League one next season

I know it's not our concern, but it's looking like being very competitive.

Rotherham, Bolton and Ipswich coming down and although I can't see Bury or Lincoln doing a Luton, MK Dons will probably be one of the better suited clubs out of those promoted.

Add either Sunderland or Charlton to Pompey, Donny, Coventry, Burton and possibly Peterborough and Blackpool and it's a strong looking division.

Could be a dozen clubs vying for top 6. I fancy Ipswich to walk it if Sunderland go up this time.

 

I'm glad we are out of it. We deserved top 2, but it was tight. Gonna be equally hard in the Championship, but it's our home & with decent backing we can stay up.

I'd expect Blackpool & Coventry to do well next season & Pompey & the losing finalists.

Hope Fleetwood go out of business. **** football team.

 

I fancy Lincoln to be knocking on the door of the playoffs. An ambitious club on an upward trajectory.

 

Could be a dozen clubs vying for top 6. I fancy Ipswich to walk it if Sunderland go up this time.[/QUOTE]

Think Ipswich are in for a tough time and will be lower mid table at best.

 

Wouldn’t surprise me if Lincoln were one of the favourites to go up.

 

Yeah could be a very tough one glad we are out of it, in theory staying up should be easier than going up.

 

I think Brian Howard's comments in last Friday's Chronicle are not too far wide of
the mark. He has said that he thought that this seasons League One , was probably one of
the toughest ever, which made the fact that Barnsley's young squad gained automatic
promotion, even more remarkable.

I'm really glad we managed to get back into the Chamionship and am looking forward to seeing better quality
football at Oakwell , hopefully coupled with the occasional away day next season. It already looks to be a
tough proposition, but my confidence is high that always providing we hang on to Daniel and recruit some
decent additions, we might be OK.

Totally agree with fitzytyke, in that Leauge One looks a really daunting prospect next season even without
Sunderland or Charlton being in the mix. I for one am extremely thankful that we will not be involved in it.

 

Sunderland look a good bet for the play-offs, I reckon.



I think Peterborough will sort themselves out and be top six. Burton too - they are horrible to play against and have a manager I rate a lot.

Bolton Squanderers glued to 24th when their 12 points becomes 25.

 

Agree with you DR, really glad we’re not in amongst that lot but we’ve bigger fish to fry and (as usual) are favourites for the drop already. Love us to finish mid table but realistically I think we’ll struggle. Heart says we’ll do ok, head says we’ll do well if we finish 5th bottom.

 

No money though, Manager being tipped with bigger clubs (rumour in Lincoln is terms to be agreed for WBA although I would be surprised) and Manager already talking about limited budget to compete for Lge 1

 

I'm a bit more optimistic TTS. I've pencilled 16th in my diary. Try to predict every season. Had us in 11th
for this term. It's so difficult to say because the squad for next year is not yet in fully place ( hopefully)
and we don't know how strong the opposition are likely to be.

My only wish for next term is that we attempt to continue in the same fashion as the season just ended.
High tempo, quick passing, forward pressing and please, we avoid getting embroiled in a struggle in
trying to survive. It gets to be so depressing.

Our football under the likes of Nigel Spackman and to some extent apart from the Cup run, Simon Davey
was not the most inspiring. The worst season ever for my money was when Steve Parkin was our boss.
We should have known from the start what we were in for, when he said he had an encyclopedic
knowledge of all the players in League Two. Recall he brought Gary Jones in from his former Club Rochdale.
What a signing he was.?

I never ever usually get really animated at a match, but I always remember we were really struggling when
we went to play Rotherham at Millmoor. Believe it was late 2001.? The pitch was frosty and we were fortunate
that the game went ahead really. I think we managed to draw one apiece. At one point, I was so frustrated,
I stood up and shouted at Parkin that he really needed to make changes. When I'd finished my rant and sat down,
one of our fans behind me put his hand on my shoulder and whispered " whoa steady Tiger". Made me chuckle.

My frustrations grew when I put Radio Dee Dar on as we travelled home. A procession of callers not just those
who supported us, phoned in to predict that Barnsley were now favourites for the drop. Unfortunately as much as I didn't
want to believe it, they were right and at the end of that season we were relegated.
Last I heard of him Parkin was the Coach for Bolton Wanderers. That tells me all I need to know about him really.

 

Honestly don't think that Danny Cowley will leave Lincoln. He's linked with the Albion, but hot favourite for
the job is rumoured to be Chris Hughton.

 

I have also heard from reliable sources that Lincoln have no money and will find it difficult to compete. That doesn’t seem to stop some of their fans thinking that they will walk the league. Interesting that Danny Cowley has publicly said that he won’t be going into the league to consolidate this season, apparently it’s all or nothing.

 

I'd fancy Ipswich,Coventry,blackpool,pompey,rovrum and Sunderland if they don't go up to be strong. I think Bolton could keep on falling and next season will be a long one for them.

 

Either Sunderland or Charlton will automatically be promoted along with Peterborough.
Play offs Burton Rotherham Blackpool and I quite fancy Lincoln to be the surprise team next season
Bolton and Ipswich will struggle.

 

What's "League One"?

Never heard of it...

 

mmm... I'm normally with you but on this I don't agree. I don't think I've ever seen us in such an uncompetitive league. No one could run the customary line 'anyone can beat anyone else'. No they couldn't. The top five were so far ahead of the rest it was embarrassing. That element was competitive but only for five clubs. It reminded me of the premiership in that for the last two months much of the discussion was who would finish 6th! And like the Premiership - no one gave a toss.

Now next season. The Championship! That must be one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Can you imagine if the Premiership was like that. Sky/BBC/ BT would be creaming themselves.

 

It's looking very open next season and far weaker than it was this past season. The top two won't need anywhere near as many points for automatic promotion next season. We were up against two sides in Luton and Portsmouth looking for back to back promotion, Sunderland with parachute payments and Charlton who were in the play offs the previous season.

Next season you have Ipswich who need a big rebuild especially to get the wage bill down. Rotherham who aren't going to crack a five figure average attendance. Bolton who look like they could be relegated another division. Lincoln could do a Luton with back to back promotions. They have the momentum and the fanbase.

 

Think Ipswich are in for a tough time and will be lower mid table at best.[/QUOTE]Just checked odds and bookies have Ipswich favourites for winning league.

 

What he may have meant DT was "on paper," even before the season started. The so called "experts" were tipping Sunderland and Portsmouth to do well and in a lot of articles I saw we didn't even get a mention, which is unusual.

When we lost Kieffer and Kenny to injury and Jacob and Cameron were both suspended, a lot of pundits and quite
a number of our own fans didn't rate our chances of going up, so it was very satisfying to be able to prove people wrong.

Haven't seen any odds for this years Championship, but I would not be surprised to learn that we are fancied for the
drop, which is ridiculous given that we haven't signed any of the players that have probably been identified as fitting
the spreadsheet criteria.