The Scottish Championship will again feature teams who have long traditions of playing in the top flight and Dundee United will be hoping to make it fourth time lucky as they continue with their longest streak outside the top flight since being promoted to the then Division One back in 1960-1 season. apart from the last three seasons, their only season outside the top one was in 1995-6. Neighbours Dundee who are also Premier League Stalwarts will also be looking to bounce back following relegation last year. Both should be up there, however, the likes of Partick Thistle & Inverness will ensure they don’t have it all their own way. Anyway here is how we think it will finish:
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Scottish Championship Title Contenders
1st Dundee United
Given their heritage they are always the team to beat at this level, however after three seasons here they should finally have learned how to get out. They have been busy in the transfer market, most notably signing prolific goal scorer Lawrence Shankland from divisional rivals Ayr United who they also raided for talented right-back Liam Smith. We are also intrigued by the signing of Adrián Spörle from Argentinian Premier League club Athletic Banefield. Overall they look like a team that means business and we can see them sewing up the title by early April.
2nd Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Thistles rise from Highland League powerhouse to Scottish Premier League Regular has been well charted having spent 12 of their 25 seasons in the Scottish League in the top flight. Since coming back down for the 2017-18 season they have been on the fringes of a return and lost in the playoffs to Dundee United last year. Losing Midfielder Liam Polworth to Motherwell is not good, however, they have brought back Miles Storey who scored 11 goals for them in 30 appearances while on loan in 2015-16 and have added Bulgarian U21 international Nikolay Todorov, who should thrive at this level. Goals shouldn’t be hard to come by and given too many draws was an issue last year this could make all the difference. A top-four finish looks assured and they may hang with Dundee United for a while.
3rd Dundee
Finished bottom of the Scottish Premiership last year however 6 of their last 10 defeats were by the odd goal and they gave a good account of themselves even though their fate was sealed. A few players have been shipped out and the squad in our opinion has been adjusted for life at this level by adding players with Championship experience and a couple of signings from the EFL. Jamie Ness who they signed from Plymouth should be a good acquisition providing he remains injury-free. A playoff place looks assured.
4th Partick Thistle
The Jags had a season to forget last year and moving into 2019 it looked like they could be facing the ignominy of a season in Scottish League One as they languished second from bottom on 14 points. An unbeaten January and a confidence boosting Scottish Cup run helped turn things around and they ended up in a slightly flattering sixth place. The disappointing season led to a boardroom reshuffle and a bit of a clear-out player-wise – including selling their highly rated young winger Aidan Fitzpatrick to Norwich for £360,000. They have gone for experience this time adding veteran Kenny Miller up front and Golie Scott Fox from Ross County. They won’t challenge for the title but might just scrape into the playoff places.
5th Dunfermline
The Pars had a disappointing 2018-19, finishing 7th only 3 points off the relegation zone, after making a playoff appearance in 2017-18. They have jettisoned a lot of experienced players and added some promising younger players in the form of Tom Lang, Kyle Turner and Aaron Comrie. They look like a team planning for the future. They should do better than last season but a return to the playoffs looks a tall order.
6th Morton
7th Ayr United
Finished fourth last year and were hampered in their playoff hopes by having to play 7 games in April due to postponements. Their achievements didn’t go unnoticed and a raft of players have been lured away, including star striker Lawrence Shankland. They have signed the experienced Kris Doolan to replace him, however, his output has dropped significantly over the last couple of seasons and given this a repeat of last season looks remote. Should be good enough to stay up though.
8th Queen Of The South
A dismal end to the season saw the Doonhamers sucked into the relegation zone on the final day however they won the promotion playoff final to retain their status. This led to Manager Gary Naysmith departing leaving Allan Johnston to navigate the playoffs. Anyway, he is now in charge and he has made a few changes with 15 players leaving and 15 arriving. Most importantly though talisman Stephen Dobbie remains and his goals will mean all the difference between staying up and going down.
9th Alloa Athletic
Alloa has done wonders of late given their part-time structure, and limited budget. Since 2013 they have spent 4 seasons in the Championship and survived again last year thanks to a draw in their final game. As always this season will be a struggle, and this year they have lost manager Jim Goodwin which is a blow. Most of last seasons squad remain and they have added a few fresh faces, however staying off the bottom is probably the best they can expect and relegation looks a strong possibility.
10th Arbroath
Arbroath is probably best known for their 36-0 win over Bon Accord back in 1885, however, they were impressive in becoming League One Champions last year and have held onto most of their squad, with only four players leaving. The additions to the team look slightly better than those leaving but there is a considerable jump in class from League One to the Championship and with limited resources and a small squad we fear they will struggle. They last reached this level back in 2002-03 season and went straight back down having only amassed 15 points. Bettering this would be an achievement.
