Before we get on to anything else, I'd like to point out that I got huge stick last season for predicting Dundee would come tenth. Just saying, like. What do you mean, even a stopped clock is right twice a day? Anyway...
So starting at the top, the question is whether the fact that RANGERS now appear to have some sort of plan going forward might actually lead to a title challenge. I'm the sort of football hipster who likes what Russell Martin wants to do with his team and the passing out from the back should help to break down the low blocks they'll face most weeks. I'm also impressed by their use of the loan market, getting in good short-term defensive fixes in Nasser Djiga and Max Aarons as well as exciting young Spurs winger Mikey Moore. But they're going forward with the same, er, forwards as last season (though Hamza Igamane looks offski) and I think they need to find a real gem in that area if they are to overhaul their rivals.
The gap to CELTIC should be smaller this season though, even if Brendan Rodgers does finally get to spend some of the hundred trillion dollars or so that the club are choosing to hide away for a rainy day that never comes. The main concern is out wide where Nicolas Kuhn has been sold and Jota is out long term. If new boy Benjamin Nygren is to play in midfield that actually seems to leave them a bit overloaded in that area - one of Nygren, Reo Hatate and Arne Engels would have to be on the bench every week - but they look so much stronger defensively than Rangers and if Kieran Tierney stays fit then they have upgraded from Greg Taylor at left-back. I do expect a title race this year, but I also still expect Celtic will win it.
There is of course no way that anyone else will be in the top two - whatever Tony Bloom claims about his investment at Tynecastle - but the next three places should be ABERDEEN, HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN and HIBERNIAN in some order. Of course in reality at least one of the trio will probably have a shocker - last year it was the Jambos, though Aberdeen's lousy form in the second half of the season (the Cup win excepting) and the added pressures of European football make them the most likely to have a mare this time around. New signings Nicolas Milanovic and Adil Aouchiche should boost the midfield and getting Alfie Dorrington back for another loan looks like a smart move; however they look weak up front with Pape Habib Gueye. Kevin Nisbet and Oday Dabbagh gone, and none of them were actually that brilliant in the first place. One feels they really need a splash move in that area.
In contrast, Hibs were tremendous in the first half of 2025 and have spunked a million quid on Togo forward Thibault Klidje as they look to keep the momentum going. There are high hopes that this could be a breakout season for striker Kieron Bowie, while Jamie McGrath and Josh Mulligan will fit in well to a midfield that already has plenty of good options. This squad looks well built for exactly what manager David Gray wants to do - no mean feat given he's only been in the job a year - and they should absolutely fancy their chances of another third place finish.
Expectations are also high on the other side of Edinburgh, what with Bloom's involvement and the arrival in the dugout of Derek McInnes. This should give Hearts a higher floor, and signings like Stuart Findlay and Claudio Braga, along with the retention of Lawrence Shankland, should certainly make them candidates for the final podium place. However it is simply not realistic to think they can do any more than that without a much bigger splurge in the transfer market - and at the moment the priority is to trim a squad that looks a bit bloated.
As for the other seven, you could maybe pick a name out of a hat for who will grab a top six spot. DUNDEE UNITED would seem to be the obvious choice following their fourth place finish but Jim Goodwin has moved on a lot of the squad that won promotion in 2023/24 and brought in eleven new players, none of whom are Scottish or have experience of Scottish football. There's certainly a chance they will take time to gel, and it's not entirely impossible it will all go badly wrong. A decent chunk of their recent success was down to loan striker Sam Dalby, and new attackers Zac Sapsford and Max Watters have a big hole to fill there.
ST. MIRREN also look like a good bet simply because they managed it last time out. Stephen Robinson has lost some important players in Zach Hemming, Ryan Alebiosu, Richard Taylor, Caolan Boyd-Munce and Toyosi Olusanya but has been very busy with nine new signings plus permanent deals for Killian Phillips and Roland Idowu. Jamaican duo Richard King and Jalmaro Calvin look like low-risk, high-reward acquisitions and there are high hopes for Dutch winger Malik Dijksteel. The worry is that Jonah Ayunga and Mikael Mandron don't offer enough goals up top.
MOTHERWELL feel like an unknown quantity under new boss Jens Berthel Askou, and he inherited a squad that had so many loan players last season that a high turnover was inevitable. They have spent a decent fee (by their standards) on winger Ibrahim Said and also brought in New Zealand international wideman Elijah Just. Well seem happy that front two Tawanda Maswanise and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos will push on, but it will be interesting to see what they do with the substantial funds incoming from the imminent sale of Lennon Miller.
In contrast, it feels like we know exactly what we'll get from KILMARNOCK now that Stuart Kettlewell is in charge, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Killie were due a refresh and only ten players from last season's first team squad remain (with two of those, Robby McCrorie and Marley Watkins, potentially heading for the exit door). There are ten new signings but is there a lot of quality there? They need new strikers Marcus Dackers and Djenairo Daniels to hit the ground running and Scott Tiffoney to adequately replace Dan Armstrong. They also look short at the back after Corrie Ndaba and Joe Wright left. This could be a tough campaign and Kettlewell had better hope the home support are kinder than the fans at Fir Park were...
Meanwhile, goodness knows what is happening at DUNDEE. Their shambolic defending last season nearly got them a relegation playoff and punting Tony Docherty at the end of it wasn't a crazy move...but replacing him with Steven Pressley was. A rubbish League Cup campaign has left him with very little credit in the bank and a rough start to the league season will put him under huge pressure very quickly. Given that multiple starters have left during the summer this was always going to be a hard ask, and I'm not convinced Simon Murray will score twenty goals in a season again.
Newly promoted sides can often carry momentum into the next campaign, but I don't expect FALKIRK to do as well as Dundee United did last season. They've mostly stuck with the squad that got them promoted, and I'm not convinced that a lot of these players - who have either played in the lower leagues for years or who have failed to establish themselves in the top flight in the past - will make the step up successfully. There will be a heavy dependence on veterans Scott Arfield and Brian Graham to provide creativity and goals.
In fact, I could see LIVINGSTON fairing better, even though - as I stated above with Dundee United - making a lot of signings comes with risk. Aside from captain Jamie Brandon (who joined Killie) I don't think anyone who left would have impressed in the Premiership, and whilst I'm not sure that Graham Carey and Stevie May have much to offer I think Mo Sylla and Macaulay Tait are particularly great additions. Importantly, it feels like Robbie Muirhead has finally matured into a quality striker and his contribution will be crucial. And at the other end Jerome Prior may well prove to be one of the best keepers in the country.
So here's my (inevitably inaccurate) predicted table:
1. CELTIC
2. RANGERS
3. HIBERNIAN
4. HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN
5. ABERDEEN
6. ST. MIRREN
7. DUNDEE UNITED
8. MOTHERWELL
9. LIVINGSTON
10. KILMARNOCK
11. FALKIRK
12. DUNDEE
Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
