It doesn't matter what you do in pre-season, all that matters is you hit the ground running and get a good result. Everything that has gone before this is meaningless, this is the real deal. However, a win doesn't automatically mean you'll have a cracking season and a defeat doesn't consign you to a disaster. It would, though, be nice to get a win - it's seven long years since we finished the opening day of the season with all three points. On the plus side that win came in Inverness!
Our results against Caley Thistle last season pretty much sum up the absurdity of our campaign. Despite us finishing second bottom and Inverness almost making Europe we failed to lose to them and picked up a pretty handy five points from our three meetings. At one point we were the only team outwith Celtic to have beaten them in the league during a ridiculously long run. The trick in the coming campaign will be to get some consistency going and to be taking points off all teams regularly to ensure we're pushing for a place in the top six rather than in another relegation battle.
Is the top six a realistic target in the coming season? There's no reason why we can't do it, but it's going to be pretty difficult. We haven't strengthened the squad greatly over the summer and we've never even been close to making it into the top half come the split in the past. I don't think any of our end of season points tallies would have been enough to get us a top six place in the past, which shows just how much we need to improve. Caley Thistle will be one of our main rivals for a spot so getting an early one over on them would boost our hopes and dent their chances into the bargain.
Our biggest worry going into the new campaign is the defence. It wasn't particularly good last season – we shipped more goals than in any other season since promotion and hasn't covered itself in glory in pre-season. We have a new goalie and a new leftback in the shape of David Cornell and Danny Grainger, but those were arguably the strongest parts of the backline last year. The return of Darren McGregor is a boost, if he avoids another horrific injury, but he faces a battle with Jim Goodwin to start tomorrow. With no other defensive minded midfielders it's possible both could be in from the off, with McGregor in defence and Goodwin in midfield.
It's hard to guess the team as there's been lots of formation switching going on over the summer. It seems the most likely approach is for Steven Thompson to lead the line on his own, even though this hasn't worked particularly well during the friendlies. Gary Teale, Paul McGowan and Gary Harkins will play in behind him, with John McGinn joining Goodwin in the line behind that. With the injuries and small squad there's not a great deal else we can do - although Thomas Reilly was impressive in the friendlies and could play either up front or in midfield. Kenny McLean is out while David Barron and Jon Robertson may join him on the sidelines.
Caley Thistle were one of the success stories of last season, smashing in to the top six and then almost making it into Europe. Same again will probably do Terry Butcher just fine and would be just as remarkable considering the number of squad changes that have taken place over the summer. The continuing presence of Butcher in Scottish football is good news even if it does mean his team will continue to be handy as he's an entertaining character in his interviews and seems well loved by his fans and players. I just wish for our sake he'd taken the Barnsley job last season!
Although they've lost a few of last season's star performers, including midfielder Andrew Shinnie, Caley Thistle have managed to keep hold of Billy McKay. After a fairly non-descript career he couldn't stop scoring last year and managed 27 goals - pretty good going for any player, let alone one at Caley Thistle rather than at one of the Old Firm. Quite how he's still at Inverness and hasn't been tempted away I'm not sure entirely sure, but it's great news for Caley Thistle that he's still there. Graeme Shinnie, Nick Ross and Aaron Doran look to have bright futures in front of them, while Gary Warren was relatively solid at the back last season.
But let's have a look at Butcher's new signings - and if you've heard of any of them you're a better man than me. Not that I'm instantly dismissing them as useless just because I don't know who they are, especially as Butcher has a habit of picking up rough diamonds and turning them into stars. Goalie Dean Brill has been borrowed from Luton, Midfielders James Vincent and Marley Watkins come from Kidderminster and Hereford, while Curtis Allen comes in after doing well for Coleraine in recent years. Adam Evans has been at Burnley, Carl Tremarco spent last season in Malta on loan from Macclesfield and Harry Hooman - a name that gives me a bit of a chuckle - was at Cheltenham. Obviously Butcher got bored of not signing anyone for a while as on Sunday he brought in Torbjorn Agdestein, a striker who Brighton recently released.
And then we have the chap who was at Inter Milan because he won a competition. I'm not making this up - Ben Greenhalgh earned a contract at Inter Milan because he did well on a Sky programme. Probably one of the more bizarre back stories for anyone playing in this season's SPL - especially as he followed up his time in Italy up with a stint at Ebbsfleet! Other new arrivals are fellow winger Danny Williams, defender Joe Gorman and goalie Nick Draper. Think that's them all! It's a huge risk for Caley Thistle bringing in so many players, especially considering the level they have been playing at, and it strikes you as if it'll work incredibly well or incredibly badly, with no middle ground.
Follow Mirren Mad on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mirrenmad
Follow Mirren Mad on Twitter @mirren_mad or http://www.twitter.com/mirren_mad