Why the Scottish Championship is the league to be following

We all know that the SPL is a foregone conclusion.

Since the season of 2011-12 and the rightful demotion of Glasgow Rangers to the lowest tier of Scottish football, Celtic have maintained a stranglehold on the Scottish game. The only potential fireworks had been extinguished.

It has taken time for Rangers to recover, it would any in such a crippling scandal. To their credit, three promotions in four years saw their return to the big time, but they don’t look the finished product. The raw reality is that the Parkhead champions remain unchallenged.

Aberdeen looked like hopefuls last campaign before inevitably falling away as the pressure built. Hearts of Midlothian again sit proudly in the upper echelons of the SPL, without seeming a serious contender.

The thing is, due to the stark bridge in class, Celtic get away with murder. Their performance at the weekend against a mediocre Dundee side had not the grace of returning champions. But they won again by a single goal, grinding out another result against a team that so recently were in the doldrums.

The Championship this season however Is anyone’s game.

For the last two years it has been dominated by teams that were only there due to difficulties off the pitch. In 2014-15, Hearts ransacked the division. Clearly in the wrong tier for a team of such stature, hence their immediate return to third in the Premier Division the year after.

In 2015-16, Rangers found their stride. The were gallantly pushed by Hibernian initially, before storming back up to the grounds of their former glories.

This year, by just October it has opened up. A Neil Lennon led Hibs were the bookies’ favourites, expectant to return to the big time. A capital club slumming it in the lower leagues for any longer understandably seems outrageous.

Yet after eight games, it has become clear that the Edinburgh side continue to stutter. Dundee United’s entrance to the league appeared formidable on paper, but those who follow Scottish football will understand that they are a wounded outfit.

Blame the now York City manager Jackie McNamara? I would, but that may be a personal vendetta.

Strikingly at the weekend, four of the five fixtures in the Scottish Championship finished in draws (the exception being bottom-half Morton defeating top-half Raith Rovers).

As it stands, Queen of the South sit atop the table. An upset of biblical proportions one might say.

Hibernian cannot close out games. The new boys Dundee United are rooted mid-table with just three wins to their name. Falkirk are last year’s playoff casualties, who languish four points off the pace already.

What to expect next?

For me, the lack of clarity on what is to come overpowers their prosperous rivals of the SPL. It gives the league an unrelenting attraction.