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00:00Hello and welcome back to the Scotsman Football Show as we celebrate the return of the Scottish
00:08Premiership this weekend. We've had Premier Sports Cup action, we've had European action,
00:12but the league season is always possibly the most exciting part of any new season.
00:17My name's Graeme Falk and I can't wait to get tucked into all of the chat about the
00:21upcoming games this weekend. But before we do, I'd like to introduce Scotsman Sports
00:25Editor. Mark, are you as excited as I am? Oh yeah, I love the start of the Premiership
00:30season. Everything's sitting on a blank canvas, every set of supporters are normally excited
00:37that they've got something to look forward to and with the season spanning across three
00:41days, the opening day, sorry, spanning across three days, lots to look forward to.
00:47I'm also joined by Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Elder. Matt, it's always exciting when the
00:53season starts, isn't it? But where's your level of excitement at the moment?
00:57Yeah, there's always a level of intrigue to see how teams are going to shape up. You can
01:02never gauge a team on their pre-season, I don't think. We've been caught out with that many
01:06times where teams have a good pre-season and then don't do so well or vice versa. So yeah,
01:11just interested to see how all the teams look and very hard to predict on opening weekend.
01:17Based on that, just how it's going to shape up. Looking forward to it.
01:20I think it depends how well you're doing in pre-season. I think if you win all your pre-season
01:23games, they definitely matter. But if you lose them, it's just fitness, isn't it? After
01:27all, I think Hearts fans might feel a little bit more confident after the summer they've
01:31had, but other teams might not so much. But look, let's start with Celtic, Mark. It's
01:35been a different summer. And obviously, we're not at the end of the transfer window at the
01:39moment. But last season, me and you worked transfer deadline. World War III of us worked
01:43transfer deadline day. And it felt like they were coming out like pops-up points. And it
01:47was like Trusty was coming out for 6 million. And then you had Engels coming out for 11 million.
01:52And this summer's been a little bit slower. There's maybe a little bit of frustration
01:55sort of hindering around the fact they haven't spent a great deal. But they have brought in
01:59some really good players with some really good pedigree. Where do you think they sit right
02:03now going into the season?
02:05I think with Celtic, ultimately, they look weaker than they were a year ago. And that's
02:12because they don't have Kyogu Furihashi or Matt O'Reilly, players that played a big part
02:18in a very successful season prior to that. They did ultimately bring in some replacements
02:26to reinforce the squad. Adonida, and you mentioned Engels. Did they have great seasons? They had
02:34moments last season where they showed they could be good players. But you've got them that are
02:37quite young. They spent a lot of money on those guys. But if you look at Celtic right
02:41now, the fans are going, look, we are weaker. Jota's injured as well until Christmas. So
02:45there's a lot of firepower that's missing from the team. I'd like to say that I counter that
02:51by saying Celtic have got one of the best left backs in British football on a free transfer
02:55in Kieran Tierney. And I think optics play a part in this, Graeme. If Celtic had spent
02:5915 million on Kieran Tierney, you might not have the same level of angst among Celtic
03:04fans. They got this guy in a free transfer. That's a brilliant bit of business. By all
03:08accounts, Benjamin Negrin, who can play across the front line, Swedish internationals, a good
03:13player. And I think there's just an element of we've got lots of money here in the bank
03:18at Celtic, and we want to see these players come in sooner rather than later. And that I
03:22think is frustrating the fans. And it probably is frustrating Brendan Rogers as well. They still
03:27look the best team on paper, and I still expect them to start the season pretty well. They
03:32take on St Nairn on Sunday, on a flag unveiling day. And I'm sure Rogers will have more players
03:40in the building between now and the end of the window. It's just not happened as fast as
03:44potentially people would like. The big thing for me about Celtic, maybe not so much Sunday,
03:51it's about the Champions League qualifiers. And we talk about Celtic, and I'm sure Matthew
03:55comes to this as well. Celtic's biggest matches in August are not in the league. They're these
04:00Champions League playoff ties. And that's where the squad really needs to be ready for.
04:04And I think Rogers will want those players in the next week's league in Benjamin.
04:08Matt, I wanted to ask a simple question. Sorry for interrupting there. Surrounding the signings
04:14they've brought in. They've brought in Yamada up front as well, which is kind of an unknown quantity,
04:19Matt. But they are a little bit weaker. And I can sort of understand it. But the point that
04:25Mark makes about if Kieran Tierney comes in for 15 million, and if you're paying 7 million
04:30for Negrin, who of course was out of contract, I think, in six months, so they got him for
04:33like a bargain price. You'd maybe feel a little bit different about their window?
04:38Yeah, I think they've made two good signings there. Two very good signings. By all accounts,
04:43we know how good Kieran Tierney can be when he's fit. So keeping him fit will be the key
04:47for Celtic this season. Definite upgrade on Greg Taylor as well as he did for Celtic.
04:51And I think I rate Greg Taylor as well. Kieran Tierney's undoubted upgrade there in Benjamin
04:57and Gren. All the reports on him look good. Shen Yamada, a very unknown quantity. But could
05:04he be the Furuhashi replacement? Kyoglu himself was quite unknown when he came over here and look
05:09what he did. So I think what Celtic have earned is a bit more trust than maybe they're getting
05:15from their fans at this stage. There's a bit of panic stations going on. I understand
05:20that I don't think anybody expected Celtic to go into the opening game of the season,
05:25probably starting Yang. I don't see anyone around how maybe Yang, Maida and Ida maybe start
05:33as a front three on Sunday. I don't think that was maybe what Celtic fans envisaged going
05:38into the window. But there's still a month of it to go. And last season, as you said,
05:42there was a lot of late business done. I don't think you can argue that any of those players
05:45didn't come in and make a positive impact. You can argue how big a positive impact Ida
05:50had. But he did score important goals. And Arna Engels, you can argue about his transfer
05:58fee. But I think you look back on the season that he had, he made a positive impact. Celtic
06:02won two trophies. They were much better in the Champions League than they have been in recent
06:06years and got further into the knockout stages for the first time in a lot of years. So
06:10I just think maybe Celtic fans need to calm down a little bit and just bear in mind that
06:14there is money there to be spent. I don't imagine them going to the end of the window
06:18not spending a decent amount on bolstering that forward line particularly. And obviously
06:23they've got the centre-half, the young centre-half, Simpson Puzzi coming in from Manchester City
06:28as well, which will give them a lift ahead of the weekend. So if I was a Celtic fan, yes,
06:34I'd be looking for a bit of reinforcement there, but I wouldn't be panicking either.
06:38Yeah, Matthew, I'm interrupting here, but I just want to, we talk about, are you confident,
06:47Matthew, that Celtic team is good enough to get into the Champions League? Right now, up
06:51against some teams that have already been playing in qualifiers. That's the worry I think
06:56for Celtic. Are they- I wasn't overly confident. But having seen their potential opponents, I'm
07:01more confident. I don't think there's anything there that should, that Celtic shouldn't get
07:06past. I've not got the list of teams to hand, but I saw it earlier this week and I thought,
07:10yeah, nothing fearing me there for Celtic. So yeah, I do think, I do think they should
07:15get through and I don't think that'll particularly be on the transfer window if they don't get
07:19through. I think Brendan Rodgers and his current squad should be able to get through that.
07:22Fair enough. Looking at Rangers, Mark, that's kind of been one of the stories of the summer
07:28because new manager, sort of new American ownership, there's a bit more excitement. And
07:33I was at the, it feels like yesterday, the Dundee United game, the last home game of the
07:37season, and it kind of felt like you were just sitting there going like, okay, there's
07:40a game happening, but what next? Because this era needs to sort of end and things need to
07:44move forward. They brought in Russell Martin, which I think is a really, really good appointment.
07:48Personally, I think Rangers will have an identity, although this might take a few weeks to see
07:53that. They've been really active in the transfer window, but ultimately the question I was going
07:59to ask, I'm going to change a little bit, it was going to be asked, can they get closer
08:02to Rangers, but can they, sorry to Celtic, but can they afford to be not closer this season
08:08based on what's happened this summer?
08:12Well, we talk about patience with Celtic fans. I think Rangers fans need to show patience as
08:18well. This is a difficult season for Russell Martin and Rangers as a club as a whole.
08:24It's not just Russell Martin that's come in. It's a new owner. It's a new sporting director.
08:30It's a new way of work. And I always feel, I have a degree of sympathy for anybody who works
08:35in positions of power at Rangers at the moment, because when you bring in new structures, you
08:40need time to implement them. But at the old firm, you don't get any time whatsoever because
08:45the pressure to succeed, it's so big, it's win or bust for so many people who are involved
08:50with that club. So that makes it really difficult for Rangers. I think they can afford to not
08:59win the league. I don't think there's many Rangers fans who truthfully will expect them
09:04to win the league this year. I think those fans do want to see progress. They want to
09:09not just see progress in terms of the points difference being closer, but they want to
09:13see progress on the pitch. They want to see a team that plays with an identity, a team
09:18that is able to take care of business against smaller clubs who they struggled with last
09:24season. I think if they can show that and Russell Martin can entertain the fans with his
09:29brand of football and potentially have a good European run, whether it's Champions League,
09:33Europa League or Conference League, then he should buy himself some time. You just cannot
09:38expect this new Rangers regime to hit the ground running, nor can you expect eight new signings
09:43to hit the ground running either. So there has to be a degree of wriggle room for Rangers
09:50and patience. But undoubtedly, like anything, there needs to be also a degree of progress.
09:56I think if they can get to the, if Rangers can this season get to the split, still end of
10:02a chance of winning the title, not saying leading the race, but still in the hunt, that would
10:07be a success for them.
10:10You look at the signings they've brought in as well, Matt. They've brought in a lot.
10:15There's been players that will, I think, undoubtedly strengthen the squad. Gassama has started
10:19really, really well. I think he's already kind of getting cult hero status with some Rangers
10:23fans. But up top, you've got Danilo, who's been, look, with all due respect to him, permitting
10:28just for two seasons and not massively impressed, I suppose, in my opinion, when he has had an
10:33extended run, although it's been very few and far between. And there's big question marks
10:37around Dessa's and Igamane's future. That's totally up in the air. Do they need to strengthen
10:42further forward? And will it be more beneficial to Rangers for either Igamane or Dessa's to move
10:46on so they can sort of spend that money and open up a spot up front?
10:49We'll definitely need to strengthen up front if Dessa's and Igamane leave.
10:56That's their, you would argue, fully fit there ahead of Danilo in the queue.
11:00Yeah.
11:01To start up front, Danilo, yeah, he's had a good pre-season. I don't think he was particularly
11:08impressive in the two Champions League matches that they played. But, I mean, Rangers were
11:14lucky to get through, I think, if I'm being honest. The Celtic, the likes of Dyson Maeda,
11:19I'll be licking his lips and rubbing his hands at the moment of passing the ball
11:23at the back. Rangers were doing in these matches. You can just see Maeda running amok in that
11:28type of situation if Rangers don't sort of get their act together in terms of the way
11:32they're passing the ball out. It's obviously very early days for Russell Martin and his
11:35philosophy. But, yeah, Rangers still need to strengthen. They've obviously, they have
11:39made those eight new signings. But, and Mikey Moore coming in today, which will be
11:43another good one. Jedi Kasama is really impressed coming off the bench in those
11:46Champions League games. But, yeah, a figure man, as we're led to believe, could be on
11:52the way out. Dessa's had a lot of interest as well and such a polarising figure. Do you
11:56really want to go into another season with Dessa's leading the line? And all the baggage
12:00that comes around that, they probably do need another centre-forward, given that these
12:04things are going on in the background. And Danilo, for me, would probably, if he stays at the
12:10club, would probably be a number two striker. I don't see him being the one to go and get
12:14the 25, 30 goals that Rangers don't need. And I do agree with Mark. I don't think Rangers
12:19fans will be expecting their team to win the league this season. And I don't think
12:24Russell Martin does need to win the league in his first season. But I don't think he can
12:29lose the league the way that Philip Clermont did last season. I don't think we can have
12:33another season at Rangers where, for instance, to go five home games without winning.
12:40Losing to team, bottom six teams, left, right and centre. They just can't be doing that.
12:45They need to be, Russell Martin needs to get his team up and running quickly. And they
12:49need to be going neck and neck with Celtic for this title. And showing at least some promise
12:54that under his tenure they can do something. If it's not going to be this year, then certainly
13:01the year after.
13:02It was a tricky start as well, though, wasn't it? Motherwell who beat them at Ibrox in March,
13:05I think it was. They got the 2-2 draw on, I want to say it was Boxing Day, it was around
13:09the New Year's fixtures. Motherwell away, it sounds easier than maybe Selig away or Hearts
13:16away, but it's a tricky, banana-skinny fixture, isn't it, for Rangers, really?
13:20Yeah, no.
13:23Yeah?
13:25Sorry.
13:26Please say you both agree.
13:28No, no, I'm sure we'll touch on Motherwell later on in the show, but I think they're a
13:33different team this year, our new manager, and they're best players on the way out. I
13:38think Rangers might give Motherwell a doing tomorrow, but who knows? I mean, I could be
13:41wrong there. Rangers haven't won an opening game for the last two seasons. Drew at Hearts,
13:47it's lost to Kilmarnock. So there's pressure there to start well, but I think Motherwell
13:54away, in the grand scheme of things, is not a bad fixture. We knew they were going to be
13:57away anyway, because it's Flag Day and Celtic Park, they have to be away from home. So I
14:01think that if you were to pick somewhere to go for a park, it probably wouldn't be the
14:06worst venue for me. But Matt may disagree, of course.
14:12Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I think Rangers will win tomorrow. Motherwell, under new
14:17management as well, like you say, losing Lennon-Miller. I just think they're going
14:23to take time to get up to speed under their new manager as well, and Rangers are more than
14:28capable of going there and winning comfortably, I think.
14:33Let's talk at Hearts, Mark, because this is a club in the Scottish Premiership at the
14:38moment where it feels really positive. I was at the game last week when we beat Sun in
14:423-0 and Craig Gordon's feeling positive and he's injured for however many weeks.
14:47Claudio Braga scoring goals. Shanklin's beginning to look a little bit more like
14:50Lauren Shanklin of maybe the previous seasons. They finished seventh last season. They had
14:57a season of three different managers where Fox comes in twice to be caretaker. Critchley
15:03never really fitted. Naismith had a poor start and then it turned into a disastrous start and
15:08then all of a sudden the bottom of the league and fighting with Hibs as it was at the time.
15:12But the positivity around Hearts, the structure they seem to have in place, the kind of high
15:17pressing football we got used to seeing under Derek McInnes is already starting. I think
15:22they've got four wins in the Premier Sports Cup, 12 goals, beat Sun in 3-0 in Craig Gordon's
15:27testimonial. Are Hearts favourites for third?
15:31I liked how you said beat Sun in 3-0 through gritted teeth there, Graham.
15:35Yes.
15:38We won't linger on that. I was at their press conference yesterday and we had a wee
15:44conversation on the press pack waiting for Derek McInnes to come and speak to us. Not
15:48one journalist thought that Hearts wouldn't finish third. So Hearts are favourites to finish
15:52third. I think there's a multitude of reasons for that. They don't have a European football.
15:57They've had the Premier Sports Cup, as you alluded to, to get ready for this. They've signed
16:03early and their new signings seem to be betting in quite well. But actually, there's just
16:07a real feel-good factor around Tyne Castle, there's an anticipation around Hearts that they're
16:12going to do well this season. Derek McInnes, for me, should have been a Hearts manager long
16:18before this summer. He's been an obvious choice for this club for too long and they finally
16:22have him in place. He's just a good fit for Scottish football. Not every manager appointment is a risk,
16:31but this feels the least risky option the Hearts could have taken. I don't think they're going to be a team
16:39that's going to go undefeated or even potentially challenge the old firm. I don't think they're good
16:42enough yet to do that. But they've got all the right pieces of the jigsaw in the right place.
16:47They've got good centre-halves, strong midfielders, they've got good wide players and they've got
16:51goal scorers. You mentioned Braga and Shankland. A fit in firing Shankland should be 20 goals
16:57this season. I think they're favourites for third, but they're going to face stiff competition
17:00for it. I'm fascinated by Monday night's game against Aberdeen because Tyne Castle is going
17:06to be, it's going to be, it's going to be like a sort of cauldron on Monday night. There's going to be so
17:12much excitement from these fans and they'll want to blow away Aberdeen. They get a statement
17:16result. I think that really sets them off. So for me, they are favourites, but not overwhelming
17:22favourites. I'm really looking forward to the battle for third place. I think Hibbs and Aberdeen
17:27will have a real say on that as well. And yeah, it should be a really intriguing battle between,
17:34in my opinion, the three biggest teams outside of the old firm.
17:37I think when you're looking at Hearts as well, in terms of Shankland, you touched on there,
17:43look, a fit and fire on Shankland, if you get 20 goals a season, that just puts you ahead
17:47of maybe some other teams that maybe Hibbs and maybe Aberdeen necessarily don't have,
17:51although, you know, things can change. But Matt, if Hart's off favours for third, the
17:57direct sort of people are going to be as strong as my challenge and there's going to be Hibbs
18:01and Aberdeen. And I think that game on Monday between Hearts and Aberdeen is a great chance
18:05for both sides to put a marker down. I think, I know we had a bit of a, shall we say,
18:09a wobble, Jimmy Tallinn after the kind of brilliant start where you thought, hang on
18:14a minute, are they going to, you know, go for a title challenge? He ended the season
18:18with a trophy, which is massive, and ultimately it was a really successful season for them.
18:22For Hibbs, it was like, I always say relegation, relegation battle into revolution under David
18:28Great was just an unbelievable turnaround. And that's really difficult to keep up, especially
18:33with the fact that Chiantis, as it stands at the moment, hasn't come back and he was really
18:37pivotal to that push towards third place. But will Hibbs and Aberdeen be as strong as
18:44they were last season? Can they build on what they did?
18:48I think Hibbs will. Difficult with the European situation to know how they'll cope with that.
18:55Clubs always seem to struggle who are trying to get through qualifiers and then get into
18:59group stages. There always seems to be a difficulty with Scottish clubs balancing that.
19:04But, yeah, I fancy Hibbs to do well again this season, based on the fact that they've got,
19:11for me, two of the best young talents in Scottish football, Kieran Bowie and Josh Mulligan.
19:19I think both of these guys will be Scotland internationals. And by that, I mean starting
19:25Scotland internationals in the not too distant future. Two very, very exciting talents. And
19:33the way Mulligan has played in sort of that central midfield role, I don't think Hibbs have missed
19:39Triantus too much so far. Obviously they did want to bring him back, but I think Mulligan can go in
19:45there and do a similar job. So, yeah, there's that. They've got a strong back line, getting
19:54you Bushiri back again. Grant Hanley in the stands the other night.
19:59I don't overly rate Grant Hanley in a Scotland shirt, but I think he could be a not bad signing
20:06for Hibbs in the Scottish Premiership level. I just think Hanley sometimes struggles when
20:12we come up against some of the forward lines that you do in international football, but
20:17I certainly wouldn't be against, if I was a Hibbs fan, wouldn't be against Hibbs signing
20:20Grant Hanley. And David Gray, the head coach as well, for me, just went in there and taken
20:29what was a bit of a basket case club over the last four or five years and really just made
20:34them so strong and organised. Everybody seems to know their roles within the team and just
20:41a great figurehead for the club. So, yeah, I fancy Hibbs to do well. Aberdeen, I fear for
20:45them at Tencastle on Monday. I just, I don't know, hearts have, like Mark said, done their
20:49business early, getting Shanklin back, what a massive signing that is. The manager himself
20:56for me, probably the signing of the summer. Same as you, Mark, I think hearts should have
21:01stopped mucking about, as they have been with their appointments over the last few years
21:06and just went for McInnes. They could have saved themselves a lot of pain, I think. I don't
21:09think they'd have been bottom six last season if McInnes had been appointed way back when
21:13Naismith was appointed. That was the time, I think, that they should have got McInnes in.
21:17Naismith, obviously coming up from the B team.
21:19That was the point to bring McInnes in and hearts would have, would be fine by now. But
21:24yeah, I do fancy them to do well. Some of their signings have really caught the eye.
21:27Claudio Braga scoring plenty of goals. And Aberdeen, obviously they had that magnificent
21:32Scottish Cup final win, but they've lost a few players from, from last term. Kevin Nisbet,
21:37I think was a real focal point for them. A good goal scorer. Obviously after the AC Milan
21:43boy at the moment, was it Lazatic? So we'll see if they can get him in. He might, he might be his
21:50replacement, but I just look at their signings and it's just players that we don't really know a lot
21:55about. So I may have been a bit unfair in saying that I feel for them on Monday. I just think hearts
22:00seem to be in a much better place. They've had the Premier Sports Cup to really get themselves well
22:05oiled and then sort of competitive football mode. When I look at Aberdeen's pre-season,
22:09I don't really see much activity there. There was, I had the training camp in the Algarve and a couple
22:14of friendlies. I just think there may be a wee bit undercooked for what you say, Mark's going to be a
22:21pretty raucous time castle on Monday. Looking at Dundee United had a massive win yesterday, Mark.
22:27St Mirren have had three consecutive top six finishers now. Best of the rest or do you think they can be
22:34challenged by, you know, you've got Motherwell, Killy, you've also got Dundee under Stephen
22:38Presley under that as well. Can any of them challenge or did Dundee United and St Mirren?
22:42In your opinion, that'll be the best of the rest. So I wrote a piece a couple of weeks ago where I
22:46said Scottish football's got a new ecosystem. And for me, that ecosystem is hearts, Aberdeen,
22:51and it's not essentially not in that order, but they've spent so much money over the past couple of
22:57seasons where they pull away from the rest, but don't get much closer to the old firm. And I would be
23:03very surprised. It would take an underperformance from one of those three clubs to not be in the
23:08top five. So then you're going, right, there's one place left in the top six. If you believe in that
23:13theory, one place left in the top six. You're right, St Mirren have been in it for the past three seasons.
23:18Can they make it four? I mean, that would be a remarkable achievement for Stephen Robinson,
23:22just given what resource he has to play with. But St Mirren looked the same St Mirren that I've watched
23:26for the past three seasons. I caught their game against Ayr on Sunday in the Cup on TV, and it's looked
23:31the physical, well-organised. I would really like Cillian Phillips. I think he should be
23:36an important player this season. He kind of epitomises what Samir Norland is about.
23:41Dundee United, conversely, have signed so many new players. I've actually lost count of how many
23:46players, and I've certainly lost count of how many different nationalities have come in.
23:50It's like a United Nations going on in paradise. Now, these players could be really good. We just don't
23:55know yet. I'm pleased they got through against, you know, Strassen, because that would have really
24:00set them back. And I've got a lot of time for Jim Goodwin. I think he's done a really good job there.
24:04So a bit of an unknown quantity. I think it is probably between them and St Mirren right now
24:08for that last place in the top six as we're talking just now. Cam Motherwell and Kilmarnock get in the
24:15conversation. New managers at both clubs. Stuart Kettlewell at Kilmarnock. They actually didn't
24:21consider a goal in the Premier Sports Cup. Kind of got under the radar a little bit. Kilmarnock.
24:25And they've got a very exciting young player in Ben Branham, who's just signed a new contract,
24:29left-sided player. A lot of talk about him. But how do Kilmarnock perform without Derek
24:37McInnes in charge? I think that's a fascinating notion. Motherwell with Jens Bertolasco in charge,
24:45a bit of an unknown as well. My fear for Motherwell is that if you take Leonard Miller out of that team,
24:49there's a lack of stardust. And that stardust has made them safe for the past couple of seasons.
24:55So we'll need to see how they go. And I think you mentioned Dundee as well. New manager Stephen
25:00Presley. They've had a terrible start to life under Presley because they lost two Premier
25:04Sports Cup ties. And they did win their final two on two matches. But there's a lot of negativity
25:11around Dundee right now. They've lost so many players. Josh Mulligan, who Matthew talked about.
25:15Lyle Cameron off to the Rangers. Mo Siller going to Livingston. The captain, Joe Shaughnessy,
25:22went to Australia. So Dundee are not the Dundee team that we watched last season. I think we were
25:26all really impressed with Dundee last season. So I don't see them, those three clubs, really being
25:32in the conversation for top five. I'm not even sure I see them being in the conversation for the top six.
25:37I wonder if those three clubs are just going to try and keep their head above water. It's going to be
25:42competitive at the bottom of the league this year because there are a couple of teams that have
25:47come up that we'll just talk about in a second who are going to really give it a good shot. I find the
25:52bottom half of the league just as fascinating as the top half this season because I think it'll be
25:57ultra competitive. I think Simon and Murray will have an awful lot of resting on your shoulders
26:03this year in terms of that relegation battle, I think, because probably the best goal scorer
26:07down that side of the league. But Livy and Falkirk, Livy back up, Matt. We kind of know what we get from
26:13Livy a little bit. Well, a different team, I suppose, but we know what we get from David Martindale,
26:17shall we say. And Falkirk, two phenomenal seasons. And I think you see it continuously that when a club
26:23has such a good two years or three years, momentum kind of drags them further forward. And a good start
26:30can sometimes keep their heads above water. And then when it levels out a bit, that can change. But
26:34how do you feel Livingston and Falkirk will do? Have they got enough to stay up? I mean,
26:38obviously, I think they will be involved down the bottom. I think they'll either just escape
26:43or be involved in it. But have they got enough to keep their heads above water?
26:48I will tell, I suppose. But I mean, what a job John McGlynn's done. Unbelievable to take Falkirk. I mean,
26:55talk about Hibs being a basket case. My goodness, Falkirk. The football club were a circus
27:02for a lot of years down in Languish and League One. And to take them up back to back,
27:08just a fantastic achievement. And mostly with the same squad, I think. They got promoted in League One.
27:15They went and did the same in the Championship. And I'm not seeing too much evidence of a lot of
27:21influx of signings either this summer from Falkirk. So he's obviously got the players that he likes
27:25and trusts, John McGlynn. I'm just not sure that they'll be strong enough to cope with the Premiership
27:33after that back-to-back run. And this could be the time that it really starts to get quite difficult
27:38for them. But I have so much admiration for John McGlynn. And the job he did at Wraith Rovers before that
27:43as well was fantastic. Really unfortunate with his time at Hearts, the way that went with financial
27:49difficulties and stuff. I just think he's such an underrated manager. Maybe not underrated now.
27:53I think he's rated quite highly. But he had been quite underrated for a lot of years.
27:58And they'll come up and they'll just try to play the same way. They'll play an exciting brand of
28:02football on the deck mostly. And Brad Spencer as well. I noticed in the last few weeks they've got
28:09him re-signed. A really important pivot in the midfield there for them dictates games. I'm imagining
28:15clubs in the Premiership would have been looking at him. So that's a big re-signing.
28:19But I'm just... And Brian Graham is an interesting one as well. Championship for the past couple of
28:23seasons. Has he still got it in him to make an impact on the Premiership level? We'll see.
28:30So yeah, I'm not too sure. I think they're up against it, Falkirk. Livingston, David Martindale,
28:35knows what the league's all about. Very interested to see their new synthetic surface as well. A lot of
28:41criticism that Livingston suffers over the years, but they've replaced it now. So just in time for
28:47it being the last season that we're going to have at official pitches in the Premiership. Unless
28:51something changes there. So yeah, interested to see how they do. They've made a lot more
28:58signings than Falkirk have. They finished the season strong last year, so a lot of momentum behind
29:02Livingston as well. Yeah, I think they got off to a good start. I think Livingston could do okay.
29:11And Martindale obviously had them pushing for the top six a couple of times before it all
29:15went to pot in the relegation season, but they obviously had a few bits of financial difficulties
29:20going on there as well. But obviously new owners, they've made a few signings this summer. David
29:26Martindale was very experienced, knows the Premiership has been pushing for the top six before.
29:30Maybe every surprise package there. Who knows? I think momentum's massive, isn't it? Just
29:36if you lose those first couple of games, then you go, oh no. If you win the first couple, you go,
29:40oh, European push. And look, Dundee United did it last year. So why not? Why not dream about it?
29:45But Mark, Matt, thanks very much for joining. Really excited to get the sort of season underway.
29:50I know we've had the Premier Sports Cup games, but there's nothing better than sort of league
29:53fixtures in my opinion. But thanks for joining. Thank you.
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