[itzdrk]

anyone else willing to stick their neck out on final placings

based on something or other my belief is

1.Dundee
2.County
3.Falkirk
4.Hamilton
5.Morton
6.Thistle
7.Livi
8.Raith
9.Ayr
10.Queens

[accies4life]

itzdrk, on 15 January 2012 - 18:48, said:

anyone else willing to stick their neck out on final placings

based on something or other my belief is

1.Dundee
2.County
3.Falkirk
4.Hamilton
5.Morton
6.Thistle
7.Livi
8.Raith
9.Ayr
10.Queens

one thing i would change from that is switch around morton and partick

This post has been edited by accies4life: 15 January 2012 - 19:01

[Kid Twist]

1. Falkirk
2. Dundee
3. Ross County
4. Partick Thistle
5. Hamilton
6. Morton
7. Livingston
8. Queen of the South
9. Ayr
10. Raith

[Disco Duck]

Kid Twist, on 15 January 2012 - 18:59, said:

1. Falkirk
2. Dundee
3. Ross County
4. Partick Thistle
5. Hamilton
6. Morton
7. Livingston
8. Queen of the South
9. Ayr
10. Raith

Like it, but disagree.

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Partick Thistle
5. Hamilton
6. Morton
7. Livingston
8. Raith
9. Ayr
10. Queen of the South

[Just a bairn]

1. Ross County
2. Falkirk
3. Dundee
4. Morton
5. Livingston
6. Partick Thistle
7. Hamilton
8. Raith
9. Queen of the South
10. Ayr

Probably won't be far off.

[MB]

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Partick Thistle
5. Livingston
6. Morton
7. Raith Rovers
8. Hamilton Accies
9. Ayr United
10. Queen of the South

I think there will be a fair gap between 3rd and 4th, and another between 8th and 9th. I think both Falkirk and Dundee are as good as County, but the latter have a stronger squad. That should count in their favour as the season progresses. Conceivably, Queens could scale the heights of 9th, but Ayr United have shown an ability to grind out results a bit better than us to date. 4th-8th is a bit of a lottery as there's so little between the teams.

[McKee]

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Greenock Morton
4. Falkirk
5. Livingston
6. "Hamilton Academical"
7. Raith
8. Partick
9. Queen of the South
10. Ayr United

[LiviLion]

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Thistle
5. Morton
6. Livingston
7. Hamilton
8. Raith Rovers
9. Ayr United
10. Queen of South

[forzamorton]

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Morton
5. Partick Thistle
6. Hamilton
7. Livingston
8. Raith
9. Ayr
10. QOS

[vikingTON]

Dundee are the only team who could credibly challenge Ross County at the moment, Falkirk are putting up as much of a challenge as they did last season ie fanny around comfortably enough behind, showing no signs of a genuine effort. But Dundee are starting from far back and aren't even a good side, so I would be very surprised if County don't win it. A gap will probably develop between those three and the midtable snoozefest. I wouldn't be surprised to see Livingston - who aren't very good - drop out of the midtable pack but they'll survive, as will Raith if their strongest side stays fit. I'm not confident picking which of the two poorest sides will finish bottom until we see what of Ayr's money is spent on realistic signings and what will still be the aimless pipe-dreams they're currently peddling. At the moment they're by far the poorest side I've seen and I'd expect them to go down. They need to strengthen to have a credible chance of surviving.

We have the ability in patches to move back towards the top three, but as it's Morton, we'll quite probably kick around 4th until April then lose all of our last games and finish 7th or something stupid like that. I'll be optimistic for once though and go for fourth.

1. Ross
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Greenock Morton
5. Partick
6. Hamilton
7. Raith
8. Livingston
9. Queens
10. Ayr

This post has been edited by vikingTON: 15 January 2012 - 20:39

[Magnethead]

1. Ross County
2. Falkirk
3. Dundee
4. Morton
5. Partick Th
6. Hamilton
7. Livingston
8. Ayr Utd
9. Raith
10 Queen of the South

[Skyline Drifter]

County will only fail to win it if they bottle it. They have the best squad and an established lead already. They don't depend on one or two individuals quite as much as others too.

Falkirk and Dundee are comfortably better than everyone else, though Falkirk in particular depend enormously on El Alagui and without him would be a much lesser side. I would expect those two to fight out 2nd and 3rd well clear of the pack of the rest.

As things stand there's a middle ground of the next four sides - Morton, Thistle, Livi and Accies who could conceivably finish in any given order. They could even, with a bad run, find themselves dragged back into the struggle at the bottom. They aren't that far away really.

And then there's the bottom three. In signing the likes of Casalinouvo (sp?) Raith have taken their gamble and it remains to be seen if it will be enough to bring them clear. Ourselves and Ayr are yet to make any serious move in the window and until we see what the bottom three come out of it with you can't really say much with any grounds. Personally I think we're better than Ayr but I have no doubt their fans think they are better than us. I think there's nothing at all between us and Raith really. Much will come down to the head to heads in these matches. If the bottom three pick up a couple of wins eahc then one or more of the middle order sides could be dragged in to things yet.

[CALDERON]

I think when we have our strongest side available we are a mid table side, well potentially.

But it's tough as hell down here. Ayr have the advantage just now I fear. But I wouldn't be surprised to finsh anywhere at all between 5th and 10th.

[#Gary]

1. Morton

The rest are an irrelevance.

[Bigmouth Strikes Again]

Far too many points to be played for to make any kind of prediction.

[Sooky]

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Hamilton
5. Partick Thistle
6. Morton
7. Livingston
8. Queen of the South
9. Raith
10. Ayr

[Raith Against The Machine]

Tomorrow will be cold, with it warming slightly by Tuesday.

[cornbeef]

accies4life, on 15 January 2012 - 18:52, said:

one thing i would change from that is switch around morton and partick

Oh would you now ? I was rather thinking the switch would involve Morton and Hamilton. Stick that up yer artificial grass

[rw89]

Given our position, I'm only interested in the bottom three. I think that we've done well to sign two experienced players who'll link up with Baird, in the shape of Casalinuovo and Clarke. Baird has been looking more comfortable in a deeper role clearing up from the other two causing hassle for defenders too. When Casa gets back to full fitness I do believe that we'll be able to put teams under pressure. The real question is if we can stop sitting back when we take the lead, which is now our main cause of concern. For me, we're far too negative and need to look to kill games off. Sometimes, this means that a quick counter will catch us out, but then I'd rather see us keeping teams under pressure than having 10 men behind the ball after we score.

Queens and Ayr are interesting. Midway through January and neither team have made any signings which have made me sit up in concern, but there is still plenty of time. Even after the window closes they may end up bringing in a player who is on loan or unattached and can make a difference. Queens have some seasoned players in their line up, but I do believe that they are limited. Kevin Smith is without a doubt their star player, he's been a good signing for them, but I do see some of their fans questioning their other team. It really does sound exactly identical to ourselves.

Ayr are a strange case for me. Every occasion I've seen them this season they have looked a good team and won the game. In the challenge cup, they fielded their youngsters, we dominated the first 20 minutes, then played poorly after they scored in a convincing win. The second game at Somerset saw us go 1-0 down then had Ross Callaghan sent off. We equalised and then for the rest of the second half Ayr piled the pressure on us to eventually score in the 90th minute. They looked again convincing, although they were helped by the fact we had 10 men relatively. Still, they dominated the 2nd half and deserved their win for the most part. The final game they were poor, but we were utterly rancid. They won through a deflection but didn't have to do much else as we made mistake after mistake. Possibly, Reid has McGlynn sussed out after playing him over numerous years. But Ayr find themselves in the same position as ourselves and Queens.

Up until this point, we've done well to pick points up away from home but need to stop sitting back. At home, we need to try to get the fans behind the team and the players believing in themselves. I won't make a prediction as to who will remain in the first division, but what I will say is that I'm happy the board and McGlynn are making changes. Casa and Clarke will hopefully make a positive impact in their time at the club.

[yoda]

In a similar way to the above poster, I only care about the final placings with regards to my team.

It looks like County will get a top three finish this season (there, I've jinxed it). The team are in a very strong position, and the postponed games don't seem to be a factor at the moment especially with both Dundee and Falkirk also needing to have two league games rearranged (one of which involves them playing each other). Both Dundee and Falkirk are good teams, but I think County have the "psychological" advantage at the moment having avoided defeat against both sides in the 5 games so far this season.

There's still a long way to go and it's far from over but after County are back level on games played, I'll tell you my final predictions with regards to the top three.

[Muggy]

Would be astonished if anyone but County went up. Credible enough challenge from us would do me fine. Smith has done pretty well so far, I think. Doesn't have the siege mentality to aid him this year and after a slow start has got his best side sorted and we're getting better. Between us and Falkirk for second, with Morton possibly having something to say about that - although, the last time I tipped Morton, they became awful.

At the other end, it's looking difficult for Queens, but they'll be in there fighting it out with Ayr and Raith until the end. I think Raith will pull away, leaving Queens and Ayr to battle it out for that play-off spot. I can't pick between them.

[itzdrk]

rw89, on 15 January 2012 - 23:21, said:

Given our position, I'm only interested in the bottom three. I think that we've done well to sign two experienced players who'll link up with Baird, in the shape of Casalinuovo and Clarke. Baird has been looking more comfortable in a deeper role clearing up from the other two causing hassle for defenders too. When Casa gets back to full fitness I do believe that we'll be able to put teams under pressure. The real question is if we can stop sitting back when we take the lead, which is now our main cause of concern. For me, we're far too negative and need to look to kill games off. Sometimes, this means that a quick counter will catch us out, but then I'd rather see us keeping teams under pressure than having 10 men behind the ball after we score.

Queens and Ayr are interesting. Midway through January and neither team have made any signings which have made me sit up in concern, but there is still plenty of time. Even after the window closes they may end up bringing in a player who is on loan or unattached and can make a difference. Queens have some seasoned players in their line up, but I do believe that they are limited. Kevin Smith is without a doubt their star player, he's been a good signing for them, but I do see some of their fans questioning their other team. It really does sound exactly identical to ourselves.

Ayr are a strange case for me. Every occasion I've seen them this season they have looked a good team and won the game. In the challenge cup, they fielded their youngsters, we dominated the first 20 minutes, then played poorly after they scored in a convincing win. The second game at Somerset saw us go 1-0 down then had Ross Callaghan sent off. We equalised and then for the rest of the second half Ayr piled the pressure on us to eventually score in the 90th minute. They looked again convincing, although they were helped by the fact we had 10 men relatively. Still, they dominated the 2nd half and deserved their win for the most part. The final game they were poor, but we were utterly rancid. They won through a deflection but didn't have to do much else as we made mistake after mistake. Possibly, Reid has McGlynn sussed out after playing him over numerous years. But Ayr find themselves in the same position as ourselves and Queens.

Up until this point, we've done well to pick points up away from home but need to stop sitting back. At home, we need to try to get the fans behind the team and the players believing in themselves. I won't make a prediction as to who will remain in the first division, but what I will say is that I'm happy the board and McGlynn are making changes. Casa and Clarke will hopefully make a positive impact in their time at the club.

was a stalemate mainly on boxing day

[Fifespud]

forzamorton, on 15 January 2012 - 20:24, said:

1. Ross County
2. Dundee
3. Falkirk
4. Morton
5. Partick Thistle
6. Hamilton
7. Livingston
8. Raith
9. Ayr
10. QOS

Looks the best guess to me.

[accies4life]

the numbers after county will show how many points they will be behind county for example -5 is 5 points behind county

Ross County 0
Dundee -3
Falkirk -7
Hamilton Accies -14
Partick Thistle -15
Livingston -17
Morton -17 they are below livi on goal difference
Raith Rovers -21
Queen Of The South -23
Ayr -10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 or whatever number they'll still finish rock bottom on whatever points they have

[Muggy]

accies4life, on 16 January 2012 - 00:44, said:

the numbers after county will show how many points they will be behind county for example -5 is 5 points behind county

Ross County 0
Dundee -3
Falkirk -7
Hamilton Accies -14
Partick Thistle -15
Livingston -17
Morton -17 they are below livi on goal difference
Raith Rovers -21
Queen Of The South -23
Ayr -10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 or whatever number they'll still finish rock bottom on whatever points they have

Ross County are already 20 points above Queens and that's with two games in hand. The gap will only get bigger. Likewise for most of the sides in there actually. I can't see us finishing only three behind, as well.

In fact, that whole table is a pile of rubbish.