SPL: Tough at the bottom

It is almost December and children everywhere are making their lists for Christmas, hoping that the new must-have toy or zeitgeist gift will be under the tree on Christmas morning.

Bigger kids everywhere will be making their wishlist for the January transfer window in the hope that they can secure a player or two that will make the difference to the rest of their season.

In the SPL, this is hampered for a couple of reasons.

1) There is not a lot of money going around for wages, let alone a shiny new striker.
2) Not even the motivational skills of Malcolm Tucker would be enough to lift some clubs from their slumber.

Fans of teams at the top are looking for a player or two to freshen things up but it is the clubs near the bottom that desperately need a lift.

WeKnowSFA runs a casual eye over the teams struggling at the foot of the SPL and wonders what will come to them in the next few months.

Falkirk

One swallow doesn’t make a summer and one win doesn’t make a season but the mood at Falkirk will have been raised greatly. The one great thing about their win was that they followed up the draw versus Celtic with an even better result.

Too often, the non “big two” clubs play out of their skin against the big teams, occasionally get a result and then cheat their fans the following week by having a massive dip in performance. Kudos to Falkirk for using a point against Celtic as a springboard.

Eddie May is yet to convince and Steven Pressley is likely to need treatment for Dutch Elm Disease soon so the Bairns remain thick in relegation mire but they will be breathing slightly easier for now.

Hamilton

Tricky second season syndrome was always going to be the case at New Douglas Park but the team are holding their head up high so far. The loss of James McCarthy, Richard Offiong and Brian Easton was always likely to set the club back but the form of on-loan striker Mickael Antoine-Curier has helped lift the mood.

With any young squad, inconsistency is sure to affect Hamilton and it would be a surprise if they ensure their safety with any more than a game or two to go. That said, it would be a surprise if they did succumb to the drop.

Hearts

It is probably running out of time for Vladimir Romanov to realise his promise of bringing the Champions League to Tynecastle. In all likelihood, he is far closer to bringing Tesco to Tynecastle with another reasonable manager on the brink of a Gorgie goodbye.

If Cristian Nade was worth his weight in goals he would be more akin to Cristiano Ronaldo and any club which heavily relies on the rotund striker would find goals hard to come by.

They wont go down….will they….no, they have too much (relative) quality in comparison to the rest of the bottom half of the league but it is not going to be a pleasant time in the Gorgie/Dalry region for all of the maroon persuasion.

Kilmarnock

Kevin Kyle was the difference between staying up and going down for Killie last season. Given the debt and a fear that Jim Jeffries may be off to manage the national team, Kyle may be offloaded in January to recoup cash whilst it remains possible.

Getting Alan Combe back to full fitness and offloading the hapless Mark Brown could see an upturn in the clubs fortunes although whether Combe can regain form is another matter. Stand-in Cameron Bell could be worth a shout.

Realistic candidates for the drop and could be in grave danger if Jeffries or Kyle exit.

St Johnstone

The cup runs enjoyed by the Super J’s in recent years has probably encouraged many fans to think they will beat the drop but to be fair, the gap between the top of Division 1 and the foot of the SPL is neglible.

Like Hamilton last season, St Johnstone have carried an enthusiasm and spirit into the opening quarter of the season and their Tynecastle triumph was fully deserved. Results like this will brighten up the Winter months for the fans but it is the relegation dogfights they have to win.

Hold on, a match versus Hearts is now a relegation six-pointer so things aren’t looking too bad for the Perth side. A lot may depend on how much longer the SFA allows Allan Main to get around the goal-line on his zimmer frame (St J’s are unlikely to get the Davie Weir dispensation offered to Rangers) but the promoted team should be hanging around for another crack at the big time.

St Mirren

Just the one league win at their new stadium in nearly a year’s worth of football could be the sovereign chain around their Paisley neck that finally drags down the Buddies down. It would be a shame to see one of the few top Scottish clubs not in debt dropping out of the division but there really needs to be an upturn in fortunes at their home park.

They have a manager who is unlikely to give up and on paper, their squad is easily a match for all outside the top 5 clubs in the league so its possibly becoming a psychological block that is halting the Buddies.

7 points from 7 Paisley games is not the form of a top flight team but they should just about stay above the chasing pack. It’ll be sweatier than a night out in Club 69 in Paisley but SPL safety should be retained for another year.

Although their first win of the season was obtained at the weekend, at the moment, Falkirk are still looking like the team to drop. Eddie May has them playing expansive and open football but Scottish football is more about rolled up sleeves and snottery noses. Especially at the business end of the season.

The beauty about this round-up is that within a game or two, it could be all change which means we get to come back and revise our opinion.

Although we will still be sticking it to Mad Vlad and Hearts!

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