Thought I'd go into a bit more detail for the top flight, and separate it into two parts. Hope this is of interest to you, dear readers...
NB - As regards ins and outs, I've limited it to first team players, as I've put in enough detail as it is!
ABERDEEN
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Steven McLean (end of loan), Jim Paterson (end of loan), Stuart Duff, Davide Grassi, Mark Kerr, Gary McDonald, Charlie Mulgrew, Stuart Nelson
FIRST TEAM INS: Yoann Folly, Paul Hartley, Mark Howard, Josh Magennis, Rory McArdle, Scott Vernon
PREDICTION:8TH
PROSPECTS: Mark McGhee, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to guide this team back into the top six and avoid a cup exit to a lower division team, whilst keeping the fans happy. In order to accomplish this, you will have the experienced backbone of your team (Charlie Mulgrew, Mark Kerr, Gary McDonald) removed, and will have to rely on English lower division castoffs, youngsters, and Paul Hartley.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure even Ethan Hunt would take on such a challenge. But to challenge for the top half, Aberdeen need to keep Zander Diamond fit, and find someone who can score goals - there is nothing to suggest Darren Mackie or Chris Maguire provide enough of a threat. Lower mid-table seems a reasonable estimate, but would not be enough to keep McGhee at Pittodrie. While it's not beyond the realms of possibility to see them in the top half, you could say the same about their chances of being dragged into a relegation battle.
LIKELY LINEUP: Jamie Langfield - Rory McArdle, Zander Diamond, Andrew Considine, Richard Foster - Fraser Fyvie, Paul Hartley, Yoann Folly - Chris Maguire, Scott Vernon, Darren Mackie
CELTIC
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Edson Braafheid (end of loan), Diomansy Kamara (end of loan), Robbie Keane (end of loan), Landry N'Guemo (end of loan), Artur Boruc, Paul Caddis, Simon Ferry, Stephen McManus, Koki Mizuno, Lee Naylor, Zheng Zhi, Graham Carey (loan), Paul McGowan (loan)
FIRST TEAM INS: Cha Du-Ri, Gary Hooper, Efrain Juarez, Biram Kayal, Joe Ledley, Charlie Mulgrew, Daryl Murphy
PREDICTION: 1ST
PROSPECTS: "Baptism of fire" doesn't quite seem to do this justice. He might be about to lose Aiden McGeady, but Neil Lennon has had much more financial backing this summer than his bluenosed counterpart, so, frankly, a John Barnes-esque start will result in an awful lot of pressure, particularly as fans and media will keep alluding to a certain former manager who is now available. (no, I don't mean Barnes!) On paper, at the time of writing, this might be the weakest Celtic team in a decade, but such is the opposition they should win the title anyway. With Rangers having made no signings at all, I'm obliged, right now, to put Celtic as SPL favourites.
Lennon has put up with so much s*** as a player that you feel any criticism will be like water off a duck's back; the question is more over whether he has the experience, nous and man-management skills to get the job done, particularly away from home. Opening day at Inverness will be a real acid test, especially if Celtic don't get an early goal to settle the nerves. But while he has made a lot of signings, only Joe Ledley adds any midfield creativity to the side. Can he replace Aiden McGeady? The jury is out on that, and on the Lennon appointment.
LIKELY LINEUP: Lukasz Zaluska - Cha Du-Ri, Jos Hooiveld, Glenn Loovens, Charlie Mulgrew - Joe Ledley, Efrain Juarez, Scott Brown - Georgios Samaras, Gary Hooper, Shaun Maloney
DUNDEE UNITED
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Andy Webster (end of loan), Lee Wilkie (retired), Greg Cameron, Pavels Mihadjuks, Kevin Smith
FIRST TEAM INS: Barry Douglas, Filip Mentel
PREDICTION: 3RD
PROSPECTS: Let's face it, it was actually quite nice to see the Arabs win the Scottish Cup last season. They have an intelligent, outspoken manager, a bunch of hard-grafting players (I'll be amazed if Buaben and Gomis don't go on to better things, and Scott Robertson's return from injury gives them a very classy midfield) and flair players who are good to watch - if David Goodwillie stays for another year, he could really star at Tannadice. Out of the cup-winning squad, only Andy Webster has gone, though he leaves an enormous hole in the centre of defence which I'm not convinced Peter Houston has filled yet.
But I have United down to be the best of the rest simply because they showed last season that they can grind out results in a way that, for example, Hibs and Hearts didn't. Can they split the Old Firm? Probably not, but I feel they are best placed to take advantage of a catastrophe for one half of Glasgow. One Webster-like centre-half might be all they need to challenge for second, but a spate of injuries (or August sales of Goodwillie and Craig Conway) could leave them abck in mid-table.
LIKELY LINEUP: Dusan Pernis - Keith Watson, Darren Dods, Garry Kenneth, Paul Dixon - Danny Swanson, Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben, Craig Conway - David Goodwillie, Jon Daly
HAMILTON ACADEMICAL
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Brian Easton (end of loan), Mickael Antoine-Curier (end of loan), Joel Thomas (end of loan), James Wesolowski (end of loan), Richard Hastings, James McArthur, Trent McClenahan, Stuart Mills, Nicky Riley, Tony Stevenson, David Van Zanten, Grant Evans (loan)
FIRST TEAM INS: David Buchanan, Andy Graham, Jim McAlister, Gary McDonald, Jack Ross, Gavin Skelton
PREDICTION: 9TH
PROSPECTS: The Hamilton story has been pretty much the same over the last two seasons - start slowly, then grind out a few results with mind-numbing football, then hit form post-xmas (with mind-numbing football) and end up with a bit of a cushion over the bottom three. It's not a very fun story, but Hamilton's budget is tight, and manager Billy Reid knows he is in the results business, so I'm trying not to begrudge them anything, honest!
However, the star of the show the last two seasons has been a young central midfielder - first James McCarthy, then James McArthur. Reid doesn't have either to call on now. But, as always, he has been busy in the transfer market, mixing experience (Jack Ross from St. Mirren, Gary McDonald from Aberdeen), with potential (Morton winger Jim McAlister). They might dice with relegation a little bit this season, but I think they have enough quality and depth to keep their SPL place for just a teensy bit longer.
LIKELY LINEUP: Tomas Cerny - Jack Ross, Martin Canning, Mark McLaughlin, David Buchanan - Gary McDonald, Simon Mensing, Gavin Skelton - Dougie Imrie, Jim McAlister - Marco Paixao
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Jose Goncalves, Laryea Kingston, Christian Nade, Michael Stewart, Rocky Visconte, Ryan Wallace
FIRST TEAM INS: Darren Barr, Stephen Elliott, Kevin Kyle
PREDICTION: 4TH
PROSPECTS: Shock horror as Hearts make intelligent, thoughtful signings! Try not to choke on your coffee, but they have even resisted the urge to loan some random Lithuanian. After being told by every manager since Graham Rix that a half-decent striker is needed - no, Christian Nade wasn't even quarter-decent - Vladimir Romanov has finally relented and allowed the arrival of Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott. At the back, the signing of Darren Barr from Falkirk gives the side a very secure look indeed.
My prediction is largely based on two assumptions - firstly, that Jim Jefferies probably can't make this side more than the sum of their parts (sorry, I'm just not a fan of him) and secondly that Andrew Driver will inevitably get injured at some point. If those two assumptions are wrong, the Tynecastle side are good candidates for third. Certainly anything other than top six would be a surprise.
LIKELY LINEUP: Janos Balogh - Craig Thomson, Darren Barr, Marius Zaliukas, Lee Wallace - Suso, Eggert Jonsson, Ruben Palazuelos, Andrew Driver - Stephen Elliott, Kevin Kyle
HIBERNIAN
FIRST TEAM OUTS: Alan Gow (end of loan), Abdessalam Benjelloun, Patrick Cregg, Yves Ma-Kalambay, Darren McCormack, Kurtis Byrne (loan), Kevin McCann (loan)
FIRST TEAM INS: Edwin De Graaf, Michael Hart, David Stephens
PREDICTION: 7TH
PROSPECTS: As the weeks go by, I feel less and less confident about Hibs - hard to believe that in February they took on Rangers at Easter Road knowing a victory could put them in position to split the Old Firm. Since then it has been a shambles, and Euro thumping by Maribor doesn't inspire belief in John Hughes at all. The board have given him enough of a wage budget for the likes of Liam Miller, Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan, but I wonder whether he can juggle their egos effectively enough.
I don't want to wish evil on the Hibees - they are great fun to watch when they are in the mood. But when the going gets tough, I can't see the likes of Riordan getting going. The arrival of Michael Hart and the retention of Sol Bamba means they will probably leak fewer goals, I guess, but you have to allow for the fact that all Hibs keepers appear to be cursed (Graham Stack and Graeme Smith follow in the footsteps of Malkowski and Ma-Kalambay). They might prove me wrong and fight for third again, but I just don't see it.
LIKELY LINEUP: Graeme Smith - Michael Hart, Chris Hogg, Sol Bamba, Ian Murray - John Rankin, Liam Miller, Edwin De Graaf - Anthony Stokes, Colin Nish, Derek Riordan
The second part will be up when I get round to it.
Feel free to abuse me if you disagree!
L.
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