8 reasons to love the Scottish Premiership right now

Scottish football has been a pretty bleak place these last seven days, especially if you’re a frequenter of social media.

First there was the notion that our referees were so bad that foreign ones needed to be brought in to officiate our games - because it’s worked so well for both halves of the Old Firm in Europe this term - then that was moved aside by the latest discussion on sectarianism and fan behaviour.

But this isn’t about all that. There are plenty of writers having their say about these frankly depressing topics. This is for those, like myself, who want to concentrate on the football. The discussions about officiating standards and bigotry in the stands are important, but for the sake of one’s sanity it’s sometimes equally important to look past the negativity and appreciate what’s good about the world around us.

Ryan Christie has been in excellent form for Celtic in recent months. Picture: SNS

So that’s what this is. A piece of fluff that hopefully makes you, our dear reader, smile instead of rage.

Our improvement in Europe

Thursday night brought with it the end of European football for the 2018/19 season from a Scottish perspective as Celtic lost 1-0 in Valencia, going out of the Europa League at the last-32 stage 3-0 on aggregate. Brendan Rodgers’ side managing to restore some pride in that final match can summarise the campaign as a whole for SPFL sides. The big winners were Rangers, who made it to the group stages of the secondary competition all the way from the first qualifying round. And while Celtic couldn’t extend their streak of Champions League group stage appearances to three, they did manage to get out of a tough Europa League group themselves. Add in Aberdeen’s two 90-minute draws with EPL side Burnley and Hibs making it past two rounds, and it was certainly an overall positive. It may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a step in the right direction, and that’s all we can ask for at the moment.

The unpredictability of Alfredo Morelos

From the perspective of a man who closely follows Scottish football, but has no allegiances to either Celtic or Rangers, the Colombian is the most interesting and entertaining player there is in the league. Not only is he capable of scoring goals and dominating games at the forefront of his side’s attack, he’s also liable to get sent off at a moment’s notice. And spare me the ‘oh, you shouldn’t be celebrating such behaviour’ lecture. Scenes we ‘hate to see’ are often exactly the scenes fans want to see. We want drama and Morelos brings us exactly that.

Ryan Christie’s rise

The way in which Christie’s ascension has mirrored that of Stuart Armstrong is quite something. Both midfielders had failed to make much of an impact after largely operating out on the left flank in the rare instances when they were granted an opportunity. Both were able to force their way into a regular starting spot after impressive form following an excellent cameo in a Betfred Cup semi-final win (Armstrong v Rangers in 2016; Christie v Hearts two years later). And both look set to be regular fixtures in the Scotland squad for years to come. Oh, and both score belters all the time - Christie might want to do something about his hair, though.

Sam Cosgrove’s Ballon D’or bid

It’s been quite the turnaround for the former Carlisle United attacker as he’s gone from being a striker allergic to goals to one of the most prolific scorers in the country. It’s now 15 in his last 15 games, which is five times his career total prior to this run. It’s all the more impressive considering Dons fans desperately wanted him out of the team, and presumably out of the club, as he struggled through the opening months of the season. Forget driving him to his next destination, they were about to have a whip round to pay for a catapult.

Motherwell’s pivot to football

A manager completely changing his philosophy mid-season is a real rarity in football the world over, so Stephen Robinson deserves respect for doing exactly that in order to get Motherwell’s campaign back on track. It seemed like more of the same would greet the Fir Park faithful in 2019 after the loss to Ross County in the Scottish Cup as Robinson appeared to double down on the uninspiring football fans were watching by insisting the team had to earn the right to play. Direct play can be perfectly watchable if there’s the kind of intensity and urgency which Motherwell displayed on their way to two cup finals last season. But when that drops you’re left with an eye-bleeding brand of football. Trusting the likes of David Turnbull and Jake Hastie to change the style to attractive, attacking play was a big call and not one most managers would have made. Five wins on the bounce (six in total) in the league in 2019 would indicate the gamble is paying off big-time.

Hamilton’s pivot to football

Let’s face it, while every team has the right to play in the manner they see fit in order to secure points, it’s better for the league as a whole when more teams play attacking football. New boss Brian Rice may not be able to work the magic of Martin Canning in terms of keeping Accies in the top division, but with supporters of the Lanarkshire side bored away from the ground during the previous incumbent, it’s no wonder there was so much positivity which greeted the changing of manager. From talking to supporters the general consensus seemed to be that if they go down, so be it. At least they enjoy their Saturdays again.

Craig Levein’s press conferences

Whether he’s firing off shots at pundits, opposing managers or brutally assessing the performance of his own players, you can’t help but admit that the Hearts boss is good value when it comes to post-match press conferences. Some managers refuse to say anything honest as they coolly calculate their responses in the manner of an amateur psychologist. Levein just says what’s on his mind. Perhaps it’s just the impression he’s given off, but regardless, it’s more entertaining.

Dundee and St Mirren having more extras than Gandhi

New manager plus bad team equals manic January recruitment. The relegation rivals brought in a combined 21 players in the last transfer window as they desperately look to survive dropping out of the top flight. There’s something perversely comforting about watching an opposing side scrambling around, announcing name after name on their official Twitter feed, most of whom you wouldn’t know from Adam. What makes it even better is that fans of the clubs in question tell themselves that things are going to be better because of it. After all, they can’t be worse than the last group. Oh they definitely can my friends. They definitely can.