Eleven months ago, in my column column for Herald Sport, I was rather downbeat about the entertainment value of the 2023/24 Scottish Premiership campaign.

Typically I'm an unabashed champion of Scottish football, but even I couldn't bring myself to spin the positives on what was being served up on a weekly basis from the majority of our elite clubs. Too many team were playing a negative brand of football and even though there were plenty of storylines to feast on – regardless of the product on the pitch, Scottish football will always carry with it a cast-iron guarantee of drama and silliness off the field – it was just a bit of a slog to sit through. Though it would ultimately improve as things progressed, 2023/24 certainly wasn't a vintage season.

Well, I'm happy to say that the top-flight is currently enjoying something of a bounce back this campaign. You'll obviously have your own opinion and you may disagree, but as part of my research for The Terrace Podcast every Monday I watch, on average, four games in their entirety. And let me tell you, that's been a much less arduous task this term.

It's not just a vibe. It's actually there in the numbers. Teams are scoring more, they're scoring later and there are fewer draws. There have been 224 goals scored in total across 78 games for an average of 2.87 per match, which is up from last season's 2.76 average across the season. Both teams are scoring 56 per cent of the time, as opposed to 50 per cent. And 22 per game of games have ended in draws, which is down from 27 per cent in 2023/24. The numbers are also higher in each category for the average across the SPFL era (since 2013) with 2.67 goals per game, both teams scoring 49 per cent of the time and 23.3 per cent of matches ending in draws. 

These figures may not look like a startling difference when you envision individual contests, but over time they do add up.

There also seems to be some sort of late drama going on every week, often at multiple Premiership grounds. There have been 37 goals scored after the 86th minute (85:00), which again is trending to be a higher figure than last season's overall total of 97, seeing as we've just reached a third of the way through.

Individual clubs are responsible for the improvement in watchability as well. Aberdeen are the best example. They were dire to observe under Barry Robson, who wanted his team to constantly thump the ball long. This was a gameplan to the detriment of several talented players operating between defence and the frontline, like Leighton Clarkson, Jamie McGrath and Luis 'Duk' Lopes. Now they've got Jimmy Thelin as manager and their football, for a lot of this season, has been electric. The new manager has rejuvenated several previously uninspired speedy attackers, such as the aforementioned Duk, but also Pape Gueye, Shayden Morris and Vicente Besuijan. Fast wingers, when they're on form, are simply the most fun footballers there are to watch and Aberdeen have an abundance of them.

St Johnstone have also made significant strides on the entertainment front. Similarly, they've swapped out uninspiring direct play for something more pleasing on the eye with the decision to hire Simo Valakari. Saints remain in a relegation battle but if the worst does happen at least they'll go down fighting on the front foot.

The return of the Dundee derby got the season off to a flier with a thrilling 2-2 draw in front of the Sky Sports cameras at Tannadice. Dundee were one of the better teams to watch last term and have continued that into this season with 47 combined goals over their 13 games (the most in the league), and even though Dundee United are arguably one of the more defensive-minded, attritional teams in the division, they themselves have battered in 19 goals in 13 games. And that's without mentioning the most dramatic ending to a game this term when they netted twice in injury time to defeat Hibs 3-2 in October.

Then there are the storylines. The most notable of which is Aberdeen's stratospheric rise, winning 16 of their first 19 games and rivalling Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. With Saturday's defeat to St Mirren it looks likely that their title challenge is soon going to recede, but it's still fascinating to see if they will be able to finish second ahead of a Rangers team who have been disastrous in the league and are only ever 90 minutes away from embarrassing themselves.
Both Hearts and Hibs are toiling at the bottom of the table again, with Hibs being masters of their own downfall (as usual) as they concede an obscene number of goals in the last few minutes of matches. And in Gorgie, everyone has been astounded by the regression from last season's Player of the Year and Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland.

At Motherwell there's a very exciting Scotland prospect in the form of Lennon Miller, who is already their best player at the age of 18, while St Mirren had about half of their summer transfer window arrested.

The Scottish Premiership is never going to be the greatest standard, but that doesn't mean it can't be good to watch. There's still improvement to be made. Squads are still too bloated, not enough youngsters are getting a chance and there remain too many teams playing 3-4-3, but after the damp squib that was 2023/24, at least this is a step in the right direction.