The second half of the fan perspective on their respective clubs! You can find Part 1 here …
Kilmarnock (by Kyle Brown)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? At the time of writing we are sitting 11th, but also only six points off 5th. It’s disappointing we are as low as we are, but I don’t think the table is necessarily reflective of how we have played in some games. We have had a habit of turning wins into draws and draws into hard luck defeats. I was tempted to actually score the season higher due to the fact that we got three European ties and handled ourselves well in those games. But sadly we are toiling in the league and we suffered early defeat in both domestic cups. 5/10
Star players/ flops We haven’t really had any out and out star players. Some players like Brad Lyons and Lewis Mayo have been consistently pretty good. Bobby Wales has come into the team and done well. Delighted for him. The flops are for sure both of the goalkeepers. Neither O’Hara or McCrorie have really staked a claim for the number one or even had a consistent run of games in the team. I was hoping McCrorie had turned a corner only for him to sadly fracture a bone in his face at Parkhead.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? I am surprised by just how poor defensively some of the goals we have leaked in are. We were solid defensively last year and Derek McInnes is known for having solid foundations so it is both a shock and source of extreme frustration. You do have to perhaps look at the goalkeeper position but I also think some of our defenders really haven’t hit the heights of last season.
Best/ worst away fans? Tough one and no doubt you are going to get pelters whoever you choose. I felt Dundee have brought a decent support to Rugby Park the last few years; shoutout to all the Aberdeen fans who made a horrific journey to us on Boxing Day only to watch their team get pumped 4-0. L’s in the chat that day for both Aberdeen and whoever makes the fixtures as that’s a nightmare for an away fan.
Worst – I was shocked at how little fans, home and away, Copenhagen brought to the games. They just didn’t seem to care about playing Kilmarnock in the Conference League less than a year after beating Man Utd and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. I wonder why!
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? Jack Burroughs and Oli Bainbridge were both recalled by Coventry and Sunderland, respectively. They weren’t really playing much so it is no great loss. Bainbridge did play in the win away to Tromso though! Our only new signing has been Calvin Ramsay on loan from Liverpool. He was hooked at half time at Tynecastle sadly on his debut. I am hoping he gives us something new and it is a great move for both us and the Scotland-capped youngster.
One player you would take from another Premiership side? Kuhn from Celtic. Any Celtic player really to be honest. Anyone that can finish. From a non Old Firm perspective, I have always liked the creativity of Yan Dhanda. I get he is a flair player and probably will flatter to deceive in some games, but I have felt we could have used a player like him over the last three seasons.
Motherwell ( by Callum Hart, Journalist for SPFL News Now)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? I think the season has been fairly underwhelming. Although the league table looks good on paper, watching the games is no where near as enjoyable as you would want to see from a team sitting 5th in the league. The standard and tactical choices mean we haven’t been as successful as I believe we could’ve been. I’m glad Kettlewell has stepped down (I’m not happy with the reasons behind it) I feel that with the right choice of manager, the team can finish the season strongly. 5/10
Star players/ flops Lennon Miller has been a standout, massively impressive from a player of his age. Stephen O’Donnell and Tony Watt have failed to impress me this season.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? Kettlewell stepping down has to be the biggest shock, I thought there was no way he would be sacked or ever step down. As I mentioned I’m not happy with the reasoning behind him leaving. However, I feel it will be better for the club.
Best/ worst away fans? Best – Celtic. Just generally the loudest, don’t stop making noise. Worst – Ross County (although to be fair the long trip makes up for the poor support)
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? I think the club have made signings in positions that needed improvement. I’m reserved with my opinion if the players as I haven’t seen anything from a few of them as they have came from down south. I’d like us to sign a number 10 as I feel we could use more creativity in the midfield.
One player you would take from another Premiership side? I would have Hamza Igamane, I think he is the leagues best striker. We need someone that can come in and score goals and I think he does that very well.
Rangers (by Daniel)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? The season has not been good enough especially away form and against teams that we should be beating but the most annoying part is we beat the teams like Celtic but can’t beat St Mirren Motherwell or hibs and when we win one game we drop points the next. Just a lack of consistency. 4/10
Star players/ flops The stars are Hamza Igamane, Nico Raskin, Jefte and Vaclav Cerny. Flops are Rabbi Matondo and Oscar Cortes.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? The biggest surprise of the season is beating Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox after the game leading up to it
Best/ worst away fans? Best – Aberdeen. No worst.
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? I would say they haven’t done very well bringing in players as of only brought in one player and that is one player but another hand getting rid of players that haven’t been playing and reducing the wage bill I would say it’s been average.
One player you would take from another Premiership side? I would take Lennon Miller from Motherwell because I think he reads the game well also he is still very young so he could improve massively and could be an asset for further down the years and he always come composed and good around player
Ross County (by Peter Mackay, Journalist)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it?
I think we’ve had a decent season so far. Definitely an improvement on last year, and things feel much more secure with Don Cowie at the wheel. I hope that we can continue our recent run of good form and hopefully we can push up towards the top six and stay clear of a relegation battle. The aim however is to just avoid another playoff. 7/10
Star players/ flops Our star player is Akil Wright. A real aggressive centre-half who is great on the ball. He does the dirty work but is an absolute athlete and can also break into midfield and make runs and nice passes. Michee Efete has been disappointing since extending his deal. He struggles as a wing-back often.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? The biggest surprise this season has been the impact our youth players have had on the first team. Andrew Macleod, George Robesten and Dylan Smith all spent the first half of the season out on loan but remained training with the club each day. They have improved so much that they are now fully fledged first team members and look the part. They have done so well they have even dislodged some first team members like Victor Loturi and Eamonn Brophy who have now left the club, as a result, it would seem. The remainder of the season could see lots of game time for the trio.
Best/ worst away fans? Dundee United fans brought great numbers and were vocal all game, but Rangers are the loudest fans who’ve been in Dingwall this season. Aberdeen fans seems to enjoy invading the pitch in Dingwall, which is frustrating as a home fan.
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? We’ve added some real quality in this window, as well as offloading some players who were lacking game time. The balance of the squad is much better now. We could do with a winger as an option, and from a greedy stance, an improved right wing-back would probably complete our squad.
One player you would take from another Premiership side? I would sign Ryan Strain from Dundee United as he would fit our system well, and would give us much needed attacking quality down the right while being equally solid defensively.
St Johnstone (by Jock Watt)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? Basically what was expected following the past few seasons but didn’t think we would be nine points adrift at the bottom of the table so very disappointing in that respect. That said if we have a good month there is no reason the others won’t be within catching distance. 3/10
Star players/ flops Sprangler is the standout performer when he has played. He won’t be within us long if he continues in the same vein. Goalkeeper and the defence have been abject all season. It’s good to see Simo is bringing new signings.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? Makenzie Kirk and Bozo Mikulic, performing better than expected.
Best/ worst away fans? No idea – live in England and watch from afar unfortunately.
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? Shoring up the back and Simo appears to be doing this so we will wait and see
One player you would take from another Premiership side? Callum McGregor – for the experience and engine in midfield
St Mirren (by Adam McLardie, Journalist)
How do you feel about the season so far and what do you expect from the rest of it? In my opinion St. Mirren’s season so far has been very up and down. This is due to a number of factors including a lot of off field issues at the start of the season. I believe that the teams placed 3rd and 10th can finish anywhere and anyone can beat anyone resulting in St. Mirren’s form is to win a number then go on a losing run. Our Achilles heel at the start of the season was set pieces and now it seems to be penalties and also defensive injuries. My ambition for the rest of the season is to kick on and get a winning run before the split but it will be tight until the very end. 6/10
Star players/ flops St. Mirren’s star player so far this season, i’m going with summer signing Killian Phillips. Killian is my player of the season as he has a great engine in the midfield with either Mark O’Hara or Caolan Boyd-Munce. My flop has been Alex Gogic as he has made too many errors leading to goals and hasn’t been his usual high standards he set last season.
Biggest surprise of the season so far? The biggest surprise for me is the lack of game time that midfielder Dennis Adernerin has been getting since coming in during the summer. I thought he looked quite good when he first came in but despite this he has only been given 239 minutes in the league this season.
Best/ worst away fans? The best fans to come to the SMISA Stadium this season was probably Kilmarnock as they always sell out their allocation and it is normally a good game between the two sides. The worst fans to come to Paisley are probably Ross County as it was a cold November afternoon in a very boring game.
How has your club done in the January window and they need before it closes? St. Mirren wasted no time at all at the start of the January window bringing in Owen Oseni from National League side Gateshead and bringing back goalkeeper Zach Hemming from Middlesborough to replace the outgoing Ellery Balcombe who returned to Brentford then weeks later returned north of the border to join Motherwell. In my opinion St. Mirren should be looking to bring in another centre back or two before the window slams shut due to Alex Iacoviti injury and Charles Dunne leaving again.
One player you would take from another Premiership side? If I could take a player from any premiership club would be Leon King from Rangers. He seems to be out of favour with Philippe Clement and has had a bad injury record. If he was to come in he would provide good competition to Richard Taylor and Alex Iacoviti.