This one was just too good to resist.
Sir LEE HINDS! the mighty MA with 40 SL, scored just 3 goals so far.

A closer look at Hibernian shows where the real talent lies
Derek Riordan 2\30 FW already scored 7 goals.
and what about Sam Morrow 1\22 WG with 3 goals (rings a bell? Same as the knight in muddy armour. )
and what of Scott Brown 4\22 FW just 2 goals thus far, that's true. But still, he's half the SL

I was going to scoff at this until I saw the la-*test*-('") results

INV

CEL: Under new management, but Bill has a top team to work with, may find he is pushed to retain the title, 2nd place.

Early season "Blues" , bad choice of colour , now taking shape, possibly too much to make up so 5th place > top 11> 26.

RAN: Sadly will struggle to maintain top 3 place as the team needs
an new injection. Possibly enough money in the bank to do this,3rd

Currently 3rd , ageing team but still loads of dosh, should be there
at the end; now probable favourites as long as they are not stretched
by cup games. 1st place > top11 > 28.73

MOT: Reserve GK will let them down as will MSA this team achieved
an excellent 3rd place last season but expect 10th next.

Currently 9th,Len has made some good changes , I see this team now finishing 7th. Top11> 25.18

DFA: Could possibly improve on last season 4th , have the money and good squad possibly 1st

Riding high at present and should maintain their 2nd place status, a close call. Top11> 28.00

STI: Another also ran: Mid table probably again after last season's 5th place.Money might talk which could put them back in the top 6.

Yo-yo at the moment win one lose one, looks like mid-table for them this season. > Top11> 23.36

ABE: Ross walked on water yet again to get 6th place, will find
MSA a killer this season with his ageing team expect 12th place.

Ross is yet again performing miracles , currently TOP of div1, but after MSA I can see ABE dropping down to possibly 4th or 5th. Top11> 23.45

INV: Like this team but has a small Squad at present, could make a
BIG impression this season if Steve gets it right possibly 2nd or if he gets it wrong 10th.

INV have underachieved so far as they are in 12th place , with money in the bank and a good squad I see them lifting themselves up to mid-table at least. Top11 > 26.

DUU: I think it will be more of the same as last season, but should climb higher possibly up to 5th.

As predicted more of the same from DUU , currently in 4th , but may find that difficult to hold on to. Top11> 24.36

ROS: Need to pick up points early as MSA will hurt them , can not seeany improvement on last season 9th.

Just holding in 10th place and will probably find themselves in a fight
to stay out of the drop zone. > top11> 23.55

DEE: Same again > a mid table team should stay the distance but lack of money could halt their progress.

New manager on board has to wonder what is going on? Frightening FW line but are leaking goals at the back. When they get it right WATCH OUT.
Top11> 28.45

KIL: I think it is same again as last season , a struggle most of the
time , but after MSA res GK Mark Simms could be the deciding factor,
sorry Todd 13th.

Currently 15th and look unlikely to improve , it will be a battle to
the end of the season if they are to survive. Top11> 23.00

HIB: 12th last season , solid DF not alot in MF apart from
33SL Lee HINDS and sound DF. Little money in the bank , depends on
how many goals Hinds can score, get it right and expect 4th place.

Currently in 11th place, whilst they have some "Big" players I think
the best they can achieve would be mid table. Top11> 27.73

RR: Promoted from div1 , contenders for the drop, this team has little chance unless James can pull off some amazing trades as after mid season they will be on a downward spiral. 15th

Currently in 13th they have fought well but will be in and out of the
drop zone for the rest of the season. Top11> 22.55

STJ: How did they get promoted? Probably the worst team in DIV1 doomed for relegation! BUT manager Yoav (Top Trader) has other ideas + he has
91 TP !! YES (ninety one) some bargaining power , expect 16th place with current team , but you never know with Yoav.

So STJ has woken up and begun trading ( no surprise) and are now looking a different team. Currently 6th , and with a HUGE FW will be difficult
to stop. Not much of a DF but do they care? Top11> 26.27

SM: A good allround team who should do well in div1 may surprise a few teams , probably the best of the "new kids on the block" > 7th.

Surprised everyone by finding themselves in the "Zone" the step up
a league has been too big for them. They can not compete at present with a great deal of the teams , but it is "early doors" and they will need to work to maintain div1 status. > Top11>23.27

LIV: First thoughts are bye bye back you go, but this is TOP man Adrian Nicholas. He has done it all and will need to be at his best to keep LIV up in Div1. I think it will be close, 14th.

Div1 has not been kind to LIV, with the lowest SL in the league, 67sl (min) behind everyone else they have little chance of survival. No doubt they
will fight 'till the end and cause a few upsets.>Top11>19.82

- Robin, ROS

Saint Johnstone is making waves.
This session (6) resulted in a MVP. It was long hoped for and rightfully earned.
So far the 'best defense is offense' campaign is proving it self, Chris Hay is pulling the rest of the team upwards in the table as if he was a loccomotive.

Trades
John McGovern 1\12 MF was brought over from Inverness, he now stands on 15 SL and shall become the backbone of my midfield and in that I mean he would be a 19 SL player for many seasons to come.
John Robertson 3\27 FW and Steven Hislop 4\25 FW followed McGovern from Inverness, arrived litteraly falling off their feet after a tough 3 matches session. rested a match, played on the next. So far have not earned their pay, but as it was just 1 match, I shall be patient with them.

Auctions
It was about time for me to win a bid. Joe Jordan 0\7 MA was signed with the intent of becoming the 'Chris Hay' of the future. So I'm happy.

Rebuilding
Probably the ugliest term used on MSWL leagues in general and on Sesl in particular. I think my side makes it apparent that its no real excuse for falling behind.

Well lookie here!
This one was just too good to resist.
Sir LEE HINDS! the mighty MA ! Gonna crush pathetic St Johnstone this week so they are left looking anything but saintly!

How is Yoav so high up the league anyway - your roster is mince man!

I hope you remember to man-mark Sir Hinds now.

Man-mark Leigh Hinds????
Why would anyone wanna do that

Let's see:
Match 1 HIB vs STJ 0-4
Match 16 STJ vs HIB 5-3
That makes it 2 wins in 2 matches and 9 goals against 3 goals in favor of Saint Johnstone

Sir Hinds played 180 minutes, took 5 shots, scored ZERO

You tell him Yoav!

Get it right up ya HIB!

Mid season report shows that our early season form is slowly turning round and the prospect of finishing in the top half of the table is a reasonable assumption.
Although it must be stressed that a finish in the top eight is not the standard we here are aspiring to. This club should be challanging for the top slot. Yet again it must be said this is a "rebuilding" season, although truth be told there hasn't been much building going on. The master plan for the start of the season has been ripped up and redone on several occasions and as yet I am still unable to put down the blueprint for success. Recent results have been better and a couple of good signings have helped steady the ship. The importance of each position and the merits of these positions are now better understood, although putting this new found knowledge to best use is still proving difficult. MF is actually a very good points scorer for DEF and OFF, not just a place to put your squad fillers when playing longball. Overall report should read must do better, must reduce the average age of squad, must introduce new players to force competition for places, must do this with limited funds and must challange for honours. Sounds far too familiar to me............

I've just watched my side's weekend matches, and the performances pleased me.
Saint Johnstone is now in runners-up position, with just 1 goal behind Aberdeen (which by the way got thrashed 4-2 by my side this weekend) on the GD.

Had someone told me that STJ are going to be in this place before the season kicked off I would recommend him change his suit to a strait jacket, but this season does resemble an episode from the twilight zone.
How else can you describe a season that features Celtic as bottom dwellers, you've got a 40+ MA that scores just when facing 10+ goalies, the Olmec Cup holders barely clinging to 12th place just above the danger zone.

Look forward to a big surprise later today.

Hey Yoav,

got over the shock of mid-season ageing Skill Loss at STJ yet !?

As the topic title suggested, let's take this back to div 1 sesl team previews page.

Halfway through the season and ABE still sit firmly on top of the league table and surprisingly to many, STJ would have been first if Yoav's team had managed just another goal.

Early favourites, RAN and my own team DFA have fallen to fourth and fifth place respectively which DEE's la-*test*-('") winning run sneaking in at third. The top half of the table is only seperated by a mere 5 points gap and with the season only half gone, I would expect some radical changes by season end.

It has been a great dissappointment for me in the last few weeks, as my team only picked up 3 points of a possible 18 after DFA's short stay at the top after session 6. I never exactly expect to challenge for the title but would love the chance to have a go at it. With another 12 matches to go, things will get really serious from here on. Hopefully DFA can pull together a good runs of wins to better our 4th place achievement last season.

Most of the early contenders have chosen star players (30+ SL) strategy by coaching up their players with STJ, DEE and RAN currently doing well. Will the midseason aging hurt these teams and benefit those who chose to coach/train their players slowly will hopefully be answered in the next half of this season.

Good luck guys.

I am truly and utterly shocked!




There's a team on the division with a worse rotser than my own

Mid-Season Ramblings.

It's the closest race for the First Division title I've ever seen* with just 5 points seperating the top 8 with my own Inverness, in 9th place, just 8 points off the top spot. I wonder where I could be if it wasn't for the Cecil Cup run.

Taking each team in current league order:

Aberdeen - Ross has performed miracles with this side but after mid season ageing they are 15th for total and T17 SL, 14th= for avarage SL and 14th for T11. Even if you add all their unused CP and TP and assume they convert PP to CP they won't get much better. Having said that they were very low before MSA. I still expect them to finish up in mid-table with their 2nd keeper being their weak point. Decent attack though. Prediction 9th.

Saint Johnstone - One excellent keeper, one excellent defender and a murderous attack; Yoav's team will keep scoring goals but will defence let them down. Low on total and T17 SL but middle T11. DP may well hurt them as well. 8th place.

Dundee FC - Two good keepers, good all round defence and an excellent attack. After mixed results early on Willy seems to have got his tactics right. Top of avarage SL as well as T17 and just 2nd in T11 and even though they have little CP and TP left they will still be 2nd here after everyone has spent theirs. I fancy these to win it, especially if they get lucky with DP.

Rangers - Can beat anyone on their day with four SL 30+ players but only one keeper. Will always be there or thereabouts. 3rd.

Dunfermline Athletic - Similar strength to Rangers but more CP and TP to spend and two good keepers. Going through a bad patch with only 3 points from 6 games but I expect them to bounce back for maybe 2nd place.

Dundee United - Only an average T11 and T17 and only a couple of decent forwards and average keepers. Will stay about 6th place.

Celtic - Avarage in most areas, two decent keepers. Another one that will be 6th place, give or take. Predict 7th.

Hibernian - 3rd in all SL tables, powerful attack but only one good keeper. Will move up the table. 5th (or maybe 4th)

Inverness - Under performed due to concentrating on the Cecil Cup and then traded away two high SL forwrds for rebuilding purposes. Smallest squad in the division which may hurt. 2nd in average SL and when all CP and TP used will be top, currently 5th in T11 and T17. One of the best goalkeeping combinations in the division, good defence and decent attack. On a decent unbeaten run in the league, a lot will depend on whether I go for the SESL Cup or try for a better league position. If the latter I think I can get 3rd or 4th especially with a low DP. Hopefully 4th

Saint Mirren - weak second keeper, poor defence - will be fighting off relegation. 14th.

Motherwell - Stronger than SM and should at least overtake them. 10th

Kilmarnock - Similar strength team to Motherwell. 11th.

Stirling - See above. It's going to be close between these four teams. 13th.

Ross County - Higher SL than their position suggests. I think these will make it. 12th.

Raith Rovers - Only Livingston are weaker overall but James has two aveage keepers and three decent forwrds. Must choose teams carefully to try and beat other relegation candidates if he's to avoid the drop. 15th.

Livingston - Doomed to last place I'm afraid.

*based on the equivalent of one season + 1 week in SESL

Steve talking bollox again

More bollox.

Looks like I need another good cup run for my personal morale