The runners and riders in battle to avoid relegation
Who has what it takes to stay in top- flight and which clubs are in danger of the drop?
WE are just beyond the halfway stage of the 2022/ 23 cinch Premiership season and the fight for survival is heating up. Only three points separate the bottom four as we gear up for the business end of the campaign, while St Johnstone are doing their utmost to flirt with relegation as a poor run of form has seen the Perth outfit veer dangerously close to the drop- zone.
Here, Herald and Times Sport runs the rule over the five clubs in danger of losing their top- flight status.
ROSS COUNTY
What a difference a year can make. Last season’s sixth- place finish feels so very distant now for Malky Mackay’s side. The Staggies narrowly missed out on a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League but now they find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table and without a win in seven.
In Saturday’s 1- 1 draw against fellow strugglers Motherwell at Fir Park, Mackay’s men looked organised and they created enough chances going forward to win the game, only to be let down by their profligacy in front of goal. They were resolute enough at the back but often found that their killer touch deserted them just as it mattered most.
Herein lies the problem for County. They are the lowest scorers in the Premiership with 15 goals registered thus far and it is not entirely clear where they will be coming from going forward. Jordan
White, County’s top scorer with four Premiership goals, is usually deployed as a target man and is not a natural goal scorer. The other forwards to have found the net – Jordy Hiwula, Owura Edwards and William Akio – have just four goals between them in the league this term.
It should be an area of grave concern to the Dingwall side, and Mackay may well have to turn to the transfer market this month in order to address it. County need a reliable goal- scorer – and soon – if they are to start climbing the table.
KILMARNOCK
Survival was always going to be the name of the game for Kilmarnock this year. The Ayrshire club’s relegation in 2021 brought an end to 28 consecutive seasons of top- flight football. After bouncing back at the first time of asking, Derek McInnes’s side find themselves right in the midst of it at the foot of the table.
It isn’t difficult to pinpoint why Killie find themselves in danger of the drop. At Rugby Park they have shown they can be a match for just about anyone -- Celtic and Livingston are the only visiting sides to have won at Kilmarnock this season -- and the second- tier champions accrue a respectable 1.8 points- per- game on their own turf.
Away from home, it’s a different story. McInnes’ men have picked up just two points on the road this season, the lowest of any Premiership team, and they are the only side not to register a single away win in the league. They are averaging 0.18 points per game when on their travels and have scored just four goals away from Rugby Park.
It seems unreasonable to expect a dramatic change here. A few more points picked up on the road would not go amiss but it is likely to be Kilmarnock’s home form that seals their fate. If they continue to accrue points at the same rate, Killie will finish the season with around 34 points, which should be enough to avoid 12th – not since Inverness in 2017 has a team picked up the same tally and still finished bottom of the pile.
DUNDEE UNITED
The start of the campaign was disastrous for Dundee United. Heavy defeats to AZ and Celtic put an end to Jack Ross’s stint at Tannadice before the former Hibs manager could really get going and it wasn’t long before assistant Liam Fox was given the gig.
There was no immediate upturn in form under the former Cowdenbeath manager’s watch, but wins over Aberdeen and Hibernian early on in Fox’s tenure provided grounds for cautious optimism on Tayside.
Since the Premiership returned from its World Cup hiatus, though, United have performed fairly well and have started inching clear of the
battle at the bottom. In their five games since the restart they have registered wins over relegation rivals Kilmarnock and County, taken points off Hearts and Hibs, and suffered a solitary loss to Rangers.
This upturn in form has arrived not a moment too soon. For a squad littered with talented players, United have often been less than the sum of their parts this term.
Under Fox, though, the team seems be becoming more coherent and cohesive with each passing week and they are currently the form side in the bottom five. If they can continue in a similar vein, they should have enough about them to beat the drop.
MOTHERWELL
Steven Hammell’s side are another who haven’t come close to replicating last season’s form. The campaign started poorly with a humiliating elimination from the Europa Conference League at the hands of Sligo Rovers – a result that ultimately cost previous manager Graham Alexander his job – and things have gotten worse from there.
Motherwell got points on the board fairly early on in Hammell’s reign but results have been hard to come by ever since. Since September, just two wins have been recorded in the league, the Steelmen are without a victory at home and have picked up only three points at Fir Park out of the last 24 available.
The return to action after the Qatar World Cup has not been kind to Motherwell. Before the break, they were largely playing well but
Mackay may have to turn to the transfer market this month in order to address it. County need a reliable goalscorer – and soon
struggling to marry up performances and results. Since the restart, they now do – but only because the team’s displays have nosedived.
Well need to halt their malaise – and fast. Further reinforcements in the shape of defender Shane Blaney, winger Oli Crankshaw and striker Mikael Mandron will need to hit the ground running. Dreadful home form with a middling away record is a perfect recipe for disaster – and could bring a close to Motherwell’s 37- year stay in the top flight.
ST JOHNSTONE
If Motherwell’s recent form is poor, then St Johnstone’s can only be described as atrocious. A 2- 1 win over County after the World Cup break offered some encouragement but things have fallen off a cliff since – both on and off the park.
The mood music around
McDiarmid Park has taken a sinister tone of late. Five straight defeats have understandably fed supporter resentment but so too have the club board, with Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie the subject of a boycott from disgruntled fans, who are unhappy with Saints’ decision to allocate three stands to the visitors and charge high ticket prices in the home end.
Callum Davidson will be hoping this is little more than a blip and history is on the manager’s side. They have tended to blow hot and cold during his reign and despite the dreadful run they are on, they remain seven points clear of safety. They should have enough quality to reverse their fortunes and they have an experienced core to their squad that should possess the know- how to get out of their current predicament – but it still seems a little early to decree them safe from relegation.