Championship 2021/22 Thread

[Toby]

12 minutes ago, RossMcC1874 said:

Not sure if last night was a good or a bad thing for us the last thing we need is dunfermline picking up form at this time. Partick should beat Queens on Friday night, Inverness have picked up form also and would fancy them to beat Ayr, Hamilton have been decent and picked up form but can see Arbroath getting a point, Even though Kilmarnock were rancid against us I just can't see them losing to Dunfermline at home. 

It's all down to us on Saturday going there and getting 3 points, Raith have been awful for months and aside from the bit of confidence they would have taken with the cup win I fancy us to beat them on Saturday they will be tired after 2 games and we need to take advantage of that and hound them from the first minute. Also hopefully take a good crowd down considering it's only a fiver.

Not getting your confidence about Partick taking care of Queen of the South tbh, given how much their form has fallen off a cliff and Queens now needing results pretty desperately, and I wouldn’t be too sure about Inverness beating Ayr.

It’s obviously a good thing that Dunfermline are off to Rugby Park, but ai’d be more confident about us doing a job on Raith than getting any favours from Partick or Inverness, even with our rancid record there. Watching how they defended for Dunfermline’s two goals last night was some laugh.

[SpoonTon]

Queen of the South starting to pick up points again might not be the worst first thing in the world, given that they play Dunfermline and Ayr in their final two matches and we'd want them to be fully competitive in those matches. Saying this could obviously backfire spectacularly, but I can't see them catching us - they'd probably need to win at least 4 of their remaining 5 matches to overtake us. And if they did that then that probably would restrict Ayr and Dunfermline from doing the same. 

Either way, everything is in our own hands, and I wouldn't be surprised to see us continuing to draw or way slowly to safety. 4 points in the next two weeks should settle things and that should be the aim. I'm never confident going to Kirkcaldy, though. Do we have a worse record anywhere else? We've lost 9 of our last 10 there or something like that. 

[Toby]

10 minutes ago, SpoonTon said:

Queen of the South starting to pick up points again might not be the worst first thing in the world, given that they play Dunfermline and Ayr in their final two matches and we'd want them to be fully competitive in those matches. Saying this could obviously backfire spectacularly, but I can't see them catching us - they'd probably need to win at least 4 of their remaining 5 matches to overtake us. And if they did that then that probably would restrict Ayr and Dunfermline from doing the same. 

Either way, everything is in our own hands, and I wouldn't be surprised to see us continuing to draw or way slowly to safety. 4 points in the next two weeks should settle things and that should be the aim. I'm never confident going to Kirkcaldy, though. Do we have a worse record anywhere else? We've lost 9 of our last 10 there or something like that. 

Not quite the same, but our record at home to Hamilton is absolutely rancid, so there’s a couple of ghosts to be exorcised in the next fortnight.

[SpoonTon]

Just now, Toby said:

Not quite the same, but our record at home to Hamilton is absolutely rancid, so there’s a couple of ghosts to be exorcised in the next fortnight.

I had a feeling that was a bad one as well. As you say, exorcisms (in the mighty name of Imrie) are in order. 

[Boogs49]

On 4/6/2022 at 10:29 PM, AyrshireTon said:

This weekend sees top 5 v bottom 5 - Arbroath are stuttering and Hamilton will fancy their chances, whilst Raith have only one league win this year. 

The last three weeks has Dunfermline v Ayr followed by QoS v Ayr then Dunfermline v QoS on the final day.

Win this weekend and I'd say we are pretty much safe, although our last four games are against the top four in terms of recent form.

We only have four games still to play, Raith are bottom of league over last 8 games, Hamilton are 2nd,ICT 3rd, and Arbroath 5th 

Form: Last 8 matches

		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Opponents PPG
1	Kilmarnock	8	6	2	0	15	5	+10	20	1.09
2	Hamilton	8	3	4	1	12	8	+4	13	1.36
3	Inverness	8	3	2	3	13	10	+3	11	1.27
4	Ayr Utd	8	3	2	3	11	9	+2	11	1.47
5	Arbroath	8	2	5	1	6	7	-1	11	1.20
6	Greenock Morton	8	2	4	2	6	8	-2	10	1.34
7	Dunfermline	8	2	3	3	10	9	+1	9	1.52
8	Partick Thistle	8	2	2	4	6	13	-7	8	1.41
9	Queen of South	8	2	1	5	6	7	-1	7	1.42
10	Raith Rovers	8	1	3	4	6	15	-9	6	1.33

The Opponents PPG values relate to the average Points Per Game values of all opponents faced by each team in the last 8 games. Those PPG values are based on the seasonal Home PPG of the opponents that have been played away and the seasonal Away PPG of the opponents that have been played at home. So the opponents PPG values are always based on ALL home games or on ALL away games of the opponents during the league season (not just in their last 8 games).

[TaunTon]

Qos 0-0 partick

 

Queens had enough chances to win a couple of games but are rancid at finishing. Partick are just rancid.

[TaunTon]

FT 0-1 Qos continued to create but couldn't score in a barrel of fannies. Partick were mince but tiffoney found the net.

All over for Queen's I think.

[EanieMeany]

Was only partially watching the game but thought Queens were quite unlucky tbh, looked like they had a couple of decent penalty shouts and the Partick keeper made an absolutely phenomenal save. Tbh, I'd say they were able to make clear chances much more effectively in that game than Morton often do, but that's how it goes at the bottom of the table and it has to be said that Partick are fuckin rotten.

It's a bit of a shame for QotS to go down insofar as that they are, at the least, not an objectionable club - don't get me wrong, I won't be losing any sleep over it at all, but it'd be much, much funnier if Ayr or Peter Grant FC  went down. They'd also be less of a threat next season than Dunfermline would be if they survive...which I don't think they will in the play-offs. It's a relief to have the prospect of finishing bottom as good as ruled out though: as much as I'm confident we've enough about us to get the handful of points we need, the nature of the league (and football in general) makes it hard to fully relax whilst there's still the outside chance of things going wrong.

Anyway, looking to next season I've liked the look of Josh Todd (I think that's who it is anyway?) from Queens in the last couple of games against them. Admittedly I've not paid overly close attention to him or his career (I'm sure somebody will manage to produce entirely inconclusive stats to the contrary or purport to be an authority on him) but he's seemed like the kind of player who does the things our midfield doesn't and can't do and could be a good acquisition. 

There's a lot of variables in this, a lot of ifs and buts and uncertainties but the way this season has panned out, if Imrie had came in even 2 or 3 games earlier (which in theory could have meant one or two more January additions too), or perhaps even if he hadn't incurred the touchline ban, we'd very possibly have managed, against all expectations, to have landed a play-off spot and also a Challenge Cup title. The McPherson fiasco was a huge, huge mistake but what matters is the response and everything about it has been positive and it looks, for now at least, like the lesson has been learned from it. 

All that said, I don't think we can necessarily read too much into the last few months in terms of prospects for next season as there's been a couple of collapses in the top half that might not happen again and we're going to need several upgrades in the squad as well as replacements for the likely departures, but there's not going to be a stand-out team next season assuming Kilmarnock go up and we've seen that we have a manager who's clearly something a wee bit special. It is no way, shape or form a given and there's so much to be done to make it a possibility, but as it stands right now our path to future success has never been more brightly lit in my lifetime.

(Just for balance and karma...it's also entirely possible things go horrendously wrong and we end up re-signing Tony Wallace and Jonathan Page in the summer. We've become accustomed to thinking that's a more likely outcome, but really, so fuckin what? I've said this before and will do so again: clubs like Morton are built on the belief that the next season is the one in which you succeed. The absence of that has been at the root of the malaise that's hung over the club for so long, and Imrie restored it the minute he walked in the door. That's a monumental success in itself and it's going to be the platform from which this club finally asserts its superiority over pretenders like Partick and Raith from next season onwards.

[TRVMP]

There's no way Dunfermline are going down in the playoffs. League One is absolute horse.

[EanieMeany]

It's probably a bit early to make that prediction tbf, Dunfermline may well build up a head of steam in the remaining games but as it stands I just don't think they have it about them to get through 4 games against teams who are coming off the back of relatively successful seasons.

It wasn't exactly a stroll for us to get through them last season and I feel like Dunfermline have been stuttering and failing to find a spark in a much more pronounced and also longer way than we did  - their struggles seem a bit more terminal and their position is way, way lower than where we were compared to expectations but it's definitely fair to say they might find enough to get by in the remaining games. If they go down though, I think they'll definitely come straight back up which will be good news all round as it'll consign Grangemouth FC to yet another season in the seaside leagues.

[Drew Busby's Moustache]

1 hour ago, EanieMeany said:

Was only partially watching the game but thought Queens were quite unlucky tbh, looked like they had a couple of decent penalty shouts and the Partick keeper made an absolutely phenomenal save. Tbh, I'd say they were able to make clear chances much more effectively in that game than Morton often do, but that's how it goes at the bottom of the table and it has to be said that Partick are fuckin rotten.

It's a bit of a shame for QotS to go down insofar as that they are, at the least, not an objectionable club - don't get me wrong, I won't be losing any sleep over it at all, but it'd be much, much funnier if Ayr or Peter Grant FC  went down. They'd also be less of a threat next season than Dunfermline would be if they survive...which I don't think they will in the play-offs. It's a relief to have the prospect of finishing bottom as good as ruled out though: as much as I'm confident we've enough about us to get the handful of points we need, the nature of the league (and football in general) makes it hard to fully relax whilst there's still the outside chance of things going wrong.

Anyway, looking to next season I've liked the look of Josh Todd (I think that's who it is anyway?) from Queens in the last couple of games against them. Admittedly I've not paid overly close attention to him or his career (I'm sure somebody will manage to produce entirely inconclusive stats to the contrary or purport to be an authority on him) but he's seemed like the kind of player who does the things our midfield doesn't and can't do and could be a good acquisition. 

There's a lot of variables in this, a lot of ifs and buts and uncertainties but the way this season has panned out, if Imrie had came in even 2 or 3 games earlier (which in theory could have meant one or two more January additions too), or perhaps even if he hadn't incurred the touchline ban, we'd very possibly have managed, against all expectations, to have landed a play-off spot and also a Challenge Cup title. The McPherson fiasco was a huge, huge mistake but what matters is the response and everything about it has been positive and it looks, for now at least, like the lesson has been learned from it. 

All that said, I don't think we can necessarily read too much into the last few months in terms of prospects for next season as there's been a couple of collapses in the top half that might not happen again and we're going to need several upgrades in the squad as well as replacements for the likely departures, but there's not going to be a stand-out team next season assuming Kilmarnock go up and we've seen that we have a manager who's clearly something a wee bit special. It is no way, shape or form a given and there's so much to be done to make it a possibility, but as it stands right now our path to future success has never been more brightly lit in my lifetime.

(Just for balance and karma...it's also entirely possible things go horrendously wrong and we end up re-signing Tony Wallace and Jonathan Page in the summer. We've become accustomed to thinking that's a more likely outcome, but really, so fuckin what? I've said this before and will do so again: clubs like Morton are built on the belief that the next season is the one in which you succeed. The absence of that has been at the root of the malaise that's hung over the club for so long, and Imrie restored it the minute he walked in the door. That's a monumental success in itself and it's going to be the platform from which this club finally asserts its superiority over pretenders like Partick and Raith from next season onwards.

Stop greetin' Eany Meany......yr'd be greetin' a damn sight more if you were talking about Greenock Morton!

[Drew Busby's Moustache]

44 minutes ago, EanieMeany said:

It's probably a bit early to make that prediction tbf, Dunfermline may well build up a head of steam in the remaining games but as it stands I just don't think they have it about them to get through 4 games against teams who are coming off the back of relatively successful seasons.

It wasn't exactly a stroll for us to get through them last season and I feel like Dunfermline have been stuttering and failing to find a spark in a much more pronounced and also longer way than we did  - their struggles seem a bit more terminal and their position is way, way lower than where we were compared to expectations but it's definitely fair to say they might find enough to get by in the remaining games. If they go down though, I think they'll definitely come straight back up which will be good news all round as it'll consign Grangemouth FC to yet another season in the seaside leagues.

Aye well.....I concur with your deliberations regarding Grangrmouth FC

 

 

[TRVMP]

3 hours ago, EanieMeany said:

It's probably a bit early to make that prediction tbf, Dunfermline may well build up a head of steam in the remaining games but as it stands I just don't think they have it about them to get through 4 games against teams who are coming off the back of relatively successful seasons.

It wasn't exactly a stroll for us to get through them last season and I feel like Dunfermline have been stuttering and failing to find a spark in a much more pronounced and also longer way than we did  - their struggles seem a bit more terminal and their position is way, way lower than where we were compared to expectations but it's definitely fair to say they might find enough to get by in the remaining games. If they go down though, I think they'll definitely come straight back up which will be good news all round as it'll consign Grangemouth FC to yet another season in the seaside leagues.

This is just my opinion - we had a worse squad than Dunfermline and finished the season about as badly as they're finishing this one. We didn't, at any time, face any difficulty in the playoffs. (We did stroll it, as memory serves.) It's fair to say this season's Airdrie are a bit stronger than the sides we faced last season, but with Cove likely to go up as champions I just don't see any of the others being strong enough. Queen's Park can only draw 1-1, Montrose will find Dunfermline a bridge too far, and while Airdrie are a decent side with a good manager, the Pars should really put them away without too much drama.

Yes, it'd be absolutely wonderful to see them go down and keep wee "Falkirk" in their box a season longer, but I just don't see it. (Also, if you recall the season they went down with us, the first Duffy season, they contrived to finish 7th or something ridiculous like that. Stranger things have happened.)

[GiGi]

We did face difficulty in the playoffs. We lost the first leg of the semi to Montrose and avoided extra time in the second leg by the skin of our teeth. 

Airdrie was a piece of piss though.

[dunning1874]

2 hours ago, GiGi said:

We did face difficulty in the playoffs. We lost the first leg of the semi to Montrose and avoided extra time in the second leg by the skin of our teeth. 

Airdrie was a piece of piss though.

Avoided penalties. McGuffie's screamer was in the 119th minute.

I think Ayr, Dunfermline and even Queen of the South are all less terrible teams than we were last season, as are we obviously, but Airdrie are stronger and I don't think Montrose are any weaker. Queen's Park should be dispatched by the 9th placed side but I don't think anyone winning the final is a foregone conclusion.

[EanieMeany]

Took a 94th minute goal to win the first leg at Airdrie too.

The fact that Dunfermline shouldn’t really be as bad as they are is why I wouldn’t fancy them in the play-off scenario if they end up there.  If they’re not capable of pulling themselves away from 9th place with games against Ayr and Queens coming up (which obviously depends on Ayr’s results elsewhere too, tbf) then it suggests they just don’t have it in them to do what’s needed.

[so72]

Ayr 0-2 ICT. Hopefully ICT bury them

[AyrshireTon]

Killie chucking away a lead in Inverness tonight. 

[Drew Busby's Moustache]

good.I hope the Lichties pip them.

[Drew Busby's Moustache]

The league requires sorting  tomorrow.

I would hate to be a team that decides the Championship.....and it could come down to that.