Gordon EF Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 (edited) 1. Partick Thistle Partick and Falkirk should be the top two and I don't think there'll be much in it. I've given Partick the edge mostly because, although he splits opinion, McCall's an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win this league. They have a solid, experienced defence and Foster and Penrice should be fantastic full backs at this level. In midfield, Docherty and Glass seem like very good signings and I was impressed with Niang at Montrose last season. Up front, Lyons should be a great addition and you'd imagine Graham will be a fairly reliable goalscorer. Overall, experienced manager and a balanced squad full of quality. 2. Falkirk Could easily have had them top. Should be stronger than last season. Dowds and Keena are a potentially very good partnership up front. Alston and Morrison should add a bit of creativity and directness that their midfield was maybe missing last season. Mercer's also a very good signing I think. 3. Airdrie I'd put Airdrie a bit behind the top two but a bit ahead of the 'middle pack'. After an erratic start, they become a very solid and direct side last season. That solid defence has been retained and strengthened with the addition of Currie. Gallagher and Carrick are good players up front who you'd expect to be a handful and return a decent number of goals. If there's a reason that's keeping them from challenging it's potentially a lack of creativity in midfield. Some of their signings are unknown quantities so where they end up could depend on how they turn out. 4. Cove Rangers The consensus seems to be they're very good going forward but are fairly suspect defensively. And it does look like most of the investment has gone into the forward areas leaving the defence looking 'a bit Highland League'. It's difficult to know how they'll get on in L1 and maybe I've bought into the hype a bit. Megginson and Macintosh should be a very good L1 strike force, Fyvie is obviously a class player at this level and the young loanees they've brought in seem to be highly thought of. 5. East Fife I struggled with placing Cove, East Fife and Montrose and in some ways we're probably similar to Cove in that you'd probably expect a decent number of goals but could be a bit soft and 'gettable' at the back. Last season we did have a tendency to concede soft goals, especially from set pieces. If anything we might have strengthened a bit with the additions of Swanson, Hamilton and Collins. Similar question mark to Cove for me, is our attack good enough to keep teh pressure off us enough at the back to crack the top 4? 6. Montrose I don't think there's much between 4-6. Montrose are probably the odd one out here in that their defence is probably their strength but they look a bit lacking in forward areas. Losing Lyons is a blow and if he's not adequately replaced, I'd worry they're not going to have enough threat up front to reproduce the last couple of season's 4th place. In saying that, Montrose are just one of the these teams I'm loathed to underestimate as Petrie seems to constantly produce the goods. 7. Clyde Possibly the most unbalanced squad in the league. Mitchell, Lang and Goodwillie (on talent alone) are players most if not every, team in L1 would take but they look a bit 'functional' at best outside of that. Ray Grant will be missed in midfield and they're looking a bit thin in that area and over-reliant on a handful of young loanees where you never really know what you're getting. If these young players turn out good, could potentially challenge for 4th but should have enough to avoid the bottom 2. 8. Forfar Athletic I'm finding it tough to separate my bottom 3 by much. Forfar probably have the most ins and outs in the league this year. Anderson and Antionazzi look like good signings, which probably lifts them above Peterhead, and Dumbarton for me. the rest look a bit 'League Two-ish'. But generally, they have a very decent back 5 in paper which I think should be enough to see them safe. 9. Dumbarton Their squad is looking very thin, as usual for Dumbarton at this stage of the season. Things could look up if they bring in a few late signings. McKee is a loss and he's not been replaced. Wardrop aside, their signings seem uninspired or gambles. 10. Peterhead Have the look of a team that look to have been a little bit gutted at the back. Fleming, Boyle, Hooper, Eadie all gone. And like Dumbarton, don't seem to have brought in the numbers or quality to replace them. Layne is potentially a good signing, the rest seem untested or injury-prone. Edited October 5, 2020 by Gordon EF 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoveRangers1922 Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 6 hours ago, Gordon EF said: 1. Partick Thistle Partick and Falkirk should be the top two and I don't think there'll be much in it. I've given Partick the edge mostly because, although he splits opinion, McCall's an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win this league. They have a solid, experienced defence and Foster and Penrice should be fantastic full backs at this level. In midfield, Docherty and Glass seem like very good signings and I was impressed with Niang at Montrose last season. Up front, Lyons should be a great addition and you'd imagine Graham will be a fairly reliable goalscorer. Overall, experienced manager and a balanced squad full of quality. 2. Falkirk Could easily have had them top. Should be stronger than last season. Dowds and Keena are a potentially very good partnership up front. Alston and Morrison should add a bit of creativity and directness that their midfield was maybe missing last season. Mercer's also a very good signing I think. 3. Airdrie I'd put Airdrie a bit behind the top two but a bit ahead of the 'middle pack'. After an erratic start, they become a very solid and direct side last season. That solid defence has been retained and strengthened with the addition of Currie. Gallagher and Carrick are good players up front who you'd expect to be a handful and return a decent number of goals. If there's a reason that's keeping them from challenging it's potentially a lack of creativity in midfield. Some of their signings are unknown quantities so where they end up could depend on how they turn out. 4. Cove Rangers The consensus seems to be they're very good going forward but are fairly suspect defensively. And it does look like most of the investment has gone into the forward areas leaving the defence looking 'a bit Highland League'. It's difficult to know how they'll get on in L1 and maybe I've bought into the hype a bit. Megginson and Macintosh should be a very good L1 strike force, Fyvie is obviously a class player at this level and the young loanees they've brought in seem to be highly thought of. 5. East Fife I struggled with placing Cove, East Fife and Montrose and in some ways we're probably similar to Cove in that you'd probably expect a decent number of goals but could be a bit soft and 'gettable' at the back. Last season we did have a tendency to concede soft goals, especially from set pieces. If anything we might have strengthened a bit with the additions of Swanson, Hamilton and Collins. Similar question mark to Cove for me, is our attack good enough to keep teh pressure off us enough at the back to crack the top 4? 6. Montrose I don't think there's much between 4-6. Montrose are probably the odd one out here in that their defence is probably their strength but they look a bit lacking in forward areas. Losing Lyons is a blow and if he's not adequately replaced, I'd worry they're not going to have enough threat up front to reproduce the last couple of season's 4th place. In saying that, Montrose are just one of the these teams I'm loathed to underestimate as Petrie seems to constantly produce the goods. 7. Clyde Possibly the most unbalanced squad in the league. Mitchell, Lang and Goodwillie (on talent alone) are players most if not every, team in L1 would take but they look a bit 'functional' at best outside of that. Ray Grant will be missed in midfield and they're looking a bit thin in that area and over-reliant on a handful of young loanees where you never really know what you're getting. If these young players turn out good, could potentially challenge for 4th but should have enough to avoid the bottom 2. 8. Forfar Athletic I'm finding it tough to separate my bottom 3 by much. Forfar probably have the most ins and outs in the league this year. Anderson and Antionazzi look like good signings, which probably lifts them above Peterhead, and Dumbarton for me. the rest look a bit 'League Two-ish'. But generally, they have a very decent back 5 in paper which I think should be enough to see them safe. 9. Dumbarton Their squad is looking very thin, as usual for Dumbarton at this stage of the season. Things could look up if they bring in a few late signings. McKee is a loss and he's not been replaced. Wardrop aside, their signings seem uninspired or gambles. 10. Peterhead Have the look of a team that look to have been a little bit gutted at the back. Fleming, Boyle, Hooper, Eadie all gone. And like Dumbarton, don't seem to have brought in the numbers or quality to replace them. Layne is potentially a good signing, the rest seem untested or injury-prone. Enjoyed reading that balanced and well written assessment and I agree with almost all the predicted places. Fair assessment of Cove, I too feel we need a bit more protection in defence; particularly central defence. Mitch has real quality and is a prolific goalscorer. Macintosh I've never seen before but he's got to be better than Rory. Harry Milne (LB), Blair Yule (RB), Jamie Masson (RW) and Connor Scully (CM) are players maybe some in L1 won't know about but are quality and will hold there own comfortably / excel in this league. Fyvie at times controls the centre of the pitch and looks different quality but he's petulant and sometimes looks average and not a former FA Cup/ Scottish Cup winner and Premiership player Declan Glass, for me, will be one if not the best player in the league 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifer67 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Here’s hoping the season goes the distance. Let’s hope the mad season doesn’t arrive again and award promotions and relegations when the music stops. Being a 27 game season will make things a bit more unpredictable, with an unbalanced set of fixtures. 1. Partick Thistle 2. Falkirk 3. Cove Rangers 4 East Fife 5 Montrose 6 Airdrie 7 Clyde 8 Forfar 9 peterhead 10 Dumbarton 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 1. Partick Thistle Partick and Falkirk should be the top two and I don't think there'll be much in it. I've given Partick the edge mostly because, although he splits opinion, McCall's an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win this league. They have a solid, experienced defence and Foster and Penrice should be fantastic full backs at this level. In midfield, Docherty and Glass seem like very good signings and I was impressed with Niang at Montrose last season. Up front, Lyons should be a great addition and you'd imagine Graham will be a fairly reliable goalscorer. Overall, experienced manager and a balanced squad full of quality. 2. Falkirk Could easily have had them top. Should be stronger than last season. Dowds and Keena are a potentially very good partnership up front. Alston and Morrison should add a bit of creativity and directness that their midfield was maybe missing last season. Mercer's also a very good signing I think. 3. Airdrie I'd put Airdrie a bit behind the top two but a bit ahead of the 'middle pack'. After an erratic start, they become a very solid and direct side last season. That solid defence has been retained and strengthened with the addition of Currie. Gallagher and Carrick are good players up front who you'd expect to be a handful and return a decent number of goals. If there's a reason that's keeping them from challenging it's potentially a lack of creativity in midfield. Some of their signings are unknown quantities so where they end up could depend on how they turn out. 4. Cove Rangers The consensus seems to be they're very good going forward but are fairly suspect defensively. And it does look like most of the investment has gone into the forward areas leaving the defence looking 'a bit Highland League'. It's difficult to know how they'll get on in L1 and maybe I've bought into the hype a bit. Megginson and Macintosh should be a very good L1 strike force, Fyvie is obviously a class player at this level and the young loanees they've brought in seem to be highly thought of. 5. East Fife I struggled with placing Cove, East Fife and Montrose and in some ways we're probably similar to Cove in that you'd probably expect a decent number of goals but could be a bit soft and 'gettable' at the back. Last season we did have a tendency to concede soft goals, especially from set pieces. If anything we might have strengthened a bit with the additions of Swanson, Hamilton and Collins. Similar question mark to Cove for me, is our attack good enough to keep teh pressure off us enough at the back to crack the top 4? 6. Montrose I don't think there's much between 4-6. Montrose are probably the odd one out here in that their defence is probably their strength but they look a bit lacking in forward areas. Losing Lyons is a blow and if he's not adequately replaced, I'd worry they're not going to have enough threat up front to reproduce the last couple of season's 4th place. In saying that, Montrose are just one of the these teams I'm loathed to underestimate as Petrie seems to constantly produce the goods. 7. Clyde Possibly the most unbalanced squad in the league. Mitchell, Lang and Goodwillie (on talent alone) are players most if not every, team in L1 would take but they look a bit 'functional' at best outside of that. Ray Grant will be missed in midfield and they're looking a bit thin in that area and over-reliant on a handful of young loanees where you never really know what you're getting. If these young players turn out good, could potentially challenge for 4th but should have enough to avoid the bottom 2. 8. Forfar Athletic I'm finding it tough to separate my bottom 3 by much. Forfar probably have the most ins and outs in the league this year. Anderson and Antionazzi look like good signings, which probably lifts them above Peterhead, and Dumbarton for me. the rest look a bit 'League Two-ish'. But generally, they have a very decent back 5 in paper which I think should be enough to see them safe. 9. Dumbarton Their squad is looking very thin, as usual for Dumbarton at this stage of the season. Things could look up if they bring in a few late signings. McKee is a loss and he's not been replaced. Wardrop aside, their signings seem uninspired or gambles. 10. Peterhead Have the look of a team that look to have been a little bit gutted at the back. Fleming, Boyle, Hooper, Eadie all gone. And like Dumbarton, don't seem to have brought in the numbers or quality to replace them. Layne is potentially a good signing, the rest seem untested or injury-prone.Very good read, and spot-on about us. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon 68 Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 On 05/10/2020 at 14:16, Gordon EF said: 1. Partick Thistle Partick and Falkirk should be the top two and I don't think there'll be much in it. I've given Partick the edge mostly because, although he splits opinion, McCall's an experienced manager who knows what it takes to win this league. They have a solid, experienced defence and Foster and Penrice should be fantastic full backs at this level. In midfield, Docherty and Glass seem like very good signings and I was impressed with Niang at Montrose last season. Up front, Lyons should be a great addition and you'd imagine Graham will be a fairly reliable goalscorer. Overall, experienced manager and a balanced squad full of quality. 2. Falkirk Could easily have had them top. Should be stronger than last season. Dowds and Keena are a potentially very good partnership up front. Alston and Morrison should add a bit of creativity and directness that their midfield was maybe missing last season. Mercer's also a very good signing I think. 3. Airdrie I'd put Airdrie a bit behind the top two but a bit ahead of the 'middle pack'. After an erratic start, they become a very solid and direct side last season. That solid defence has been retained and strengthened with the addition of Currie. Gallagher and Carrick are good players up front who you'd expect to be a handful and return a decent number of goals. If there's a reason that's keeping them from challenging it's potentially a lack of creativity in midfield. Some of their signings are unknown quantities so where they end up could depend on how they turn out. 4. Cove Rangers The consensus seems to be they're very good going forward but are fairly suspect defensively. And it does look like most of the investment has gone into the forward areas leaving the defence looking 'a bit Highland League'. It's difficult to know how they'll get on in L1 and maybe I've bought into the hype a bit. Megginson and Macintosh should be a very good L1 strike force, Fyvie is obviously a class player at this level and the young loanees they've brought in seem to be highly thought of. 5. East Fife I struggled with placing Cove, East Fife and Montrose and in some ways we're probably similar to Cove in that you'd probably expect a decent number of goals but could be a bit soft and 'gettable' at the back. Last season we did have a tendency to concede soft goals, especially from set pieces. If anything we might have strengthened a bit with the additions of Swanson, Hamilton and Collins. Similar question mark to Cove for me, is our attack good enough to keep teh pressure off us enough at the back to crack the top 4? 6. Montrose I don't think there's much between 4-6. Montrose are probably the odd one out here in that their defence is probably their strength but they look a bit lacking in forward areas. Losing Lyons is a blow and if he's not adequately replaced, I'd worry they're not going to have enough threat up front to reproduce the last couple of season's 4th place. In saying that, Montrose are just one of the these teams I'm loathed to underestimate as Petrie seems to constantly produce the goods. 7. Clyde Possibly the most unbalanced squad in the league. Mitchell, Lang and Goodwillie (on talent alone) are players most if not every, team in L1 would take but they look a bit 'functional' at best outside of that. Ray Grant will be missed in midfield and they're looking a bit thin in that area and over-reliant on a handful of young loanees where you never really know what you're getting. If these young players turn out good, could potentially challenge for 4th but should have enough to avoid the bottom 2. 8. Forfar Athletic I'm finding it tough to separate my bottom 3 by much. Forfar probably have the most ins and outs in the league this year. Anderson and Antionazzi look like good signings, which probably lifts them above Peterhead, and Dumbarton for me. the rest look a bit 'League Two-ish'. But generally, they have a very decent back 5 in paper which I think should be enough to see them safe. 9. Dumbarton Their squad is looking very thin, as usual for Dumbarton at this stage of the season. Things could look up if they bring in a few late signings. McKee is a loss and he's not been replaced. Wardrop aside, their signings seem uninspired or gambles. 10. Peterhead Have the look of a team that look to have been a little bit gutted at the back. Fleming, Boyle, Hooper, Eadie all gone. And like Dumbarton, don't seem to have brought in the numbers or quality to replace them. Layne is potentially a good signing, the rest seem untested or injury-prone. surely if we can beat the UTD, then we will coast this league,, No ?, Ok.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 37 minutes ago, Toon 68 said: surely if we can beat the UTD, then we will coast this league,, No ?, Ok.. That result did make me reconsider my prediction for Peterhead. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon 68 Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Gordon EF said: That result did make me reconsider my prediction for Peterhead. staying up will be the goal this season, 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_bairn Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 surely if we can beat the UTD, then we will “coast” this league,, No ?, Ok..It is the seaside league, ‘coasting’ it is a weekly occurrence..... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blootoon87 Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 staying up will be the goal this season,I think we should be going all out to win the League Cup this year. We can always win League Two again next season. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kebab Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 On 13/10/2020 at 11:40, Toon 68 said: surely if we can beat the UTD, then we will coast this league,, No ?, Ok.. We said that last year, we actually beat Hearts the same week as well, but it didn’t quite work out that way!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R&Y99 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 On 21/09/2020 at 21:37, R&Y99 said: Since we now have less than a month till the season begins and squads are starting to come together, I think it’s a decent time for some predictions. 1- Thistle 2- Falkirk 3- Airdrie 4- Cove 5- East Fife 6- Montrose 7- Dumbarton 8- Clyde 9- Peterhead 10- Forfar Thought it would be interesting to look at myself and others pre season predictions now the league has been over for a bit. The thread has been lost in the midst of time for a while. I managed to get a grand total of three correct predictions which isn’t amazing. No idea if anyone was going to keep track of these at the end of the season to see who had won. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 13 hours ago, R&Y99 said: Thought it would be interesting to look at myself and others pre season predictions now the league has been over for a bit. The thread has been lost in the midst of time for a while. I managed to get a grand total of three correct predictions which isn’t amazing. No idea if anyone was going to keep track of these at the end of the season to see who had won. Only 3 spot on but you've largely got the correct order apart from over-estimating Falkirk and under-estimating Peterhead. Which is pretty much exactly what I did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moonster Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 On 15/06/2020 at 14:43, roman_bairn said: 1. Falkirk 2. Thistle 3. Cove 4. Defunct 5.Defunct 6. Defunct 7. Defunct 8. Defunct 9. Defunct 10. Clyde On 22/09/2020 at 13:30, Newbornbairn said: 1 Falkirk 2 Partick 3 Cove 4 Ceased Trading 5 Ceased Trading 6 Ceased Trading 7 Ceased Trading 8 Ceased Trading 9 Ceased Trading 10 Airdrie Tough year for the Falkirk, really struggled against Defunct/Ceased Trading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 (edited) Don't ask me for the lottery numbers Edited June 1, 2021 by Newbornbairn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R&Y99 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 28 minutes ago, Gordon EF said: Only 3 spot on but you've largely got the correct order apart from over-estimating Falkirk and under-estimating Peterhead. Which is pretty much exactly what I did. Aye you’re right to be fair. I never expected Falkirk to finish outside the playoffs, I didn’t see them collapsing the way they did. Peterhead were just better than I expected so fair play to them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brummo Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 17 hours ago, R&Y99 said: Aye you’re right to be fair. I never expected Falkirk to finish outside the playoffs, I didn’t see them collapsing the way they did. Peterhead were just better than I expected so fair play to them. You both underestimated Montrose, who barring a last minute fluke/wondergoal stood a reasonable chance of being promoted via the playoffs (if judged by Airdrie's poor showing against Morton). Having said that they did ride their luck in achieving a top five finish and making the playoffs. Not complaining, like. Happy to see my team overachieve rather than "do a Falkirk". Also happy that League One only has two "new teams", same as last season. Even with new management and players, opposition is more of a known entity. Hopefully the Mo can continue to build on what has been achieved over the years since SP took the helm. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R&Y99 Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 5 hours ago, Brummo said: You both underestimated Montrose, who barring a last minute fluke/wondergoal stood a reasonable chance of being promoted via the playoffs (if judged by Airdrie's poor showing against Morton). Having said that they did ride their luck in achieving a top five finish and making the playoffs. Not complaining, like. Happy to see my team overachieve rather than "do a Falkirk". Also happy that League One only has two "new teams", same as last season. Even with new management and players, opposition is more of a known entity. Hopefully the Mo can continue to build on what has been achieved over the years since SP took the helm. Yeah I didn’t predict them to get play offs, I didn’t think they would have a bad season either as I put them in 6th. I thought Montrose would be in with a chance of play offs, but they did better than I thought finishing 4th and almost talking Morton to penalties, which is a real shame you didn’t get a shot at. Hopefully next season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon EF Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 7 hours ago, Brummo said: You both underestimated Montrose, who barring a last minute fluke/wondergoal stood a reasonable chance of being promoted via the playoffs (if judged by Airdrie's poor showing against Morton). Having said that they did ride their luck in achieving a top five finish and making the playoffs. Not complaining, like. Happy to see my team overachieve rather than "do a Falkirk". Also happy that League One only has two "new teams", same as last season. Even with new management and players, opposition is more of a known entity. Hopefully the Mo can continue to build on what has been achieved over the years since SP took the helm. If you take out Falkirk and Peterhead, I got Montrose one place behind where they finished and said that I basically couldn't choose between 4th-6th. Given that Montrose nipped into the top 5 ahead of East Fife on GD, I don't really think I underestimated them much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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