Six games. Three
draws, three wins, out of Europe, but Top of the SPL. Not too much to grumble
about so far in this season where every team is going to suffer, where
Armageddon is imminent and Scottish Football is set to implode on itself without
the blue side of Glasgow turning up once or twice to bouncy bouncy their money
in to our gate receipts.
It may still be
early on in the season, but the hand wringing, wailing and gnashing of teeth
which darkened the summer as the SFA and SPL failed to really get to grips with
the Ibrox saga, has yet to be proved. Sure financially, there are a number of
clubs who will miss the money that having both sides of the Old Firm in the
league would bring, and there may still be cause for worry of administration,
liquidation or whatever other financial meltdowns are abound, but for now, the
SPL is proving to be as exciting and as closely matched as it has been for some
time.
As a Well fan, it
will never not be exciting being at the top of the league, and having done so
amidst a grueling, if somewhat underwhelming, Euro adventure, makes it more
impressive. Playing 8 games in the first 4-5 weeks of the season, jaunting from
Dingwall to Athens to Kilmarnock to Valencia, with some stops at home between,
no doubt took it's toll on some (if not all) of the players. Those like
Randolph, Ojamaa and Francis-Angol have also clocked up a power of air miles in
this time, representing their nations in International
battle.
To those who have
given their all over the last two month's there can be no greater credit than
sitting atop the domestic division, looking down on the chasing pack. But it has
not been pretty getting there. Ross County away looked to be two points dropped
in a lacklustre display, until it became evident that Derek Adams men would
cause frustration to every team they came up against so far.
Bob McHugh's
leveller against St Johnstone earned a hard fought point off the back of the
trip to Greece, before the 2-1 win over Killie showed signs of some great
counter attacking football.The home draw with St Mirren was a sickener having
held on for so long to a 2nd minute lead, only to chuck it in injury time having
gone a man down, before Higgy struck his magnificent treble against Inverness.
Despite the emphatic win, the game was much closer than intimated, a common
occurrence with ICT last season.
Saturday's win was a
proper smash and grab job, at times neither side seemed interested in keeping
possession, but when the game and The Well needed a spark, they got it when
Henrik Ojamaa bowled in to the fray. It's been far too long since we've seen the
pistols bang banging, he didn't even get them out when he scored a late double
against St Johnstone at the end of last season, but his work rate has set up
Higgy for vital goals in the last two games when he has come on as a
sub. It would seem that there's nothing currently better than, as the fans chanted, "Doing The Higgy When We're Top Of The League".
With the transfer
window now closed, it was a bit of a shock that nobody left, particularly those
in the final year of their contract. The only standout amongst those in the
early stages of the season has been Randolph, arguably our most bankable asset.
Murphy and Humphrey have underperformed so far, and Shaun Hutchinson showed his
rawness probably at the most inopportune time with two red cards in two games,
possibly dulling down interest in the lad. Offers for he and Nicky Law were
knocked back as being derisory, but performances throughout the team have
perhaps not shown the true value that these players are worth, hence they are
still at Fir Park.
I quipped after the
Dundee game that it's a sign of a great team when they can win ugly, and while
that was rather tongue in cheek, abit of it stands true. While we haven't played
like the Scottish Barcelona of late, we've ground out results and made the most
of the start to the season. Others have too. Dundee's win over Hearts was their
first of the season, thanks to their first goal of the term, a penalty, which
they defended for the rest for the game. Hibs have made a decent start with
Leigh Griffith's earning plaudits for seemingly reigning himself in a bit.
Dundee United haven't hit the heights expected of them as yet while St Mirren
sit third. With Celtic minds on European glory, their complacency resulted in a
first SPL win of the season for St Johnstone.
While the title will
no doubt end up back at Celtic Park once they are dumped out of the UCL, it's up
to the other teams in the league to battle away at the top end. The number of
draws and coupon buster results that have happened over the last few weeks has
shown that it will be a tight league this year, but with the number of draws on
show, a sequence of wins for one or two teams could see an early breakaway
emerge. Had Hibs not won at the weekend, The Well may well have been four points
clear at the top. Alas, it is just the one.
With a jaunt up to
Aberdeen on Sunday, Stuart McCall's men will know what they need to do to stay
top before the visit of Celtic the following week. Having a great record in the
SPL against Aberdeen over the last few years and The Dons seemingly very shot
shy at the moment, it's another great chance for three points, however,
defensively, they have been pretty good and have conceded about as many as they
have scored. It may be the case that a ground out win will be required yet
again, to stay at the summit.
Up The
Well!
No comments:
Post a Comment