SPL plays to limited audience but retains plenty of intrigue

WHEN even its major broadcasting partner relegates the Scottish Premier League to the bottom of their listings, it is difficult to avoid greeting today's start of the 2010-11 competition with anything other than low expectations.

• Club captains pose with the Clydesdale Bank Premier League trophy. Picture: Jeff Holmes/SNS

In fairness to Rupert Murdoch's executives, who have decided the opening fixture between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Celtic only merits an obscure slot on Sky Sports 4, even the great showman PT Barnum might have baulked at the prospect of heralding the campaign with drum rolls and fanfares.

There may be a sucker born every minute but even the most gullible are unlikely to be persuaded that the SPL is about to deliver ten months of consistent high-quality entertainment. If there was such a thing as Sky Sports 12, you suspect that is where you would find this country's top flight football being aired.

Yet, while the standard of Scottish football has certainly declined amidst the widespread financial downsizing of recent years, the SPL does at least remain more than capable of providing drama, intrigue and controversy in abundance. It may be largely bereft of technical excellence but it is laden in talking points.

There is a soap opera quality to the SPL which retains the interest of both supporters and media alike despite the realisation none of its leading performers are likely to produce Oscar-nominated performances.

The leading roles this season will, inevitably, be filled by Rangers and Celtic yet again. It is now 25 years since a club outwith the Old Firm were crowned Scottish champions and you can avail yourself of just about any odds you like for someone to achieve the feat last managed by Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson.

If the two-horse race is in itself predictable, however, there are sub-plots aplenty at both Ibrox and Celtic Park which are set to unfold. Rangers, in pursuit of a third successive title triumph for the first time since their nine-in-a-row heyday of the 1990s, will be under the guidance of Walter Smith for the last time before his intended handover of power to his assistant Ally McCoist next summer.

The 62-year-old, whose course and distance credentials are unmatched, is plotting what he hopes will be a happier and more successful exit strategy than when he left the Rangers job first time around in 1998.Just as now, his departure then was pre-announced, albeit in different circumstances as he prepared to make way for the free-spending reign of Dick Advocaat.

Rangers are still paying the price of what proved to be their recklessly ambitious funding of the Dutch coach, although some of the Dickensian descriptions of Smith's apparently 'threadbare' squad have been overstated.

Nonetheless, Smith's management of the resources at his disposal over the past two years, in which banking restrictions prevented him buying any new players was unquestionably impressive.

With the embargo now lifted, Rangers finally completed their first signing of the summer yesterday with the capture of former England striker James Beattie from Stoke City. More new faces will be required before the transfer window closes at the end of the month if Smith is to have the depth of squad necessary to retain the title.

But, despite the loss of six players since the end of last season, Rangers retain a core of battle-hardened first team players with the ability and know-how to negotiate the championship course. Allan McGregor, David Weir, Steven Davis and Kenny Miller form the spine of a team which, domestically at least, has been the epitome of reliability and consistency.

If Beattie can rejuvenate his career in the manner Smith believes possible, he could emerge as a pivotal figure in the title race, albeit he is unlikely to be anywhere near as prolific as the departed Kris Boyd.

The lack of a 20 goals a season striker was just one of the factors in Celtic's failure last season, Robbie Keane bringing his prodigious scoring rate to the club too late to make a telling difference. Neil Lennon believes Gary Hooper can address that issue, although his 2.4 million signing from Scunthorpe will miss the first three weeks of the season because of injury.

Unlike Smith, the new Celtic manager is some way short of forming a judgment on what constitutes his best starting eleven. Hooper is one of seven summer signings made by Lennon with more to come following Aiden

McGeady's 9.5 million move to Spartak Moscow yesterday. Lennon must hope his new recruits settle quickly, however, as he can ill afford to drop off the pace early in the campaign.

His appreciation that results matter more than performances, in stark contrast to the flawed approach of his predecessor Tony Mowbray, should see him leave his players in no doubt that a greater degree of pragmatism will be required if the SPL trophy is to travel east across Glasgow next May.

Beyond the duopoly at the top of the SPL, equally familiar battles will be fought for Europa League places and top flight survival. In his first full season back in command at Tynecastle, Jim Jefferies will be quietly confident he can make Hearts the best of the rest.If summer signings Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott can solve the Gorgie club's chronic striking problems, Hearts look capable of a much improved season.

In terms of potency up front, Hibs should again be a force to be reckoned with. Sustaining their optimum form in the wake of their dramatic slump in the second half of last season, however, will be the biggest issue for John Hughes in what promises to be a defining campaign for the manager at the club he loves.

Dundee United manager Peter Houston has given himself an almost impossible act to follow but the Scottish Cup winners look like nailed-on top six material at least. Motherwell face a more daunting task to remain in the top half of the table but Craig Brown and Archie Knox have the nous to do so.

Having failed to finish in the top six for the first time in six years last season, Aberdeen must make a good start if Mark McGhee's position is not to come under serious threat.

Hamilton Accies and St Johnstone both appear in good shape to build upon last season's solid work under impressive managers Billy Reid and Derek McInnes which may leave a three-way fight to avoid relegation involving Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Inverness.

Mixu Paatelainen, after a far from calamitous but curiously unfulfilling spell in charge of Hibs, can repair his managerial credentials at Rugby Park while Terry Butcher will look to carry the momentum of last season's First Division title triumph into a successful top flight return for the Highland club.

St Mirren have gambled on Danny Lennon and several players being able to take the leap up from Cowdenbeath in their stride, prompting many pundits to tip them for bottom spot. Like the Sky Sports' programme schedulers, however, the Paisley club's board could yet emerge as astute judges of the SPL's current standing.