{"id":9536,"date":"2016-08-10T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T11:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=9536"},"modified":"2016-08-10T13:37:59","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T12:37:59","slug":"the-season-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=9536","title":{"rendered":"The Season Ahead…."},"content":{"rendered":"
It’s that time of year, and after last years stunning success with his weegie fitba board, El Cormaco<\/strong> has dusted it down and had a play with it again…<\/em><\/div>\n

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Season Predictor:<\/strong><\/div>\n

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There is a rare atmosphere around Scottish football just now, it\u2019s hard to define, but it feels like optimism. Big names arriving again, high profile managers, Massimo Donati back kicking a baw here, a league contest that from 2 downwards should be tight all season, it feels exciting.<\/div>\n

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Of course if I were Chris Jack I\u2019d put that all down to the return (sic) of rangers (sic) but I\u2019m not. Have you seen his new profile pic? Looks like he\u2019s found out the best way to counter his online critics is to eat them.<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s the time of year again to forget the holidays and dust off the old crystal balls. I\u2019ve been looking intently and will share what I see there. If you want to leave any of your predictions below we can revisit at season\u2019s end and see who knows their football best..<\/div>\n

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Champions<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Celtic.<\/div>\n
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We have recruited well, bringing more pace and power into the team\u00a0and more experience at the back. We have several players now you would\u00a0expect to get into double figures for goals as well as Griffiths. Dembele,\u00a0Roberts, Sinclair should all get double figures if they stay fit. And Scott Brown.<\/div>\n

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Sorry, just had a wee acid flashback there.<\/div>\n
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We already were well ahead of the pack under the Ronnie revolution (can we\u00a0say now thank God it\u2019s over?) and even with no summer signings should still\u00a0have won the league. But the signings we have made and the improved mood\u00a0in the club and among fans means we can win it in some style this year, with\u00a0some games where we run up big scores. I\u2019m going to predict we get over 90\u00a0league goals this season. That\u2019s 2.4 goals a game. We got two on Sunday,\u00a0and to be honest I don\u2019t know how you score 0.4 of a goal, but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll\u00a0do it.<\/div>\n

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We are also going to be less tactically predictable this year, able to throw our\u00a0opponents planning into doubt more often, having used more various\u00a0formations in a half under Rodgers than in 2 seasons under Ronnie.\u00a0I know much has been discussed on here about formations, and Celtic playing\u00a0two up front. For me that is part of the \u201cCeltic Way\u201d but one up front can work,\u00a0I think it\u2019s about flexibility. Ronnie learned one system and it never changed,\u00a0making it easy to know who Celtic were going to play \u2013 usually slowly and\u00a0with no heart.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0 Ah Ronnie. I listened to an old interview on You tube last night, and found my\u00a0irritation rising when he started talking with that little \u201cuh\u2026\u201d thing he does and\u00a0his hairstyle from some other time best forgotten. The interview was after his\u00a0first season and before his second, and he was talking about the priority being\u00a0the Champions league. Hmmmn, his rabbit in the headlights showing then\u00a0pretty much doomed him. Poor Ronnie. We can say thank God it\u2019s over now ,right?<\/div>\n

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I wish him well and all of that, but somewhere else. Of course it\u2019s a certainty we\u2019ll play and lose against a Ronnie team in the future. On the same you tube session I came across a series of interviews with \u201cnew bhoys\u201d\u2026Cole, Kazim Richards, Christie (who could be good in time to be fair).<\/div>\n

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Thank God that\u2019s over now.<\/div>\n
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God I\u2019m depressing myself looking back \u2013 the future looks a lot better right now, fans back on side, players look committed, signing quality and not just bench fillers, let the good times roll.<\/div>\n

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Runners up:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Aberdeen.<\/span><\/div>\n
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They are still best placed to offer a challenge, they don\u2019t lose often, and have a settled squad and a good manager. That said he is a bit of moaning faced git and of course has the unremovable mark of the Hun about him, but his team are tough and will stay the course for most of the season.<\/div>\n

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Third:<\/strong><\/div>\n
Hearts<\/span>.<\/div>\n
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They seem to have moved away from the neat and tidy game they played in the championship to a more physical, direct style, with an added touch of amateur dramatics. They have a decent squad of players and manager, who like Mc Innes is also something of a moaning faced pain, and if I may give some sartorial advice I\u2019d tell him he needs to change his hair style as he\u2019s losing too much hair through the middle, but I digress.<\/div>\n

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\u00a0I admire them much more than I used to, they actually saved their club from liquidation, which leads me onto…<\/div>\n

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Fourth:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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*”Rangers “.<\/span><\/div>\n
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They have more OAPs than a Cliff Richard gig (and he prefers a much younger crowd allegedly) but have a better squad than a lot of the teams in the Premier league. Their fans and the media \u2013 no I can\u2019t tell the difference either \u2013 seem to think they will offer a sustained title challenge, I think they\u2019re dreaming. As are other teams fans who think they\u2019ll be in relegation bother \u2013 there is some garbage in the SPL and a lot of people who will want *Rangers to do well, mainly theguys overseeing our game and officiating it, so that won\u2019t happen.<\/div>\n

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The biggest challenge they will have is convincing themselves that mid table ordinariness is part of the plan. But they can convince themselves that after 4 years as a club they are going for 55 league titles, so fantasy isn\u2019t a problem for them, it reality that\u2019s the kicker.<\/div>\n

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Sooner or later they\u2019ll realise King is never putting any big money in, boycotting commercial partners is damaging in the short term and long term to the \u201cclub\u201d and they will only be able to overtake Celtic if they find a mad benefactor willing to bankroll their delusions, get creative again with the accounting or we make a roaring mess of things and chuck away the advantages we have. Which this being Celtic is of course very possible. And though they aren\u2019t Rangers now there is still enough creative accounting nous there to mean they are worth the watching.<\/div>\n

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Relegated:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Kilmarnock.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I m going to predict Kilmarnock every year until it happens. Along with St Johnstone, Ross County & Caley Thistle they play in virtually empty grounds and bring nothing to the table. They have lost the few fans they had and their entire existence seems almost futile, it would just be cheaper to run subsidised buses to Ibrox. If they were relegated and never seen again would anyone miss them? I do feel sorry for that one fan they have who does rants on Youtube but they\u2019d be as well putting him in the team for all the quality they have.<\/div>\n

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Top Scorer:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Leigh Griffiths.<\/span><\/div>\n
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40 goals last season, I think if he avoids injury he can do even better this year, his overall game is getting better too \u2013 a great assist for Sinclair on Sunday. He seems to win over every manager who comes in and thinks \u201che could do a job out wide\u201d- within a few games he\u2019s first pick striker who wins games for us by scoring goals out of nothing. He misses chances no doubt but I for one am very glad we have him.<\/div>\n

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Player of the year:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Scott Sinclair<\/span>.<\/div>\n
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I was genuinely surprised we signed him; I thought he\u2019d either stay at Villa or move to a lower half of EPL team. I think Rodgers can bring him back to the level he was at Swansea where he looked a real talent \u2013 fast, good control, can beat a man, a goal scorer.<\/div>\n

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\u00a0With him on one flank, Roberts on the other and Griffiths \/ Dembele through the middle we look a real dangerous attack in Scotland. He seems to have come for the right reasons, to enjoy playing and winning things and I think we\u2019ll take to him and he\u2019ll take to us.<\/div>\n

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Patrick Roberts should be a contender too. He is a great player to watch, loves it here and we should copy the Ibrox mob and do a march \u2013 no, not thatkind. We should send a delegation to Barbados and stay outside Desmond\u2019s mansion till he hands over the money to buy him from Man City. I\u2019ll volunteer \u00a0myself for what could be a tough few months sitting in Barbados with a placard.<\/div>\n

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The Press will obviously go for Joey Barton, just because you know, WATP n that. He\u2019s a decent player no doubt but I can\u2019t see him tearing up the league the way the SMSM desperately want him to, his legs are going and he\u2019ll need someone else to do the dirty work, which to be honest was the best part of his game. He\u2019ll still be dirty though when he can.<\/div>\n

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Scottish Cup:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Celtic.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Its time. It all worked out really last year with Hibs finally winning the cup in the \u201cBattle of Hampden\u201d, where *Rangers fans came on the pitch at the end to demonstrate what they meant when they complained of no fight during the match.<\/div>\n

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But enough Scottish Cup, we\u2019ve let you meet other people and play the field, but we\u2019re ready to take you back home where you belong now and treat you right.<\/div>\n

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League Cup:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Aberdeen.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Mc Innes will audition for the Ibrox hot seat next year by beating them in the final<\/div>\n

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Journalist of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n

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This will be tight. Chris Union Jack will obviously never tire of waving the flag for \u00a0“*Rangers” \u00a0but the strain is clearly telling on him \u2013 as I mentioned his profile pic now looks like he\u2019s eaten all the unsold blue burgers from last season in a sitting and has he beef sweats rolling off him. Bungle Matthew Lindsay and the always eager to please Keith Jackson will all also be competing to get furthest up Warbiola’s backside.<\/div>\n

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I think we could be in for an epic year in the press \u2013 from \u201c*Rangers are going for 55\u201d to \u201c*Rangers are building for 55 next year\u201d, to \u201c*Rangers teams legs finally keep going for 55 minutes\u201d to \u201cGet Warburton to f*ck, he\u2019s a diddy\u201d, to \u201cBring back Walter\u201d.<\/div>\n

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Referee \u00a0of the Year:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
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One game in and already this looks like it will be another closely fought contest in the \u201chonest mistake\u201d stakes. I think the award will be shared out as they are all rubbish. Not saying biased by the way, just really really rubbish.<\/div>\n

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And prone to honest mistakes.<\/div>\n
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Some other predictions:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Celtic will make it through to the Champions league (God I hope I\u2019m right on this one) and will get 6 or 7 points (God I hope I\u2019m right on this one )<\/div>\n

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“*Rangers ” will get one away draw in a cup. No more than one, but even the Bears are beginning to notice the uncanny knack of home draws they have had since they began again and so they\u2019ll get one easy away one before normal service resumes<\/div>\n

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Waghorn(pen) will get into double figures for the season. Of penalties, obviously<\/div>\n

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The Press will stir stories about Rodgers, Sinclair, Griffiths, Dembele, and any other Celtic player in form leaving ahead of any important game we have. This isn\u2019t really a prediction as much as saying the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening.<\/div>\n

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Warbiola will be touted for every mangers job going by the Scottish press, and none by the English press.<\/div>\n
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Barton will fall out with the Ibrox crowd or vice versa. As seen online there is a long history of trenchant views, aggression and unwillingness to play by the rules.<\/div>\n

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And Barton is no better!<\/div>\n

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I think when he gets sent off at Ibrox against us for some petulant nonsense and blesses himself going off the pitch might be the moment the love-in ends.<\/div>\n

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The LNS commission fine will finally be paid by \u00a0“*Rangers.”<\/div>\n

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Just kidding. Of course it won’t.<\/div>\n
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Thats my summary of the season to come…what do you guys think ?<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s that time of year, and after last years stunning success with his weegie fitba board, El Cormaco has dusted it down and had a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/M_A_D__Prophet.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2tO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9536"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9536"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9546,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9536\/revisions\/9546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}