We love fitba will hold its hands up and admit that it didn't get everything right when predicting what would happen last season. In fact, aside from forseeing Inverness Caley Thistle's relegation, much went wrong.
Mind you, this blog was not alone in being unable to predict Celtic's implosion as they chased a 4th title in a row. It was all looking peachy during the first half of the season, with Rangers clearly in trouble and Celtic looking pretty comfortable at the top.
But, with the chance to land a mortal blow to their rivals in their hands, Celtic failed to strengthen the squad in January (they merely signed Willo Flood to weaken Dundee Utd's instead) and Rangers, despite their own desperate problems, sensed a chance of salvation.
As SPL Champions, Rangers now have some guaranteed Champions League income to help with the overdraft, and while they still cleared out Barry Ferguson, don't seem to have the same need to sell their players to balance the books.
Celtic, meanwhile, have a very tricky-looking qualifier against Dinamo Moscow to contend with. The Russians are no mugs, and as they are half way through their season they should be much sharper than the Celtic squad.
If new boss Tony Mowbray could have chosen his first competitive fixture, you can bet that this wouldn't be it. If Celtic do come through, they will carry momentum and confidence from a promising pre-season into the SPL and look odds-on to regain the title. Miss out, and they will also have to reassess how much money they can spend on overhauling the squad.
There are uncomfortable echoes with the infamous defeat to Artmedia Bratislava, which started Gordon Strachan's tenure on the wrong foot and made some fans suspicious of him from day one. Losing to Dinamo will be no disgrace, but Mowbray will be desperate to get off to a positive start.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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