There’s no debate about the game of the weekend in the Championship.
It’s the top of the table clash in Kirkcaldy.
Arbroath still have Raith to play, so I can’t speak with too much authority about their strengths and weaknesses.
I do see a strong one to 11 when I look at their team, though.
Getting Shaun Byrne from Dundee – when most of the league wanted him – was a real statement.
Having said that, though, United comfortably beat a Queen’s Park side I was impressed with when we faced them.
We didn’t test United on day one but the spine of their team is very strong.
I’m intrigued to see what Jim Goodwin does now that Tony Watt is amongst the goals.
Louis Moult grabbed all the headlines in the first couple of months but Tony has got the same sort of pedigree and is at his best in and around the box.
Ready for some Sunday afternoon goals, Arabs ⚽️
🧡 Let's start off with one that meant the world to @32Watto#UTDQPK | #cinchChamp | #DUFC pic.twitter.com/iNWveoZbIP
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) October 1, 2023
Jim won’t risk Louis if he’s not 100% fit, particularly now that he’s seen Tony do such a great job against Queen’s Park in the number nine role.
But in the long-term I see absolutely no reason why the two of them can’t work as a partnership.
Neither is the quickest but top strikers find a way of working well together.
Put it this way, the deeper Tony Watt is the happier I’d be as an opposition manager.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t prevent the new manager bounce at Gayfield on Saturday.
Duncan Ferguson got Inverness up and running with a 3-2 win over us.
From their point of view it will be all about whether that was a one-off or they can now put together a run of results.
The Duncan Ferguson Effect. pic.twitter.com/W2MhaaqUZ0
— Daniel Hutcheson 🏴 (@DanielHutch7399) September 30, 2023
For Arbroath, it’s about getting back to winning ways at East End Park.
We gave ourselves a mountain to climb by falling three goals behind.
But the big positive for me was the response.
That wouldn’t have happened last season and Caley Thistle were hanging on by the end.
It’s never nice seeing a manager lose his job but Michael Beale’s departure from Ibrox felt inevitable in the end.
You could tell after the last game against Celtic that it was a matter of time.
I always thought he had a bit too much to say in his press conferences and, ultimately, he hasn’t backed that up.
I’m sure he’ll pick up a job in the English Championship again but it will be interesting to see which direction Rangers go in for his replacement.
There’s no obvious candidate.
And, more importantly, the new man won’t be inheriting a strong squad.
Above everything else, it was Beale’s summer signings that have led to him being sacked.
Now that the loan deadline has passed it will be a case of picking up free agents if managers want to strengthen their squads before January.
There are still some big names out there.
Peter Pawlett is one and David Wotherspoon another.
A lack of match fitness is the obvious thing going against them but surely it won’t be too long before they find new clubs.
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