Morning all. Wondering who people think will go up from League 1 - and who will go down... For promotion candidates it's hard to look beyond the big boys i.e. Sheffields Utd/Weds and Charlton, although as I said before I don't think it's going to be as easy as Leeds found it a couple of years back. I also reckon Brentford could be the surprise package (although not really a surprise - they have buckets of cash and are spending it wildly as well as getting good loan players in). Going down - Tranmere and Yeovil look like distinct possibilities, Tranmere have got rid of a few good players without really replacing them. Also MK Dons and Col U could go I think, just because I don't like them. If you wish hard enough dreams come true I think. And us? Well, will be happy with staying up but I also think we might be a bit of a surprise package this season and top half is not off the radar. I make it about 28 days away... seems like an eternity!
It's so hard to know what will happen, it's always good to get off to a good start as that gives confidence to the squad and the fans. I am looking forward to hearing more about our new signings during the friendlies. Some feedback from thisafternoon will give us some ideas but they all need time to settle and you can't judge people on half a game. Benyon has broken his hand so will probably be out for a month or so, at least he can still do some training.
i think charlton will win it and preston sheff weds ,sheff utd and huddersfield to battle it out for the auto places.usually the strugglers at the bottom come from the teams that got promoted but hopefully its not us this time round.
I cant see it being anyone other that Sheff Weds and United battling with Charlton for the automatics spots. Ill go Huddersfield, MK Dons (spit), Millwall and, as a suprise package, Exeter. The Grecians have a bright young manager, a quality forward in Nardiello and finished last season very strongly. I think Preston will push these though. I think Tranmere, Orient and Stevenage will go down and Scunthorpe, who have punched well above their weight for some time now, may well complete an unwanted double relegation. As for us, we'll win the league by 23 points, but we'll be hit with a 50 point deduction due to Steve Hayes being a t**t and we'll have to settle for a top half finish. We'll win the League Cup and qualify for Europe though
Not sure Millwall will do much in league 1 next season devonblue! It looks really open at the top. The big clubs in the division like Charlton, Huddersfield, Preston and the 2 Sheffields should be up there come the end of the season given their budgets and size. But I think at least one of them could struggle to make an impact, much like Charlton have the last couple of years, as everyone else will want to beat the big boys and give them a tough time. Huddersfield were so unlucky after their great run in but are now losing their big players and might find that failure to get promoted last season costs them for a couple of years while they rebuild. I think Brentford and Orient could be surprise packages and Walsall, Stevenage and Tranmere being the main strugglers. As for us, I'll take 20th place right now if offered. Not because I'm pessimitic about how we'll fare but because the number 1 and probably only priority for next season is survival so we can start establishing ourselves as a long term league 1 side. Anything else is a bonus.
Don't underestimate Walsall I saw them a couple of times towards the end of last season and they were playing a good passing game. They beat Charlton comfortably at home. One or two teams will go down as a result of their financial situation, that is hard to predict at this stage, several teams could be in the frame and you never know who it will be e.g. plymouth last season.
my thoughts: promotion is between sheffield united, huddesfield, charlton and possibly preston. walsall, stevenage, tranmere, youvil and scunthorpe could go down
wobblers i can forsee much jelly on the plate approaching your radar, especially in the braintree area, jotp jotp ww ww jotp
Ah, Atcham, long time no speak... wonder why that is? I guess you do need a radar as we are so far above you, you can't see us with the naked eye lol. Good luck next season down in the sewers, to coin a cracking Stranglers song.
Where did you hear that brentford had loads of cash jock? As the other halfs family are brentford mad and they say differant. Going back to the thread. Charlton and Sheff Weds are rebuilding their squads so the results will be up and down, Sheff utd and preston will be in a state of transition. They've had huge cuts to their wage bills i think sheff utd have had to cut there's by £6M so they will be rebuilding and huddersfield could well suffer a hangover from the play offs which makes me tend towards dare i say it MK to be one of the more consistent sides who you'd expect to be up in the top 6. Granted come the end of the season Charlton, both sheff clubs huddersfield and preston could get into gear but i wouldn't be putting money on them to win it. After that group of teams its quite wide open. The remaining clubs aren't to disimilar in size and potential and its not unlikely to think that any of them including ourselves could be a suprise. But i agree with wandermagic the priority has to be to survive i get peed off with people calling us a yoyo club when i dont think we are and to prove that we need to stabilise and then push on.
The yo-yo thing has been a popular misconception, mainly lead by Steve Claridge on the Football league show. We have only had two promotions to this league. The first time we stayed up for 9 seasons and the second time straight back down. Hardly a yo-yo history! As for this season I think anything 20th and upwards is a good season. The key I think is getting goals, something we have often struggled with. Hopefully Rendell can carry on where he left off last season and if he is fit Benyon can hit the ground running. Beavon and Strevens need to contribute more in the goals department as both have been disappointing in that respect. I think it will be difficult for Ainsworth, another year older, to get the same number of goals he got last season. Hopefully a season of Donnelly will bring possibly 10 goals from central midfield.
Finchy - I agree with the point about goals. In LG1 you need a striker who will go and get 20 odd goals. When you look at similar sized LG1 clubs to us like Exeter and Leyton Orient, theyve signed players like Mcgleish and Cureton and these guys goals have proved vital in keeping them away from relegation. Having said all that, I think Rendell is going to have a cracking season. He was struck by personal tradegy last year and the odd niggle but I think he is a better player than LG2 standards and flourish in this league.
