Torquay United Fans Forum

Mansfield have a huge budget so I wouldn't be surprised to see them up there.

Got a feeling Mansfield will do well too. They've got the momentum and now have some decent players.

I think Northampton, Oxford, Chesterfield, Plymouth (unfortunately) and Bristol Rovers will be contenders ..... possibly Bury. I will probably be proved completely wrong, but somehow I don't think Portsmouth are such dead certs as some seem to think.

Concur almost entirely with Scorer. Annoyingly Argyle and Rovers seem to have managed to stabilise themselves without falling out of the League. They should press on next year and begin their rise back to being plodding L1/Championship clubs. Portsmouth too have arrived with us just as their problems seem to have been largely resolved.
Fleetwood couldn't possibly be as bad as they last year. The others mentioned could go either way. Oxford should always do better than they do, but don't. Chesterfield and Wycombe are a couple of bona fide yo-yo sides.
The only pick with which I disagree with any little certainty is Burton, whom I believe shot their bolt. I don't think they'll manage a similar home record next term, and that will see them finish considerably lower than they did last time out.

Matt.

Agree with most of your choices Gullscorer and your rationale for making them-surprised you left Oxford out though and that you think Dagenham will improve so much.

Budgetary constraints will be an even bigger factor next season than they were in 2012/13. Clubs whose finances are not cause for concern, and those which have a bigger fan base to draw upon (and hence larger crowds) will have, as always, at least a theoretical advantage over the others.

Those clubs which will have had recent managerial changes and/or the biggest turnover of players, while there may be a success story or two, for the most part will have at best a period of consolidation. Of the rest, the clubs with the most effective training and coaching set-ups, and those with managers who will be able to inspire and motivate their players, should all have decent seasons.

With all this in mind, I expect Portsmouth to be an automatic promotion contender, Bristol Rovers and, yes, Plymouth Argyle to be challenging for play-off places if not an automatic spot, Chesterfield, Burton, and Cheltenham to be there or thereabouts, and Dagenham and Wycombe to finish much higher than they did last time.

And the Gulls? Another exciting season ahead. But this time, for all the right reasons, and deserving of much greater support.

And that support could make all the difference, which is why the club must bear in mind the low wages and high unemployment in the area when determining admission policies, in order to attract bigger gates. At the very least, how about an occasional 'three for the price of two', that sort of thing?

just to note that james beattie has been named accrington manager.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22517827

Portsmouth,they will sign a load of Championship players at £5,000 per week each. Money is not a problem for them as they never pay any of their bills in any case.

PhilGull wrote:Sad fact is it'll be whoever has the most money.
Can't remember who but someone on Sky said over the weekend that the Premier League table pretty much always reflects the wage bills.

Wolves went down from the Championship last year despite the cushion of the parachute payment-but generally you are right;certainly in the Premiership.

I fully expect Chesterfield to be up there, they are talking a good game up in these parts about next season and some good players are likely to join. Portsmouth look good to me though, they will be able to attract players and they have signed a few already so i'll tip them for the title. I fancy York for automatic also. They will have a good clearout up there and Worthington will be able to make his mark and get players in on loan from the likes of Leeds, Hull and Boro. So York as a surprise for me.

Cheltenham i can see plummeting like us but i have no logical basis for this , it's just a feeling. I also have a feeling that Bradford will be favourites (i think they will lose the play off final) and they will struggle to live up it.

Sad fact is it'll be whoever has the most money.
Can't remember who but someone on Sky said over the weekend that the Premier League table pretty much always reflects the wage bills.

Far too early to be able to judge this! We need to ponder over players who exit and enter the clubs before we can really tell too much.

I think bury will be back up there, as will Hartlepool and Wycombe!

I know the POF hasn't taken place yet but who do you think will be challenging for promotion from our league next year?
To me it looks pretty open with no stand out candidates to win the league-unless Bradford lose in the POF in which case I would definitely back them for one of the the automatic places.
Other than that I would expect Chesterfield,Portsmouth, Cheltenham, Oxford,Bristol Rovers and Fleetwood to be up there(and Northampton if they don't beat Bradford). Last season both Gillingham and Port Vale were somewhat surprise automatic promotion winners-as were Burton;in getting to the play-offs.Next year I think Wycombe could be the surprise team. As for us I think an upper mid-table position is likely-even though we don't usually do mid-table!
I don't think there will be much between us and the Gargs who will probably finish upper mid-table as well;but I think the Greeks will struggle this year,along with Bury,Dagenham,Morecambe and Mansfield.