The transfer window has closed, teams have finalised all transfer business and are now ready to make a push in the premiership, here are my final gradings of every team's business.
Italics = loan in/loan out
Aberdeen - A
In - Christian Ramirez, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Gary Woods, Marley Watkins, David Bates, Scott Brown, Declan Gallagher, Teddy Jenks, Austin Samuels, Matty Longstaff & Ronald Ramirez
Out - Greg Leigh, Ash Taylor, Tommie Hoban, Shay Logan, Bruce Anderson, Ethan Ross, Miko Virtanen
Stephen Glass’s first transfer window in charge of The Dons was a success, managing to keep hold of valuable players.
The arrival of Motherwell captain and Scottish international Declan Gallagher is one of their top pieces of business, picking up a league rivals key player on a pre-contract is excellent stuff. They also picked up another league rivals captain on a pre-contract, Scott Brown’s departure from Celtic was imminent, he wasn’t playing as often under Neil Lennon and the team was going through a torrid time, now he is the captain in a strong Aberdeen team looking to split the old firm.
Christian Ramirez is another great piece of work, the 30 year old arrived for a measly £205,000 and has picked up five goals in eleven games so far.
With no remarkable outgoings, I can confidently say Aberdeen have one of the best windows in the league.
Celtic - B
In - Kyogo Furuhashi, Carl Starfelt, Liel Abada, Josip Juranovic, Georgios Giakoumakis, Joe Hart, Liam Scales, Liam Shaw, Osaze Urhoghide, James McCarthy, Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers
Out - Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer, Vakoun Issouf Bayo, Jack Hendry, Olivier Ntcham, Scott Brown, Maryan Shved, Jonathan Afolabi, Leigh Griffiths, Ryan Christie, Ross Doohan, Scott Robertson & Leo Fuhr Hjelde.
12 new signings emphatically marked Ange Postecoglu’s footprint in Glasgow, but it wasn’t enough.
We all knew certain people were leaving, the likes of Brown, Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and more already had one foot out of the door when the 2020/21 season finished and it was a matter of replacing them, and then some, for Celtic.
A big problem with the Celtic squad last year was good quality off the bench, and Dom McKay failed to improve upon that, first team stars such as Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada and Joe Hart have already proved themselves after a small amount of game time but the rotation underneath them isn’t the greatest, beneath the centre halves of Starfelt and Welsh, you have an injured Jullien, an unproven Osaze Urhoghide, loanee Carter-Vickers and a couple, Salmonella-giving raw talents.
Overall, the goal of depth was not achieved, yes the team brought in good players but the bench still looks shaky.
Dundee - C
In - Ryan Sweeney, Cillian Sheridan, Luke McCowan, Paul McMullin, Ian Lawlor, Corey Panter & Leigh Griffiths
Out - Osman Sow, Calum Ferrie, Jack Hamilton, Michael Cunningham, Sam Fisher & Luke Strachan
Championship playoff winners Dundee matched their outgoings with some premiership quality signings.
The departure of striker Osman Sow is one of their biggest outgoings, Sow contributed to 15 goals in 28 games in his lone season at the club, he is now playing in Thailand for Sukhothai FC.
In terms of players coming in, the controversial Leigh Griffiths returns to Dundee on loan from Celtic, in his first stint at the club he scored 33 goals and assisted 16 in 62 games as he helped the team win the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2009/10.
The playoff winners have started the season off poorly sitting on two points after four games and a 6-0 smashing of Celtic, The Dee still have plenty of time to turn things around.
Dundee United - B
In - Charlie Mulgrew, Scott McMann, Trevor Carson, Marc McNulty, Dylan Levitt & Ilmari Niskanen
Out - Lawrence Shankland, Paul McMullan, Adam King, Dillon Powers, Jake Davidson, Ross Graham, Jamie Robson, Deniz Mehmet & Kai Fotheringham
Moving a couple hundred meters down the road to Dundee United, now in their second season back in Scotland’s top flight, The Tangerines are looking to improve on last seasons 9th place.
Last season was a poor one for striker Lawrence Shankland, after shining in the Championship, scoring 24 goals, he only scored eight in the premiership last season, now he has his sights set on the Belgian league after being sold for £1 million to Beerschot.
A few decent-sized names coming in, Charlie Mulgrew returns to the Scottish game after a stint in England for Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Fleetwood Town. Mulgrew adds experience to the Dundee United back line.
The additions of Trevor Carson and Scott McMann add good rotation to the Dundee United side, who are aiming for the top half of the split.
Heart of Midlothian - A-
In - Josh Ginnelly, Ross Stewart, Beni Baningime, Alex Chochrane, Ben Woodburn, Taylor Moore, Harry Stone & Mihai Popescu
Out - Christophe Berra, Aidy White, Andy Irving, Craig Wighton, Harry Cochrane, Colin Doyle, Lewis Moore, Olly Kee, Loic Damour, Elliott Frear, Jordan Roberts, Mihai Popescu, Harry Stone. Scott McGill, Zdenek Zlamal & Steven Naismith
Championship champions Heart of Midlothian have retained good players whilst adding much needed quality.
Josh Ginnelly returns to the Jambos from Preston on a free, being one of their best players on his day last season.
Beni Baningime and Ben Woodburn come in from both sides of Liverpool, Baningime comes in from Everton and Woodburn on loan from Liverpool. Two very good signings from Hearts here, Baningime has already played for Hearts this season and has stood out on every occasion.
Hearts are looking very strong right now and have a good chance of cracking the top six with their excellent business and strong crop of players.
Hibernian - C+
In - Daniel MacKay, Jamie Murphy, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Chris Mueller, Nathan Wood, David Mitchell, Dylan Tait & James Scott
Out - Stevie Mallan, Ofir Marciano, Stephen McGinn, Fraser Murray, Jackson Irvine, Tom James, Dylan Tait, Ryan Shanley & David Gray.
Hibs have basically stayed the same this season, they have matched their departures with strong players including the likes of Jamie Murphy from Rangers, Chris Mueller from Orlando City and Daniel Mackay from Inverness.
The one setback this team had in the window was letting go of Ofir Marciano, who left for Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie. They have failed to bring in a competent replacement for him, or even a competent backup, and now will have ex-Arsenal youth keeper Matt Macey in goals, who has conceded ten goals in nine games.
Two huge successes in this window though, retaining Ryan Porteous and Kevin Nisbet after rejecting bids for them back in January, with the two being integral in their setup, they look onto splitting the Old Firm.
Livingston - D
In - Cristian Montano, James Penrice, Sean Kelly, Ayo Obileye, Tom Parkes, Bruce Anderson, Andrew Shinnie, Harry Panayiootu, Stephane Omeonga, Adam Lewis, Odin Bailey, Daniel Barden, Harrison Clark & Jon Nouble.
Out - Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Jon Guthrie, Ross Stewart, Alan Lithgow, Scott Robinson, Scott Tiffoney, Salim Kouider-Aissa, Matej Poplatnik, Carlo Pignatiello, Josh Mullin, Gavin Reilly, Harrison Clark, Jon Nouble, Efe Ambrose, Steve Lawson & Rafa De Vita.
A bunch of departures from David Martindale’s side this season, players who were huge in their success last season, which saw them reach a cup final and a long unbeaten run.
Players such like Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Scott Robinson and Scott Tiffoney played big roles in the Livingston team last season, and now they have all moved onto bigger things.
Livingston do seem destined for the drop, four losses from four in the Premiership this season only two goals scored. They should have done more before the window closed but, unfortunately, they couldn’t, and last season's success will not be replicated.
Motherwell - C-
In - Sean Goss, Kaiyne Woolery, Kevin van Veen, Connor Shields, Darragh O’Connor, Jordan Roberts, Liam Kelly, Callum Slattery, Juhani Ojala, Sondre Johnasen, Justin Amaluzor & Mich’el Parker.
Out - Charles Dunne, Sam Foley, Chris Long, Liam Polworth, Devante Cole, Declan Gallagher, Aaron Chapman, Jamie Semple, Allan Campbell, Trevor Carson, Max Johnston, Harry Robinson & Sherwin Seedorf.
Motherwell have lost key players in recent years, last season saw David Turnbull move to Celtic and now key players such as Allan Campbell and Declan Gallagher have now left The Well and they proved to be difficult to replace, two guaranteed starters in that team and they left, for nothing.
In terms of ins, Jordan Roberts from Hearts is a great inclusion, he was there on loan last season and played well. He is only in on a six month loan but fans of Motherwell will hope they can get him on a pre-contract when that time comes.
Sean Goss, Kevin van Veen, Sondre Johansen and plenty more ins provide good depth for the Well as they look to amount pressure on teams around them to get out of a relegation battle.
Rangers - C
In - Fashion Sakala, Nnamdi Ofoborh, John Lundstram & Juninho Bacuna
Out - George Edmundson, Jamie Murphy, Jamie Barjonas, Nikola Katic, Glenn Middleton, Jake Hastie, Jordan Jones, Cedric Itten, Bongani Zungu & Greg Stewart
The SPL’s reigning champions haven’t really strengthened in a quest for more silverware.
You would think that with the money winning the league gets you and the money from the deep European run this team went on, you would get some more players in to win more trophies and improve on your standing in Europe? Nope, not the case here. Rangers signed only four players, one with a ‘red flag’ on a heart scan.
Yes, Rangers have a great team, great players all over the park and fair play to them on retaining the likes of Kent and Morelos but the team clearly isn’t enough to win cups, being put out to St Mirren and St Johnston last season.
There is no remarkable outings from Ibrox, which is their biggest achievement of the summer, much like Hibs.
Ross County - C
In - Ben Paton, Dominic Samuel, Ross Callachan, David Cancola, Alex Samuel, Joseph Hungbo, Alex Robertson, Harry Clarke, Ashley Maynard-Brewer, Jack Baldwin & Jack Burroughs,
Out - Iain Vigurs, Ross Draper, Jermaine Hylton, Callum Morris, Billy McKay, Jason Naishmith, Michael Gardyne, Oli Shaw, Tom Grivosti, Ben Williamson, Adam Mackinnon, Logan Ross, Leo Fuhr Hjelde. Matthew Wright, Ryan MacLeman, Carl Tremarco, Mohamed Maouche & Tony Andreu
Relegation candidates Ross County saw some modern heroes like Michael Gardyne and Iain Vigurs and manager John Hughes jump ship after only just staying up last season.
County saw little success last season, apart from beating Celtic, twice, but staying up was key for them, they never wanted to drop into the hellhole which is the Championship, a league so difficult to get back out of, so losing key players like Gardyne, Oli Shaw, Ross Draper, Iain Vigurs and more must’ve been heartbreaking, they are looking likely to drop into the second tier of Scottish football.
They have signed well, not well enough, despite picking up players like David Cancola, a good ball winner in the middle of the park, and Ross Callachan from Hamilton.
Another blow for County is the loss of Leo Fuhr Hjelde, who John Hughes described as ‘the next Van Dijk’, Hjelde was great at the back last season when called upon, now he is down in Leeds after a move from Celtic.
St Johnstone - B
In - James Brown, Reece Devine, Glenn Middleton, Hayden Muller, Ali Crawford, Lars Dendoncker, Cammy MacPherson & Eetu Vertainen
Out - Ali McCann, Jason Kerr, Scott Tanser, Guy Melamed & Craig Conway
St Johnstone were having such a great window up until deadline day, the cup double winners managed to keep two of their best players in Ali McCann and Jason Kerr only for them to mess it all up and sell them to teams well below their weight.
St Johnstone added really well with Wolves and Belgian internationals Leander Dendoncker’s younger brother, Lars, Manchester United’s Reeve Devine and bringing back Glenn Middleton on loan from Rangers, if the window had closed a day before, they were looking like they could win another trophy this season, but no. They still have a good team but it’s marginally worse, at least they kept Mccart and Kerr at the back.
St Mirren - C+
In - Charles Dunne, Greg Kiltie, Scott Tanser, Eamonn Brophy, Curtis Main, Danny Finlayson, Alan Power & Connor Ronan
Out - Ilkay Durmus, Jonathan Obika, Junior Morias, Dylan Connolly, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Lewis Jamieson, Cammy MacPherson & Collin Quaner
Jim Goodwin’s side made it to both cup semi-finals last season, just missing out on the top half of the split.
Ilkay Durmus and Jonathan Obika are two of the biggest departures from St Mirren Park, Durmus played in 31 games in the Premiership last season and was a consistent performer who will be missed in the St Mirren team, Obika played in 34 games, scoring five goals.
Players coming in include some popular names around teams around St Mirren's level, Greg Kiltie, Eamonn Brophy & Alan Power from Kilmarnock and Scott Tanser from St Johnstone.
St Mirren have signed well and are looking to push on to a top six finish to make up from last season's failure on the day of the split.
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