The New Season - League One

While two teams dominate the build up to League two because of their financial superiority, in League One two teams loom large over the division because of their reputation and history.

Nottingham Forest are favourites. For the third year running. They managed fourth last season, failing at the Play Off hurdle, losing to Yeovil. And its from the Glovers that they have made two significant signings, Arron Davies and Chris Cohen come in from the Somerset outfit, while highly rated left-back finally has opted to leave Leyton Orient, heading for the City Ground. Most high-profile of all signings, though, is Neil Lennon, the former Celtic and Leicester midfielder.

Forest fans will surely believe that promotion is long overdue for a club of their stature.

If, however, those fans are despondent about their plight at any time, they need only to look towards Yorkshire.

Leeds United won the championship in the top flight of English before the Premiership came into our lives. That was 1992. 15 Years ago.

A little while later, under the leadership of David O’Leary, Leeds got to the Semi Finals of the Champions League, losing to Valencia. That was 2001. 6 years ago.

Now Leeds start the 2007/8 season in League One, the third tier of the league, with a 15 point deficit due to their ongoing financial problems. Quite a fall from grace.

A whole bunch of high profile (and therefore probably highly-paid) individuals are out, with just a handful of players now beginning to creep in. Jermaine Beckford might be an interesting player to look out for. While United were struggling at the foot of the championship last year, Beckford was helping Scunthorpe gain promotion by scoring seven goals in 14 games.

Leeds might just be able to claw their way out of their current predicament, but will probably need a good start and a harmonious dressing room. A tough ask.

Doncaster may well see themselves as Forest’s biggest challengers this year.

Sean O’Driscoll made a name for himself as manager of Bournemouth, and now at the Keepmoat Stadium, he has now persuaded one of his previous prize assets to join him. James Hayter looked an excellent prospect with The Cherries, and Donnie’s other buys, including Neil Sullivan and classy midfielder Richie Wellens, rubberstamp their intentions. They want to go up. Finishing above last year’s 11th place should be a given, but they’ll be aiming much higher.

Luton had a dreadful season last year, on and off the field, but Kevin Blackwell has added a series of experienced players who will have the know-how to push the Hatters up the division.

Paul Peschisolido, Don Hutchison, Paul Furlong, Darren Currie and Chris Perry have all played at a very high standard, and all have something significant still to offer.

Kenilworth Road has been a breeding ground for talent over the past few seasons, and the fact that they are supposedly still having money problems beggars belief. However, the sales of Curtis Davies, Rowan Vine, Carlos Edwards, Steve Howard and Kevin Nicholls generated not only money in the pockets of various club officials (especially Mike Newell) but also holes on the team sheet.

I think Blackwell has plugged the gaps reasonably well, and they have a strong chance of bouncing back.

Speaking of bouncing back, Steve Tilson’s Southend will be attempting to do just that. They, though, are among a clutch of teams that will need to hope that the loss of a significant player can be accounted for.

Southend resisted for the whole of last season the urge to cash in on their star asset Freddie Eastwood, but Wolves finally persuaded them otherwise. Swansea came close to securing a play off spot last year, but after selling Rory Fallon to Plymouth, they followed that up this summer by not only letting Adebayo Akinfenwa and Pawel Abbott move on, but their talisman Lee Trundle has gone to Bristol City.

Also a big player down are Oldham. And not only has Chris Porter departed, but he did so to Motherwell for nothing - Oldham having turned down in the region of £750k for him during January’s transfer window.

Rounding off this set of sides is Carlisle. Karl Hawley looked very impressive last season, and he is off to try to fill David Nugent’s shoes at Preston. The Cumbrians were eighth last year and improvement depends on them replacing the threat of Hawley.

All four of the above have a squeak at promotion this year, but they need to prove that selling (or losing) their big players is not a big enough obstacle to them.

I fancy Tranmere to make an impact though. Ninth last year, boss Ronnie Moore is a seasoned campaigner at this level, and with a decent following they will fancy at least a play off spot.

Yeovil and Millwall will possibly be two other teams fancying their chances, but personally I think they both lack a little bit of quality.

Down at the bottom, possibly keeping Leeds company, will likely be Cheltenham. Kayode Odejayi has gone to Barnsley, and a few other first teamers have departed. The Robins overachieved with 17th last year, if they managed that again it’s a huge accomplishment.

Bournemouth are rated as one of the favourites to dip into the bottom tier, largely due to the sale of James Hayter and a few others, but in Jo Kuffour they have a speedy attacker who will cause many defences problems, and they have added experience in Paul Telfer from Celtic. If Darren Anderton can stay fit and influence things, The Cherries might just be ok.

Crewe are finally beginning a season without Dario Gradi as first team manager, so what a huge job Steve Holland faces in stepping into his predecessor’s shoes. They have sold Luke Varney to Charlton, too, so a mid table finish, just as last year, will be more than enough for the Railwaymen, I suspect.

Oh, and they’ve signed Daniel O’Donnell, of whom I’d do a pun if I knew any of his songs.

Brisbane Road has been a hive of activity this summer, with Martin Ling being very busy wheeling and dealing. As mentioned, they have lost exciting full back Matt Lockwood, but several of their signings have experience to offer, such as Paul Terry and Sean Thornton, but survival will still be an achievement.

Of the promoted sides, I fancy Hartlepool, to do the best. Ian Moore is a quality centre forward, and his addition, plus the know how of Danny Wilson, will aid a survival push by Pool, and a happy Mr. Stelling of a Saturday afternoon.

Bristol Rovers will be favourites for the drop, and there hasn’t been too much movement at the Memorial Ground. Paul Trollope is a bright young managerial hope, and if he can work some magic, they may be ok. 20th on goal difference will still be cause for celebration though.

A manager who seen it all is Paul Sturrock. After learning his trade in Scotland with Dundee United and St. Johnstone, Sturrock transformed the fortunes of Plymouth Argyle, and though he’ll want to forget his short tenure at Southampton where he was given short shrift, he has managed to take both Sheffield Wednesday and his current side, Swindon, up.

More importantly for Robins fans, after promoting Argyle and Wednesday, he kept them up. It’ll be a tough task. There are plenty of players that have arrived in Wiltshire over the break, including Sturrock’s former Plymouth charges Steve Adams and Hasney Aljofree. Town’s survival hope rest on their gaffer.

Walsall won League Two ahead of the aforementioned trio, so will feel like they ought to handle the step up. The last time they were at this level it didn’t go too well, they went down. But until the guidance of Richard Money, who was linked with Coventry job, they bounced straight back. Veteran Tommy Mooney may well be the key to scoring the goals to keep the Saddlers galloping along.


Summary

It’s a huge year for Forest. Once again you feel they have the strongest squad, but then so did West Brom in the Championship last year, and it didn’t take them where they wanted. It’s difficult to bet against them, but then they wouldn’t fill you with confidence either.

Luton look a value bet to me. 16/1 to win the title and 5/1 to win promotion seem good odds. I certainly wouldn’t be going with Swansea. They may well need a season get over the loss of Trundle, and I wouldn’t be interested in them at 3/1 for promotion.

Leeds are the wildcard at the bottom of the league. Starting with a deficit of 15 kind of knocks the scheme of betting out of the window. 4/1 to go down and 16/1 to finish bottom? I think they’ll probably get out of it, but a bad start could make these odds decrease rapidly.

If you forced to me to back any one team to go, it’d be Cheltenham, but all four promoted sides will likely have work to do.

The New Season – League Two preview

The bottom rung of the football league takes on an odd composition this season. There are often money men who appear in football. Jack Walker helped Blackburn win the title in the 90s. Roman Abramovich’s billions have turn Chelsea – and the Premier League – around.

Now, we have Mike Ashley at Newcastle, Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool, Randy Lerner at Villa and more besides, pumping money into clubs to boost their finances and, they hope, their fortunes.

But it isn’t exclusive to the Premier League.

A gentleman by the name of Darragh MacAnthony is in charge of Peterborough United. Boro have it in their locker to be able to shell out money far in excess of what is considered typical by League Two standards. Although rejected, it is widely accepted that they bid one million pounds for Milton Keynes forward Izale McLeod.

In Aaron McLean, they have a pacey, talented, centre forward who should cause many defences to have sever problems, lower league stalwarts Chris Westwood and Dean Keates have been added to the squad, both from Walsall, and following George Boyd from Stevenage in January’s window, Rene Howe (Kettering), Chris Whelpdale (Billericay) and Kieron Charnock (Northwich) are all highly rated non-league player taking their shot in the football league.

Oh, and the manager is called Ferguson, and happens to be Sir Alex’s son. They’ve got a chance.

Milton Keynes should be Boro’s main rivals, you would think. There is name value aplenty, with manager Paul Ince fresh from his salvage job at Macclesfield (does he put his suit on as he walsk down the tunnel?) having brought in experience campaigners Kevin Gallen and Colin Cameron, although they have lost 18-goal striker Clive Platt to Colchester. More to the point, though, they’ve kept hold of their meal ticket – Izale McLeod. It is only a matter of time before McLeod plays at a higher level. Dons fans will hope that it is with them.

Should McLeod move on though, whether it’s before the end of August or in January, that sale will generate money, which you feel Ince could use prudently. The artists formerly known as Wimbledon could be back on the upward curve.

Just seven years ago, Bradford City were in the Premiership. Now down in the basement, there have been many comings and goings, with the most notable absentee from the squad this time last year being Dean Windass, but among the multitude of arrivals are two experienced campaigners, strikers Peter Thorne and Barry Conlon, and a returning, experienced defender in Paul Heckingbottom, on loan from Barnsley.

More importantly to Bantams fans, though, is their new manager. Stuart McCall was a major part of Bradford’s success when surviving in the Premiership, and he is now at the helm to plot City’s course back up the ladder. It’s a tough task, but Bradford are big names in this smaller pond, and the fans will be expectant, I would have thought, for at least a play-off berth.

Taking my eye for a strong challenge this year are Darlington. The Quakers have been a side threatening to do something for sometime, after former chairman George Reynolds had a new Arena built (in his name, no less) and pumped money in, but nothing in the way of solid form materialised. At the risk of sounding like a horse racing tipsters making excuses for his pick’s poor last run, last season saw Darlo got through three sets of management and pick up a long injury list.

Theirs is the most lopsided of the lists of the transfers for the summer, at least for the ‘ins’ column. Just one player out but eleven coming in, most notably Pawel Abbott, the striker who scored hatfuls for Huddersfield but failed to make an impact at Swansea. If Abbott’s signing comes off, expect Darlo to be there or thereabouts.

Lincoln were beaten in last year’s play off final, and have retained much of the squad that took to last terms fifth placed finish. The additions of Steve Torpey and Gary Croft will be a positive step for the side whose last five finishing positions have been 6th, 7th, 6th, 7th, 5th. Can they take that one extra step and either win the play offs or go up automatically. They certainly should be in the shake-up.

Other sides that will consider themselves contenders for promotion would be Wycombe, if they can keep form up for a whole season at not fade away. Notts County, similarly had a great start last year and suffered a downturn in form. Plenty of new arrivals with lower league experience should aid their push. Stockport, Shrewsbury and relegated Rotherham will all be thinking they have a chance as well.

At the bottom, it’s a tough test for the promoted sides, but many teams have prospered after finally getting out of the conference, most recently Yeovil being a great example.

Dagenham and Redbridge are led by experienced manager John Still, who has had non-league success with Maidstone and D&R in the past, before taking them up this year. His time with Barnet saw them nearly push the third tier of English football, but it remains to be seen if he can keep the Daggers in the league this year.

Dagenham and Redbridge won the Conference by 14 points, and when a team wins a league by so far, it is generally an indication that they are genuinely worthy of their spot. I hope they stay up, even if it just because they are sponsored by an Undertakers and have a player called Bai Mass Lette Jallow.

Morecambe got past Exeter in the play off final, and also have a famous name at the helm in the form of former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy. McIlroy took Maccelsfied into the football league, so he knows what it is all about. He couldn’t keep his feet during his goal celebrations in the Play Off final, but it is more important he keeps his head while steering Morecambe through what will probably be a tough season.

Morecambe is used to struggling with their piers. Now they must struggle with their peers.

Speaking off seaside attractions, a rollercoaster ride would be fair way to describe Bury last term. Boasting the league’s youngest manager, Chris Casper, they surged to a run of six consecutive wins in late 2006, but a slump saw them flirt with relegation to conference. They survived, but not by much.

Keith Alexander, former boss of Lincoln and Peterborough, is now Director of Football at Gigg Lane, and the Shakers will be hopeful that his know-now, plus a touch of luck in the numerous summer transfer dealings, pay off for them. It could be a long season.

Graham Turner has been manager of Hereford for a long time now – since 1995. I doubt he will get sacked after being at the club so long. Especially as he is now chairman! He, best of all then, will know that his side do not have the financial clout anywhere near that of the MK Dons and Peterborough’s of the world and a small squad won’t help in their fight.

Last years finish of 15th was admirable for the side who had won the Conference play-off in 2006, but if Steve Guinan, a journeyman centre forward who has enjoyed his best spells at Edgar Street, misfires, they could be find themselves deep in the dogfight.

Ian Brightwell steps into the shoes of Paul Ince at the Moss Rose, hoping to keep Macclesfield afloat once more. It took draw on the final day to keep them up last year, and with obvious geographical factors meaning other clubs tend to attract the local population, Macc tend to be among the lowest average attendance in the entire football league.

Brightwell has brought in several players, including Martin Gritton, who has prospered on occasion in the lower leagues, and former Mancehster City defender Richard Edgill, and may need to continue to wheel and deal to keep his side’s league status.

Another side who faced a long wait to see if they would retain their spot in the top 92 last year were Wrexham, and they did so by virtue of a nerve racking win over Boston on the last day of the season; a result which condemned the Pilgrims to the conference.

This year Brian Carey, in his first managerial job, bids to keep the Robins up, and will hope that new striker Eifion Williams can provide sufficient ammunition.

Plenty of movement at Underhill has seen Barnet prepare for this season with a squad that has potential – it remains to be seen if that will be enough.

Accrington were another side who spent all of last year at the bottom end of the league, and only just made it. I think Stanley fans will accept staying up as an achievement once again.


Summary

One club dominates the betting for League Two, and that team is Peterborough. But if you think the odds of 7/2 for the Championship or 8/11 for Promotion (SkyBet) are too short, then have a look at Darlington’s 10/1 and 11/4, or even Lincoln at a generous 20/1 and 5/1.

Posh should make it to League One in compliance with Darragh McAnthony’s ambitions, Milton Keynes would be disappointed not to join them. However, the third promotion spot, and the play off places, really are wide open.

For the drop, even the most optimistic Morecambe fans would be praying for a 22nd place finish. Expect the bottom sixth to contain plenty of teams that struggled last term

In League Two, one or two players of quality can push a team into the league above or be enough to stabilise the side. If certain clubs find that their main centre forward doesn’t do the job, they will struggle. Struggling means potential relegation. Relgation means the conference. And no-one, but no-one wants that.

LEAGUE ONE PREVIEW COMING SOON