Where exactly are we in the pecking order ?

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Are the bottom five teams (plus Midden) in the SPL any different to the top five teams in the SFL (plus the Pars) really that much different from each other ? Imagine a 10-12 team league of those sides - now that would be interesting.

So what would put US on top of the pile ? - Money is not a requisite answer.

[Doofer]

That would be a very interesting scenario. I would like to think that ICT would be near the top of the pile but it could go either way. It would be such a competetive league

[Kylef]

We thought we would demolish the first division, look how competitive this turned out to be. we are sitting 4th as we have beaten all the diddy teams recently, your ayr's and airdrie's, once we start playing the big boys will show where we should be...although id obviously like to be wrong.

[tm4tj]

I doubt many thought the first was going to be easy Kyle. We clawed our way out of it before, but it took time, and we came through it after coming from lower divisions. The SPl years have gone for now, and we will, like others before us find it difficuklt to climb back upwards.

Pecking order, in the middle, but capable of better.

[Alex MacLeod]

We thought we would demolish the first division, look how competitive this turned out to be. we are sitting 4th as we have beaten all the diddy teams recently, your ayr's and airdrie's, once we start playing the big boys will show where we should be...although id obviously like to be wrong.

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

[Heilandee]

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

nae quite Alex, Airdrie were relegated on merit, but got a repreive coz of Livi's situation

Pedant DSC

[AJS]

Give another 5 years and we will be back at the top i'd say, unless administration gets us.

[Kylef]

I doubt many thought the first was going to be easy Kyle. We clawed our way out of it before, but it took time, and we came through it after coming from lower divisions. The SPl years have gone for now, and we will, like others before us find it difficuklt to climb back upwards.

Pecking order, in the middle, but capable of better.

You know what i mean though m4tj, alot of fans, including people on this forum, thought it was going to be a walk in the park. granted, i always knew it was going to be hard but firmly believed, and still believe, we could do it. even i got a bit of a shock just HOW competitive the league is. Then again i wasnt expecting county and the likes to be taking maximum points off us.

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

nae quite Alex, Airdrie were relegated on merit, but got a repreive coz of Livi's situation

Pedant DSC

What he said.

However, i do take the 'diddy' part out of the equation. But i do mean the teams that are struggling in the league. I do think we will get a shock when we play the big teams, QOS away, Dundee at home etc. Worries me we cant get up for our local derby, never mind beating the league leaders.

[RedCard]

I've always said that a 18 team SPL would be best for Scottish football where everyone plays each other twice, four times a year is too much, even the Old Firm games are boring because they play each other too much plus cup competitions. There is not a lot of between the top 5 in Division 1 and the bottom 6 in the SPL in terms of ability on the park.

[Caley Stan]

Are the bottom five teams (plus Midden) in the SPL any different to the top five teams in the SFL (plus the Pars) really that much different from each other ? Imagine a 10-12 team league of those sides - now that would be interesting.

So what would put US on top of the pile ? - Money is not a requisite answer.

I think we're talking about 10 teams here - County are just village team and Queens haven't been the top division for a very long time. Here are those 10, in order of last season's average attendances:

Kilmarnock

Falkirk

Motherwell

St. Mirren

ICT

Dundee

Hamilton

St. Johnstone

Dunfermline

Partick Thistle

Obviously the figures are skewed by the fact that 6 of the 10 teams were playing in the SPL, but all of the clubs posted average attendances between 3000 and 6000.

Kilmarnock and Motherwell have distinguished themselves from others in recent years in that they have avoided yo-yo-ing between the divisions and have finished in the top 6 on occasion.

Dundee, Falkirk, St. Mirren and to an extent, Dunfermline, have been able to maintain decent gates in the First Division, suggesting that they have a stronger core support than the likes of ourselves, St. Johnstone and Partick. Hamilton's attendances are a complete joke.

Obviously attendances are not the be all and end all when it comes to judging the size of a club but i think they are a good indicator.

To answer IHE's questions directly, i don't think there's much difference in terms of size between these 10 teams and i think that we have more potential for growth than most of them. Our location means that we face less competion for punters than other clubs and the (growing) size of the town means that we have plenty of potential to increase our support. I agree that money is not a pre-requisite to increasing the size of the club and believe that in the long-term, we will only grow by forging closer links wth the community at large.

[Alex MacLeod]

I doubt many thought the first was going to be easy Kyle. We clawed our way out of it before, but it took time, and we came through it after coming from lower divisions. The SPl years have gone for now, and we will, like others before us find it difficuklt to climb back upwards.

Pecking order, in the middle, but capable of better.

You know what i mean though m4tj, alot of fans, including people on this forum, thought it was going to be a walk in the park. granted, i always knew it was going to be hard but firmly believed, and still believe, we could do it. even i got a bit of a shock just HOW competitive the league is. Then again i wasnt expecting county and the likes to be taking maximum points off us.

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

nae quite Alex, Airdrie were relegated on merit, but got a repreive coz of Livi's situation

Pedant DSC

What he said.

However, i do take the 'diddy' part out of the equation. But i do mean the teams that are struggling in the league. I do think we will get a shock when we play the big teams, QOS away, Dundee at home etc. Worries me we cant get up for our local derby, never mind beating the league leaders.

Just as a matter of interest. The season we won this league we couldn't beat County the first two games. And we were beat by QoS. We won the challenge cup after knocking out County in the QF. And we had two attempts at a Scottish cup final place. Similarity's anyone?

[caleykid1994]

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

nae quite Alex, Airdrie were relegated on merit, but got a repreive coz of Livi's situation

Pedant DSC

Why does no-one seem to realise that Airdrie have been spared twice after Gretna's collapse aswell. Thye dont belong in the 1st division

[Tug]

How can you refer to any as being diddy teams. They are all in the league on merit and many have been in the top league at some time in their history. Yes, even Airdrie and Ayr.

nae quite Alex, Airdrie were relegated on merit, but got a repreive coz of Livi's situation

Pedant DSC

Why does no-one seem to realise that Airdrie have been spared twice after Gretna's collapse aswell. Thye dont belong in the 1st division

well what intrests me most is that the last couple of seasons the first division has gone right down to the wire almost... gretna had the huge lead they had built up rained in toward the end and iirc even saint johnstone didnt win it till the last or second last game last season. i think this season will prove to be similar. same of course could have been said for us going down last season.

(ignoring the gretna farce) it seems that the team going up and the team going down could be anyone of around 3-4 in the closing parts of the season so there is probably alot of merit in what IHE has said