i have been as guilty as most in hyping up the 2 promotees crawley and wombles, of those who have made the descent i fancy the gasheads. plymouth swindon and daggers may have a season of consolidation. the bookies ever favourites bet 999 shrews will i hope be in the top 10, along with bantams, vale and gills. the suprise packages could be crewe, barnet, accrington and or torquay strugglers may include in no order, hereford, macclesfield morecambe and i think problems in the board room may give millers an unpleasant ride, knowing my predictions they may be champions!
Brizzle should get better as the season goes on. Barnet, Morecambe and Macclesfield will probably again struggle,Gillingham,Rotherham,Torquay and Crewe will go backwards. Midtable mediocrity will engulf Daggers and maybe Swindon as well; Pilgrims we are all in the dark about until they obtain some new players. Surprise packages: Oxford and Northampton. Both have been busy strengthening and Akinfenwa/Robinson/Harrad and Smalley/Craddock/Constable will be two menacing strikerforces. Crawley will take time to adjust as will the 'Wombles' Vale could once again be a force under Adams 1.Bristol R 2.Shrewsbury 3.Accrington 4.Oxford 5.Crawley 6.Port Vale 7.Swindon 8.Northampton 9.Southend 10.Aldershot 11.Plymouth* 12 Who knows? 12.Gillingham 13.Daggers 14.Crewe 15.Bradford 16.Wimbledon 17.Torquay 18.Hereford 19.Burton 20.Barnet 21.Morecambe 22.Macclesfield 23.? 24.?
Crawley's squad of 50 odd players will do well; AFCW should do but haven't been as high profile as Crawly as yet; Brizzle and Swindon should be strong contenders for top 7, Northampton look like a good squad is being created. Burton, Barnet, Daggers, Macclesfield, Hereford and Torquay fighting at the bottom. It's a long time yet until the transfer season closes so more changes yet.
I expect Northampton will be much more prominent this season and I suspect Vale will sustain their challenge next time. Swindon could be anywhere between glory and disaster. Crawley will not win the league. Torquay may struggle, as might Accrington unless they yet again manage to replace successfully the players they're likely to lose. Dagenham could find it hard work to make the top 7 this season too.
Team to keep an Eye on: Oxford. Been making some waves in the market so far, Deanne Smalley just one of many faces and more can be expected.
I cannot understand how Crawley can recruit all these players and pay them peanuts. This is the only way they can keep within the wage limit of 55% on turnover with a ground capacity of under 5000 and average gates last season of just over half that.
Did the 60% rule apply in the BSP? I think it is based on last years turnover or this years predicted turnover. Nott's county did it by guile. I'm assuming that if they attempt to go up first time then the ruling might not affect them.
Whether it is based on whatever year's, I still don't see how they can afford greater wages than us when our average crowd is greater than their ground capacity.
Early days for everyone, and yes The Gills have lost quite a few of the starting 11 but, i still see us in the final 6 this time round
There's a lot of money behind them. Quite a few celebs/telly peeps are in there too. James Gill man - I would never right you off but you seem to have lost a few strong players.
Do not see Town doing any better than last season. Tougher league this time would not be surprised if Town only finished mid table.
if that was the case whatshrew, you know who and what i would blame. shrews will never win anything with that ruddy awful badge. i remain confident that gt will build the right squad but will it be good enough to overcome shrews bad luck talisman
We have not kicked a ball yet & we are half way through June & we are making predictions. Squads have yet to be finalised & until around Christmas we have no idea who is going to run away with the league. I would though expect Morecambe to do better this year even with Bentley/McKenna & Drummond in charge. If Jim gets the players in he is after then we may have a chance. Already some players are in for training to get them in tip top shape for the start of the season. Jim may be unexperienced but he was a good captain & can follow in McIlroy's steps.
