Pars for the Course? - A look at the Championship so far: Part 9 - Dunfermline Athletic

(Better Late than never)

After the club was rescued from the pits of Administration in 2013, the Pars have only now just returned to the second tier of Scottish Football. After 10 matches, Dunfermline are sitting on seven points, and are only point above Dumbarton in the relegation play-off slot. A relegation battle seems on the cards, between themselves, St Mirren and Dumbarton. Can they save themselves?

The summer saw a raft of changes at East End Park, with last season's top goalscorer Faissal El Bakhtaoui leaving Halbeath Road to join Premiership outfit Dundee. The French-Moroccan-Fifer scored 22 goals in 32 league matches last season. Manager Allan Johnson was able to sign experienced Premiership players such as Kallum Higginbotham, Nicky Clark and Farid El Alagui as well as young prospects like Euan Spark and Scott Lochhead from Dundee United.

It's not like Dunfermline have been outclassed by their league rivals. In fact, I would say that Dunfermline have one of the stronger squads in the league. It's their inability to take chances that has been their downfall this season.

A good example would be their match against Dundee United on 10th Sept. The Pars were given not one but three penalties at 0-0 in the first 35 minutes of the match. All three were saved by Cammy Bell and United went on to win 3-1.

Defending hasn't been Dunfermline's forte this season either. Both wins the Pars have managed in the league this season have been 4-3; both being at home against the sides directly beneath them in the table. With 21 goals conceded in 10 matches, Dunfermline have the worst defence in the league, by three clear goals.

If there is a silver-lining on this big black and white coloured cloud, it is that with their attacking prowess, they can score goals. El Alagui, Cardle, Clark and Geggen will eventually score goals, and I would be very surprised if they couldn't muster 10-12 goals each by the end of the season.

Dunfermline's next five fixtures:

• Dumbarton (A) - Sat 29th Oct - Championship
• Raith Rovers (H) - Sat 5th Nov - Championship
• Dundee United (A) - Tue 8th Nov - Championship
• Dundee United (H) - Sat 12th Nov - Irn-Bru Cup Quarter Final - Live on Premier Sports
• St Mirren (A) - Sat 19th Nov - Championship - Live on BBC ALBA

It's hard to judge the quality of Dunfermline this season and how unlucky they have been and how poor they've been. Dunfermline Athletic are a big club and like several others in this league are punching well below their weight. Although, I do think it might be a struggle for the Pars fans this season, they might just escape a drop back down into League 1. My prediction for Dunfermline is that they will escape relegation and finish in seventh place.

Duffy the Dobbie Slayer - A look at the Championship so far: Part 8 - Greenock Morton

Morton started the league campaign with three draws and two losses and were left lying near the foot of the Championship table. Since then Jim Duffy has hit form with the impressive Ross Forbes and Jai Quitongo scoring left, right and centre. In their last four games Morton have won three, including thrashing league leaders Queen of the South 5-0 at Palmerston.

The poor start to the league campaign can be put down to a number of factors, including, uncertainty on the status of hot prospect Jai Quitongo. Quitongo was the subject of bids from English League One side Doncaster Rovers and was tracked by several Scottish Premiership clubs. In conjunction with this, the Greenock side suffered from defensive lapses of concentration, with late goals from St Mirren and Falkirk pegging them back level in matches that Morton should have seen out.

The signing of Gavin Gunning has seemed to bring some experience to the central defence. Despite his occasional irrational behaviour, he has done a service for Morton. The question remains on whether or not he can keep his temperament.

However, if there was one constant it would be the fortress that Jim Duffy has been able to make of Cappielow. In all competitions, Morton have played seven home matches, winning five and drawing two. If there is a key to success in the Championship, being able to make the your home ground a fortress is certainly up there in that respect.

With Twelve points from nine matches, three wins, three draws and three losses, it's easy to see why Morton have not been challenging for Promotion until now. Jim Duffy will be hoping that this recent burst of form will continue right through the season until May. Despite sitting sixth, Morton are keeping in touch with the other protagonists for the league title, the Ton are only six points off of Hibs and Queens, who are sitting first and second.

The League Cup, however has been where the Ton has found success. After winning their group with 11 points from 12, Morton defeated Hamilton Accies and then Dundee United to make the semi-finals of the Betfred Cup. Being Morton's first national semi-final since 1981, the 'Ton go into Saturday's clash with Aberdeen with high hopes.

Morton's next five matches:

• Aberdeen (N) - Sat 22nd Oct - Betfred Cup Semi-Final - LIVE on BT Sport
• Ayr United (H) - Sat 29th Oct - Championship
• St Mirren (H) - Tue 1st Nov - Championship
• Falkirk (A) - Sat 5th Nov - Championship
• Dumbarton (A) - Sat 12th Nov - Championship

The 'Ton's revival has brought another team into play in who is going for the league title. However, I think that run of form that Morton have produced in the last month will be temporary, not permanent.  My prediction for Morton is for them to just miss out on the Premiership play-offs and for them to finish fifth.

Gary's been Locke-d out: A look at the Championship so far - Part 7: Raith Rovers

Ray McKinnon's replacement, Gary Locke was appointed in July. His summer appointment was met with both positive and negative messages from the Stark's Park faithful. Despite this and a poor League Cup campaign as well as the loss of Lewis Toshney to Dundee United, the Kirkcaldy club have placed themselves in fourth place in the league.


Their success can be in part put down to the squad that Locke has inherited from McKinnon with to quality players such as Ross Callachan, Kyle Bennidictus and Mark Stewart. The ex-Hearts boss has bolstered the Raith playing squad with the additions of Kevin McHattie from Kilmarnock, Rudi Skacel and the loan signing of Declan McManus from Fleetwood Town.


Raith have been involved in some high scoring encounters this season. With three wins from their four home matches, it's easy to see why the San Starko is becoming a hard place to come for teams to pick up points.

Like most sides in the Championship, Raith seem to lack a traditional number 9 goalscorer but goals have came from a multitude of places this season. Midfielder Ross Callachan has been on target three times and is currently the league's 5th highest scorer. The club, overall, are the tied second in goals scores in league matches this season.

In defence it's been a different story, Raith have looked very poor. Eleven conceded in eight matches, does not sound like the type of defence that is going to win the league. For example, finding themselves 2-0 down, after half an hour of the match against Dundee United gives Raith a mountain to climb. Despite Raith earning a point at Tannadice in that match, the principle remains; if Locke cannot sort out that defence, they will not maintain fourth place in the league table until May.

Raith's next five fixtures:

• Hibernian (H) - Sat 15th Oct - Championship
• Falkirk (A) - Sat 22nd Oct - Championship
• Queen of the South (H) - Sat 29th Oct - Championship - Live on BBC ALBA
• Dunfermline Athletic (A) - Sat 5th Nov - Championship
• Dumbarton (A) - Sat 19th Nov - Championship

In fairness to Gary Locke, he has recruited wisely and built upon a solid foundation that was left by Ray McKinnon. However, like at Hearts and Kilmarnock the frailty of the defence has been his club's biggest problem. Without fixing the problems at the back, all I can say for Raith is that there fans will see a lot of goals and a lot of high scoring matches but not all in favour of the Rovers. My prediction is for Raith to finish in fifth place, just outside the play-off spots.

Keeping up with Kelpies - A look at the Championship so far - Part 6: Falkirk

High flying Falkirk have been a club that has languished in the second tier. The Bairns have traditionally had one of Scottish football's larger followings, with only the big city clubs having higher attendances. Despite this, Falkirk have been stuck in the second tier for seven years. After last seasons Play-off final defeat to Kilmarnock, the pressure is really on Peter Houston this season to guide Falkirk back in to the Premiership this time.

Falkirk have started strongly this season and find themselves lying in third place, only four points off league leaders Queen of the South. Falkirk have made the boringly-named Falkirk Stadium into something of a fortress; winning all but one home match this season.

This success can be laid down to a solid defence, with The Bairns only conceding 7 goals in their opening 8 matches. However, up front they've only scored 11 goals, which makes them the joint 5th top scorers.

Lee Miller has really been their main outlet this season going forward, with three goals. The lack of a "20-goal-a-season" striker may pay dividend to their rivals at the seasons end.

Falkirk also seem to rely on the vast quantity of Premiership experience they have with ex-Dundee United captain John Rankin joining familiar top flight names such as Lee Miller, David McCracken, Mark Kerr and Tom Taiwo, to name a few. This combined with the young prospects like the aptly named Lewis Kidd and Luke Leahy has given Peter Houston a formidable side.

Next Five Matches:

• Falkirk vs Dunfermline - Sat 15th Oct - Championship
• Falkirk vs Raith - Sat 22nd Oct - Championship
• Dundee United vs Falkirk - Sat 29th Oct - Championship
• Falkirk vs Greenock Morton - Sat 5th Nov - Championship
• Hibernian vs Falkirk - Sat 12th Nov - Championship

Falkirk's solid defence will be their main asset as the race for the title continues. However, their inability to score and lack of versatility going forward could be their downfall.  As for my prediction for the end of the season, I believe that this team is an improvement on last season but the league as a whole has also improved, so I would say that bar any huge changes to the playing squad, the Bairns will finish fourth come the season end.

Honest with Harkins - A look at the Championship so far: Part 5 - Ayr United

Ayr United have been Scottish football's perennial underachievers, a club with a relatively large core home support, and a completely full time youth academy. The Honest men are back in the Championship after beating Stranraer in the play-off final last season. With players such as Gary Harkins and Conrad Balatoni, Ian McCall's men are not just here to make up the numbers.

One of the few grounds in Scotland that I haven't been to is Somerset Park, apparently, it's like taking a trip back to 1970s; which is good for the nostalgia lovers which some of the Ayr faithful probably are. Since 1977, Ayr have not been in Scotland's top flight and have unfortunately felt the consequences of having more empty terraces than not.

However, 2016-17 has started brightly under Ian McCall. Eight points from as many games has left the club in seventh place in the table, on target for where they want to be at the end of the season. Their biggest achievement of the season was beating then undefeated Hibs at Easter Road in front of 16,000 bemused Hibees.

However, defensive frailties are still evident. In their first three games, Ayr lost all three and conceded 9, only scoring one goal in response.

Having seen Ayr, they just look like a side that isn't equipped for Championship football. This could be down to their quasi-part-time status or it could just be poor management. From what was evident, they were still one attacking player away from showing any real threat in a league that has very poor defenses.  Gary Harkins will score goals for them, but he's not enough, Ayr need a Greg Spence type player to keep them out of the relegation battles.

Ayr's next five fixtures:

• Dumbarton (A) - 15th Oct - Championship
• Queen of the South (H) 22nd Oct - Championship
• Greenock Morton (A) - 29th Oct - Championship
• Hibernian (H) - 5th Nov - Championship
• Raith Rovers (A) - 12th Nov - Championship 

Unfortunately for Ayr, it looks like it could be a long season, however, should they continue to improve over the course of the season as they have done, they should just survive. The problem is that they can't compete with the league's better squads on a consistent basis, yes granted they beat Hibs, but that was a fluke result. My prediction, however is for Ayr United to finish 8th and in turn survive the play-off by a point or two.

My review of Scotland vs Lithuania - player by player

So the dust has settled, and we've woken up to the news that Scotland have found a new low in the bottomless pit of failure.

As a Scotland fan, I was very confident of Scotland's chances going into this game. That was until I saw the starting eleven.

A 4-2-3-1 formation which played like a 4-5-1 is useful when playing away from home or playing against quality opposition. Lithuania, ranked outside the world's top 100, are not quality opposition. A 4-4-2 was the formation needed last night when playing a below-average side at Hampden.

To make matters worse Strachan started Chris Martin as the lone striker. Chris Martin is a good player, however when you have the choice of Leigh Griffiths, Steven Fletcher and Martin for that role, the Celtic striker should win out every time. I seriously doubt there were any members of the Tartan Army who wanted to see Martin over Griffiths.

That's not mentioning the vendetta Gordon Strachan seems to have against Ross McCormack and Jordan Rhodes.

As for Lithuania, they looked incredibly average, that's probably the worst Lithuania side I've seen. Scraping a draw with them is a national embarrassment. If Lithuania play as they did last night, I can guarantee that when they play Slovakia next month, Hamsik and company will put several past them.

As usual the excuses will be made. "Lithuania should have had a man sent off", "Chris Martin should have had a penalty" and the usual "The referee was biased against us!". I'm sorry but after 18 years of Scottish heartache and disappointment these excuses don't cut the mustard.

Player By Player:

David Marshall - 7

In all fairness to David Marshall, Lithuania only created a handful of chances and the saves he did make kept Scotland in the game. As for the goal, there wasn't too much more he could have done to prevent the Lithuanians taking the lead. He gave a solid performance on a night we didn't see much of him.

Callum Paterson - 5

The young right back put in a below average performance last night. He is still an improvement on the other players who have put on the number 2 shirt for Scotland in recent years. Poor passing and an inability to hold onto the ball was his downfall last night, an abnormal blip for the Hearts right back.

Grant Hanley - 5

A very poor showing from Hanley last night. He was repeatedly being found out on the counter from Novikovas as well as being responsible for the Lithuania goal. At least he was responsible for the assist to the equalizer in the 90th minute. Being blunt, it was probably his worst game in Scotland shirt for a very long time.

Russell Martin - 6

Martin was average on a night that Scotland looked utter trash. He was able to get away with it as the opposition were very poor. If he plays the same way against Slovakia, then Scotland will be in huge trouble.

Andy Robertson - 8

Scotland's most creative player and best performer by a country mile. The only threats from Scotland were coming from Robertson on the left flank. He gave the supporters who have been calling for Tierney to replace him, some Humble pie, as well as a fork and knife to eat it.

Barry Bannan - 7

Bannan was alongside Robertson and Snodgrass as Scotland's best performers. Looked dangerous on occasion and provided great link up play with Snodgrass and Robertson on the left wing.


Darren Fletcher - 6

Fletcher didn't show much in his 45 minutes of action, but looked like a captaining figure in a side that needed some leadership. Scotland fans can only hope his injury is not too severe, as he will be a key figure on Tuesday night.

Oliver Burke - 5

The young Red Bull Leipzig midfielder looked disappointing on a night where some of his magic would have came in useful. There was plenty effort from the 19 year-old but it just wasn't his night. Strachan's decision for Burke to be substituted after 56 minutes was probably the correct call.

Robert Snodgrass - 7

Snodgrass looked like he could be the provider for a Scotland goal, if there was a striker that could finish it for him. It was a welcome return for Snodgrass to the Scotland squad and the Starting XI looks stronger with him included.

Matt Richie - 6

A very poor performance from the Newcastle player. He was nearly anonymous during the match, except from the occasional blocked shot that gave away possession.

Chris Martin - 4

Never looked like scoring, in a match that needed goalscorers. Barely got a shot on target and has simply awful at holding the ball up. Scotland would have been just as well playing the Coldplay singer. He should have came off at half time for Griffiths, not the 79th minute.

Verdict.

Strachan's comments after the game bordered on delusional. The honest truth is that Gordon Strachan lost the support of the large section of the Tartan Army last night and he has Tuesday night to either make or break the campaign.

Fortunately, Slovenia did us a huge favour last night in beating Slovakia, but if Scotland play as they did last night, they may end up 5th in this group so it would e absolutely worthless.

Scotland need two points from Slovakia and England, making Tuesday pretty much a must-win game. If Scotland lose, Strachan should receive his P45 as soon as he lands in Glasgow on the Wednesday morning.

Is Sunshine really back on Leith? - A look at the Championship so far - Part 4 - Hibernian

First of all, apologies for the lack of posts in the last couple of days. University work combined with a sore throat has stopped me from writing anything for the blog.

After two unsuccessful attempts the Leith club are hoping this season will be the season that Hibs return to the big time. The summer saw big changes at Easter Road, Alan Stubbs left to go and manage Rotherham, his replacement Neil Lennon has signed six players including former Inverness midfielder Andrew Shinnie on loan from Birmingham City.

The Hibs squad, supplemented buy the addition of Shinnie and co. is without doubt the strongest in the League. The young talent that Hibs possess is of almost as high a quality of the mid 2000s squad that included Brown, Riordan and Fletcher. After 8 goals in as many matches, striker Jason Cummings is a wanted man by several teams both sides of Hadrian's Wall. He was subject to several £1m+ bids in the summer transfer window. Whilst, midfielder John McGinn is rapidly becoming a regular name in the Scotland squad and is thought of being Scott Brown's replacement in the national team.


Season Ticket sales have been up by over 40% on last season and Easter Road has been seeing crowds of on average of over 15,000 this season. That is the highest crowds seen at Easter Road since the construction of the new East Stand in 2010.



After five consecutive victories to start the season, Hibs have since hit a sticky patch, losing at home to Ayr and drawing with Queen of the South and Dundee United. Albeit the latter two will most likely be the Hibees challengers for the title. Lying on 17 points, Hibs find themselves only a point behind Queens at the top of the table.

However, the same problems still show at Hibs. Specifically, the inability to finish off a match whilst in front or in control.

The live television match against Dundee United was a prime example of this, United were barely in the match, with the occasionally exception of a counter attack. Despite Hibs dominating the match for 65 minutes against a side that are very poor at defending, it was 1-0. All it took was one corner for United to equalise through William Edjengule and all the dominance Hibs had was in vain.

Like the last few seasons, Hibs need to be more clinical to finish teams off when in front or in control of a match if they want to return to the Premiership.

Hibs' next five fixtures:

• St Mirren (H) - Sat 8th Oct - Irn Bru Cup
• Raith Rovers (A) - Sat 15th Oct - Championship
• Dunfermline Athletic (A) - Sat 22nd Oct - Championship
• St Mirren (H) - Sat 29th Oct - Championship
• Ayr United (A) - Sat 5th Nov - Championship 

To summarise, Hibs are the biggest team in the league and have the best players in the division. However, their inability to be win matches after leading is what may be their downfall, yet again. Not many sides in this division have the quality to either be defensively strong enough or clinical enough to punish Hibs. My prediction for the Hibees is that they will go onto the win the division by a margin of five to ten points. 

Sons of Docherty - A look at the Championship so far: Part 3 - Dumbarton

Let's be honest, every season when there's a glance at the teams in the championship, there's almost a universal understanding that Dumbarton will be relegated. However, for the last four seasons the Sons under Ian Murray and currently Steve Aitken the club have managed to survive and establish themselves in the division. Can they continue this form through this season?

By Alex Marr

To say that Dumbarton are punching above their weight, would certainly not be an overstatement. The Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium (aka - The Rock) only sees 420 or so season ticket holders pass through the turnstiles each week and are only one of two part-time clubs in the division.



Their start to the season, is not too dissimilar to what many anticipated with the Sons languishing in the 9th place relegation play-off spot.

(Dumbarton only have average attendances just reaching over the 1000 mark, inflated by the large away supports in the Championship. The Rock, pictured above, picture source: geograph.org.uk)

However, the Sons have been able to beat Dundee United and hold league leaders Queen of the South to a draw at home this season. Away from home, their only point was an away draw against Morton. The team having received not any large defeats, in fact all but one of their games this season has been decided by more than one goal.

Dumbarton have been suffering from a lack of goals this season, with only eight goals scored so far, it looks like the Sons will be relying on their defence to keep them in the division, and not just in the traditional sense. Left back, Mark Docherty has been the only real goal-scoring threat this season, with three goals in his four starts.

If there is any saving grace for Dumbarton it's that this wouldn't have been the first time the club has pulled themselves into safety after a sluggish start to the league campaign. In their debut season of this spell in the second tier, they only picked up 5 points in their first 12 matches but after a change of manager and a spell of postponed matches, the Clydeside club were able to starve off relegation by 9 points and finish seventh.

Next 5 Fixtures:

• Ayr United (H) - 15th Oct - Championship
• Dundee United (A) - 22nd Oct - Championship
• Dunfermline Athletic (H) - 29th Oct - Championship
• St Mirren (A) - 5th Nov - Championship
• Morton (H) - 12th Nov - Championship

The club really need to find an out-and-out goalscorer who can score 15 goals a season if they are to stay in the Championship for a sixth successive season.

My prediction for Dumbarton is for them to continue in their current position in the table for the rest of the season. 9th place would still be an achievement for Dumbarton as the club do have the smallest budget in the league by some margin. It's going to be a struggle for the Rock faithful and it looks like it might be the toughest season to survive so far in the Ladbrokes Championship

Rae's of Doom - A look at the Championship so far - Part 2: St Mirren

Part One of the series focused on league leaders, Part Two focuses on with what's going on at the foot of the table.


St Mirren are currently on 4 points and have yet to win a league match this season, the Buddies have no manager and are looking like prime candidates for relegation. The Question has to be asked, Why is it going so wrong?

Despite the club moving towards fan ownership, the on-the-field woes continue. The Paisley club have conceded 16 goals in their opening 8 matches. The Paisley 2021 Stadium has seen defeats to Queen of the South and Hibernian and draws with rivals Morton and Falkirk.

This is in spite of the raft of Premiership experience Alex Rae brought to St Mirren in the summer. Aberdeen's Lawrence Shankland returned to Renfrewshire on loan, as has David Clarkson and Rocco Quinn on a permanent basis. It was no surprise that Alex Rae and his assistant were given their P45 by the end of September.

One of the few positives that the Buddies can look to is that new signing and seasoned veteran John Sutton has been on target on 3 occasions in his 5 starts this league campaign. 

Apparently, the club will name a new manager sometime this week with Gus McPherson, Mixu Paatelelianan and Alloa boss Jack Ross all in the running. 

St Mirren's next 5 fixtures:

• Hibernian (A) - 8th Oct - Irn-Bru Cup
• Dundee United (H) - 15th Oct - Championship
• Hibernian (A) - 29th Oct - Championship
• Dumbarton (H) - 5th Nov - Championship
• Queen of the South (A) - 12th Nov - Championship

With St Mirren being one of the few clubs I've not seen this season it is very hard to make a prediction for the rest of the season. However, I would say that St Mirren will end up 8th come the end of the season, surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth. The Buddies need to show strong character and resolve from the top players and new management team if they are to survive in the Championship this season.

You've been Dobbie-d - A look at the Championship so far: Part One - Queen of the South

With the International Break on the horizon, now is a good time to review the first quarter of the 2016-17 Ladbrokes Championship.

By Alex Marr

You've been Dobbie-d

(Picture Source: ITV)

Where else to start but Queen of the South.

The Doonhamers have started the season unbelievably well. Summer signing Stephen Dobbie has started his second spell in Dumfries with 6 goals in his 7 starts, which sent Queens top of the Championship. Gavin Skelton's side along with Celtic, Buckie Thistle and East Kilbride are the only 4 teams that are unbeaten so far in the Scottish senior league season. The only disappointing result so far was on Saturday (1st October); a poor 0-0 draw away to Dumbarton. Skelton has been able to produce a good blend in the squad with the experience of players such as Derek Lyle, Mark Millar and Lee Robinson in between the sticks alongside the youth of Lyndon Dykes, Dale Hilson and Jordan Marshall.

With Derek Lyle and Stephen Dobbie leading the line, it looks like they may well keep this form up until Christmas at the very least. It would not be surprising if Queen of the South took a clean sweep of prizes at the SPFL's Monthly awards.

Next Matches:

• Linfield (H) - Irn-Bru Cup - 8th Oct (live on BBC Alba)
• Greenock Morton (H) - Championship - 15th Oct
• Ayr United (A) - Championship - 22nd Oct
• Raith Rovers (A) - Championship - 29th Oct (live on BBC Alba)
• Dundee United (H) - Championship - 5th Nov

Having only seen Queen of the South once against Dundee United on the opening day it's quite hard to judge where they'll finish at the end of the season but I'm sure it will be more accurate than the BBC's prediction of 8th. My prediction is that Queens will not win the league but will finish third come the end of the season. It may be this season that the Doonhamers finally ascend to the top flight of Scottish Football for the first time since the 1960s.

A Tale of Two Cups - Part 1: In Bed with BT and Betfred...

As we near the latter stages of the two revamped cups, the Betfred Cup (League Cup) and the Irn-Bru Cup (Challenge Cup), it's time to analyze the successes and failures of these new formats and discuss whether or not these new formats should be continued.

This article will focus on the Betfred Cup, formally known as the League Cup. Next week I will look at the Irn-Bru Cup.

An Earlier Start, with increased Television Revenue...

 

Summer Football has always been an contentious issue in Scotland. Some believe that the league season should be played throughout the summer to attract higher crowds due to good weather and make Scottish clubs more competitive on the European stage with the early rounds of the Europa League in July. Others believe that Scotland should continue with the strong tradition of football under the January floodlights with the paying spectators wrapped up warm with a pie and bovril in their hands. I, like most fans am in the latter school of thought. Although the idea of starting the season in July instead of August is an idea many supporters are in agreement with.

The new Betfred Cup started on Friday 15th July, with recently relegated Dundee United traveling 12 miles or so to League Two Arbroath at Gayfield live on BT Sport in front of a crowd of 3124, 2500 of which were from the Championship club. The Group C match which resulted in the first penalty shoot-out for a bonus point in Scottish football history was BT Sport's 9th highest viewed show of the week. The same two teams played at roughly the same time of year in 2015 in a Forfarshire Cup match, witch only a mere 1200 members of the paying attended.

With four of the big six clubs not involved in the group stages (Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian) due to European commitments the focus for the competition lay with mainly Rangers as well as Dundee United.
 
(Panorama from Arbroath vs Dundee United, right)

It's wise to add that from their coverage, BT Sport, unlike Sky Sports, actually seemed to care about Scottish Football and market it as if it's one of their prime assets unlike Sky who tend to treat the Scottish game as a filler in between English Premier League matches and Spain's La Liga.

BBC Scotland paid roughly £850k per season for the rights to 4 League Cup matches, BT Sport are paying £2.4m for 13 live matches. Now, any change in a competition format that can increase the TV revenue three-fold should be considered; however for what BT actually requested it was basically a steal for the SPFL. Considering how poor the SPFL and the SFA are at marketing the game (which is an article for another time) this deal with BT is probably the best accomplishment the League's Chief Exec. Neil Doncaster has completed in his time as the supremo of Scotland's domestic leagues. Betfred also sponsor the tournament - parting ways with £1m for the privilege over the next three seasons.


The knock-on effect of this cash is that the prize money has increased drastically. For example in 2015 a team that were knocked out in the First Round such as Arbroath would have received a measly sum of around £7000 whilst, this season Arbroath were bottom of Group C and received £15,000 in prize money as well as an extra £10,000 for being shown live on Television. £25,000 may be scoffed at, but for a part-time club like The Red Lichties it goes a long way toward keeping the club financially secure.

Group stages in the League Cup are not a new innovation from the SPFL, the old league cup in the 1960s and 70s featured a four-team group stage. It was dropped in favour of a straight knockout format.

However, every cloud and all that...

However, it's not been all good, the crowds on the whole have been lower than expected, with the reasoning being that many fans are away on holiday in the month of July and League Cup games are not valid on Season Tickets. An early example of this was Motherwell vs Rangers,  which only attracted 4500 at Fir Park, a match that can attract nearly double that. Even the Quarter-final stage had relatively poor crowds with all but one match live on BT. Celtic vs Alloa couldn't even attract 16,000 to Parkhead, Rangers vs Queen of the South barely half-filled Ibrox and St Johnstone's visit to Pittodrie was viewed by under 9,000 spectators. The other match between Morton and Dundee United was watched by less than 2,500 at Cappielow

(Video from Aberdeen vs St Johnstone)

pic.twitter.com/t9JiTVwNbd

— Alex Marr (@Alexmarr98) September 22, 2016

With both semi-finals being televised kick-off times for both matches being moved to suit BT Sports' schedule rather than the traveling fans. The clash between Celtic and Rangers was moved from 3pm on a Sunday to a 2:30pm kick-off, which is understandable, however, the Aberdeen vs Greenock Morton match was moved from the Saturday 3pm kick-off slot to a 12:15pm time in Glasgow.

Multiple things are wrong with this, firstly, for Aberdeen fans to make it to Hampden Park, they would have to leave Aberdeen at around 7:30am. To make matters worse, there are trains to Glasgow that arrive before kick-off but all of these are incredibly expensive as the cheapest is £40, which is twice the price of a match ticket. With all of these factors combined, it almost creates a perfect storm that will result in a crowd of less than 15000 watching the match in a 52,000 seater stadium. If the match was held at Easter Road in Edinburgh at a 5:15 kick-off the game would be sold-out in a terrific football stadium which was recently voted the 11th best stadium in Europe.

The Betfred Cup has been given the green light to stay in its current guise until 2020. Despite the problem's it's caused the increased revenue from BT Sport's TV Deal and Betfred's sponsorship is too much to refuse, even though Television can be an irritant for fans and clubs and the new penalty shoot-out for a bonus point can leave outsiders bemused. The revamped tournament is here to stay and all that can be said for my own opinion is:

"Vive le Betfred Cup"