SPL season preview

Jeez, we're really not that good at this football lark at the moment, are we? A 3-0 friendly loss to Sweden is Craig Levein's first defeat as Scotland boss, and gives him plenty to think about before the first qualifier against Lithuania.

Still, he acknowledged that it was an inexperienced back line, and hopefully come the matches that matter there will be a bit more steel and craft about his team.

But with the SPL back this weekend, we can ignore our relative poverty compared to other nations, and concentrate on domestic issues for a while.

If ever there was a season to challenge the Old Firm, this was it. Title holders Rangers are skint, and have lost Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson and several squad players this summer, while bringing in precisely no one. The return of Andy Webster - who had a fine season at Dundee Utd - should improve the back line, but, apart from Kenny Miller, who's going to score the goals?

Celtic have brought in lots of players, and with the news that Aiden McGeady has finally moved on, might do some more business. They could conceivably try and buy the title with a massive offer for Craig Bellamy, because their manager ain't got the guile to do it without a huge helping hand. Neil Lennon might have bossed a long winning run last season, but he's fluffed every big match so far. They look far, far away from being a good side.

The problem is, who can challenge them?

Andy Webster apart, Dundee Utd have done well to hold together the squad that finished 3rd last season. In fact, chairman Stephen Thompson got very angry earlier in the summer about "unsubstantiated" rumours about players leaving.

Yet he has also revealed that his family cannot carry on subsidising the club as they have been doing, so he can hardly complain when the media speculate about players like Craig Conway going - it's a simple matter of putting two and two together.

A lot may ride on the Arab's Europa League qualifying tie with AEK Athens - if they play like Motherwell in the previous round, entry into the group stage will ensure a financial windfall for the club that might just help keep the wolves at bay.

Play like Hibs, though (who got dumped out of the qualifying stages by Slovenian side Maribor) and player departures before the end of August become much more likely.

Either way, you just feel that there may not be a huge amount of further potential in this Dundee Utd team. Following their 3rd place and cup win, fans would hope that the club could invest further in the squad, but that's not going to happen. They're a decent outfit, but matching last season's achievements would be some feat, let alone beating them.

Hearts supporters are once again crowing about mounting a serious challenge (will they ever learn?) but everything rests on new signings Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott staying fit and addressing the team's glaring weakness last season - goal scoring.

In fairness, that's not quite true - Jim Jefferies will ensure that Hearts are a stubborn, hard to beat outfit. But it's hardly inspiring stuff, is it?

And how about the League's eternal enigma, Hibernian? While clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts have talked about redeveloping their homes, Hibs have now completed the transformation of Easter Road into a modern 20,000 seat stadium. Ok, still dwarfed by the Old Firm, but the club now has real potential, with an enviable youth set up and training facilities as well.

At the moment, though, they're not really showing it. John Hughes had a mixed first season in charge, and hasn't yet demonstrated he's found a way of getting his team to play well. He'll be given more time to prove himself, but the fans are split 50:50 on the man, and will become disaffected if early performances aren't good.

Motherwell will probably round off the top six again, because Craig Brown is enjoying an Indian summer at the club and seems to be running a happy ship.

The only prediction you can safely make about the bottom half of the table is that relegation will be a tightly contested affair again. No team is likely to be cut adrift at the bottom, but plenty - Kilmarnock, Hamilton, St Mirren - are operating on slim budgets and can't afford to replace players who have left with equal quality.

Terry Butcher has proved he can manage in the SPL before and will keep Inverness Caledonian Thistle in contention.

They probably won't do as well as St Johnstone did in their promotion season, and the Perth club could well make it into the top six with some good form and fortune.

Aberdeen, though, seem as listless as ever, despite their just announced plans for the new stadium. If they can raise the finance for it, and if they finally move, the Dons might open a new chapter in their history. But a few more seasons of drift await.