RE: Football League: Discussion
As no one seems to have touched on League 2 thus far, I will give my personal guide for the up coming season....
League 2, known as the "kick and rush" league is far from it in this day and age. With the influx of foreign players in the higher divisions and reduction in reserve team football, it means promising young players who are hungry to prove a point are often seen plying there trade. Whether it be players on loan, or released youth players, squads in the lowest tier of the football league often use these youngsters to build a team around more senior members or journey men.... Unless of course you are Crawley Town whose wage bill seemingly has no limits.
Tipped for champions it comes as no surprise then that Creepy Crawley are the bookies favourites. With a wage bill fit for the Championship and scum bag manager Fatty McCheat (AKA Steve Evans whose crimes to football are as big as the wage budget) in charge, Creepy look to repeat last seasons success of buying the league.
Adding to an already strong squad including Matt Tubbs last seasons top scorer (37 in 41 games) Creepy have managed to persuade John Akinde (Bristol City) Scott Davies (Reading) and Hope Akpan (Everton) amongst other players to join, fending off interest from established League 1 teams.
Looking to compete for top spot will be Bristol Rovers who have installed Paul Buckle in charge, who took Torquay to the play off's last season. Bristol Rovers have a strong squad and also decent financial clout in the transfer market, so even though they can't compete financially with Creepy, they will understandably be the biggest contenders.
Oxford are another of the teams tipped for the automatic places this season. Bringing in a good number of decent players and with a highly rated young manager in charge, optimism is high. Having been back in the football league for a couple of season, Oxford will be looking for glory days once more.
Swindon will be another team to watch this season with novice manager Paulo Di Canio at helm. Di Canio's first job is to get Swindon promoted after their relegation last season, and several deals have been completed already to help. Along with Swindon as last season's relegated teams are Plymouth. Although money problems have thwarted their ambitions some what, I still expect Peter Reids Plymouth to give it a good go, although play-offs will be the best they can hope for at a push.
Other certain play-off contenders will be Gillingham, Port Vale, Shrewsbury, Dagenham, Northampton and Rotherham (providing they can keep hold of Adam Le Fondre, consistent 20+ goals a season) . All these teams are no strangers to fighting for play-off places and all posess strong squads.
Bradford, undoubtedly seen as the leagues sleeping giant, will certainly be wanting to be play-off contenders along with Torquay who had a more then impressive season last year, although were unfortunate to lose manager Paul Buckle to Bristol Roves.
Also pushing for the play-off / mid-table place will be Aldershot Town looking to improve on last season with manager Dean Holdsworth in his first full season in charge.
Crewe will be another team with a point to prove with Dario Gradi once more looking to work his magic.
Making up the rest of the league will be last season BSP play-off winners AFC Wimbledon. Manager Terry Brown has lost their star layer Danny Kedwell to Gillingham and will be a tough player to replace, but hopes are high for the newly formed club.
Last seasons other play-off losers Accrington along with Hereford, Southend and Macclesfield I feel will be filling the spaces between mid table and relegation, while unfortunately I see Burton , Barnet, Cheltenham and Morecombe fighting it out for relegation.
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