Originally Posted by
DollyLongstaffe
Just don't know.
I actually think that generally we've better squad than we had this time last year, if we can avoid too much in the way of injuries. Hoban's injury is a real sickener.
However Ryan Christie was exceptional in the first half of last season and Kenny McLean in the second, and we will struggle to replace that kind of quality.
Hearts have brought in a bunch of unknowns and got off to a flier. They already have a 7 point advantage, which is massive. But this is the Hearts way, they gamble on technically good foreigners. Other than sporadically when Romanov was splashing the cash and their budget was 3 times ours, it has not paid off very well for them. As soon as things get a bit tough the commitment, motivation and team spirit tends to go AWOL. This may be the season it works out for them, who knows, but I'm still sceptical.
Sevco have splashed the cash and have way better players than other teams outside Celtic. But to a somewhat lesser extent that was true last season as well, and they couldn't even finish runners up. Their main problem is hypercritical and ludicrously unrealistic fans (we have our fair share too, as this board abundantly testifies). As soon as it looks like they are inferior to Celtic their fans will turn on them and they'll be buried in a miasma of ill feeling and negativity. Could that cause the Gerrard experiment to implode so badly they can't even finish second? I think there's a decent chance, although I still think balance of probability they finish second.
Hibs I think are weakened and IMO they do not have a good manager. Lennon is too driven, too quick to criticise, too emotionally unstable, too blind to his own deficiencies to be a good man-manager long term, and I think man management is the main skill for a manager at SPL level. Tactics and spotting good players are what most fans seem to think matters, but there's too much consensus on those for them to be the important differences between managers. The important thing is to foster a team spirit, avoid dissension and cliques, steer clear of prima donnas and troublemakers and put a team on the park that is motivated and playing for one another. Guys like Lennon who ramp up the pressure on players can make it work well for them for a while, but it's always going to blow up their face at some point. Wouldn't surprise me to see them finish outside the top 6.
So my best guess:
Celtic
Hunco
Aberdeen
Hearts
Hibs
Kilmarnock
But there's plenty of scope for things to look very different.