League Cup: History men?

Is the Scottish Communities League Cup moving inexorably towards a Celtic v Rangers clash.

Celtic progressed to the semi final with a minimum of fuss last night, thumping St Johnstone 5-0 at home.

Rangers need to make history to join them, becoming the first Third Division side to reach the league cup semi finals.

We seem to be cocking a snook at history this week.

No sooner had Kilmarnock managed a twice in a lifetime win at Celtic than St Mirren gazumped them with a once in a lifetime cup win in Aberdeen.

A first since before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Archdukes are best advised to avoid the Sarajevo area.

So Celtic and St Mirren are through, Hampden awaits.

Who will join them? Rangers or Inverness, Dundee United or Hearts.

The honest answer: I haven't got a scooby.

Hearts won comfortably on their last trip to Tannadice and they are a point ahead in the league having played two more games.

Both have enjoyed sound wins this season without finding any consistency. And although Hearts managed three goals in their league win over United, neither side has been prolific.

Hearts have scored twelve goals in eleven games, United eleven in nine.

The league form doesn't suggest a cup classic. You might have said the same about Reading and Arsenal.

6-7 remains unlikely tonight. United are 13/10, Hearts 2/1 and the draw 12/5.

I think it could be tight. Both teams are 9/1 to win on penalties, United 10/1 to win after extra time and Hearts 12/1. If it's a lottery at that stage then it could be a generous one.

I'll back half time/full time draw/draw at 4/1. It could be a long night.

And for those who believe in fate: Rudi Skacel is 11/2 first goalscorer and 7/4 to score any time.

What of Rangers and Inverness?

A win over Motherwell in the last round will have proved to Rangers that SPL clubs should hold no fear for them at home.

The trick for Inverness will be to avoid looking as scared of their own shadows as Motherwell did that night.

A few weeks ago I'd have felt that Rangers were big favourites for this one.

Now I'm not so sure. Inverness have shown a certain character in building an unbeaten run and have weighed in with a fair whack of goals.

SPL form meets a Third Division club with both a point to prove and a number of players who would get in most SPL teams.

A Rangers win is 21/20, the draw 12/5 and Inverness 5/2.

Those odds are justified but not overwhelmingly so. Pay your money, take your pick.

I'll take Inverness to win 2-1 at 10/1. I might even be daft and expand that to 60/1 with Billy McKay scoring first.

But I'm not convinced of my good sense in doing so.

As Motherwell found to their cost playing the occasion is probably more of a risk for Inverness than Rangers.

Rangers, of course, are playing history as well.

But history's not having a good week in Scottish football.

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Motherwell v Hibs

An acquaintance, for whom the glass is forever half empty, insisted to me last Sunday evening that Hibs would be in the bottom three of the SPL after the next three games.

That is mathematically possible. And this particular lover of life had, unlike me, endured the trip to Dingwall to see goalkeeper Ben Williams do a Highland fling in losing three goals and three points to Ross County.

He also told me that he "fears" for Hibs at Fir Park tonight. He didn't quantify the extent of that fearfulness but his solemnity of tone suggested Motherwell winning 3-0 or 4-0 - at 16/1 and 28/1 - wouldn't be outlandish.

Clearly I've got some really quite depressing friends. But his pessimism is indicative of where this SPL season is going.

Last week Hibs again displayed a certain fragility that earlier results might have masked.

That's enough to convince many that talk of (bottle) green shoots of recovery is overstated.

But if you're convinced that Pat Fenlon is turning things round at Easter Road you can point to some encouraging wins and some sound performances.

The optimist will argue that a win against Motherwell tonight would push Hibs into second place in the SPL table. That's progress.

The truth, as is so often case, probably lurks somewhere in between for Hibs and most other clubs.

A few weeks ago Motherwell were looking to go clear at the top of the table. They've since dropped back into the pack but a win tonight will take them from sixth to third.

16 points separate leaders Celtic from Dundee at the bottom. But only eight points split second placed Inverness and Dundee United in eleventh.

While Celtic haven't yet made the dash for glory that many predicted there does seem to have been a levelling among ten of the twelve clubs.

That might make the league thrillingly competitive or an orgy of mediocrity. Maybe it can be both at the same time.

It will also make it harder for anyone else to track Celtic if they do make a break. And it makes predicting the outcome of a majority of games something of a lottery.

It looks that way this evening.

Another Friday night experiment - although this perhaps owes more to ESPN filling a schedule hole than a commitment to improving the fan experience.

Tonight is actually a good chance to track the progress of Friday night football. This is third Friday game between these two since 1995 and the second in two seasons.

The TV free and abandoned match last year - Pat Fenlon's first game in charge of Hibs - drew an attendance of around 6700. That was a slightly larger crowd than turned up for Sky's live goalless draw in 1995.

If you're going to have an experiment it is useful to be able to draw comparisons. Tonight offers those comparisons.

Will the Friday night pioneers who turn up be entertained this evening?

Goalless draws (10/1) are rare indeed in this fixture these days. This season Hibs have have looked less comfortable away from home, conceding 11 goals in 5 matches and taking just four points.

Motherwell - whose early season fluency seems to have deserted them - have taken five points from four home games, scoring six goals and conceding five.

And both come into this on the back of away defeats to teams below them in the league.

Tonight's odds - Motherwell are 21/20, Hibs 5/2 and the draw 12/5 - actually push me towards the draw.

A scoring draw.

1-1 is 6/1 while 2-2 is 14/1.

I always need to back Hibs though - although I suspect that this might contribute to whatever jinx it is they are toiling under at any given time - so I'll take a 2-1 away win at 11/1.

Combining that with Eoin Doyle as first goalscorer - for no other reason than an increasing appreciation for the cut of his jib - swells the odds to 50/1.

And because one day he must surely treat the SPL to his flying geriatric goal celebration I'll take my normal flutter on Shefki Kuqi as last goalscorer at 8/1.

One day.

Am I confident? No.

But a predictable unpredictability might be the SPL's calling card this season.

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

Barcelona v Celtic: An underdog's life

Having finally cleared one long standing Champions League hurdle with their away win in Moscow, Celtic must topple giants this evening.

Barcelona away is a fixture that makes most teams tremble. It looks a hopeless journey for our plucky Scottish champions, a side who have only just registered a maiden away win in this competition.

If Celtic will be prohibitive favourites in all their domestic matches this year they must accept the role of underdogs tonight.

As Gary Linton recalled in his post last night, it's not that long ago since Celtic were knocking Barcelona out of the UEFA Cup or taking a rare Champions League away point at the Nou Camp.

Not that long ago, but it feels like a footballing lifetime. In the intervening years Barcelona have come as close to any team of our generation to reinventing how football should be played.

Celtic, in common with most sides, have been stranded in their wake, stuck playing the football of mere mortals.

Abandon hope all ye who enter Catalonia?

Perhaps.

But, as Jose Mourinho was rather narkily explaining recently, Barcelona are not currently Spanish or European champions.

There has also been a vulnerability at times, a reliance on a mismatched defence made up of converted midfielders.

Unfortunately for Celtic they retain the ability to simply score more than the opposition no matter how many they concede.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

All this could be good news for the myopic Celtic fan or the neutral with an inkling for a shock.

Because a winning bet on Celtic this evening would be a lucrative affair.

A Barcelona win is priced at 1/12. A Celtic win is a whopping 20/1. The draw is 10/1.

If a football match is a two horse race then the bookies see this one as a sprint between Frankel and Robert Louis Stevenson's Modestine.

Gary's prediction of a 2-1 Barcelona win is 12/1. By contrast a 1-0 win for Celtic is out at 40/1, remarkably the same price as a 7-0 win for Barcelona.

Celtic's ambitions in this competition are likely to be realised away from their two clashes with Barcelona.

Anything tonight would be a huge result and a massive bonus. It looks highly unlikely.

Celtic will need to thrive without much sight of the ball, they'll also need to figure out a way of stopping the superlative stealing Lionel Messi without giving Barcelona's other stars room to thrive. It could be like trying to herd cats.

Better sides than this Celtic team have failed to do any of that successfully.

I've got to - and I suspect I'll not be a lone voice here - plump for a comfortable Barcelona win.

3-0 at 11/2 or 4-1 at 12/1.

David deserves more glory in this competition. But tonight should belong to Goliath.

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Dundee United v Aberdeen

According to the encyclopedic @SPLstats Saturday will be the 87th time Dundee United have hosted Aberdeen in a league game at Tannadice.

In the previous 86 matches there have been 29 home wins, 28 away win and 29 draws.

The insperable New Firm.

They've been plotting different routes through the SPL this season though.

United started with 3-0 wins over Hibs and Dundee. Then they flatlined.

0-0 draws with Ross County and St Johnstone have been joined by a 3-1 defeat at Kilmarnock, a 3-0 defeat at home to Hearts and a 4-0 defeat at Inverness.

Not scoring and conceding too many. A nasty combination.

It's hardly critical. After losing out to the double whammy of Celtic's American jaunt and Motherwell's creaky power supply they have two - tough - games in hand and are only seven points off second place.

But few would have tipped them to be second bottom of the league in a season where many expected them to lead the chasing pack in their pursuit of Celtic.

Injuries haven't helped. It's been United's misfortune to have held on to key players in the summer only to lose some of them in the early part of the season.

Few SPL clubs can sustain their form with big names missing from their starting XI.

The real surprise is how poor a job United have made of papering over the cracks.

With their game before the international break postponed they should have had time to regroup and recover from the run of bad results.

Unfortunately they'll have had to do that without Peter Houston, absent on Scotland duty. Not much of a break from bleak results that, although he might soon have more time to spend with his club.

If Houston's United have weakened over the opening weeks of the season, Craig Brown's Aberdeen have only got stronger.

Early on it looked as though Brown had assembled a sound squad but not quite worked out how to make them click.

But they are undefeated since their opening day loss to Celtic, and while four home draws looks worryingly similar to seasons past wins against Hibs at home and Kilmarnock away have lifted them to third in the table.

Brown, whose past achievements as Scotland manager take on greater significance with every flunked qualifying campaign, has bought wisely and looks to be blending experience and youth quite well.

There might be occassions when Aberdeen don't set the pulse racing - Craig's too old to cope with 3-3 draws with Motherwell each week - but they might just prove to be one of the more consistently effective sides this SPL season.

So tomorrow looks like being a historically tight result with recent form favouring the visitors and the bookies favouring the home side.

The draw is 12/5, an Aberdeen win is 12/5 while a United victory is 11/10.

Strikes me this is one of those games that could either be an absolute belter or the dampest of 0-0 squibs (7/1).

Aberdeen have won the last two head-to-heads though and carried the better form into international week.

Given United's scoring issues I'm tempted by a 2-0 Aberdeen win at 14/1 but there's a tendency for both sides to score in these games so 2-1 Aberdeen at 10/1 it is.

13/2 for a half time draw/full time Aberdeen combo might also have a certain allure.

Did we think back in 1998 that more than a decade on Craig Brown would still be the last Scottish manager to take the national team to a major championship?

Did we heck as like.

So I'll back the master to pile on more misery for the apprentice's apprentice.

I might take the half time draw/full time draw at 4/1 just in case though.

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

Scotland: Strachan SOS?

An unusual consensus has settled over Scottish football.

The disastrous start to the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign has made minds up: Craig Levein can't continue as Scotland manager.

A few dissenting voices remain.

Billy Dodds was one of them on Tuesday night. Using his BBC co-commentary gig to broadcast to the nation, Billy repeatedly told us that Levein was the "right man for the job, he's just not had the results."

That's not the strongest defence: "Aye, the doctor's a good bloke but his patients keep dying."

In moments of introspection even Levein might reflect that the game really is a bogey when Silly Bodds is the main witness for the defence.

Some others argue that changing the manager will change nothing. A limp reason that, conceding our crapness, accepting that we really should be bottom of a qualifying group.

I also believe that this squad is stronger than results suggest. Not world beaters. But better than two points from four games or three wins in 12 competitive matches. When that happens the buck stops in the dugout.

The SFA board will meet in the next few days to discuss what happens next.

Can we expect decisive action? Or a classic Hampden fudge.

I'd still lean towards the latter but it's difficult to see who Levein can call on for support, especially if there is any truth in rumours that the clubs might choose to use Scotland's plight to put pressure on SFA chief executive Stewart Regan.

Our next game is a friendly against Luxembourg in November, with Ladbrokes offering 13/8 that Levein will not be manager for that match.

It's 11/8 for him to not be manager by the first game of 2013, a February friendly with Estonia.

I would still expect him to just about survive through this weekend, limp past Luxembourg before being deposed early in the New Year.

That would give the new manager the Estonian game to prepare for the next round of - now sadly redundant - qualifiers.

And who will the next manager be?

Two former managers are frequently mentioned. Both Walter Smith and Alex McLeish are available, know the job and enjoyed some success.

I'm not sure going back is a good idea in football although Smith has shown a willingness to do just that in the past.

McLeish (12/1) has already hinted at a willingness to consider a return. I'm always mindful of certain commitment issues he seems to have.

He will undoubtedly see a situation that he'd be confident of improving but would he be concerned more by rehabilitating Scotland or his own career?

Smith fits almost exactly the age and experience profile that Sir Alex Ferguson argues are the perfect fit for an international manager.

But the Tartan Army is unforgiving about the last time Smith jumped ship and I'm not sure he'd relish the challenge of being the figurehead of not just the national team but of the many changes that the SFA is currently attempting to put in place.

Owen Coyle (10/1) is available after a bruising time at Bolton. But Coyle must surely retain ambitions at club level and I can't see much that would push him to the Scotland job at this stage.

At 14/1 Joe Jordan would be an emotionally powerful choice but I don't think his record as a manager stands up to much scrutiny even if his involvement as a coach would surely make sense.

Ally McCoist is also priced at 14/1 for anyone who likes to chuck money down the toilet. Motherwell's Stuart McCall might be a bit miffed to be outside McCoist at 16/1.

Dougie Freedman would be an interesting choice at 12/1 but at the moment I'd think there is about as much chance of Scotland winning Euro 2016.

Which brings us to the current favourite.

At 3/1 Gordon Strachan leads the field.

There's no such thing as a unanimous choice in football but there seems to be a surge of popular opinion in favour of Strachan.

He's spoken before about how he sees the role as all encompassing, going beyond simply managing the international team. A decision would need to be made within the SFA about how to accommodate those demands, how Strachan's vision fits with the attempts at modernisation that are already in place.

Strachan will also have a personal decision to make. Is the life of the travelling pundit worth foregoing for the pressures of being Scotland manager?

There will be an emotional pull, the draw of a fresh challenge. But there are negatives to this job, stresses involved in carrying the weight of often unrealistic expectation.

It looks to me like he is the man for the job.

But will he decide that this is the job for Gordon Strachan?

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Belgium v Scotland: Defying the odds

In one of the many radio discussions in the aftermath of Scotland's damaging defeat against Wales it was suggested that we usually pull off one big result in each qualifying game.

A trip to Belgium to play the group leaders would be that sort of game.

It would also chime perfectly with the idea of Scottish football that still just about survives in the popular imagination, of a national team that fails when they're expected to thrive and thrives when they're expected to fail.

The experience of recent qualifying campaigns means that idea of Scotland can no longer stand up to scrutiny.

Liechtenstein twice, Lithuania, Macedonia, Iceland twice. They are the biggest games we've been winning lately.

For the last "big" result we must look back to the qualifiers for Euro 2008 and those two victories over France in 2006 and 2007.

Captain Darren Fletcher has that Scotland can "definitely" beat Belgium tonight.

And we can, of course we can. In a one off match anything can happen.

It's just that there is no evidence that this squad led by this manager is ever going to enjoy that sort of victory.

Having built a squad cowed into timidity because of his acceptance of what he sees as our limitations, Levein has little right to expect the players to come roaring out in defiance in a game he needs to win to have any chance of keeping his job.

He's written his own script. Now he'll need to sit with the rest of us and see how a team whose weaknesses he's inflated and whose strengths he's nullified fares against an extravagantly talented team which is finally, in this qualifying campaign, getting the results its individual components deserve.

Scotland go into this game at 8/1 to win with the hosts at 4/11.

You need to plough through eight Belgian players - Christian Benteke, Kevin Mirallas, Ilombe Mboyo, Jelle Vossen, Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Moussa Dembele, Dries Mertens - before you find Steven Fletcher and Kenny Miller on the first goalscorer list, the pair of them joined by Nacer Chadli at 9/1.

That alone suggests that notions of "keeping it tight" for as long as possible is going to be a hell of an ask.

Can we be inspired by those French games? Ride our luck, defend like dervishes, find the inspiration to take and hold a lead?

A 1-0 win for Scotland at 16/1?

How I'd love that to look like a good bet.

But I can't convince myself that it does.

We have to hope that Scotland's players will have been stung by Friday night, a sense, however misguided, of injustice and a desire to save the manager they profess to have so much faith in.

But that would be to discount the inspiration Belgium can take from the momentum they've built up, home advantage and the scent of blood from a reeling Scotland.

A 3-0 Belgium win is priced at 8/1. That's the same as any Scotland win.

Depressingly a thumping of that sort looks more likely than even the narrowest of Scottish wins.

I can't bring myself to bet against Scotland.

So I'll probably plump for 0-0 at 10/1.

But I'll do so with the heavy heart of a punter who knows that even when he sets out not to avoid defeat this is a Scotland manager destined to fail.

All odds from Ladbrokes #gameon

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Inverness v Ross County

As one derby door closes, so another opens.

A Highland derby in the SPL for the first time.

Scottish football is dull, parochial, stagnating. Often it is.

But tonight offers something more positive.

A game that represents a geographic expansion that those with power in the central belt long resisted, it's about two clubs making steady rather than spectacular progress through the leagues and it shows that opening the league structure to new blood can result in different clubs being successfully integrated into the game. A game that is a sell out, despite the TV coverage and the Friday night kick off time.

Despite even ESPN's promotional dip into stereotypes.

These are good things at time when we're too often browbeaten by the bad things.

Of course it might still be dull, this remains the SPL.

But perhaps even fears of dullness should be allayed: both teams come into tonight's game after scoring four goals last weekend, Inverness beating Dundee United 4-0 and Ross County scoring four but conceding five to St Mirren.

A strange one that for County. As they carried their unbeaten league run into the opening SPL fixtures they looked like they'd be nothing if not resolute.

Now, after 40 games undefeated, they've lost two on the bounce and couldn't even salvage a point after scoring four goals.

A freak result? Or a sign that they're experiencing delayed issues in acclimatising to the top flight.

They might find comfort in the familiar tonight. Many Ross County players are veterans of lower league derbies, four of them have crossed the divide from Inverness.

Inverness started slowly - the goal fest against United was their first win - but have shown glimpses of their own stubborness.

They came from two behind to get a point at Tynecastle and repeated the trick a couple of weeks ago away to Hibs. In that game they were inspired by a commanding Richie Foran, who followed that up with a couple of goals against United.

Foran looks the man most likely for me - and for the bookies giving 5/1 on him to be the first goalscorer.

The form of the last two weeks justifies Inverness being favourites at 5/4 to win.

They rocked Hibs as they came from behind and left United in their wake. Ross County were always going to lose at some point and they encountered St Johnstone just as the Saint began to enjoy their September resurgence.

A 5-4 defeat is never a good thing though. So County are 11/5 to win, the same price as the draw.

The league table has the two sides clubs locked together. Eight points each and the same -1 goal difference.

Close, but that represents a mini revival for Inverness and a mini stumble for County.

Over the course of the season Inverness have looked more capable of scoring and more capable of conceding.

When you've just won 4-0 and your opponents have just lost 5-4, you're probably untroubled by longer term trends.

Where are we tonight?

I still like the look of that Richie Foran 5/1 first goalscorer bet.

But I also quite fancy a draw.

So a half time/full time flutter.

Inverness ahead at half time, Ross County to get the draw by full time: home/draw offers 14/1.

All odds from Ladbrokes

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: The Joy of Six

A Saturday Superstore tomorrow. With Neil Doncaster as Mike Read and a half time interview with Craig Brown filling in for a wacky live link with Cheggers.

A splendid SPL smorgasbord seeing out September. Alarming alliteration aside, we can sit back and enjoy six games in the top flight.

Aberdeen v Hibs

The good lord of scheduling giveth and he taketh away. Thus the joy of a Saturday game is diminished by a noon kick off.

Hibs are looking to make it seven games undefeated in the SPL, Aberdeen are looking to make it nine undefeated in all competitions.

Last week Hibs threw away a two goal lead, Aberdeen salvaged a point after being two goals behind.

They served up some fetid feasts of boredom last season but current form suggests this might be a darn good match up.

When they weren't being hauled back last week Hibs looked confident, aggressive, capable of playing a bit of football.

Far from the finished article and still lacking any real depth to the squad. But Pat Fenlon deserves praise for how his work in progress is, eh, progressing.

Fools and bairns shouldn't see unfinished jobs? A football manager doesn't have that luxury. Fenlon must work under the glare of a support still haunted by recent experiences.

He's making a decent fist of it. And that's more than his predecessor managed.

Aberdeen's start to the season - efficiently low key but lacking goals - was vintage Craig Brown but belied a summer spent assembling what looks to be a half decent squad.

A point salvaged last week and a late win against Dunfermline on Wednesday might just give them the burst of urgency they need.

This could be tight. Certainly a Hibs win at 23/10 or the draw at the same odds look better prices than an Aberdeen win at 6/5.

Regular readers will know I don't like publicly declaring Hibs predictions on the blog.

But at more than 2/1 I will be backing them.

Dundee v St Johnstone

All that time without a win, a bit of a Moaning Minnie harrumph when they lost to Hibs at Easter Road.

What a difference a month makes.

September has delivered seven SPL points from nine and a league cup win for St Johnstone.

It started equally well for Dundee but a win at Tynecastle has been followed by two defeats. Bottom of the league, four points from seven games.

Still early but it's form that makes you think of a long struggle ahead.

If they want to haul themselves out of their current fug then winning home games against St Johnstone would be the sensible way to start.

The home win is out at 23/10 though. So is the draw. St Johnstone are 6/5 to make it ten points out of 12. I suspect they'll do just that.

Hearts v Kilmarnock

Up and doon.

That's pretty much the season so far for both Hearts and Kilmarnock.

For a number of clubs actually. This could be an excitingly unpredictable season. It could also be a turgid affair with eight or nine clubs trapped together in a tedious waltz of shared mediocrity.

Depending on how full or empty your glass is.

Hearts vaulted past Dundee United last week to record their first SPL win since the opening day.

Kilmarnock eased past St Mirren to record their second SPL win of the season.

Going into this game both have played seven, won two and amassed nine points with a goal difference of plus two.

Anything John McGlynn can do, Kenny Shiels can do pretty much the same.

Which will make this a tight one today?

Hearts don't look to offer much value at 10/11, Kilmarnock might be a tad generous at 3/1.

A draw for me though. 12/5.

Inverness v Dundee United

Inverness looked in danger of being overrun as Hibs went two ahead last Saturday.

There, laid bare, were their limitations.

From adversity, strength. With Richie Foran leading the line they hauled themselves back into it with a determination and resilience which makes you think they can again be more than the sum of their parts.

If anyone stumbles across the Dundee United side that were apparently best placed to challenge for the title could they please post it back to a Mr P Houston at Tannadice.

After winning their first two game 3-0, United are now four without a win and suffered a 3-0 defeat of their own at home to Hearts last week.

Injuries haven't helped of course. But there seems to be nobody ready to take responsibility when key players are missing.

It will be a worry for Peter Houston that they've also shipped three goals in losing to Kilmarnock and Hearts.

Not scoring and not always defending very well. 'Tis a bad combination.

I'm not sure if Inverness, still without a league win, will be able to capitalise though. They're certainly thrawn but I'm unconvinced by their ability to take the initiative.

So Inverness at 2/1? Don't fancy it. Dundee United at 13/10? Not sure.

The draw at 9/4. Go on then.

Motherwell v Celtic

In the last week Motherwell have lost a two goal lead against an Aberdeen side that couldn't score and been dispatched from the league cup by a Third Division side.

That's pish, frankly.

The manner of their defeat to Rangers - not just the lack of marking at the goals, but the stumbling, pedestrian ineptitude of much of their play - should be a cause for concern.

But they're top of the league so everything is rosy? Hmmm. They are both bad results.

I'd be astonished if Celtic don't win this game.

The most interesting thing about it is the kick off time: The first Saturday 3pm kick off for a Celtic away game in the SPL since October 2005 when Livingston were on the wrong end of a 5-0 drubbing.

A drubbing inspired by "youngsters Stephen McManus and Shaun Maloney."

Gary Hooper looks in the mood. The Motherwell defence looks generous. The Celtic win is likely but it's a low value 8/13.

St Mirren v Ross County

Kenny Shiels was ebullient in his praise of St Mirren last week. But his Kilmarnock side had just won the game.

Defeat too for Ross County, that lengthy unbeaten league run finally coming to an end against a rejuvenated St Johnstone.

So something for both teams to bounce back from tomorrow.

It took St Mirren until injury time to slide past Hamilton in the league cup on Tuesday.

That will please Derek Adams. County are nothing if not obstinate and he might well fancy their chances of rendering St Mirren pretty but ineffective - which is the praise Shiels faintly damned them with last week.

St Mirren go into this one as favourites at evens. The County win is 11/5.

I'd be more tempted by the draw at the same price.

Coupon crazy

OK, so where are we?

The tightness of many matches and the inconsistency of many sides is making calling SPL matches something of a challenge so far this season.

Tomorrow:

Hibs to win
St Johnstone to win
Hearts and Kilmarnock to draw
Inverness and Dundee United to draw
Celtic to win
St Mirren and Ross County to draw

An accumulator on that little lot comes in at 414.69/1. A daft bet. But this might just be a daft season.

All odds from Ladbrokes

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

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League Cup: Rangers v Motherwell

Order returned to the Scottish Communities League Cup last night with six SPL clubs beating lower league opposition.

Not a cakewalk for them all - Inverness needed penalties to get past Stenhousemuir, St Mirren waited until stoppage time to get the winner against Hamilton - and their efforts appear to have been met with a wave of apathy.

Apparently you could fit the combined attendance for the six games into Celtic Park and still have 30,000 empty seats.

Say what you like about the league cup but it's consistent. Every year the same:

A round where a few upsets are taken to prove the theory that there is so little to choose between the leagues that the SPL should be dramatically expanded forthwith.

A round where pitifully low attendances are taken to prove the theory that the competition has run its course and should continue only after extreme surgery.

Quite comforting in its own way.

Combining the two, reworking the league cup as part of the (hopefully) impending reworking of the league structure, might be a good place to start.

But those are questions for another day, to be chewed over by the great and good of the Scottish game.

In the meantime we can enjoy another fun game of cross-division "my attendance is bigger than yours" as Rangers host Motherwell at Ibrox.

When the dust settled after the summer's soul searching it always seemed likely that Rangers would face SPL opposition at some point this season.

The league cup draw was kind enough to throw up this peculiar spectacle relatively early.

The last time Rangers and Motherwell met in this competition Rangers won a 2010/11 semi final 2-1 en route to the trophy.

Less than two years later Motherwell sit top of the SPL - a Champions League qualifying appearance behind them - and Rangers lie second in the Third Division.

At times I think we're maybe too close to recent events, too drained by the tedium of the ever decreasing circles of vitriol and conspiracy theorising that surrounds it, to properly appreciate how spectacularly the game has been turned on its head.

All of which adds another level of intrigue to tonight's game.

It's hard to imagine any other set of circumstance that would see a team that hasn't won away from home in the fourth tier enter a game against a side unbeaten in the top flight as favourites.

But there we have it. Rangers are 6/4 to win. Motherwell are 7/4 to win.

This is Scottish football and normality has been suspended for the duration.

For all that their away form has been laboured, Rangers have scored 17 goals in five home games.

But there's only one clean sheet in that run and they were shunted out of the Challenge Cup by Queen of the South.

Motherwell will be their biggest test so far. And I'm still struggling to see how this one will go.

If Ally McCoist can't motivate his players tonight then his position deserves to be questioned.

And Motherwell's record against Rangers can't be ignored. The last time they won at Ibrox Tony Blair had only been Prime Minister for four days. He wasn't even bathing in creosote back then.

A tricky one.

Rangers to start strongly, maybe nick a lead and Motherwell to eventually prevail? A half-time/full-time home/away combo at 20-1 looks generous.

In a game that would seem to promise goals you can get the same price for either side to win 3-2.

I fancy it will be close and Motherwell might just nick it. I'd not be shocked if they don't though.

Elsewhere this evening Aberdeen travel to Dunfermline as favourites - a label they've not always worn comfortably against lower league opposition.

Dunfermline manager Jim Jefferies has apparently promised to "have a right good go."

In seven games this season his side have lost only one, scored 18 and conceded just three goals. They look equipped for the job of right good going.

Aberdeen have beaten only St Johnstone in the SPL and required extra time to get past Morton in the last round.

I feel I should be more confident about Dunfermline's chances of pulling this off than I am.

Perhaps I'm being persuaded by Aberdeen's resilience in saving a last gasp point in their 3-3 draw with Motherwell at the weekend.

A nice simple 2-0 win for the SPL side? 9/1.

Tempting. But would a lower league shock actually shock me? 2-1 to Dunfermline? 10/1.

I might just settle for a Motherwell - Dunfermline double at 8.80/1.

It's going to be an interesting night.

All odds from Ladbrokes

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Celtic v Dundee

Scottish football can be stultifying, it's been over a decade now since the SPL champions faced two promoted sides over the course of their title defence.

Celtic, already a part of Ross County's elongated unbeaten league run, welcome Dundee today.

A lot of people backed Dundee to return immediately from whence they came.

They'd finished a distant second in the First Division and then spent a strange summer as victims of the rancorous paralysis that stupefied the game.

Were Rangers in or out? Rangers were out. Were Dunfermline back in or were Dundee promoted? Dundee were up.

By the time we'd worked out what was happening it seemed like Dundee were to be rewarded with an SPL spot but punished by not having time to adequately prepare.

The BBC website even lists their opening day First Division fixture as being "postponed."

And there they sit, offering succour to the "told you so-ers," at the foot of the table.

An opening day draw at Kilmarnock and a 1-0 win at Hearts are the only points gained in six games.

Four points from three away games - they were well beaten in the derby at Tannadice - isn't a bad return.

But three defeats at home will worry Barry Smith. Against Ross County and Motherwell they lost goals in the last twenty minutes of games that cost them the match.

Obviously it's far too early to discern any sort pattern. And if Dundee's start has been stuttery, they are far from alone.

Nine clubs are within five points of them in a league that is steadfastly refusing to be taken by the scruff of the neck.

Celtic find themselves among that batch after five league games when they've often looked bothered, sometimes bewildered but very rarely bewitched.

Five league games have delivered just eight points. That's far less than is expected of Celtic in seasons when they're predicted to be in a title fight, let alone a season touted as their great SPL walkover.

Maybe the players were expecting it to work out like that and are consequently lacking the focus they need.

There are injuries, of course, but also a lack of resolve and confidence in some of those who are fit.

A 0-0 draw with Benfica on in the Champions League on Wednesday featured an improved performance but hardly an inspiring one, particularly in a group where snaffling wins at home looks a minimum requirement.

All of which might mean that Dundee are less scared of a trip to Celtic Park than SPL new boys often are.

Manager Barry Smith will talk of keeping it tight at the back and starting well - although Hibs at Celtic Park and St Johnstone at home last week have shown that neither is a necessity to get some sort of result against the champions so far this season.

While one would expect Celtic to score - they've found the net in every SPL game so far - their defence is not without a certain largesse.

In five league games only Aberdeen have failed to score against them and Inverness, Hibs and St Johnstone have helped themselves to two apiece in the last three games.

The willing have found that there's goals for the taking. Which might set the Celtic Park stage for Colin Nish.

He broke his nose scoring his first Dundee goal last week but should play today. It was worth it though as it took him to joint eighth in the all-time SPL scoring charts. It will probably make him better looking into the bargain.

He's now on 63 goals, level with Chris Sutton and Stevie Crawford. Quietly effective.

I've liked Nish ever since I saw him in a corner shop after one of his less quietly - or indeed, noisily - effective performances for Hibs.

I still had my scarf on. He, rather touchingly, was still wearing his club tracksuit and looked just as miserable as me.

Our eyes met briefly, we both decided nothing needed said and so spent what seemed like an eternity staring at the floor as the girls at the front of the queue bought enough Lambrini to sink a gaggle of geese. Hibs fans don't always have more fun.

He's at 10/1 to score first tomorrow. Or, for the chicken-hearted, 10/3 to score anytime.

It could be that Celtic will be suffering what we're duty bound to call a Champions League hangover tomorrow.

Realistically though I expect them to start winning games like this. And I expect them to start winning them tomorrow.

Dundee's best hope: a 1-1 draw that you can back at 14/1.

Best hope? I think so. This looks the sort of game where Celtic can stop stuttering.

Neil Lennon has talked about freshening the team up to combat that European "hangover."

So Celtic to win 2-0 with Tony Watt as first scorer at 20/1. Or, if you prefer, 3-0 at the same price.

Mind you, if you fancy a crate of Lambrini, why not go crazy on a 3-1 Celtic win with Colin Nish as first scorer. 125/1.

All odds from Ladbrokes

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Dundee United v Ross County

Preparing for his Dundee United side's home clash with Ross County tonight, Peter Houston observed that the visitors look hard to beat.

These days we only expect such powers of deduction in the creations of Steven Moffat.

But give Peter his due. He spent much of the last fortnight polishing Craig Levein's spectacles.

And realising that a team on 39 game unbeaten league run might be a tough nut to crack is more insightful than anything we heard from the Scotland camp on Tuesday evening.

It's been a funny sort of opening to the SPL season.

The international break, United's postponed game, the artificial feeling you always get when the transfer window closes after the season has begun.

There's been a sense that the league hasn't quite bedded down yet.

Maybe the events of the summer have contributed to that. Or maybe it's always like this but I've had more to distract me this year.

It's time to get down to business though.

Starting with another Friday night experiment.

For or against? I'm still undecided although I am in favour of the trial run continuing throughout this season so that judgements can be made based on evidence rather than on the hunch of a chairman or a young marketing graduate looking to make a quick impact.

Both United and County go into this one with seven points, lying fourth and fifth in a concerntinaed league table.

They've got there in different ways though.

Ross County have opened with four draws and an away win against Dundee. They've scored two goals and conceded one.

Critics of manager Derek Adams might use that to label his side as excessively functional.

They're also effectively functional though. And there are far worse things for a newly promoted side to be.

United started out with back-to-back 3-0 home wins over Hibs and Dundee, wins that were every bit as comfortable and deserved as the scores suggest.

Since then they've stuttered on the road. A 3-1 defeat at Kilmarnock led one preposterous tabloid journalist to hammer the final nail in the coffin of match report writing.

That was followed by a 0-0 in Perth, a result that is arguably worse than it sounds in the context of St Johnstone's run of 14 competitive matches without a win.

Still, hardly soul destroying form. And tonight offers a return to the free-scoring comforts of home against a team that hasn't done much scoring anywhere.

County will have their game plan though. And they've been bloody good at putting into action. Of course a 39 game unbeaten run carries with it both luck and a trail of opponents cursing their own profligacy. County seem adept at capitalising on that luck and on the frustration of other teams.

That, as Peter Houston very reasonably pointed out, makes them hard to beat.

Being hard to beat doesn't, of course, win games and it is trickier to see County suddenly delivering a goal rush in the SPL.

They're 4/1 to win tonight with Ladbrokes. If they're going to win I wouldn't expect it to be by much so 1-0 at 10/1 doesn't look a bad shout.


These two teams have cooked up five draws - four of them goalless - in nine league games so far this season. Tonight the draw is 11/4 and 0-0 is 9/1.

That bet would be to put more faith in the visitors's miserly defence than United's attackers.

I'd certainly expect County to be less obliging than Hibs and Dundee were in the first two games at Tannadice this season and United will be without Gary Mackay-Steven while Jon Daly is doubtful.

39 games is also a very long time to get into the habit of not losing.

All runs end somewhere. But 40 not out looks a real possibility.

Which I think means I've convinced myself.

0-0 at 9/1.

All odds from Ladbrokes

Always remembering www.gambleaware.co.uk

Scotland v Serbia: A winning start?

Finally we're ready to start.

Just as well. Given the rate we've been careering through the English divisions looking for fit defenders, Craig Levein's next call would have been to the reserve left back in Wallsend's under-11 squad.

He can step away from the phone now.

Levein's squad might not have room for the player that grabs the most headlines and maybe there is abundant talent missing for reasons both sensible and inane.

Yet it's the squad that the manager thinks offers him options enough to get off to the good start he desperately needs.

It's his job to back himself to pick the right players to take care of the task in hand.

In Scottish football the benefit of the doubt is rationed. Only yesterday Levein was being hauled over the Twitter and forum coals for failing to pick an injured player. The giant diddy.

That might make triumphs all the sweeter for a character such as Levein, an often contradictory mix of thin-skinned petulance and thrawn stubbornness.

Not that international management is a personality contest (he'd lose), it's about qualifying for tournaments (he might lose, he might yet succeed.)

Some say Levein has reinvigorated the squad with a comradeship that George Burley dismantled. Some say he's not up to the task.

It might be that he's used his club experience - at clubs fighting against dominant forces - to build an esprit de corps.

That might also be that can count against us at crucial times, our default dig-in, grind it out, one-for-all mentality proving hard to shake off in games we could dominate. In crucial games that can mean missed opportunities.

Still, Levein's had a qualification failure to learn from.

He should now have his blueprint for success. It's to be hoped he's also accepted the need for some flexibility (the right sort of flexibility. Not a 4-6-0 sort of flexibility.)

This looks a tight group but not an impossible one. Ladbrokes currently price us at 7/1 to qualify.

Belgium bulge with talent. Croatia are ranked in Fifa's - compromised - top ten. Serbia are ranked above us. As (just) are Wales. Macedonia have troubled us before.

A tough group, with the potential for more than a few bruising games. But Serbia have only one game in their last ten. Croatia two in their last seven and Belgium four in ten.

Scotland have won five from ten.

Opponents differ. Lies, damned lies and can't-be-arsed friendlies.

Yet none of these sides could be considered aristocrats of the international game at the moment (Belgium might be ennobled soon enough). There's no need for Scotland to cower like paupers.

A look at the odds for Saturday's clash with Serbia would seem to confirm that there's not much to choose between some of the Group A teams.

Scotland are 13/8 to win. The draw is 9/4. And Serbia are 13/8 to win.

Different things worry me. We seem to have produced a glut of midfielders but fewer defenders.

We're not full of goals. Kenny Miller - and it will be a shock if he doesn't start up front on his own - has 16 goals at a rate of one every 3.75 games.

That's far from prolific but it's more than the rest of the squad have managed between them.

In Jordan Rhodes we would seem to have goals in reserve but we don't yet know how Levein will opt to use him.

We're unlikely to want for grit and determination. Inspiration might be in short supply. And we're still not sure how the manager would handle it if he realised it was at his disposal.

In the recent friendly with Australia Gary Caldwell was played as a defensive midfielder - he'd sort of played there in the infamous Czech game but in reality we were all defenders that night - which might be a clue to the manager's thinking.

He's taken some stick over the years has Gary. But I'd rather have him at the heart of the defence. I suspect we might well see Christophe Berra and Andy Webster in there though with Caldwell cast as the protector to let the attacking midfielders - Shaun Maloney, Robert Snodgrass, James Morrison, Steven Naismith? - to lay down their lives in support of Kenny Miller.

As we search for opportunity in our midfield possibilities the Serbs don't seem overly fussed.

Borussia Dortmund defender Nevan Subutic has mentioned this Serbian team having "technical quality" on their side.

Which is a bit insulting to his hosts. But probably fair enough.

This is an evolving Serbia though, a squad even shorter on goals than Scotland yet still packed with players from successful club sides.

I'm torn on this one. Starting off with two home games is an advantage we need to grasp.

Failing to beat Serbia would be unfortunate. Losing would take a sledgehammer to our hopes.

But am I confident?

Serbia have failed to score in seven of their last ten games and have scored just four goals across those games.


That encourages me.

Enough to back a Scotland win. Ah, go on then.

Scotland to win 1-0 at 13/2?

Tempting.

Scotland to win and James Morrison to score at 8/1.

That would do for me.

And, for now, for Craig Levein and some of his critics.

All odds from Ladbrokes

www.gambleaware.co.uk

SPL: Celtic v Hibs

After they both enjoyed SPL wins last Saturday the week rather diverged for Celtic and Hibs.

Celtic progressed to the Champions League group stage, that promised land where the streets are paved with gold and the couches upholstered with £50 notes.

24 hours earlier Hibs were dumped out of the League Cup by Queen of the South in a display that seems to have flitted between pathetic and miserable.

Pat Fenlon said he was "disgusted" with the performance and well he might have been. He should also have been mildly nauseated by his own decision to rejig the team with a series of changes that made Hibs weakest in the very areas where Queen of the South were strongest.

After taking seven points from three games - Fenlon's best SPL sequence - it was an unfortunate return to the amateurism that has pockmarked Hibs' recent travails.

The result wasn't the end of the world. But it was hugely unfortunate.

Fenlon remains very much on trial with a lot of supporters. If he wants to win them over he can't afford to take a couple of steps back just when he seems to be moving forward.

Can't afford to lose too many players out of his starting eleven either.

He looked in the cupboard on Tuesday night and - as most of us would have guessed - the cupboard was bare.

No such worries for Neil Lennon who has taken Celtic back to the group stages of the Champions League, returning the glamour of Barcelona to Celtic Park along with all that thunder.

The SPL is warmed by the reflected glory of Celtic's qualification even as it increases the inequality between the haves and the have nots.

For now Hibs need to try and cope with the inequality on the pitch.

60 points separated the two teams last year and a goalless draw in Glasgow couldn't hide how woefully Hibs fared against the teams at the top end of the table.

In 18 league clashes with top six teams Hibs managed just six points, that draw at Celtic joined by draws with Motherwell and Dundee United and a home win against St Johnstone.

Fenlon himself was only in charge for the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

It's a record that has to be improved. The last three games have indicated progress - a step in the right direction but not a destination.

Certainly Fenlon will feel that he could have done without facing a buoyant Celtic in Glasgow today.

Odds of 12/1 on a away win suggest there's a mountain to climb.

Trying for a repeat of last year's 0-0 would be a risky strategy although with Ben Williams in goal and James McPake at the heart of defence Hibs look capable of being more organised this season.

Fenlon's favoured midfield four - not enhanced by any deadline day deals - might lack creativity but look reasonably well configured to help out a rearguard action while Leigh Griffiths and Eoin Doyle would attempt to take the pressure off with constant movement up front.

That could be the theory anyway. So 14/1 on a no scoring draw might tempt me.

If I had any faith that Hibs will be able to keep a clean sheet.

I don't.

Which would lead me to the conclusion that Celtic will probably prevail.


A 3-1 Celtic win at 10/1 looks enticing.

The head can't rule when Hibs are involved though.

2-1 Hibs with Griffiths getting the first goal. 125/1.

If dreams can come true you might as well make a few quid off the back of them.

All odds from Ladbrokes

www.gambleaware.co.uk

Europa League: Hearts v Liverpool

"When are games versus Scottish teams ever as easy as they should be?"

So asked one Liverpool fan after his team were drawn against Hearts in their Europa League play off.

The answer, a bittersweet truth to be sure, is that too many clubs from too many countries have found games against Scottish teams clubs to be all too easy in recent years.

Liverpool themselves have endured a few hard battles but five times out of six they've prevailed in the cross-border clashes that have punctuated their six decades of European participation.

The first test allowed two men on the road to greatness to meet head on in the Cup Winner's Cup.

Celtic v Liverpool.

Jock Stein v Bill Shankly.

It was Shankly who triumphed in 1966, a 2-0 win at Anfield securing a 2-1 win on aggregate.

The 1970-71 Fairs Cup saw Liverpool make their first competitive trip to Edinburgh with a 1-0 win over Hibs.

"Hibs are one down and are playing in front of the Kop. Need I say more?" asked Shankly.

Apparently not. A 2-0 win at Anfield completed the job.

Hibs had another crack in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup. This time a Joe Harper goal gave them a home win before John Toshack dominated the return leg at Anfield.

With Kevin Keegan providing the service, Toshack's hat-trick secured a 3-1 on the night.

By 1980 Liverpool were a major force in European football, Aberdeen the coming force in Scottish football.

In the second round of Alex Ferguson's first European Cup campaign Aberdeen lost only 1-0 at Pittodrie but were undone at Anfield by the eventual winners.

Ferguson said of that defeat:

"The 4-0 beating we suffered in the second was far too emphatic to to allow us to plead mitigating circumstances on the basis of the players missing because of injury. All we could was try to ensure that we learned from painful exposure to the proven masters of the techniques and discipline required in European competitions."

By 1997 Celtic and Liverpool didn't quite offer the same promise as they had when Stein and Shankly were building dynasties and taking the fight to the world.

They could still put on a show though. A goalless draw at Anfield was followed by a Michael Owen goal early in the second leg.

Celtic fought back. A Simon Donnelly penalty had them 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go before Steve McManaman settled matters with a late equaliser to seal a win on away goals.

This time Celtic didn't have quite as long to wait for revenge. The first leg of the 2002-03 UEFA Cup quarter final finished 1-1 in Glasgow.

Advantage Liverpool. But this was a determined - and very good - Celtic team.

A clean sheet and goals for Alan Thompson and John Hartson sent Celtic closer to the final and, after 37 years of sporadic attempts, finally gave a Scottish club a win over Liverpool.

As Liverpool made occasional visits across north, Hearts had to bide their time for a Scotland v England clash.

Not until last year - 53 years and 72 games since their European debut - did they face English opposition.

A long wait that ended rather abruptly.

A 5-0 win for Tottenham at Tynecastle in the first leg, a display of utter dominance.

The 0-0 draw in the White Hart Lane was creditable but irrelevant.

It was Hearts misfortune - there but for someone's grace go any number of clubs - that it was on their patch that the disparity between the SPL and the EPL would be most starkly illustrated.

Their misfortune too that the Liverpool game - lucrative as it will be - should follow so hot on the heels of their first stab at establishing cross-border relations.

The temptation is to look at what happened last year and allow that to inform our predictions for what will happen tonight.

Thus the challenge that Hearts are being set is not to make history but to stop history repeating itself. Don't reach for the stars, reach for the damage limitation manual.

Maybe that's symptomatic of Scottish football's drained confidence or maybe it's an example of brutally honest realism.

Either way I don't think it helps manager John McGlynn's cause.

Spurs were the better team by some distance last year but the constant pre-game reminders that they were up against a big side, a better side, can't have helped Hearts.

When the game started and Hearts froze the outcome was not only predictable, it could have been a lot worse.

With a younger team, with last year so fresh in the memory, there is a risk we'll see the same thing happen again.

Liverpool have travelled without Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Martin Skrtel and Glen Johnson.

Big names missing as part of a European rotation policy. Mind you, those big names played last weekend in the 3-0 defeat to West Brom.

For their part Hearts might start with debutant goalkeeper Peter Enckleman.

Unlikely heroes can emerge on nights such as these.

Hearts will need as many of them as they can get.

How will it go?

Ladbrokes tell me it doesn't look good. Odds of 11/2 on a Hearts win and 8/15 on a Liverpool win tell their own story.

4-0 Liverpool is 28/1, a repeat of Spurs' 5-0 win is 66/1. Andy Carroll is 25/1 to score a hat-trick.

I suspect Hearts will do well to score (John Sutton is 9/4 to score anytime) though so their best hope might well to a 0-0 draw, keeping the tie alive for the second leg.

You'll get 10/1 for that.

It's never nice to be reminded how well off your neighbours are. And we're forever reminded of the riches that flow into English football.

The reality is that Liverpool's second string would stand out in the SPL.

With nothing to lose Tynecastle will be in full voice. It could be a long night for Hearts.

What a boost it would be for Scottish football if it could also be a famous night for them.

(Remember folks, gambleaware.co.uk)

SPL: Five star

Week three of the SPL.

Week three already. Or week two for any club that feels  unconstrained by the league starting when booking their jollydays.

The marketing geniuses whose brains power the Hampden floodlights will be congratulating themselves for starting the SPL season a fortnight before the English could be bothered kicking off.

Obviously that did mean the SPL had to nudge the Olympics off the media podium but, by the gods of G4S, London 2012 passed with little more than a whimper.

Mission accomplished. Limelight secured.

Yet somehow even a well thumbed SPL Filofax couldn't stop the Edinburgh derby - a footballing peccadillo for the neutral at the best of times - being scheduled against the Community Shield and an Olympics where people would apparently watch televised mahjong as long as there was a plucky British contender and a BBC commentary.

Perhaps not the best way to attract a TV audience to our new look league.

Not that outside influences had anything to do with the crowd in the stadium.

The reasons for that were more painfully local. Fair play to those fans who did get themselves to Easter Road and to grounds across the country. I hope that the experience was good enough to turn straggling irregulars into stoic regulars.

Three weeks in? A start that hasn't overwhelmed. Neither has it really underwhelmed. It's just been there, jostling with other sideshows for attention, eliciting a shoulder shrugging "that's the fitba' back then."

But we've got through the phoney war of two games (or one game).

Time to look ahead now.

Here's how Ladbrokes sees tomorrow games:

Ross County v Celtic

The early kick off. Ross County to win 6/1, Celtic to win 4/9, the draw 10/3.

St Johnstone v Aberdeen

St Johnstone to win 5/4, Aberdeen to win 11/5, the draw 9/4.

Kilmarnock v Motherwell

Kilmarnock to win 8/5, Motherwell to win 17/10, the draw 9/4.

Hearts v Inverness

Hearts to win 10/11, Inverness to win 10/3, the draw 11/5.

St Mirren v Hibs

St Mirren to win 5/4, Hibs to win 11/5, the draw 9/4.

Do the odds shine a light?

If the bookies are never wrong then a successful coupon on the favourite in each game would deliver a return of 36/1.

Narrow margins though.

So here's my coupon for today - with all the usual warnings about my prediction pratfalls, as a soothsayer I make a dancing Russell Grant look like Fred Astaire - based on blind faith, hunches and a feeling in my water (which the doctor tells me isn't anything serious):

Celtic to win at Ross County (too early, I feel, for a Celtic slip up.)

Aberdeen to win at St Johnstone (St Johnstone are not winning games, Aberdeen are gearing up to score a barrel load. Probably. Or maybe not.)

Motherwell to win at Kilmarnock (close one this, the two sides exactly level in the table after two games, but lets give the nod to 'Well.)

Hearts and Inverness to draw (Hearts will look to roar back from the derby draw, Terry Butcher might just have seen how to frustrate them.)

Hibs to win at St Mirren (the wheels must fall off St Mirren's title challenge at some point.)

Four away wins and a draw.

A pound on that little lot could well win you the best part of a £130.

Or it could lose you a pound.

That's the fun of it.

Odds correct at the time of going to bed.