Championship 20/21 Teams Review

[Rovers2017]

Let's get a thread on the go for this. Basically give your thoughts on all of the individual teams performance throughout the season. 

Will give mines later. 

[1320Lichtie]

This is off the top of my head...

Hearts - average but done the job they needed to do. Scottish cup was embarrassing.  6.5/10

 

Dundee - average average start but still managed to turn it around, they looked impressive in the play offs and Adam is the best player in this league. 7/10

 

Raith - they bossed us about on the Starks pitch twice, genuinely looked like a very good football team kept the ball well and pinged it about. Still only took 4 points from 9 off us though and we could’ve beat them by 4 at Gayfield so maybe shows where their problems were and why they weren’t higher up. Hopefully they are poorer next year, we were 5th on our first season up but second always harder. 8.5/10

 

Dunfermline - on paper they look excellent to me. Wighton/McManus/Henderson/Thomas/O’Hara is very good for this level. Let down by a diddy in goal and in dug out. 6.5/10

 

Inverness - just meh. Never really done too much. On paper they’re decent and Todorov and McKay had excellent seasons but still could not sneak in play offs. Very average season for them IMO. 6/10

 

QotS - they done good after a poor start, quite like us, the run they went on was incredible so fair play. Some good loan signings too especially big Obileye. Shields hit a hot streak too which saw them good. Decent season in the end. 7/10

 

Arbroath - first 10 games 1/10 absolutely hopeless just could not get going. D.C. made it all right in January though and in 2021 think we were 3rd/4th in league genuinely could not be much better and I actually fancied us to win most weeks which is quite something considering so I’m delighted with how it’s gone. Good good base of a squad we’ve had for years and we have added to that well too. Second half of season 9/10 and overall I’d give us an 8/10.

 

Ayr - very poor. We took 9 points off them. Just looked like they struggled all over the park. Bad season for them. 5/10

 

Morton - similarities to Ayr, but their problems seemed to be scoring goals, they seemed reasonably stodgy and solid but with no much threat. Be happy to survive but poor year. 4/10

 

Alloa - meh. They were ok but didn’t really get the talk about them being a good footballing team that just seems to be a label that has stuck with them. We are just as good at that for me but we are not soft touches which they seemed to be this season. Never had enough over 90 minutes of games or the season. 6/10
 

 

 

[Rob1885]

This is off the top of my head...
Hearts - average but done the job they needed to do. Scottish cup was embarrassing.  6.5/10
 
Dundee - average average start but still managed to turn it around, they looked impressive in the play offs and Adam is the best player in this league. 7/10
 
Raith - they bossed us about on the Starks pitch twice, genuinely looked like a very good football team kept the ball well and pinged it about. Still only took 4 points from 9 off us though and we could’ve beat them by 4 at Gayfield so maybe shows where their problems were and why they weren’t higher up. Hopefully they are poorer next year, we were 5th on our first season up but second always harder. 8.5/10
 
Dunfermline - on paper they look excellent to me. Wighton/McManus/Henderson/Thomas/O’Hara is very good for this level. Let down by a diddy in goal and in dug out. 6.5/10
 
Inverness - just meh. Never really done too much. On paper they’re decent and Todorov and McKay had excellent seasons but still could not sneak in play offs. Very average season for them IMO. 6/10
 
QotS - they done good after a poor start, quite like us, the run they went on was incredible so fair play. Some good loan signings too especially big Obileye. Shields hit a hot streak too which saw them good. Decent season in the end. 7/10
 
Arbroath - first 10 games 1/10 absolutely hopeless just could not get going. D.C. made it all right in January though and in 2021 think we were 3rd/4th in league genuinely could not be much better and I actually fancied us to win most weeks which is quite something considering so I’m delighted with how it’s gone. Good good base of a squad we’ve had for years and we have added to that well too. Second half of season 9/10 and overall I’d give us an 8/10.
 
Ayr - very poor. We took 9 points off them. Just looked like they struggled all over the park. Bad season for them. 5/10
 
Morton - similarities to Ayr, but their problems seemed to be scoring goals, they seemed reasonably stodgy and solid but with no much threat. Be happy to survive but poor year. 4/10
 
Alloa - meh. They were ok but didn’t really get the talk about them being a good footballing team that just seems to be a label that has stuck with them. We are just as good at that for me but we are not soft touches which they seemed to be this season. Never had enough over 90 minutes of games or the season. 6/10
 

 
 

Pretty much this.

[Fae_the_'briggs]

8 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

This is off the top of my head...

Hearts - average but done the job they needed to do. Scottish cup was embarrassing.  6.5/10

 

Dundee - average average start but still managed to turn it around, they looked impressive in the play offs and Adam is the best player in this league. 7/10

 

Raith - they bossed us about on the Starks pitch twice, genuinely looked like a very good football team kept the ball well and pinged it about. Still only took 4 points from 9 off us though and we could’ve beat them by 4 at Gayfield so maybe shows where their problems were and why they weren’t higher up. Hopefully they are poorer next year, we were 5th on our first season up but second always harder. 8.5/10

 

Dunfermline - on paper they look excellent to me. Wighton/McManus/Henderson/Thomas/O’Hara is very good for this level. Let down by a diddy in goal and in dug out. 6.5/10

 

Inverness - just meh. Never really done too much. On paper they’re decent and Todorov and McKay had excellent seasons but still could not sneak in play offs. Very average season for them IMO. 6/10

 

QotS - they done good after a poor start, quite like us, the run they went on was incredible so fair play. Some good loan signings too especially big Obileye. Shields hit a hot streak too which saw them good. Decent season in the end. 7/10

 

Arbroath - first 10 games 1/10 absolutely hopeless just could not get going. D.C. made it all right in January though and in 2021 think we were 3rd/4th in league genuinely could not be much better and I actually fancied us to win most weeks which is quite something considering so I’m delighted with how it’s gone. Good good base of a squad we’ve had for years and we have added to that well too. Second half of season 9/10 and overall I’d give us an 8/10.

 

Ayr - very poor. We took 9 points off them. Just looked like they struggled all over the park. Bad season for them. 5/10

 

Morton - similarities to Ayr, but their problems seemed to be scoring goals, they seemed reasonably stodgy and solid but with no much threat. Be happy to survive but poor year. 4/10

 

Alloa - meh. They were ok but didn’t really get the talk about them being a good footballing team that just seems to be a label that has stuck with them. We are just as good at that for me but we are not soft touches which they seemed to be this season. Never had enough over 90 minutes of games or the season. 6/10
 

 

 

Also agree pretty much with this but for clarity Obileye was NOT a loan signing for QoS.  Shields was also under contract. 

[CALDERON]

Hearts - Comfortably the best squad in the league, and ended up being comfortably the best team in the league. Job done, but no more. 6/10

Dundee - Came good at the right time and did very well in the playoffs. 8/10

Raith Rovers - Surprise package this year.  Played excellent football at times, as good as I've ever seen at this level, but ultimately didn't have enough "bite" to grind our results when Plan A wasnt working. Should have finished 2nd in my opinion, which brings the score down a bit.  Especially disappointing looking at Kilmarnock over the past week, genuinely think we would have beaten them given the chance.

Replacing Hendry will be really difficult, but I'm not overly concerned about next season.  Trust Mcglynn 100% and there is a very good base to work from.  Don't buy any notion of "difficult 2nd season", we had a good season because our squad and manager were better than the majority of the division. The right recruitment should see us at least challenging for top 4 again. Club appears to have genuine ambition, for the first time in a generation, so I'm expecting us to try and build on this season rather than consolidate the place in this league.   More than anything else, a thoroughly likeable squad in terms of personality, which is a novelty for us.  8/10

DAFC - Good squad, poor management.  Wighton and Mcmanus are fairly over-rated - both reasonable Championship players but no more, but its a good squad on paper. Would expect a good appointment to push them on 6/10

ICT - Best team we faced in the first half of the season.  But I guess thats the curse for you.  5/10 

Queens - Went from awful, to amazing, to meh. 5/10

Arbroath - Looked dreadful for 1.75 games against us this season, but put in a good performance against us at Gayfield, and others it would appear.  Ended up finishing as high as they would reasonably expected to.  Seemed to get  a lot of joy from their loan players, so I guess the challenge will be replicating that into the new season.  They do very very well for a part time club, but loan players certainly help that.  7/10

Ayr - Dreadful against everyone else it seems, but we failed to beat them. 5/10

Morton - After a 5-0 drubbing, they looked relatively solid against us.  Not a single ounce of quality though, 3/10

Alloa - A very, very strange team.  Played nice football, there obviously is talent in that squad somewhere.  Far easier on the eye than their other relegation contenders. But didn't show any real quality at either end of the pitch, so ultimately it was all pointless.  A team who like passing the ball, who dont' do anything incisive with it, and leak goals like a sieve at the other end are an absolute dream to play against.  3/10

 

[Cardle is Magic]

Hearts - 5/10

Champions before a ball was kicked and never looked liked throwing it away. However, very underwhelming performances and dropped far more points than they should have. Their Scottish Cup exit was one of the worst in the history of Scottish football.

Dundee - 7.5/10

Started the season horribly and looked like McPake was finished after spending big and falling flat. Strong end to the season saw them nick 2nd spot, which was crucial. Killie were atrocious in play-off final but Dundee fully deserved their promotion. Adam a class above this level.

Rovers - 9/10

Team of the season. Should probably have finished runners up in their first season back at this level and says a lot that they’re left disappointed. Good team, well managed and came closer than anyone expected to a miraculous promotion to the top flight.

Pars - 6/10

I predicted Pars would finish 4th. They finished 4th. It should have been better, though. We looked the best of the rest behind Hearts for a while but our away record was horrible. We need improvement in goal and in centre of midfield urgently but with right recruitment on and off the field, we can challenge next season.

Will update the rest later as I couldn’t skive off work any longer.

 

[Specky Ginger]

58 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

 

Will update the rest later as I couldn’t skive off work any longer.

 

Tremendous. 

[1320Lichtie]

2 hours ago, CALDERON said:

Hearts - Comfortably the best squad in the league, and ended up being comfortably the best team in the league. Job done, but no more. 6/10

Dundee - Came good at the right time and did very well in the playoffs. 8/10

Raith Rovers - Surprise package this year.  Played excellent football at times, as good as I've ever seen at this level, but ultimately didn't have enough "bite" to grind our results when Plan A wasnt working. Should have finished 2nd in my opinion, which brings the score down a bit.  Especially disappointing looking at Kilmarnock over the past week, genuinely think we would have beaten them given the chance.

Replacing Hendry will be really difficult, but I'm not overly concerned about next season.  Trust Mcglynn 100% and there is a very good base to work from.  Don't buy any notion of "difficult 2nd season", we had a good season because our squad and manager were better than the majority of the division. The right recruitment should see us at least challenging for top 4 again. Club appears to have genuine ambition, for the first time in a generation, so I'm expecting us to try and build on this season rather than consolidate the place in this league.   More than anything else, a thoroughly likeable squad in terms of personality, which is a novelty for us.  8/10

DAFC - Good squad, poor management.  Wighton and Mcmanus are fairly over-rated - both reasonable Championship players but no more, but its a good squad on paper. Would expect a good appointment to push them on 6/10

ICT - Best team we faced in the first half of the season.  But I guess thats the curse for you.  5/10 

Queens - Went from awful, to amazing, to meh. 5/10

Arbroath - Looked dreadful for 1.75 games against us this season, but put in a good performance against us at Gayfield, and others it would appear.  Ended up finishing as high as they would reasonably expected to.  Seemed to get  a lot of joy from their loan players, so I guess the challenge will be replicating that into the new season.  They do very very well for a part time club, but loan players certainly help that.  7/10

Ayr - Dreadful against everyone else it seems, but we failed to beat them. 5/10

Morton - After a 5-0 drubbing, they looked relatively solid against us.  Not a single ounce of quality though, 3/10

Alloa - A very, very strange team.  Played nice football, there obviously is talent in that squad somewhere.  Far easier on the eye than their other relegation contenders. But didn't show any real quality at either end of the pitch, so ultimately it was all pointless.  A team who like passing the ball, who dont' do anything incisive with it, and leak goals like a sieve at the other end are an absolute dream to play against.  3/10

 

There’s no doubt loans helped, but it was mainly for goals, we needed someone to put the ball in the net last year and got one. But as a squad of players I think we have a very solid reliable squad base on the books to build from. 
 

 

[EpicMike]

Hearts - The goal was was to win the league and they did it at a canter. Mission accomplished but a few bad results and turgid performances take the shine off an otherwise successful league campaign.  7.5/10

Dundee - With Hearts in the league the goal was always going to be a play-off spot and hopefully promotion. A few bad spells over the course of the season but they hit form at the crucial moment and got promoted.  8/10

Raith Rovers - The aim would have been to steer clear of relegation, they overachieved and for a while they looked like the second best team in the Championship and played some great football. Finishing 3rd, never in any danger of relegation, is a great accomplishment for a newly promoted team.  7.5/10

Dunfermline - Big things were expected of them this season and they looked strong for a while. A very poor finish to the end of the season, losing the play offs and their status as Fife's best team is a sore one though.  6.5/10

ICT - A tight budget meant this was going to be a challenging season and they looked pretty atrocious for large spells of the season. A purple patch meant they ended up mounting a decent push for the play off spots but were never really in serious contention.  5/10

QotS - Looked abysmal at the start of the season but a great run of form had them on the cusp of the play off spots. They faltered in the end but can take some solace in the fact they don't look entirely doomed in a post-Dobbie era.  5.5/10

Arbroath - A part time team in the Championship's goal will always be to avoid relegation and Arbroath delivered albeit probably not as comfortably as they would have liked.  6.5/10

Ayr United - After two seasons of challenging around the play off spots, to be dragged in to a relegation scrap is a massive step backwards. No one declined more than Ayr this season.  4/10

Greenock Morton - The goal would have been to stay in the Championship on a shoe string budget in preparation for the fan takeover of the club and they did it by the skin of their teeth. 22 goals in 27 games is abysmal but comfortably sweeping aside Airdrie in the play off was at least a positive ending to a pretty poor season.  4.5/10

Alloa - Finishing bottom is bad no matter how to look at it but avoiding the drop was always going to be difficult for a part time team.  4/10

Edited May 25, 2021 by EpicMike

[BFTD]

We were always a step behind everyone this season and looked like we were going to end up in trouble fairly early on unless Peter Grant could produce some tactical masterstrokes. Mainly we were a bit of a mess at the back, and conceded so many early goals.

Not saying we'd have stayed up if we'd still had Iain Flannigan, but it would have helped.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

On 25/05/2021 at 11:17, CALDERON said:

Morton - After a 5-0 drubbing, they looked relatively solid against us.  Not a single ounce of quality though, 3/10

 

Define 'quality'.

Start here at 1.26

 

Then here at 0. 45 (lolz)... maybe have glance at the move at 5.40 while you're there