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League 1 Season 19/20 Predictions


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Not completely sure on how players stack up at this level so will just rank it from biggest club to smallest. And this is a shoot.

1. Falkirk

2. Raith Rovers

3. Airdrie United

4. Clyde

5. Dumbarton

6. Forfar

7. East Fife 

8. Peterhead 

9. Montrose

10. Stranraer

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I've kept my powder dry on this one (like a REAL proper prediction) until now.....

1 Falkirk - I fancy they'll make a strong start to the league...but tail off a wee not in November/December with a few making up ground then. Come March time and with a full compliment of players to pick from, they'll fall over the line and secure the title in April.

2 Raith Rovers - Another year, another playoff! Rovers to secure second in the tightest league in years. Mendy to be hunted out of Kirkcaldy after some of the worst defending seen in the division.

3 Airdrie - with one of the best defensive records in the league, and one of the lowest Goals For totals. The stuffy side cement 3rd after again failing to find a way to beat Raith.

4 Forfar - a solid enough season, Ross Forbes now an Angus legend and Jim Weir given the Key to Forfar, playoffs confirmed on the last day of the season

5 East Fife - another year, another improvement in East Fife, just missing out on the playoffs though.

6 Montrose - Petrie consolidating again before moving on Next summer, having taken Montrose "as far as he can"

7 Clyde - a good first season back in League 1, a few ups and downs, but something to build on.

8 Stranraer - you never know what you'll get from Stranraer, but Faz continues to amaze on an absolute shoestring budget.

9 Peterhead - Playoffs for McInally and the Blue Toon.

10 Dumbarton - it pains me to say I think it could be a bleak one for the Sons, Duffy and the board having differing budget ideas and aims, a lot going on off the park just now which isn't helping matters and its not painting to great a picture!

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1. Falkirk - Comfortably too. Clearly the strongest starting 11 in the league and I think McKinnon is a decent manager who will get things right after having the summer to build his own team. Light on numbers but I think they will add a couple of loanees to beef up the squad before the end of the window. 

2. Airdrie - The Airdrie fans seem an excitable bunch. They tend to be full of optimism in pre season which is admirable but it rarely works out. I didn’t understand the excitement last season when they appeared to be snapping up mainly mid table jobbers. However, I think there’s more substance to it this year. Looks a decent squad on paper and it’s a big season for Ian Murray rebuilding his reputation.

3. Raith Rovers - I think we could finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th. To have a really successfully season we need to catch a break with injuries. We need almost a full season out of Hendry, Dingwall and Vaughan. We need to get lucky with a couple of good loanees and we also need to form a competent centre defence with any two from Mendy, Davo, McKay or Bene. We also need Miller to be the solid right back we missed last season. And McGlynn to recapture what he had in his first spell getting every ounce from the team making them greater than the sum of its parts. The chances of ALL of those things happening are slim to none so we won’t be anywhere near Falkirk. Our position from 2-5 will be dependent on how many of them do happen. 

4. Forfar - Excellent finish to last season and seem to have continued that in the league cup. They look to have recruited well but have also lost a large number of players. Can’t see Jackson replacing the goals of Baird which is why I have them down slightly. However, they will probably get more goals from midfield with Kirkpatrick, Tapping and Forbes and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them second once again.

5. East Fife - Thought they were the best team we faced last season. They were excellent the first 3 games against us. They had a fixture pile up towards the end of last year but that can’t be blamed as the sole reason for the dramatic collapse in the last part of the season which leaves a question mark over them. They look to have recruited well in the forward areas and have done well to retain the likes of Long, Dunsmore and Dowds. However, I think Meggatt will be a loss and because of that they look weaker defensively and after last years collapse I am still unsure on Young. Expect them to be right in the mix for the play off places.

6. Montrose - On the basis that Petrie stays for the full season. He is an excellent manager (best in the league imo) who got everything out of an average looking squad last season. Really fit, well organised side who are a threat from set pieces. Defensive additions look good and they have retained the bulk of the squad that finished 4th so 6th is potentially a bit harsh but I don’t think they have many standouts on paper from middle to front. The team in this league who would be most affected by a change in manager.

7. Peterhead - Teams who win League Two generally do well in their first season up (see Arbroath and Montrose in recent seasons). However, I can’t see Peterhead quite reaching those levels. They were very poor on Tuesday but I understand it is still precseason and they were missing a centre half and McAllister. They have a decent experienced squad but I have never rated McInally as manager.

8. Clyde - Were absolutely flying the second half of last season. Lennon has done an excellent job there. Signed a lot of the better players from League Two so will be interesting to see how they step up. I’d imagine they’ll be pretty entertaining with lots of high scoring games with dodgy defence but promising attack. Teams like that usually struggle for consistency which is why I have them so low. Will be interested to see the improvement in Chris Johnston this season, seems to be getting a lot of praise recently. Admittedly it was in the Championship but he was fucking hopeless for us.

9. Dumbarton - I’m sure they would have finished 2nd/3rd if the league had started after the January transfer window last season. Unfortunately for them this window has been a bit of a disaster. Duffy hasn’t covered himself in glory with the time taken to commit or the way he apparently handled contract renewals. Replacing the likes of Ferguson, C. Barr, Thomas, Ballantyne, Gallagher etc was always going to be tough but on paper the squad looks poor. Defence is leaky and it’s difficult to see where the goals will come from. However, against all logic I don’t see them finishing bottom. Duffy did well in the loan market last year and I’d imagine they’ll be heavily reliant upon it again.

10. Stranraer - Given their budget they should be 10th so I’ve gone with them by default. But that was probably also the case last season. Farrell has done a good job there and they appear to have had a decent League Cup performance. Turner and Cameron will be big losses but they always seem to get good quality players on loan and imagine this will be pretty vital to their prospects again. 

I think Falkirk will win the league at a canter, I’d be surprised if Dumbarton and Stranraer aren’t somewhere from 8-10. I’d imagine everyone else will fancy themselves for a top 4 spot. 

Got a bit carried away there, that’s what a lazy Sunday morning will do to you. Fair play to anyone that actually reads all that.

Edited by R.R.FC
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5 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Just a heads up NewBornBairn, the Monstrose fans are a sensitive bunch, although you done well to avoid the typical 3 laughing faces response on this one.

I just ranked them by teams I'd heard of tbh.

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1 Falkirk       

2 Forfar

3 Airdrie

4 East Fife 

5 Montrose

6 Raith Rovers

7 Clyde

8 Stranraer

9 Peterhead

10 Dumbarton 

Be a very competitive league with all teams capable of beating each other on any given day. 9 months is a long time in football and by the time May comes round we’ll have all been through the ups and downs supporting one of Scotland’s lower league teams. Can’t wait for Saturday to come round and get the league campaign under way.

 

 

 

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1 Falkirk

2 Forfar

3 Raith

4 East Fife

5 Airdrie

6 Montrose

7 Clyde

8 Peterhead

9 Stranraer

10 Dumbarton

I  expect 2 to 5 to be about right, albeit may he in a different order. Would love to see Clyde higher, but unless we can get a couple of decent recruits at the back,  I don't see it.

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1. Falkirk - Looking through their starting 11, that's essentially an absolutely standard mid-table Championship looking side in every department. That should be more than enough to win the league. I know their squad's a bit thin but they'll also have the resources to strengthen in January if they need to. McKinnon has his detractors but he absolutely should be competent enough to win the title with the resource and talent advantage he has at his disposal.

2. Forfar Athletic - Had a very impressive end to last season. Lost some very decent players but largely look to have replaced them with similar or even better players. A decent mix of toughness with a handful of forward players who can do a lot of damage, not unlike Arbroath last season. An excellent League Cup campaign suggests they should be favourites to be 'best of the rest' behind Falkirk.

3. Raith Rovers - Difficult one to predict. They look like a fairly standard L1 squad with stand out players in Hendry and Vaughn. I think a lot will depend on how much of the season they get out of these two players. Both missed large parts of last season to injury. Keep them injury free and I'd be expecting Rovers to make the play off. Without these two players, I don't think much separates Raith from the general pack of teams in the middle of the league.

4. East Fife - Should have made the play-offs last year but for a disastrous end to the season. Kept largely the same squad with a few additions which I think have strengthened us. Murdoch and Higgins have returned after loans and look like much better players. And fantastic options up front and goals in the midfield mean we should carry a real goal threat. An excellent couple of results in the LC have convinced me to put us into that final play off spot, just ahead of Airdrie and Montrose.

5. Airdrie - The start of a new season sees the annual surge of optimism emanate from the Penny Cars. I think the squad has improved on last season. Eckersley, Fordyce and Gallagher seem like very good acquisitions. And I think Murray will have them drilled a bit better than previously. However, I'm not sure I see the same reasons to have them up challenging as others are. A number of their signings are a bit unknown in this division. If enough of them turn out to be good, then I'd expect them to finish higher but have them down as this years nearly men.

6. Montrose - Definitely lost the 'surprise' element of last year. An excellent first season after promotion and a steady strengthening of the squad over the summer, especially in Ballantyne and Waddell means the rest of the league should be expecting Montrose to push for the play offs this season. I think they'll fall a bit short this time round. Made it last season in large part due to their consistency - other challengers tended to be wildly erratic. I think the middle of the league will be stronger this season which could push Montrose down a few places.

7. Clyde - An underwhelming League Cup campaign may have put the confidence of last season's barn-storming finish at a bit of a peep. As usual with promoted teams, a bit of an unknown quantity. Certainly look to have goals in them, with Goodwillie leading the line. A self-confessed weakness at the back might not have been much of an issue when they were dominating most games last season but may haunt them in the numerous tight games against mid table opposition.

8. Peterhead - Largely the same squad, although this guy Dow might be a bit of a miss. You usually know what you get with McInally's Peterhead. Tough and experienced. A bit of an ageing squad though and not many players that stand out at this level. Should have enough to avoid relegation.

9. Stranraer - Another tough season ahead for Stranraer. Clearly the strategy is to bring back players that have done a job at Stair Park before in Robertson, Gallagher and Thomson. outside of these guys, their squad looks a little weak. I'd expect them to fight tooth and nail for survival and not be detached in the bottom two. Pretty decent showings, if not points total in the LC might suggest Farrell's got enough to keep them up though.

10. Dumbarton - Big things were expected last pre-season and it didn't pan out. It'd be sod's law if it turned out the exact opposite this season. A few decent signings aside, it looks like a fairly rag-tag squad assembled at the Rock. That might be good enough to see out L1 seasons where there's an obvious diddy cannon-fodder type side but it looks like a tough league this season and I don't see Dumbarton having the quality to compete. Although the 12 points they inevitably pick up from us should give them a real fighting chance.

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