Sports Call - It's a thankless task being a Scottish football fan.
The national league is tiresomely in the shadow of the big, bad neighbours down south, where money is dolled out like lollies at a children's birthday party.
The quality is dire, the league's usually won by Celtic, and the nation's representatives in Europe are traditionally knocked out of the continental tournaments by teams from Malta and Moldova in the qualifiers.
Celtic will be aiming to take out the SPL for the sixth year running. Photo: AFP
TV revenue earned by the bottom-finishing club in the English Premier League outweighs that for all 12 Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs. Financially it's the United States compared to the Central African Republic.
But the geography has always meant a large amount of border movement.
Once it was Scottish greats like Kenny Dalglish or Lou Macari going straight into the first team of Liverpool or Manchester United. Now any talent is more likely to be picked up by Yeovil and those going in the opposite direction are benchwarmers from Fulham or Coventry.
Still, I'm hugely optimistic about the season ahead. Call me an old romantic but there's nothing quite like the blood and guts of Caledonian fitba, played at breakneck speed, with standards being eschewed in the quest for a crucial away point.
Here, in the bearpits of Inverness and Dundee, men are men and boys have broken bones.
This season is a little different. The SPL features the club promoted from the second tier. The fact they possess the name Rangers and play in Glasgow has whetted the appetite of a media that has continually spoken in apocalyptic tones about the Scottish game since the Ibrox club was liquidated in 2012.
Whether they are a new, Phoenix club, or are a continuation of the old club is an unsavoury and bitter argument that won't be tackled here.
Nevertheless, its elevation to the top flight has given pork pie for thought among the media and supporters from Auchengeich to Bo'ness.
The coach, Mark Warburton, has bought former England international and ex-convict Joey Barton - who has already shown a wicked use of the tongue - and the Croatian great Niko Kranjcar. However, neither are on the right side of 32.
While many are tipping them to come second - or even win the 38-game slog - their inexperience is likely to take its toll sometime after Christmas.
On the other side of the coin (and of the town) Celtic will be looking to extend its domestic domination to six years.
Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers. Photo: AFP
Having snapped up Brendan Rodgers, who made Swansea City into a formidable force and Liverpool almost league champions until the wheels fell off at Anfield, as coach has been a massive shot in the armpit.
He's retained much of the side from last season, boosted the flagging confidence of many of those and brought in stars like Scott Sinclair from Aston Villa and Kolo Toure from Liverpool. He knows how to get the best out of players, and has already made his mark by steering the Parkhead side to the revenue-earning pool stage of the Champions League.
Meanwhile, runners-up for the past two seasons Aberdeen have largely been forgotten about, which could be to their advantage, while the gloriously named Heart of Midlothian - or just plain Hearts - made a massive statement in their first season back with a third-place finish.
If there's a light in the general gloom of a financial basket case, it is that the two cup competitions (the Cup and the League Cup) have become more open and competitive than they've been in the past 30 years when the two Glasgow sides snapped them up in their quest for the holy grail of the domestic treble.
Will this be the season where Scottish football gets some attention other than referee's strikes and humiliating defeat to Birkirkara of Malta? Don't be silly. But this may well be one of the most intriguing seasons on record with four teams potentially battling for the top rung of the ladder.
