Kilmarnock in all sorts of trouble
Neil McCann knows the Scottish game inside out.
Having spent the vast majority of his playing career in Scotland before going on to build his coaching and punditry career here, McCann understands the demands, strengths and weaknesses of the domestic game as well as almost anyone.
Which makes Kilmarnock’s start to the season all the more difficult to comprehend.
There is no escaping the fact that Killie have been far too open. Domestically, across league and League Cup knockout action, McCann’s side have played four games, scored seven goals and conceded 15.
That is an average of 3.75 goals conceded per game.
Quite simply, what chance do you have of building any kind of sustained success when you are conceding at that rate?
There have been positives at the other end of the pitch. Forward players such as Tyreece John-Jules and Joe Hugill have demonstrated that they are more than capable of finding the back of the net. Kilmarnock clearly possess attacking quality and have shown enough to suggest that goals will not be their biggest problem this season.
But those efforts will continue to count for very little if the defensive issues are not addressed.
Indeed, the concern extends beyond the sheer number of goals being conceded. The amount of space Kilmarnock are allowing their opponents to exploit is alarming. Their diamond midfield shape can provide plenty of benefits in possession, particularly when the players within it are technically comfortable and capable of moving the ball quickly.
However, every system comes with responsibilities.
If you want to dominate possession, the work cannot stop when possession is lost. Those same players who are trusted to dictate the game with the ball have to be prepared to work just as hard without it. So far this season, that has simply not been evident often enough.
The result is a team that looks dangerously exposed far too frequently.
A victory over rivals Ayr United in the League Cup may have bought McCann some breathing space, but another heavy defeat against Dundee United this weekend has brought the pressure firmly back onto the Kilmarnock manager.
Frankly, something has to change.
McCann’s commitment to his approach is admirable, but there has to be a balance between sticking to your principles and recognising when those principles are leaving your team hopelessly vulnerable. If Kilmarnock continue to concede goals at anything close to their current rate, then the outcome feels inevitable.
You will not be successful at any level of football when you regularly concede three or four goals a game.
The warning signs are already there. The question now is whether McCann is willing to change course before it is too late.
Scottish football’s European standing in dire straits
It was another sobering week for Scottish football in Europe.
Celtic’s 5-1 humiliation at the hands of LASK on Tuesday evening brought their Champions League playoff campaign to a miserable conclusion. The Scottish champions will now drop into the Europa League, where they should still be capable of competing in the league phase.
But that does not tell the whole story.
A sixth successive unsuccessful Champions League playoff campaign paints a far more concerning picture. For all the progress that the club has made domestically, there remains a recurring inability to take the final step when the opportunity to reach Europe’s premier competition presents itself.
Celtic were not alone in enduring a painful week.
Rangers then suffered the disappointment of losing their Conference League playoff second leg against Czech side Jablonec on penalties on Thursday evening, another result that did little to improve the mood surrounding Scottish football’s standing on the continental stage.
Hibernian and Motherwell also exited Europe following defeats against Gent and Freiburg respectively, although those results require a degree of context. Both Scottish clubs went into their ties as underdogs, with the financial gap between them and their continental opponents significant.
Hearts, at least, provided some much-needed encouragement.
Their victory over Rapid Vienna on penalties secured a place in the Conference League phase and ensured that Scotland did have one genuinely positive story to take from the week.
Yet the wider picture remains concerning.
The immediate disappointment of losing European ties is one thing. The bigger worry is the knock-on effect for next season and beyond.
The consequences of Scotland’s European struggles are already becoming clear.
In summer 2026, Scotland had five European entry points. The champions entered the Champions League playoff round, second place entered the Champions League at the second qualifying round, the Scottish Cup winners entered the Europa League in the third qualifying round, while third and fourth place both entered the Conference League at the second qualifying round.
By summer 2027, however, the picture will look very different.
Scotland will have just four European entry points.
The champions will be pushed back from the Champions League playoff round to the second qualifying round, meaning a far longer route to the league phase. Rather than being one tie away from reaching Europe’s premier competition, the Scottish champions could face several qualifying rounds.
Second place will no longer have a route into the Champions League at all, instead entering the Conference League at the second qualifying round.
The Scottish Cup winners will also be pushed back, entering the Europa League at the first qualifying round rather than the third.
Third place will retain a Conference League second qualifying round spot, but fourth place will lose European qualification altogether.
That is a significant reduction in both opportunity and margin for error.
The financial implications are obvious. The Champions League remains the competition every club wants to reach, not only because of the prestige involved but because of the money on offer. Asking the Scottish champions to navigate a longer qualifying route makes reaching the league phase considerably more difficult.
The loss of a Champions League route for the league runners-up is another major blow, while fourth place losing European qualification altogether will also change the complexion of the domestic season.
Suddenly, the battle for third becomes even more important.
There are also practical implications. Entering Europe earlier means clubs have to be ready earlier. Squads have to be assembled sooner, new signings need to settle more quickly and there is less room for a slow start to the campaign.
Every defeat matters when it comes to the coefficient, and this week’s results have made that reality even more difficult to ignore.
And unless Scottish clubs begin to improve their results collectively, the consequences will continue to be felt long after the final whistle on any individual European tie.
Stenhousemuir continue to impress under Marvin Bartley
At the beginning of the season, I thought Stenhousemuir could be up against it in the Scottish Championship.
A part-time side returning to this level after decades away, having also lost their most successful manager, Gary Naysmith, to Ayr United during the summer, did not exactly appear to have the ingredients for a comfortable campaign.
I was wrong.
Marvin Bartley has made an outstanding start to life at Ochilview.
Four games into the Championship season, Stenhousemuir have recorded three wins and a draw to sit at the top of the table. That alone represents an impressive opening to the campaign.
Add in their League Cup victory over Premiership side Motherwell and it becomes clear just how remarkable their start has been.
Bartley has already experienced some difficult moments in management. His spell at Queen of the South did not go as he would have hoped, while he was also asked to navigate a challenging period as Livingston’s interim manager.
Those experiences appear to have served him well.
Taking over at Stenhousemuir represented another significant challenge, but so far he has embraced it superbly. His side have made a confident start in the Championship and, crucially, have shown that they are not simply there to make up the numbers.
Of course, four league games is far too early to draw any definitive conclusions about how their season will unfold. The Championship is unforgiving and maintaining momentum over an entire campaign will be a completely different challenge.
But Bartley could hardly have asked for a better start.
If he can sustain this level of performance, it will not be long before other clubs begin to take notice. There will inevitably be interest from elsewhere in the Championship, while opportunities south of the border could also emerge.
English League Two and the National League contain clubs operating with budgets that would dwarf those available to many teams in the Scottish Championship, making those jobs increasingly attractive to ambitious managers north of the border.
For now, though, Stenhousemuir and Bartley should simply enjoy the moment.
Stenny are a community-owned club that does a huge amount of good work in their local area. It is always pleasing to see clubs with a strong connection to their community enjoying success on the pitch.
Well-run clubs do not always get the rewards their work deserves.
But when they do, it is worth celebrating.
For the supporters at Ochilview, this has been a wonderful start to a new era under Marvin Bartley. There is still a long way to go, but after the uncertainty surrounding the departure of Naysmith, there is now genuine reason for optimism.
And if Stenhousemuir can continue on this trajectory, their moment in the sun may be about to last a little longer than anyone could have expected.
Callum McFadden 