The SPFL 2015-16 Season

First topic message reminder :

The Place to discuss all things SPFL Premiership and Championship related.

Will attempt to preview and review as many games as possible every week and keep every team from the Premiership updated as the Season goes on

Will keep every SPFL Premiership and certain Championship clubs home attendances and top goalscorers up to date throughout the season

Top Goalscorers

Player	Team	SPFL	Europe	League Cup	Scottish Cup	Total
Leigh Griffiths	Celtic	31	4	1	4	40
Kane Hemmings	Dundee	21		1	3	25
Adam Rooney	Aberdeen	20				20
Liam Boyce	Ross County	15		4	1	20
Louis Moult	Motherwell	15		2	1	18
Steven MacLean	St Johnstone	14		1		15
Kris Doohlan	Partick Thistle	14				14
Scott McDonald	Motherwell	10		2	2	14
Jaunma	Hearts	12			1	13
Billy Mckay	Dundee Utd	12			1	13
Miles Storey	Inverness C.T	11		1	1	13
Niall McGinn	Aberdeen	10	2			12
Josh Magennis	Kilmarnock	10		2		12
Osman Sow	Hearts	9		2		11
Greg Stewart	Dundee	9			2	11
Tom Rogic	Celtic	8		1	1	10

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Weekly Attendance figures for the SPFL:


Match Day 1   - 126,466 overall - Premiership: 83,623     2.37% of the Population      (Highest Attendance)
Match Day 2   - 101,264 overall - Premiership: 37,832     1.9% of the Population
Match Day 3   -   54,022 overall - Premiership only           1.01% of the Population
Match Day 4   -   95,444 overall - Premiership:  64,919    1.79% of the Popularion
Match Day 5   - 114,881 overall - Premiership:  50,851    2.15% of the Population      (2nd Highest)
Match Day 6   -   95,942 overall - Premiership:  65,109    1.8% of the Population 
Match Day 7   - 109,769 overall - Premiership:  41,948    2.05% of the Population
Match Day 8   -   99,239 overall - Premiership:  81,516    1.86% of  the Population
Match Day 9   - 100,385 overall - Premiership:  69,740    1.88% of the Population
Match Day 10 - 111,150 overall - Premiership:  49,049    2.09% of the Population      (3rd Highest)
Match Day 11 -   95,500 overall - Premiership:  31,402    1.79% of the Population
Match Day 12 - 107,034 overall - Premiership:  82,934    2.01% of the Population
Match Day 13 -   97,459 overall - Premiership:  67,573    1.83% of the Population
Match Day 14 - 107,103 overall - Premiership:  47,079    2.01% of the Population
Match Day 15 -   96,264 overall - Premiership:  75,202    1.81% of the Population
Match Day 16 -   67,152 overall - Premiership:  36,206    1.26% of the Population
Match Day 17 -   58,043 overall * only 3 games due to Postponements, will be updated in due course (Cel/Ham updated)
Match Day 18 -   94,465 overall - Premiership:  34,190    1.77% of the Population
Match Day 19 -   88,573 overall - Premiership:   61,622   1.66% of the Population
Match Day 20 - 101,096 overall - Premiership:   37,679   1.9% of the Population
Match Day 21 -  38,432 - Premiership only (*Dundee vs Celtic Postponed)
Match Day 22 - 105,279 overall - Premiership:   73,602   1.98% of the Population
Match Day 23 -   91,654 overall - Premiership:    40,373   1.72% of the Population     *10 SPFL games were Postponed/Abandoned
Match Day 24 -   99,278 overall - Premiership:    73,001   1.86% of the Population
Match Day 25 - 102,630 overall  - Premiership:   59,670   1.93% of the Population
Match Day 26 -   87,479 overall  - Premiership:   61,269    1.64% of the Population
Match Day 27 - 108,895 overall  - Premiership:   46,884    2.04% of the Population
Match Day 28 - 120,161 overall  - Premiership:    72,157   2.26% of the Population
Match Day 29 - 130,335 overall  - Premiership:    34,878   2.45% of the Population
Match Day 30 - 108,985 overall  - Premiership:  - 46,848  2.05% of the Population
Match Day 31 - 120,161 overall  - Premiership:    72,157   2.26% of the Population
Match Day 32 -  100,658 overall - Premiership:    80,104   1.89% of the Population
Match Day 33 -  108,016 overall - Premiership:    43,105   2.03% of the Population
Match Day 34 -  126,314 overall - Premiership:    61,392   2.37%
Match Day 35 -    83,852 overall - Premiership:    46,407   1.57% of the Population
Match Day 36 -    98,874 - Premiership & Play-Offs only:    81,829    1.86% of the Population
Match Day 37 -    29,562 Prem only o
Match Day 38 -  100,391 overall - Premiership:    84,566 (Prem &Play-Off only)  1.88%

Celtic 6-0 Dundee (Rogic, Griffiths, Izaguirre 2, Brown, Çiftçi)
Att:  48,558


Dundee Utd 1-1 Inverness C.T (Mckay - Meekings)
Att:  6,235


Hamilton 1-0 Motherwell (Imrie)
Att:  3,325


Hearts 1-3 Aberdeen (Rossi - Goodwillie 2, McGinn)
Att:  16,702


Kilmarnock 2-1 St Johnstone (Magennis, OG - Wotherspoon)
Att:  3,165


Ross County 1-0 Partick Thistle (Boyce)
Att:  3,531

Scottish League Cup Results

Rangers 1-3 St Johnstone
Dundee Utd 3-1 Dunfermline
Ross County 7-0 Falkirk
Livingston 0-2 Inverness C.T
Morton 3-2 Motherwell

Motherwell manager Ian Baraclough became the first managerial casualty of the Season

Wednesday's Cup games

Celtic 2-0 Raith Rovers
Hibernian 2-0 Aberdeen
Kilmarnock 2-3 Hearts

Match Day 9 Preview


Celtic vs Hearts - Match of the Day in Scotland, 2nd vs 3rd, Hearts will go to Celtic Park buoyed by their excellent come back 3-2 win at Rugby Park in midweek, after 3 straight losses following their opening seven out of seven wins they got back on track against Kilmarnock, Celtic after a few bad weeks seem revitilised with a brilliant European draw in Amsterdam against Ajax, the scintilating 6-0 demolition job of Dundee last weekend and progress to the League Cup quarter final on Wednesday Night, Kris Commons has been a big reason why Celtic have returned to form since being brought back into the side, his creativity and goal scoring touch is unrivaled in Celtic's midfield.  Predicition:  Celtic 3-1 Hearts


Dundee vs Ross County - Dundee will be looking to bounce back after the embarrassing beating last week at the hands of Celtic, until then their Season was going pretty well, they're sitting comfortably in 6th place and do have goalscoring options all over the park, Ross County will be looking to keep up their fantastic start to the Season, they're already 11 points better off than they where at this stage last Season and look like a side capable of taking points off anyone, their 7-0 smash of Falkirk on Tuesday night will fill them with even more confidence and with Liam Boyce on 9 goals already they have someone who can convert the many chances they create.  Prediction:  Dundee 2-2 Ross County


Inverness C.T vs Aberdeen -  Aberdeen are currently on their greatest ever start to a League Season, they sit top of the Premiership with 8 wins from their opening 8 games and are 5 points clear of Champions Celtic, in the last two weekend's Aberdeen's performances have definitely made people sit up and realise they're genuine challengers, pushing for a win and getting it against Celtic with 10 men was fantastic then last week going to Tynecastle, a ground they have only one once at in the last 14 attempts and blowing Hearts away with a 3-0 half time lead proved they are the real deal, this midweek they lost their first domestic match of the Season, a 2-0 loss at Easter Road in the League Cup, this will be a big game for the Dons tomorrow, a chance to see how they react to a big set back, ICT after a bad start to the Season are finally starting to get their acts together, a great win over Hearts coupled by a fighting point at Tannadice has saw them climb up the table a couple of positions. Prediction:  Inverness C.T 0-2 Aberdeen


Kilmarnock vs Hamilton Accies - Kilmarnock have been resurgent in the last few weeks winning a couple of games and also coming within 90 seconds of knocking Hearts out the League Cup although they lost two heartbreaking goals in the final moments of the game, Hamilton Accies are a tough nut to predict, they struggle when you expect them to win and excel when you think they've bitton off more than they can chew, they're sitting in a very respectable 5th place though after a brilliant start to the Season.  Prediction:  Kilmarnock 1-1 Hamilton


Motherwell vs Partick Thistle - Motherwell's poor start to the Season has cost manager Ian Baraclough his job, despite the poor start they've still managed more than double the points of opponents Partick Thistle, Thistle were my pre-season tip to go down, so far they've drawn 3 lost 5 of their 8 games and only scored in one game this Season, if anyone needs a change its them, this Fir Park tie will go a long way to deciding Thistle's fait, another defeat here without a goal and they could be as good as doomed already,  Steven Craigan is back at Motherwell to temporary take charge of the club, he knows everything about the club inside out and the players will be desperate to show they're better than what we've seen so far.  Prediction:  Motherwell 2-1 Partick Thistle


St Johnstone vs Dundee Utd - The Saintees will be boosted by their moral lifting hammering of Rangers at Ibrox in the Cup on Tuesday, Tommy Wright's men showed all their attacking flair during that game, I've spoke fondly of St Johnstone as of late for their change in philosphy, they were always a hard team to score goals against but as a result never managed many goals themselves either, thats changed this Season, they're a far more open side and scored 13 losing 14 in the League so far, their record at home is pretty decent, Dundee Utd on the otherhand can't seem to buy a win, this time last Year they were sitting top of the Premiership playing some wonderful football yet this Season they're hovering over Partick Thistle in the Relegation Play-Off spot, new signing Billy Mckay will score the goals to lift them to saftey in due course but they need a big result quickly.  Prediciton:  St Johnstone 2-1 Dundee Utd

So Kay Fabe, whats your opinion of Ronny, surley out of his depth struggling in what is currently one of the easiest jobs in football, domestically anyway.

Not sure he is helped by the board, but shouldn't be an excuse really.

Nay Bother wrote:So Kay Fabe, whats your opinion of Ronny, surley out of his depth struggling in what is currently one of the easiest jobs in football, domestically anyway.

Not sure he is helped by the board, but shouldn't be an excuse really.

For me the jury is still out on Ronny Deila, I like him and his attitude but when things don't go to plan initially he tends to struggle in changing it up, to be fair he has done well domestically, he was a horrendous decision away from becoming only the 3rd ever Celtic manager to win a Treble, but in terms of Europe ge hasn't seemed to learn his lesson yet, still, he's only 39 and is still learning, his 4-2-3-1 style works against teams who attack but he's often left struggling to break teams down who sit deep and flood the midfield.

Today's game for example sums him up, Celtic were excellent in the first half but Rogic and Griffiths twice missed three glorious chances, if they scored it would have forced Hearts to open up a bit and Celtic would have had more space to exploit, they didn't though and Ronny didn't seem able to read how the game was panning out.

I wouldn't say he's out of his depth domestically, I don't think anything points at that at all, not yet anyway, if Celtic didn't win the Premiership then I think that question would become obvious but Celtic have downsized considerably in the last two years while other clubs, mainly Aberdeen and latterly Hearts have slowly and steadily rebuilt their squads, I'm personally loving the fact the Premiership is tight and competitive again, I think there's a chance that we could be headed back to the 80s in terms of teams outside of Glasgow becoming capable of seriously challenging for the Title.

I'm not Ronny Deila's biggest fan but I certainly don't think he's out of his depth and don't think there's anything to back up those kind of claims either to be honest.

Im biased, so have no real opinion on him really, was just wondering what a celtic fans opinion was.

I do find him and collins have a habit of putting their foot in it, probably does nothing but help morivate the opposition but i suspect come the end of the season Celtic will have won.

Celtic 0-0 Hearts
Att:  46,297

Dundee 3-3 Ross County (Stewart, Loy 2 - Boyce, OG, Gardyne)
Att:  5,128

Inverness C.T 2-1 Aberdeen (Storey, Christie - Taylor)
Att:  6,410

Kilmarnock 1-2 Hamilton (Kiltie - Imrie, Crawford)
Att:  3,308

Motherwell 2-1 Partick Thistle (OG, McDonald - Amoo)
Att:  3,963

St Johnstone 2-1 Dundee Utd (Cummins, Lappin - Mckay)
Att:  4,634

Nay Bother wrote:Im biased, so have no real opinion on him really, was just wondering what a celtic fans opinion was.

I do find him and collins have a habit of putting their foot in it, probably does nothing but help morivate the opposition but i suspect come the end of the season Celtic will have won.

Theres a big a section of the Celtic support who point blank refuse to criticise him at all which does my head in, everyones biased toward their own team but i genuinely think I'm quite fair and honest so if he makes mistakes I'll be thr first to say even if those who wont hear a bad word against him disagree

Kay Fabe wrote:

Nay Bother wrote:Im biased, so have no real opinion on him really, was just wondering what a celtic fans opinion was.

I do find him and collins have a habit of putting their foot in it, probably does nothing but help morivate the opposition but i suspect come the end of the season Celtic will have won.

Theres a big a section of the Celtic support who point blank refuse to criticise him at all which does my head in, everyones biased toward their own team but i genuinely think I'm quite fair and honest so if he makes mistakes I'll be thr first to say even if those who wont hear a bad word against him disagree

Well as a Rangers fan as much as i hate Aberdeen would prefer them to win league.

See Jackie Mcnamara has gone, not a surprise given the run at end of last season to now.

I think every non Celtic fan up here would rather Aberdeen won it, nothing wrong with that, the fact that people even think its an options is a good thing for our game IMO

Jackiew leaving is no surprise but if you strip him of the tools then it's no surprise he doesn't do the job, his first two years in the job were an absolute dream, the last 7 months have been torture, the quality of player he lost was irreplaceable for a team like Dundee Utd, they'd never be able to afford players of similar standard from the off, they had to buy young like Spittal & Telfer and hope to get them up tp that level

In 2 full Season's he got them to two Cup Finals, raised about £10m in transfer fees and before his Chairman sold Armstrong and Mackay-Steven on Winter deadline day they were only 5 points off Aberdeen at the top of the League.

His record since then was a nightmare thoug

Match Day 11 Results


Dundee Utd 0-1 Hearts (Juanma)
Att:  7,461

Hamilton 1-1 Dundee (Imrie - Holt)
Att: 2,862

Kilmarnock 2-0 Inverness C.T (kiltie, Magennis)
Att: 3,234

Motherwell 0-1 Celtic (Çiftçi)
Att: 8,888

Ross County 2-0 Aberdeen (Graham 2)
Att:  5,543

St Johnstone 1-2 Partick Thistle (MacLean - Miller, Lawless)
Att:  3,414

Match Day 14 Results:


Saturday


Aberdeen 2-0 Dundee Utd (Rooney; Hayes)
Att: 12,805


Dundee 1-1 Partick Thistle (Hemmings - Lindsay)
Att: 5,067


Hearts 2-0 Hamilton Accies (Bouban; Djourn)
Att:  16,121


Mothrrwell 1-3 Inverness C.T (Moult - Tansey; Story; Vigurs)
Att:  3,569


St Johnstone 2-1 Kilmarnock (O'Halloran; Kane - Smith)
Att:  3,475

Sunday


Ross County 1-4 Celtic (Dingwall - Rogic; Griffiths 2; Bitton)
Att:  6,042

Match Day 15

Celtic 0-0 Kilmarnock
Att: 42,770

Dundee Utd 1-2 St Johnstone (Mckay - Kane, Davidson)
Att: 7,020

Hamilton 1-1 Aberdeen (Imrie - McLean)
Att: 2,434

Hearts 1-1 Dundee (Djoum - Loy)
Att: 16,736

Partick Thistle 2-1 Inverness C.T (Doolan, Stevenson - Storey)
Att: 2,864

Ross County 3-0 Motherwell (Curran, Dingwall, Boyce)
Att: 3,378

Match Day 18 Results





Aberdeen 1-0 Hearts  (Rooney)
Att: 13,110



Dundee Utd 0-1 Partick Thistle (Doolan)
Att: 6,256


Hamilton Academical 1-3 Ross County (Kurtaj - Curran, Murdoch, Boyce)
Att: 2,120


Inverness C.T 2-1 Kilmarnock (Vigurs 2 - Connolly)
Att: 2,775


Motherwell 3-1 Dundee (McDonald, Moult, Pearson - Harkins)
Att: 3,512


St Johnstone 0-3 Celtic (Ciftci 2, Boyata)
Att: 6,417