The League this season

[Jones28]

Has it ever been as tight as this? It’s ludicrous.

A real advert for Scottish football imo.

[The Modfather]

A race to the bottom. Every season the quality across the league goes down.

[Hibspur]

Has it ever been as tight as this? It’s ludicrous.

A real advert for Scottish football imo.

What's really ludicrous is the 31 point gap between first and third, almost triple the gap between 3rd and 11th.

If the league comprised only the clubs from 3rd to 12th you could argue it was competitive but the reality is there's zero competition. One team light years ahead of the rest in terms of finances and personnel, followed by a mass of mediocrity. That's what the league table advertises.

[danhibees1875]

Quite something that despite a tremendous run of form we're only 6 points off relegation playoffs... 5 points off 3rd though - putting us right in the middle of this incredibly tight league.

[He's here!]

Has it ever been as tight as this? It’s ludicrous.

A real advert for Scottish football imo.

The fact that the team in third has taken 6 points from 45 isn't much of an advert for the Scottish game.

[Callum_62]

Surely a league this tight only shows the high quality of the league

Anyone can take points from anyone





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[Unseen work]

Ridiculous Aberdeen went 14/15 games without winning and are still third

[CentreLine]

Ridiculous Aberdeen went 14/15 games without winning and are still third

It shows the incredible advantage of getting off to a great start. They may have nearly tossed it away but that start they got gave them a gold standard safety net. We, Hibernian FC, need to learn from that, get our business done early and give ourselves the best chance to hit the ground running year on year. This, fannying about, using league cup and early haves like a pre-season has to stop.

[Hibspur]

Surely a league this tight only shows the high quality of the league

Anyone can take points from anyone





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A tight league doesn't necessarily mean high quality. It can mean the opposite.

And it's not really a tight league is it? Only one team can win it, and they're out of sight at the top.

[Callum_62]

A tight league doesn't necessarily mean high quality. It can mean the opposite.

And it's not really a tight league is it? Only one team can win it, and they're out of sight at the top.I'd say 9 of the 12 teams can still finish anywhere

As a percentage (75%) it's probably one of the closest leagues worldwide

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[TrinityHFC]

It shows the incredible advantage of getting off to a great start. They may have nearly tossed it away but that start they got gave them a gold standard safety net. We, Hibernian FC, need to learn from that, get our business done early and give ourselves the best chance to hit the ground running year on year. This, fannying about, using league cup and early haves like a pre-season has to stop.

Their start was one of those things that just happens now and again and they weren’t able to sustain it. Not sure it is as lesson in anything - if anything it shows that longer term getting the right players in and the right preparation for the duration of the season is also important.

[HarpOnHibee]

One team wins the league every season. One team finishes 2nd every season as it desperately scrambles for relevance. 3rd-12th would be a great advert without those two, but very few beyond our borders could name who any of those remaining 10 clubs are in the league.

[B.H.F.C]

I reckon it’s going to be one of the lowest points totals needed for 3rd place this season.

On the flip side, the playoff place is going to be a higher than normal total needed to avoid it. 11th has been 34 or 35 points over the last few seasons. This year Dundee are in 11th on 27 points with 12 to play.

The difference a win or two can make to your league position is mental.

[Bobby's Cinema]

The gap from 1st to third is ridiculous and an awful advert for our league.

Exciting for all the clubs involved though from 3rd down.

[Eyrie]

It's not a high quality league but it's certainly competitive which makes it far more interesting than being able to predict most of the results at the start of the season.

[Pretty Boy]

The quality of the league has declined big time down the years. It's very competitive for the prize(s) on offer for 'the rest' though which keeps it entertaining.

[we are hibs]

The quality of the league has declined big time down the years. It's very competitive for the prize(s) on offer for 'the rest' though which keeps it entertaining.

It absolutely has. Especially compared to about 20 years ago. The Hibs and Hearts teams of around 2004-2006 would pump the current teams.

Even our first season back up in 17/18 it felt like the standard of the league was higher. Hibs ended up with 67 points and finished 4th.



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[jakedance]

Certainly been interesting. Incredibly really that Aberdeen have been on the run they’ve been on and they’re 3rd, and we’ve been on our run and are only 6 points off a play off. We’re still in a relegation fight and the race to be third at the same time. It’s anyone’s guess where we finish.

[HarpOnHibee]

It absolutely has. Especially compared to about 20 years ago. The Hibs and Hearts teams of around 2004-2006 would pump the current teams.

Wouldn't be so sure of that. We certainly played a more entertaining style of football on our day, but we were quite inconsistent and far too easy to beat when the team just didn't turn up. The current team are harder to beat IMO but that comes at the cost of style.

[Onion]

Quality amoung the top supported clubs (3-12) has plummeted. Winning 3rd / 4th place used to be a platform for Scottish smaller clubs to enjoy playing exciting European matches. Now it's an invitation to overspend while trying to play twice a week, while getting horsed by clubs you've barely heard of. It's no great prize.

[Hibernia&Alba]

One team wins the league every season. One team finishes 2nd every season as it desperately scrambles for relevance. 3rd-12th would be a great advert without those two, but very few beyond our borders could name who any of those remaining 10 clubs are in the league.

True, it would be exciting but for the fact it makes no difference at all as to who will win the league. It’s a competition within a competition. The other ten teams want to finish as high in the table as possible, avoiding getting dragged into the relegation battle.

[nickwhibs]

I’m quite enjoying the league this year. The old firm can take care of themselves. Other than that anyone can beat anyone.

[.Sean.]

Keep hearing how everyone outside The Old Firm are of a far worse quality than they were 10,15, 20 years ago. Is that really the case? By and large nobody was getting any further in Europe back then, one of either Celtic or Rangers were usually 15/20 points at least ahead of the team in 3rd and I certainly can’t remember being mesmerised watching a team full of standouts from the likes of Motherwell, Dundee or Kilmarnock between 2000 - 2015

[DH1875]

Scottish football is garbage. If I wasn't a Hibs fan I wouldn't be interested. That today was honking.

[NAE NOOKIE]

The league is indeed mental and yes folk can bang on about a lack of quality, but the fact is every game has something riding on it and what more can you ask from a league than that?

If folk are hoping for silky continental 'soccer' they are going to have a long wait. The trouble with our fitba is that we simply can't help comparing it to the EPL, even subconsciously, because the bloody thing is rammed down our throats 24/7.
I spent a season a few years back watching the Dutch top flight on telly, nobody would claim our standard is anywhere near that, but it was bloody tedious to watch. I watched St Pauli v Union Berlin on the telly a few weeks ago and the game was brutal.

Yes folk can point to a two team duopoly .... but there is barely a league in Europe's top 20 where two of it's clubs have such a financial advantage over the rest and in the ones where they do the outcome is barely any different from Scotland. Check out who has won the Dutch, German, Spanish and even English top leagues in the last 20 years ..... Yes it's maybe more than just two clubs, but a few outliers aside it's the usual suspects from a handful of clubs time after time after time. OK in the EPL most teams are capable of a win against even the top clubs from time to time, but look at the list of winners since it started ... take out Leicester and Blackburn, who spent what was a fortune at the time, and it's the big spenders every time.

The way I look at our league is this. Celtic and Rangers don't exist apart from picking up the odd bonus point by getting a draw against them or catching them on a rare off day and winning one out of 20. The real league is between 12th and 3rd and if you look at it that way it's hell of a competitive :greengrin

[JohnM1875]

So exciting this year with pretty much every team bar the Huns and St Johnstone something to play for.

Have to admit, I hate playing the same teams four times a season though! Well, I hate it when we're in the bottom six, class when it's top six and going for Europe.

[NC1875]

Surely a league this tight only shows the high quality of the league

Anyone can take points from anyone





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Having watched a bit of the Hearts b Huns game earlier and St Mirren v both Hibs and Hearts this week. I’d say the league is anything but high quality

[He's here!]

Top four teams in the women's league all on 51 points after this weekend's fixtures. That's what you call competitive!

[DH1875]

Only seems half as exciting because finishing 6th is now seen as some sort of success by most of the teams in the league. Hibs finishing 6th is not a good yet alone successful season in my opinion.

[Jdawg]

Scottish football is garbage. If I wasn't a Hibs fan I wouldn't be interested. That today was honking.

100% agree. I was bored stiff watching that. A game of punts up the park to Boyle and Gayle for us and them trying to force a goal playing two big battering rams up top. A game devoid of any quality. Shocking.