SPL Fanzone: As the supporters see it

Dundee United

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the fortunes of the national team, it’s good to see that the Tannadice conveyor belt is still turning out some stars for the future.  Stuart Armstrong delivered a really commanding performance as he captained Scotland’s Under-21s to a 3-0 win over Luxembourg.

A routine win against some minnows perhaps, but no doubt it felt like playing Dundee again.

No game at the weekend for the Arabs to look forward to, of course, but instead a trip to a no doubt half-empty McDiarmid Park to play St Johnstone on Monday night.

The TV money is welcome, of course, but seriously, whose idea was that? United have to get motivated and get that top-six slot nailed down.

Christian Weekly

Ross County

Yet again there was disappointment with the national team against Wales on Friday night. The biggest problem I had with the team, though, was the lack of youngsters being brought in. Qualification for the World Cup is gone, and we really should be looking ahead to the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

The likes of Kenny Miller and Gary Caldwell have always given 100 per cent and, for that, they should be given a big pat on the back, but the reality is that they won’t be part of the Euro 2016 squads, so why are we persevering with them in these games?

There is always the old argument that the young players don’t have the experience and we don’t want to throw them into games at the deep end – so why not give them the experience in these games so that they are ready for the next campaign?

Alan Ross

www.thejailender.com

Aberdeen

So the new man in the hotseat is Derek McInnes, although not for the next two weeks as he is being given time to “familiarise” himself with current personnel. That phrase may spread fear among the current squad who now must realise that the next two games under Craig Brown are not just important for our top six hopes but also for their future at the club. Hopefully, that is enough incentive to ensure 110 per cent effort against Hearts and United.

The selection of McInnes was not exactly from left field as his availability and past achievements in the SPL with St Johnstone meant that he was always a possibility. Many fans have concerns about his most recent job at Bristol but, regardless, he joins Aberdeen with a clean slate.

Steve Wilson

www.afc-chat.co.uk

Kilmarnock

With no first-team action again this week we at least had the Under-20s cup semi final at Parkhead to keep us amused. It was all a bit surreal at Celtic Park with at least as many Killie fans there as Celtic fans, which makes a bit of a mockery of their self-proclaimed “best fans in the world” title. The match was a pretty even affair and it remained all square until late in the second half when Celtic were awarded a penalty, which they made count. A dodgy penalty for the home team at Parkhead, who would have thought it? It was a bit of a kick in the teeth for the Killie youths, who had performed well, and our fans let the officials know exactly what we thought of their performance – or lack of it. Our youths have come on a ton this season, so hats off to Under-20s boss Alan Robertson, who keeps doing a great job despite continually losing his star players to the first team!

Barry Richmond

www.killiefc.com

Motherwell

There can be few more depressing moments in the life of a football fan than when both club and country are dismal at the same time. Scotland’s effort against Wales should at least have given Motherwell fans cause to be grateful for what is currently being served up at Fir Park.

The team currently sit second in the table and, with our remaining pre-split games coming against Dundee and St Mirren, there seems a great chance to build on our positive position. Indeed, the older fan will surely feel that everything is going too well and that a disaster could be just around the corner! But, even with feet firmly on the ground, it is undeniable that we are in a superb situation. There will always be tough games, but the team have shown they are more than capable of meeting the challenge.

Derek Wilson

www.firparkcorner.com

Celtic

I know it’s International week and the performance of the national team was disappointing on Friday night but surely there are stories with more mileage than Billy Whizz and moving his club to play in England?

We need to concentrate on improving the product not putting the boot into it at every opportunity. Few pundits talk up the game in Scotland and little has been mentioned of what was, for the neutral, a great cup final. More games like that and Celtic’s Champions League run are surely better advertisements for Scottish football than waiting for an onfield stramash in four to seven games a year where, occasionally, some football breaks out.

The buoyed Buddies up next in the league and with Celtic’s indifferent form going into the International break the outcome of this one is far from certain.

Dave Devine

Hearts

With the top six now not achievable for us, we have little to play for in the remaining pre-split fixtures apart from trying to move as far away from the bottom of the table as we can and hope that Hibs don’t make the top six so we can get another derby at Tynecastle. However, even with little to play for, these games will be good experience for the young team and manager to experiment and learn.

Overall, it has been a very poor season so far, with little for the Hearts fans, aside from the League Cup run, and I, for one, won’t be sorry to see the back of it.

A major rebuild of the club and squad is required in the summer, hopefully with new owners at the helm who can inject some positivity into the place and sell a few more season tickets. Without new ownership you really fear for the club, so the sooner it can be sorted out the better.

Broxburn Jambo

St Mirren

The international break couldn’t have come at a better time for us. Not only did it allow our players some extra partying with the fans and provided the opportunity to bask in the glory of our League Cup triumph. With no SPL games, papers were still full of Saints stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday. The memories will last a life time and I can’t wait for the DVD to come out on Friday so I can watch it all again – although I might skip the first half-hour and hide behind my sofa for the last ten minutes!

The worry now is that our SPL form will fizzle out as our season is as good as over. Providing Dundee don’t produce a stunning run of form I won’t be too bothered as I’d take 11th and a cup every season over a place in the top six. Celtic on Sunday will be tough, but hopefully our players have sobered up and our opponents give us a guard of honour!

Stuart Gillespie

www.saintmirren-mad.co.uk

Dundee

It’s been relatively quiet on the Dundee front since the derby, apart from Bomber’s appearance on national radio last midweek which caused quite a stir as he hit back at critics of his appointment, then urged Scotland to get stuck into Gareth Bale in last Friday’s World Cup qualifier.

Lewis Toshney, our on-loan central defender from Celtic, scored for the Under-21s the other night. Who was the last Dundee player to score for Scotland? Answer next week.

Back to league business this Saturday at home against Motherwell. I reckon this was where we blew our season the first time round. We’d just beaten Hearts for our first win of the season back in September, and were 1-0 up at home to Motherwell, only to go down 2-1 to two late goals. We’ll beat them this time.

The Club 12th Man

Inverness

Our current league position may be attracting the attentions of international managers as Owain Tudur Jones and Billy McKay answer the call for World Cup duty. Tudur Jones has been outstanding this season and deserves his chance, as does McKay. It has also been good to see long-term injury victim Chris Hogg make a return to the field with appearances for the U20s. Chris has been out of action for 15 months following a serious knee injury in September 2012 and subsequent surgery. It has been a long road to recovery for Chris so, hopefully, he can make a return to the first-team squad at Easter Road this weekend. With a top six place now secure, we need to stay focused and concentrate on trying for second place. Achievements this season have been beyond expectations in many ways but long may it continue.

Dave Wilson

www.caleythistleonline.com

Hibs

Finally, SPL business is back on the horizon after a long, drawn-out international break in which Scotland have seen any hope of the last grain of hope of reaching the World Cup disappear completely. In keeping with a long line of Scotland managers, the current incumbent has managed to ignore one of the SPL’s top scorers in favour of tired selections like Kenny Miller.

Thankfully, that’s good news for us as Leigh Griffiths should be fresh and raring to go when ICT come to Easter Road on Saturday. With only two games until the split, a real scrap is underway for sixth place in the SPL and Hibs need to get back on track following a truly dismal performance in the Friday night thumping at Fir Park. With our last pre-split fixture away at Celtic, victory on Saturday is a must if we are to stay in pole position going into the final round of games.

John Robertson