Our Sports Editor gives his rundown on another thrilling season just past
Everyone at Fir Park was disappointed with the campaign because the Steelmen cut it far too close to relegation.
Stephen Robinson was welcomed in by supporters who had voiced their frustrations at Mark McGhee before he was sacked.
With 11 players already on their way out of the door, it will be a long summer for the Steelmen as they prepare for what should be an attack on the top six instead of a survival scrape. A club of Dundee’s stature should never be in the trouble they were post-split.
The departure of Paul Hartley was a timely intervention which most likely kept Dee in the top flight.
However, the fact they narrowly missed out on the play-off place will be cause for concern.
Neil McCann will have his work cut out over the summer to have them in good shape for next season’s campaign. You can pinpoint exactly where Hearts’season crumbled – the appointment of Ian Cathro.
Cathro came in with a big reputation and took over a successful Hearts side who were sitting second.
What followed was a truly disastrous run of results and a January transfer window which saw the Jambos bring in nine new faces – none of which particularly impressed.
Finishing fifth was a disaster for Hearts. What a job Jim McIntyre continues to do up in Dingwall. Under pressure back in March after a poor run of results, the former Queen of the South manager pulled off a run of results which saw County finish on the same number of points as Hearts in fifth.
The Staggies should be aiming for survival every year and they were well clear of danger going into the split.
They will be looking for more of the same next term. After a nervy play-off victory over Dundee United, Hamilton achieved exactly what they wanted from this season – top-flight safety.
For that reason alone, Martin Canning’s side get pass marks but it was by no means a superb season for Accies.
They can be hard to watch at times and without a true goalscorer up front, they fail to cause teams enough problems.
But once again, they stay in the division and that should be commended. A shoestring budget, a young squad and an extremely competitive league.
Three factors which would have worried Partick Thistle fans at the start of the season were no barrier for Alan Archibald as he guided the Jags to their first top-half finish since the split was introduced.
A tremendous job by the Thistle manager and if it wasn’t for Brendan Rodgers’ rip-roaring success at Celtic Park, he may well have won manager of the year. In all honesty, this grade goes mostly to the work Lee McCulloch has done at Rugby Park.
After the shock departure of Lee Clark in February, McCulloch took over on an interim basis and had the task of keeping Killie in the top flight.
Inheriting a team who dodged relegation through a play-off last year, it meant it was a tough job but McCulloch steadied the ship and Kilmarnock were well clear of the drop.