Printable View
Well the new season is upon us - how do we all think we will do ?
I reckon the Villa will win the league and both cups !!
OK back to reality - we will have a very average season and probably finish about 8th as well as having a decent run in one of the cups before we blow it in the Quarter final.
Del.
My team is Bournemouth. We've sold a lot of players in the close season and will probably lose one or two more before the transfer window closes, meaning it's unlikely we'll repeat our play-off feat of last season. Still fancy a mid-table finish without the stress of a relegation battle, but these leagues rarely go as expected. Either way, I'm really excited about the opening game at Charlton tomorrow, even if our team bus has just spent 5-6 hours stuck on the M25, thanks to an accident that closed the South London stretch all evening.
As for Villa, they have a very good starting line-up, but a few injuries could screw their season. Would be good to see them in the top six, but can't see that happening yet.
Top of the league 1 at Christmas and lose in play offs to Udders! 1st round of Johnston Paint and league Cup, maybe 3rd of FA.
I am a Sunderland supporter and am just happy that they manage to stay in the Premiership.
My other team I atch out for is Hartlepool, and a lot of interest there this season. They have reduced the price of season tickets from £399 to £100, and instead of selling around 1000, sales are currently close to 6000. The ground capacity I believe is somewhere around 7000. I am not one with a lot of knowledge on these sort of things, but have been getting stuff from my footy crazy son who was born in Hartlepool and moved from Birmingham to Co Durham to support Hartlepool when he got disallusioned with Aston Villa some years ago.
He said other clubs are contacting Hartlepool for info and a lot will be watching how this season goes for them. They have an international on board too. Nolberto Solarno, who played for Peru,Newcastle and Aston Villa.
Spurs - If the papers are anything to go by, about 10 first team players are currently linked with other clubs so I don't have a clue who will even be with us come the close of the transfer window. If we keep most of what we have got then I envisage a similar league pattern to last year, finishing around 5th although I suspect we could pip the A*se to 4th spot this year. I fancy us for a cup final somewhere along the line.
Dartford - Did well to consolodate their first season at Conference South level for 20 years and ended up with the Kent Senior Cup in the Trophy cabinet as well. After a poor start they finished the season strongly for a comfortable mid-table position but have the resources to have improved the team over the summer. If the new players gel, would be looking to a play off spot this season.
Sunderland have been busier than most in the transfer market (nine signings so far), so a lot will depend on how quickly the new players settle into the team. Hopefully we can build on last season’s tenth place finish, if we can do better than that I’ll be happy. A cup run would be nice, as for too many years now we have tended to go out to poor sides at the first or second hurdle in both cups.
Failing the above, I’ll have to content myself with enjoying the ongoing soap opera up the road.
Altrincham.
After last season's utter debacle culminating in relegation and our worst goals against tally ever, we have to be looking for a return to the conference premier either by winning the conf north or through the play-offs. New manager Lee Sinnott has kept most of the decent players from last year and brought in some decent looking signings with a couple more still needed to complete the picture. Most of the dross from last year have now gone. Preseason has gone well so far, last PSF today against Stockport Co who annoyingly would have provided us with a money spinning Xmas derby had we not managed to go down.
After todays performance i think Shrewsbury will be top ten , should have been 3 up after 5 minutes , just lacking that 20 goal a season striker everone else is looking for and maybe a commanding midfielder , also well done to Plymouth fans , 1200 made the long trip up from Devon
Crystal Palace.
Having just avoided relegation for the last two seasons,I fully expect another desperate struggle.The last two Chairmen both blew their fortunes on the club (Mark Goldberg £25M,Simon Jordan approx £20M ) and their tenures ended in administration.The new consortium are running the club within it's means,with an avarage attendance of around 15,000 that means one of the lower playing budgets in the Championship.Free transfers and loan signings abound.
I'm used to it and will console myself with copious cheap pints in The George,Croydon armed with my Wetherspoon vouchers.Sambrooks have brewed a blonde ale (4.3%) called Palace which will be on sale in the ground but at £3.50 a pint for bright beer,I am not feeling that loyal.
At least we have got a fixture this season against the old foe,Brighton and Hove Albion:muppet: with their s wanky new stadium.:evilgrin:
Aberystwyth Town
Well the minimum will be to make top 6 when the league splits, which we failed to do last year by a point. There's been some comings and goings but the squad looks fairly similar in stature to last year's, although the loss of Bari Morgan to serious injury is a massive blow, he is basically Mr Aber Town (and hopefully will manage the club in the not-too-distant future). Being geographically isolated means getting hold of decent players is a struggle as many simply don't fancy the travelling, allied with the fact that TNS, Llanelli and Neath are now basically al full-time clubs. The Welsh Cup should be a primary aim. The league continues to get narrower, as a number of teams promoted in recent years have some financial clout behind them (Neath, Prestatyn), replacing teams who merely trod water the previous few years. A repeat of last season's 5th place will satisfy most people I think. Finishing below 8th is unacceptable.
Bristol Rovers
Year Zero at the Mem, new manager and new squad. Optimistic that they should bounce straight back and go up at the first time of asking.