One word for last week……..carnage!!! Was easily my worst day of the season. Ross County were deservedly beaten by Hearts in my game up north while Dunfermline surrendered a two goal lead to lose at Brechin and amazingly Arbroath scored twice at Ibrox against Rangers.
It was my last selection however which annoyed me most on the day, Forfar’s opponents East Fife made four new signings on Friday night after my column went out, players who were capable of making a difference indeed two of them scored the fifers goals!!
It is as we say a marathon and not a sprint and we’re still well ahead on the season to date. Moving swiftly onto this weekend and selections are as follows.
Premier League
Celtic -2 Asian Hcap to beat St Mirren – 888/1000, 3pts
I successfully landed the same bet with Celtic’s easy 4-0 victory over Kilmarnock in midweek and St Mirren offer a similar scenario on Sunday. The hoops are firing on all cylinders at the moment with 15 goals scored and none conceded in their last four games indeed it’s double figure matches since any team found Celtic’s net.
There seems to be a feel good factor at Celtic Park just now and a determination to break records and go undefeated throughout the entire season. Goals are coming from every position and the Paisley Saints are sure to be in for a tough afternoon.
St Mirren themselves haven’t travelled well this season and suffered a bad loss to bottom club Hearts the other night. Confidence can’t be good on the back of that for a visit to Glasgow’s east end especially after losing 4-0 to the Glasgow giants just a few weeks ago.
Maximum stakes with the insurance of our stakes returned if Celtic only win by two.
League Cup
Aberdeen to beat St Johnstone – 11/10, 2pts
The dons should be odds on in my book therefore represent good value in the semi final at neutral Easter Road. Aberdeen have suffered the odd blip of late but are generally playing well and have further strengthened their squad in the last week with the signing of Shaleum Logan from Brentford and Adam Rooney two players who are sure to do well in the scottish game.
Striker Rooney scored on his debut at Motherwell last week and is a prolific scorer from his time at Inverness a couple of seasons back. The dons are defensively sound and St Johnstone haven’t scored against them in the two previous meetings this season the second of which saw a comfortable 2-0 win for Aberdeen down in Perth a couple of months back.
Saints have been poor on the road this season, struggling to score goals and lack experience of big occasions like this. Goalkeeper Alan Mannus is out injured and will be replaced by 41yo Stevie Banks while key midfielder Murray Davidson misses out too however hot striker Stevie May does offer them hope whilst on his current prolific scoring run.
Aberdeen are hungry for a trophy after a barren few years and I think with their better players and ability added to some good experience feel they’ll be too strong for the Perth men again.
Championship
Dumbarton to beat Hamilton – 15/4, 1pt
This is as much a price call but their are some factors which makes me think the sons are worth a bet here. Firstly they’ve won more games than they’ve lost on the road winning their last three games which included an eye catching 5-1 win over Alloa a couple of weeks back. They also beat Hamilton 2-1 in their last meeting one of their few successes at home this season. All the pressure will be on Hamilton here as they challenge at the top of the league and Dumbarton are the kind of carefree team who have given the accies problems in recent weeks.
Hamilton surprisingly lost at home to Cowdenbeath last week and have suffered further home defeats by Alloa and Dundee in the last couple of months. Accies are a young side who seem to lack experience and aren’t helped by the unavailability of player manager Alex Neill who is still out injured.
Not one for high stakes but worth an interest nevertheless.
League 2
Berwick to beat Clyde – 13/8, 1pt
The wee rangers were backed in from 9/5 earlier in the week but may still offer some value in Cumbernauld this weekend. On the face of it Berwick’s figures especially away from home are poor however they appointed a new player manager in Colin Cameron a couple of weeks back and he has made an instant impact with successive 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Stirling and Albion Rovers.
Cameron has played at the highest level and still offers a good deal in the lower echelons of scottish football. Previously he worked at championship club Cowdenbeath who are two divisions above Berwick which obviously represents a big drop in class for the ex Wolves and Scottish international.
Berwick have some decent players who were underachieving but it seems clear that the change in management has had the desired effect on them and they can possibly challenge for a playoff place in the weeks ahead.
Clyde are a decent team but results have been largely inconsistent of late and if they’re not at it tommorrow the bully wee will suffer another defeat following on from home reverses to Queens Park and Peterhead.
Get on the wee rangers to continue their revival under cameron.
Happy punting this weekend.
