Even with Lennon in charge had no chance of catching up with Rangers, but you have to credit the Northern Irish international for at least giving it a go. Unbeaten in the league since taking over from Mowbray, Lennon has made a good case for becoming permanent manager of the Hoops over the summer. Something tells me he'll get the job, and you know what - why not? He's a Celtic man through and through, he's done a remarkable job in turning around a squad that just wasn't performing particularly well and, if nothing else, at least he did something only two other teams did this season: beat Rangers.

Peter Houston, the initially reluctant Dundee United manager got off to a slow start, including a goalless draw with Killie, a 7-1 thrashing by Rangers and an away defeat at New Firm rivals Aberdeen, but he stuck it out to put together a series of results that kept them in the top half of the table (they never dropped lower than fifth) and got them into the Scottish Cup final.

Craig Brown and Jim Jefferies, two veterans of our game had seasons of differing fortunes. Appointed to their new positions within a month of each other (Brown at the end of December, Jefferies at the end of January) both managers steered a steady course to keep their sides from straying too far down the table - though by a strange quirk brought about by the league split, seventh placed Accies actually finished the season with more points than sixth placed Hearts.

No one said Scottish football was perfect.

Fans of St Johnstone can look back on a solid campaign that, given a repeat performance next season, could well be the start of a lengthy SPL stay, if only they'd stop conceding so many goals. Jimmy Calderwood did was he was asked, keep Killie up, but his future, not to mention that of Killie remains in doubt.

Hamilton Accies did well to improve on their final finishing position from season 2008/09, finishing two places higher, and all that without their prize asset, Master James McCarthy. Whether they'll do as well without James McArthur remains to be seen...

St Mirren managed to avoid the final day heart attacks of last season, but only just. A vital win at home to Kilmarnock and draws against Falkirk and Hamilton in the final weeks of the season kept the Buddies up, meaning SPL football will be played in their brand new stadium for another year.

Which leaves Aberdeen, easily the most disappointing team of the season. Picking holes in Aberdeen's season is like shooting fish in a barrel, there was simply so much that went wrong. Terrible players, terrible results and a manager whose early-season PR with his own fans left many wondering about his sanity, not to mention longevity, all made up not so much a roller-coaster season as a fairly pacey downhill slalom.

Another highlight of the season has been the progress that Raith Rovers and Ross County made in this years domestic Cup competitions. Raith Rovers, somewhere below mid-table in the First Division made it as far as the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, beating Aberdeen and Dundee along the way, before coming unstuck against Dundee United. Ross County made it one game further. They took two big SPL scalps, those of Hibernian and Celtic (providing Neil Lennon's only copybook blot). They also put nine past Second Division champions Stirling Albion in an earlier round.

They'll play Dundee United next Saturday at Hampden.

And I couldn't fail to mention an old favourite at Inside Left: Fort William. The Fort, once Britain's worst football team, possibly, went from a team without a win last season to winning no less than 5 games during this campaign. They finished five points above the bottom spot, the wooden porridge spoon this year going to Rothes. Despite their success, The Fort still set two records this season: the biggest home win (champions Buckie Thistle won 8-0) and the longest run without recording a win (11).

There have been some disappointments too.

The national side once again failed spectacularly on the international stage. Failure to qualify for South Africa was one thing, but friendly defeats in Japan and Wales proved too much for the SFA who fired Burley, who had won just three of his 14 games in charge. The SFA moved quickly to poach Craig Levein from Dundee United, who got his tenure off to a winning start (a 1-0 win over Euro 2012 group-mates the Czech Republic). While the start looks promising, it may not last: Levein is one of the names in the frame for the Celtic job.

The other disappointment has been the McLeish report, the much awaited inquest into past, present and future of the Scottish game. Released without any fanfare whatsoever somewhere last month (I forget when, go Google) the report made some minor waves in the national media and the blogosphere, but most of us who care about the game stopped reading after we saw the line about needing £500m in investment to get things to where they should be. Quite where that amount of money is going to come from in this day and age is a mystery to me, and McLeish for that matter.

What follows on from this first instalment (there are three in total) is completely irrelevant now, because by coming up with such ludicrous amounts, McLeish has made a mockery of his own report, and any further insights or recommendations - no matter how clever - will be met with even less hoo-la than I would have ever imagined.

So that's it. A quick summary of my Scottish football season. We've still got a few games to go (a Cup final and the First and Second division play-off Finals), and before the next season kicks off there will be more talk of league reconstruction and league splits. While the format may change, the football remains the same and despite all I've had to put up with as an Aberdeen fan, I'm already looking forward to August.

Are you?

Brechin win relegates Airdrie

Airdrie United have been relegated to Division Two after Rory McAllister gave Brechin City a controversial victory in their play-off semi-final second leg.

It means that Airdrie, who were saved from relegation last season after Livingston were demoted to Division Three and the season before when Gretna went out of business, lost 3-1 on aggregate and go down this time round.

The home side believed they were denied a goal when Scott McLaughlin's drive appeared to cross the line after striking the crossbar.

And it appeared that a Scott Gemmill shot was cleared off the line by the hand of Steven Canning.  But McAllister fired home from 16 yards on 61 minutes against the run of play.

Brechin will now meet Cowdenbeath for a place in Division One next season.

Read More ...

source: BBC

The end of the dream: Killie 0-0 Falkirk

KILMARNOCK held on to the bitter end - despite late pressure from Falkirk and a rejected penalty claim - to get the single point they needed to secure their SPL survival, and quite possibly their own survival with it.

In a game with few chances (Killie managed only two shots on target, while Falkirk had to make do with five shots off target), the Bairns came agonisingly close to escaping the drop, but Ryan Flynn volleyed over from 10 yards: another chance gone begging, neatly summing up Falkirk's season.

Given the dramatic slide in Kilmarnock's fortunes this season (they'd only won three games when Jim Jefferies left and only five since Calderwood took over) it's sweetly ironic that the win that effectively kept Killie up this year was that 2-1 win away at manager Calderwood's former club Aberdeen last weekend. Coming back from behind to win 2-1, it made the task facing the Rugby Park outfit today a little bit easier: a draw was enough to secure safety, and in front of a home crowd (just over 10,662 supporters packed into the ground) all they had to do was park the bus and soak up the pressure.

Killie can now go into the summer break knowing that at least one of their problems has been solved. Staying in the SPL may well mean staying in business, though they still face one of the largest debts outside of the Old Firm with a squad that has struggled all season.

With little money in the transfer kitty, the squad may not get larger over the summer. Striker Kevin Kyle has been in transfer talks with Aberdeen, and he may well return to England, but in the euphoria following the final whistle today, he's indicated he may well stay in Kilmarnock for another season.

For Falkirk, a summer of uncertainty looms as the club struggles to cope with the financial impact of relegation. Talk of staff cuts and wage cuts have been reported, but manager Steven Pressley looks set to stay. Although he failed to lift The Bairns out of the gloom - Falkirk never made it further than 11th place - his confidence in keeping the club in the SPL nearly worked.

When he took over the managers job in February, Falkirk where only three points behind Accies. But with only three wins after twenty-three games, the signs of recovery where a long way off. Promising to keep Falkirk in the league in his first press conference as manager was always a move fraught with danger, but his confidence and belief in his abilities to turn things around probably held off relegation for a few more weeks.

Points where picked up with wins against Aberdeen and St Mirren but in the final weeks, as Kilmarnock's season imploded and the Rugby Park outfit edged closer to the drop zone, missed chances in the costly draws against St Johnstone and St Mirren in the end proved too much.

With the club now needing to cut costs, expect the raiding parties to be knocking on the door at The Falkirk Stadium. Darren Barr is off to Hearts and Accies might be revisiting Scott Arfield (they had an offer turned down for the player at the start of the season) while Pedro Moutinho and Carl Finnigan might be cheap options for some SPL sides.

With four years of SPL experience under their belt, something tells me Falkirk won't be in the First Division for long. Along with Dundee (who are trimming their squad following their disappointing season) and Dunfermline, The Bairns will be one of the strongest sides in the SFL next year. If they can keep the bulk of the squad they might be alright, providing their finances allow it.

And that is something that not even Pressley can make any promises about.

Links

» Match report from the Kilmarnock club site
» Falkirk relegated as Killie stay up [BBC]
» Kilmarnock hold on to survive [ESPN]
» Stephen Pressley set to stay at Falkirk who are relegated from SPL by Kilmarnock [Telegraph]
» Falkirk go down and Kilmarnock survive after tense stalemate [Guardian]
» Falkirk relegated from Scottish Premier League after stalemate [STV]

08.05// The Final Weekend SPL Preview

AND so we reach the end of the road.

Seven months and thirty-eight games later, it all boils down to this - the final weekend of the 2009/10 SPL season. Six more games to go, and we can put away the scarves and the rosettes along with our hopes for our teams season.

There are only three games worth a mention in this weekends group of fixtures: one will decide who goes down, the other decides who gets the final place in the race for European football.

And with all the fuss about the sensibility of the league split doing the rounds again, anti-splitters can have a field day if Hearts lose to Celtic and St Johnstone beat Accies: seventh placed St Johnstone will have more points than sixth-placed Hearts!

Kilmarnock v Falkirk

Ah, the relegation decider. Two teams that I had a completely different ending in mind for. I reckoned Killie would have another comfortable if uninspiring season somewhere in the middle of the table. In other words, survival for another year, one of a crop of teams (along with St Johnstone, Accies and St Mirren) that has the occasional blip, but otherwise nothing too much to worry about.

Somewhere on this blog you'll find me predicting St Mirren for the drop, with the Buddies fighting it out at the final hurdle with Falkirk. St Mirren have not been great but Falkirk's season has been poor. Apart from five games, they spent the entire season at the bottom of the table. Despite two credible draws against Celtic and beating Aberdeen twice, their season has been one of much disappointment. Out of Europe at the first hurdle, and out of both domestic cups after the first round, the season was always going to be about keeping heads above water.

For both of these sides, there's more to this game than just staying in the SPL. Kilmarnock are in serious debt (about £11m) and Falkirk estimate the cost of their relegation to be around the £1.5m to £2m mark. As Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie says,

"There would be some places where we would have to tighten our belts and make some changes. It's a big jump and, given football clubs don't start in a very profitable position, you really have to find ways of actually saving almost all of that cash."

A win is vital then for both sides, unless the 14-team SPL proposal gets the go-ahead during the summer, but that looks unlikely while the teams and the league wrangle it out about format and another skewed split.

In the final analysis, Falkirk need a win, Killie need a draw. The teams have met three times this season, with Killie just edging it in terms of wins. Fortune favours the brave, and with so much at stake expect a scrappy, tight game. I like Jimmy Calderwood, so I'm hoping for a Kilmarnock win, which is how I see this game going.

Dundee United v Hibernian

Like John Hughes, Hibernian fans are probably still wondering quite how they threw away a four-goal lead against Motherwell. Cruising into a 2-6 lead with Colin Nish hat-trick, the points looked done and dusted, but at that point, Hibs just stopped playing. Defensive errors cost them three vital points and a hold on the fourth-place going into the final weekend, but it was not to be.

The Internet is rife with stories of Levein walking out on the Scotland job to move to Celtic (conspiracy theorists say this may have had a lot to do with Gordon Smith's departure from the SFA), taking current Dundee United manager Peter Houston, his former assistant with him.

It would be a shame to rock the Tannadice boat again, because despite the upheaval of losing the popular Levein. United should be pleased with a good season, one that looked to set for the rocks when Levein left early on in the season, but Houston - a reluctant successor - has done a good job, while David Goodwillie is deserving of his SPL Young Player of the Year award. Dundee United's biggest worry over the summer is whether or not Peter Houston will still be their manager come next August, and whether David Goodwillie resists the urge to warm the bench at Ibrox last year, in much the same was as teammate Willo Flood warmed the bench at Parkhead.

Rangers v Motherwell

Fresh from their amazing 12-goal thriller, Motherwell travel north to Ibrox to face the league champions Rangers. Lukas Jutkiewicz's leveller against Hibs in midweek was one of the goals of the season, and was typical of the change at Fir Park since 70-year old Craig Brown took over at the club. On his arrival, he reversed the changes made by Jim Gannon (one based largely on youth, but which lost them a lot of games) and reinstated Stephen Craigan, Lasley and Hammell.

Aside from a spell of four games without a win in March, Brown has kept his team in the top half of the table for the remainder of the season and in the hunt for a return to Europe.

Motherwell face Rangers tomorrow, a team to whom they've lost just the once this season in another six-goal thriller! Rangers are already champions so this game is one for the fans. Hoisting the flag, a lap of the pitch and so on. Rangers have swept the post-season awards with captain David Weir voted winner of the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year and Walter Smith voted SPL Manager of the Year. They'll still want to round of this season with a final win in front of their own fans.

Three meaningless games then to round off the season. St Johnstone and Hamilton are two sides that can look back on a decent season. Derek McInness' Saints where one of the highest scoring sided in the league this year, outscoring the teams below them by some margin, as well as scoring more goals than Hearts and Motherwell.

It's a shame then that they conceded the most goals of any team in the SPL (including bottom side Falkirk). If they can sort out that defence, we better watch out next season. Accies will see another member of their youth system leaving the club over the summer, but quite where James McArthur will end up is open for debate. Rangers have been sniffing around, but McArthur may prefer a big-money transfer (relatively speaking) down South.

St Mirren against Aberdeen and Hearts against Celtic will make no difference to anyone really, except possibly the long suffering Aberdeen fans who will get a respite from the misery and dross being served up to them every week. Rumours abound about Director of Football Willie Miller's future at the club, and with many demanding the head of Mark McGhee on a plate, the summer could be long and unpleasant.

A shock Cup-exit notwithstanding, Celtic's Neil Lennon should look back over a short but successful period in charge at Parkhead. The care-taker manager has not lost a league game since taking over, scoring 17 goals along the way and conceding only five. To strengthen his case for a permanent appointment he also achieved the one thing his former boss Tony Mowbray couldn't manage: beat Rangers.

This is how we see the weekend going

Kilmarnock 2-1 Falkirk
St Johnstone 1-0 Hamilton
St Mirren 2-0 Aberdeen
Dundee Utd 1-1 Hibernian
Hearts 1-3 Celtic
Rangers 2-0 Motherwell

So that's our predictions for the final weekend. Are we right? Are we talking pish? Do let us know!

06.05// The Midweek Ballbag

LET's be honest. Not many fans would stick around for too long if they found their team down 2-4 at halftime, but those who did last night at Fir Park where rewarded for their loyalty as Motherwell clawed back a 2-6 deficit to earn a valuable point in a thrilling 6-6 draw against Hibs.

It's not the first time this season that Motherwell found themselves at the end of a drubbing (they lost 6-1 to Rangers in back in December, two weeks before Rangers got onto the record books again with a 7-1 spanking of Dundee United), but at least in this game they showed some spunk (steady!).

There was actually a lot to play for in this fixture: a win for Motherwell would have secured European football for Craig Brown's men (they'd enter the Europa League Second qualifying round), while a win for Hibs would have lifted them two points clear of the Steelmen into fourth place.

John Hughes must be feeling the pressure. His Hibees have never dropped out of the top five all season and until March where doing a good job keeping up with Celtic in second place. But a run of games that has seen them without a win in their last six games and which included heavy defeats to St Johnstone and Accies had dropped them out of the running. If the message boards are to be believed, Hibs fans are getting restless, with plenty of threads calling for Hughes to be sacked.

The Scottish Football Blog has more on this game, including all twelve goals!

Fans of Aberdeen where again rewarded for their endurance by watching another set of happy, cheering away-supporters make their way up the west side of the South Stand after the final whistle. The Dons' season took another lurch towards the comically tragic when they do what they're good at, namely taking a lead and then sitting back and letting their opponents out-score them.

The 2-1 defeat at home to Kilmarnock is the latest in a series of pitiful performances that should hopefully spell the end for the majority of the current Aberdeen squad. The irony in this game are legion, namely:

» Kilmarnock have won only 8 games all season, two of those coming against Aberdeen;
» Killie have only scored six away goals all season, with two of those coming against Aberdeen last night;
» the winning goal was scored by Kevin Kyle, a player Aberdeen are trying to sign.

For the 6,000-odd supporters making their way down Pittodrie Street for this game was just another low point in the season.  McGhee has promised wholesale changes over the summer, but I don't believe a word of it. Judging by his signings this season (Nelson, Paterson, MacLean, Ifil, Marshall, Grassi and Ross) there's really not much to look forward to next season either.

The goal-cavalcade at Fir Park more than made up for the lack of goals in the remaining games in the SPL last night.

Falkirk's goalless draw against St Johnstone made the prospects of their SPL survival that little bit harder. The Bairns went into the game level on points with Kilmarnock,  but with Killie winning at Pittodrie, next Saturday sees the battle for survival go down to the wire. Steven Pressley promised at the start of his tenure as Falkirk manager to keep the Bairns in the SPL, a promise he could still make good if he beats Kilmarnock at the weekend.

Dundee United and Hearts played out a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle that finally killed of Hearts' hopes of European football. Unless Hearts beat Celtic 11-0 next weekend and Dundee United prevent the Hibs goal machine from scoring, the Jambo's will have to contend themselves with a top-half finish this season and dreams of what might have been if they hadn't been so crap before the New Year.

St Mirren can still repeat last season's final 11th place if they lose at home to Aberdeen on Saturday and Kilmarnock beat Falkirk on the same day. Last night they served up some typical 'end of season fare',  as the BBC put it, against an already safe Hamilton Accies. Between them, these two managed eleven shots on target, suggesting an attacking end-to-end game, but it wasn't. It was dull. It ended nil-nil. It mattered little.

One more weekend to go lads, and season 2009/10 is but a distant, and faintly unpleasant memory. What have been your highlights of the season? Anything that stick out, and anything that makes you clench your arse cheeks together?

Leave us a comment!

A bleak future

FOR any Aberdeen fan who knows his history, the date May 3rd, 1980 has a special significance, for it was on that day that the Dons became champions of Scotland, their second league title since 1955.

A team comprising of names that would eventually form the backbone of the side that would dominate Scottish football in the early 80's and conquer Europe, beat Hibernian 5-0 at Easter Road to take League trophy out of Glasgow for the first time since Kilmarnock won it back in 1965.

Aberdeen, with Bobby Clark in goals, Andy Kennedy, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller and Doug Rougvie in the backline, a midfield made up of Gordon Strachan, Andy Watson, John McMaster and Ian Scanlon and a forward line comprising Stevie Archibald and Mark McGhee had put together a fourteen game unbeaten run - which involved back-to-back victories over Celtic at Parkhead - to help the Dons reach this pivotal game.

The only possibly fly in the ointment were defending champions Celtic, who needed a win away at Love Street to reclaim top spot, and so snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. On the day though, all the pieces fell into place for Aberdeen, as goals from Stevie Archibald, Andy Watson and a brace from Ian Scanlon helped the Dons to an easy win over an already relegated Hibs.