For those who like their football bad, there is no glory to see here!
The Football League in England kicks off again this Saturday (7th August) and due to a rather typical collapse and subsequent relegation of my team at the end of the last, League Two will be my focus for the majority of this season. Whisper it quietly…I have the hardship of being a Gillingham supporter.
Accrington Stanley's Crown Ground
In one of the tightest and hardest to predict divisions in the country, League 2 has 20 teams who could realistically aim for the playoffs.
Automatic Promotion
Seemingly time after time, they fail but Bradford City have a manager in charge who almost excels at promotions in Peter Taylor, two seasons ago taking Wycombe Wanderers up from this very division.
They should be genuine challengers for the title on this occasion. If they can shake their nerves at Valley Parade, that is.
Rotherham United will be there or thereabouts come May, much will depend if they can keep striker Adam Le Fondre, who is an excellent striker for this level. The Millers failed at the last hurdle in the play-off
Rotherham United's Adam Le Fondre
final last time out and will be determined to go one step further. Under Gary Waddock, Wycombe Wanderers should continue their promising form from the end of last season and have added to an already solid squad for this campaign.
Playoffs
Those placed in 3rd-7th will enter the League Two playoffs. Last season saw Dagenham & Redbridge claim promotion at Wembley, much like my beloved Gills the year before. It is difficult picking four teams to take these positions come May with so many teams who on paper, look quite evenly balanced.
Port Vale have been slowly improving under Micky Adams and are building a formidable squad and have retained the services of Marc Richards who will score plenty of goals, if kept fit. Shrewsbury Town are a little difficult to predict at times but should be competitive under Graham Turner and for the previous two seasons have just missed out despite having one of the larger budgets.
Gillingham's Andy Barcham
Gillingham will be very strong at home again and under Andy Hessenthaler should be hard to beat. Despite losing top goalscorer Simeon Jackson to Norwich, The Gills have recruited well. Much will depend on whether their away day failures are put to bed early. Chesterfield have been a very competitive team in this division of the past couple of years and its possible that the move into their new B2Net Stadium could provide a boost to their on the pitch fortunes.
Saying that I expect Northampton, Bury, Aldershot, Burton, Lincoln, Oxford United and Torquay to also be in the mix.
Relegation Scrap
The battle that no-one wants to be involved in is the battle to stay in the Football League.
Grimsby Town suffered a final day relegation last season and two more clubs will join them. Accrington Stanley could well join them after having lost a number of key players and having one of the smaller playing budgets. Barnet will either surprise many or find themselves crawling along at the bottom of the table, having lost John O’Flynn and Albert Adomah in the summer. Darren Dehenny will be a key player at centre half.
Macclesfield Town and Cheltenham Town could also be in or around the mix come May.
Predictions
1. Wycombe Wanderers (P)
2. Bradford City (P)
3. Rotherham United (P)
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4. Port Vale (P)
5. Shrewsbury
6. Gillingham
7. Chesterfield
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23. Barnet (R)
24. Accrington Stanley (R)
I expect that the final table will be completely different, but let’s try to enjoy the season ahead. It is going to be a long and bumpy ride.
The Soapbox X 