Next Season - Early Predictions..

[Gullscorer]

With the old season only just over, and with much still to happen regarding comings and goings for all clubs during the summer, any predictions at this stage for next season will mostly be wide of the mark. There will always be surprises, that's part of the joy of football. But at this time of year it's always intriguing to look forward and fun to make a few mad predictions. Here's mine, very briefly and concisely, to kick off :

First, I think both teams promoted from the Conference will do no more than establish themselves around mid-table, and of those relegated from League One, Chesterfield with experienced manager John Sheridan will be the likeliest to challenge for a top three place, the others struggling to make the top ten.

The top three next season: I'll stick my neck out and go for Chesterfield, Cheltenham and Torquay.

Play-offs: between Southend, Oxford, Rotherham and Gillingham.

Relegation: for Burton and Barnet (not before time).

Mid-table mediocrity: for Argyle, Bristol Rovers, Northampton, Wycombe, Exeter and the rest.

Sorry, no time to elaborate. Over to you...

[AustrianAndyGull]

If our squad stays intact and we add someone who can score regularly then we should be aiming for top 3.y

[bixieupnorth]

ps did you forget to add 'get rid of danny stevens' to your post andy??!!

[ferrarilover]

Ok, top three: Rotherham, Rovers, Chesterfield
Playoffs: Plymouth, Gillingham, Southend, Oxford.
Down: Barnet (for the love of God, just die!) and Burton.

Rotherham have loadsamoney and the fat flasher in charge. We have seen this year what a needlessly large budget does for you, I see no reason for it not to follow next year. If they can adapt to their new stadium and their new style under Chunky, they can do well.
Rovers started to look really good at the end of last year, scoring goals for fun. McGhee seems a decent enough manager and the team are very forward thinking. If they can keep their pitch like a pitch, ship out the unwanted and maybe draft some more suitable replacements, they could even nick the title.
Chesterfield are the very definition of a yoyo team, I have picked them because I think they're most likely to take third. I have avoided mentioning us because it's always a bad idea.

Plymouth are over their troubles and seemed to really pick up at the end of last year (similar to Rovers). Love 'em or hate 'em, they are probably in the wrong division, given their size (which counts for nothing really) and their resources, the playoffs are a minimum requirement.
Gillingham have been bridesmaids two seasons running and surely cannot miss out again. Plenty of goals in a side with lots of pace, if this isn't their year, I fear it may never be.
Southend are a horrible, ugly side, devoid of any real genuine footballing talent (I don't buy this Mosni crap, he's tall and waves his arms about a lot, but he's hardly Eunan O'Kane), but, as Stevenage proved a while back, that is enough to get you promoted.
Oxford are another club who probably should be a division above us, given their vast resources, it really does make you wonder what they spend their money on. I expect another summer of heavy investment and for it to bring rewards come next May.

Barnet have been an embarrassment to the League for a number of years and really need to go down. Their ground is a hovel, their fans don't sing, they managed to finish as low as they did despite the undoubted talents of Lawrie Sanchez and the division's top scorer. They would be much better off being a reasonable Conference side, they'd get more fans, win more games and it would cost them less to operate.
Burton are similar to Barnet, should never really have won promotion in the first place. You'll recall that, from about March onwards, they were exposed as ordinary in their promotion season and it was our own stupid fault that we didn't catch them. They were the worst team I saw last year, they fell to bits at home against us.

Of course, that won't be right. Every year there are one of two surprises who pop up in the playoffs. Fleetwood, so far as I know, have more money than Cheaty did last year, so they could be a bit of a surprise package. Equally, we have to finish somewhere, could be anywhere really, but the team we has this year probably won't be as good as the side we have next year, and look what happened to us.

Matt.

[stevegull]

Speaking of Plymouth, I advice any wellwishers to the gargs from our camp not to venture onto PASOTI. They are SO unbelieveably arrogant and definitely think they have the 'right' to win the league as they have a bigger stadium than most League Two teams. You'd have thought they'd be more humble given their recent downturn but no, they think they should walk this league and teams should simply roll over to their superior set up. I really hope they stay in League Two next season, at least for the social experiment of how long it takes the Argyle fans to realise they are not a 'Premiership' club.

[ROADRUNNER]

nobody has the right to stay in the league big stadiums and crowds dont give you the god given right to stay in there, ask luton and wrexham, anyway im giong with rotherham and gillingham and ourselves, rovers, southend, chesterfield, cheltenham in the playoffs, argyle and shitty, mid table, with barnet burton and morecombe battling to stay up, fleetwood may be up around the playoffs.

[royalgull]

Should be a really good league again next year. It's too early and also very hard to predict who'll do well and who'll struggle. However I think both promoted club will do ok, I actually think York will do better than Fleetwood, Wycombe will be in the top 7 as they always are when they are in this league, Southend again I see no reason why they won't be in the shake up. Then I look at teams that I expect to do a lot better and they'd be Rotherham, Oxford, Northampton, Plymouth, Gillingham, Bristol Rovers and possibly finally Bradford.

The hardest ones to gauge are clubs like us, Aldershot, Exeter, Cheltenham. Clubs that could go either way and there are always underacheivers and overacheivers each year.

Hard league next year that's for sure.

[AustrianAndyGull]

ps did you forget to add 'get rid of danny stevens' to your post andy??!!

Oh yeah. I forgot about him bix. I,m happy if danny stays but the reason i want him to go is that i believe we can get a better player from somewhere else.

[nicktufc]

Top 3, Southend, Rotherham and Wycombe

Play Offs, Bristol Rovers, Chesterfield, Oxford, Torquay

Relegated, Barnet and Morecambe

[gullintwoplaces]

Top 3: Southend, Bristol Rovers, Northampton

Playoffs: Torquay, Plymouth, Wycombe, Oxford

Relegated: Barnet, Accrington

Nearly relegated (fingers crossed): Rotherham (saved by a late run after they sack Fatty & Cheat), Greeks.

[ferrarilover]

Where is everyone getting the Miracle of Northampton Town from? Their Chairman admitted a while back that in his time there (4 years), he has spunked in excess of £7,000,000 on the club (not including buying it) and its got them the sum total of **** all. Another piss poor season saved only by Akinfattwat, paying Jake Robinson £2000/week, a man who scored precisely ZERO goals all year. They're a joke club really, the sort of outfit who exist only to demonstrate how not to do it. Once again, I find myself looking at Northampton's resources and becoming entirely bemused by how they manage to **** up, so badly, when clubs like us and (the poorest of the lot) Accrington comprehensively outgun them year after year. It's pathetic, if I didn't hate everything about them for their own delusion and totally unjustifiable self aggrandisement, I'd probably be able to muster a modicum of pity.

But I do, so I can't.

Matt.

[Bigman]

Have to agree with Matt on that one, Northampton and Bradford are always talked about as top promotion contenders every year cos they have the biggest ground and the most money, and sign a plethora of players, but every year the squad is unbalanced, the manager doesn't know his best 11, they underperform, they change the manager, and just about scrape to mid table. Unless they bring in a manager for long term stabilising and gradual building I can't see them getting any success in this league any time soon.

And their fans are ridiculously deluded about where they should be.

[Gullscorer]

Have to agree with Matt on that one, Northampton and Bradford are always talked about as top promotion contenders every year cos they have the biggest ground and the most money, and sign a plethora of players, but every year the squad is unbalanced, the manager doesn't know his best 11, they underperform, they change the manager, and just about scrape to mid table. Unless they bring in a manager for long term stabilising and gradual building I can't see them getting any success in this league any time soon.

And their fans are ridiculously deluded about where they should be.

Could say the same of many Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, and Oxford United fans.

And, though I'm certainly not deluded, I think the Gulls should definitely be in League One!


Mod Edit to correct quote formatting.

[gullintwoplaces]

Where is everyone getting the Miracle of Northampton Town from? Their Chairman admitted a while back that in his time there (4 years), he has spunked in excess of £7,000,000 on the club (not including buying it) and its got them the sum total of f**k all. Another piss poor season saved only by t**t, paying Jake Robinson £2000/week, a man who scored precisely ZERO goals all year. They're a joke club really, the sort of outfit who exist only to demonstrate how not to do it. Once again, I find myself looking at Northampton's resources and becoming entirely bemused by how they manage to f**k up, so badly, when clubs like us and (the poorest of the lot) Accrington comprehensively outgun them year after year. It's pathetic, if I didn't hate everything about them for their own delusion and totally unjustifiable self aggrandisement, I'd probably be able to muster a modicum of pity.

But I do, so I can't.

Matt.

I don't think "everyone" is predicting the Cobblers to go up, nor has anyone referred to a "miracle!! It is just me who has stated on this forum that Northampton might just do better in 2012/13, and only on a hunch because they now have a decent manager who pulled them out of a very big hole last season. The combination of a decent manager and their money might just do it for them. I may well be wrong, and I don't have any strong feelings about them either way!! My prediction about Rotherham on the other hand is very much wishful thinking, based on a passionate dislike of their horrible management team.

[Trojan 67]

My early prediction is . . .




. . . as contracts end at the end of June . . .




. . . a lot of footballers without an income will be looking for jobs.