Fans’ season preview 2012/13 – part three

Gillingham

Michael – @mikeywoods89

8^th in League Two – “Just fallen short”

We lost a few players, in particular Paulo Gazzaniga who has joined Southampton, but we have brought in some good replacements and perhaps strengthened in areas that were otherwise weak last season such as the defence.

With the quality of players we have this season and Martin Allen in charge (hopefully he'll last the season), I expect us to make the play-offs as a minimum. I believe the highest we can aim for is 3rd but there are some strong teams in this league.

Rotherham and York are of particular interest – Rotherham because of the new ground and York because of the place itself, and it's a team I haven't seen us face before. Also looking forward to Burton Albion as it's the final game of the season and I have yet to visit Burton.

Morecambe

Jack – @MorecambeJack

15^th in League Two – "Room for improvement"

We have lost Lawrence Wilson our left back with a great attacking threat who I think we will miss terribly. We have brought in Robbie Threlfall as a replacement but it remains to be seen whether he can fill his boots. Garry Hunter was released, despite being Morecambe born and bred, but we have brought in Championship-level experience through Andy Wright from Scunthorpe.

Expectation is to stay in the league and with a reduced squad this year, anything more than that will be a success. We are going to heavily rely on youth this year and hope that we do not suffer many injuries. Showing relegation form over the last 7 months of last season, we really need a good start again this year to avoid being in a scrap at the bottom.

I think most Morecambe fans are looking forward to the Fleetwood games this year, as they become our nearest "rivals" once more. The York game also has some interest as we beat them in the play-off semis the year we got promoted (with a bit of controversy!). Other than that, I am looking forward to the Bradford games particularly at home on New Year's Day and our away game at Accrington which for the first time I can remember, is on a Saturday in spring rather than a cold Tuesday night in winter!

Northampton Town

20^th in League Two –

Oxford United

Jennie – @x_Jen_xx

9^th in League Two – “Disappointing, frustrating, inconsistent”

We've kept a lot of our key players, I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, because something needs to dramatically change in our squad! I’m glad that we've kept Constable and Craddock, so I’m expecting a lot more from them this season. We've signed a couple of players who could be vital for next season and have a couple more on loan, such as McGinty and Cox, which should hopefully get the players fighting for their places instead of becoming too complacent!

I think a lot of Oxford fans will expect us to be in the play-offs by Christmas and if we're not... then I think Wilder will be sacked. It's a shame because I do like Wilder, but we can't just keep finishing in mid table in League Two because people will just stop going. By the end of the season, I think realistically we would be lucky to get in to the play-offs, but anything less would be heartbreaking for the club. We have a new chairman so hopefully that should push the club forward. A play-off place will be good enough.

I’m looking forward to Wycombe away – bit of a local derby and it's always a game that we look forward to. Exeter away too, just because there's some old rivalry there from when we were in the Conference with them! I’m hoping for a good cup run going as we haven't had one in a very long time, but knowing Oxford, this will not happen this season either!

Plymouth Argyle

Edward – @ArgyleEd

21^st in League Two – “Difficult, stressful, successful”

Our biggest loss is Simon Walton who we let go to Hartlepool for personal reasons. Walton was never universally popular but in my opinion really came through for the club last season during difficult times. He was made captain after Fletcher became manager and I believe his leadership made a big difference to a young and inexperienced team that were really struggling. He was also our top scorer, they were mostly from the penalty spot but by keeping his head under pressure he scored several goals that turned out to be vital in our League survival. He was never as good as we thought he would be considering what we paid for him back in our Championship years and some fans always held that against him but I believe that in League Two he'll be missed. Other than Walton our only losses are the loan players who returned to their clubs, they all played a part in our improvement in the second half of the season, MacDonald, Hemmings and Tsoumou all gave us a greater attacking threat that what was provided by our permanent players.

Jamie Lowry was brought in not long after Walton's departure, he's got a poor injury record but fans of his previous clubs mostly think well of him and think he'll do a good job in League Two, unfortunately he has suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out for three months. I'm hoping to see Luke Young play a big role for us, he's only 19 but has shown a lot of promise despite mostly playing out on the wing which is not his best position, if he gets a chance in centre midfield I believe he could have a very good season. We really lacked a genuine goal-scorer last season, it was a position that needed sorting, I like Nick Chadwick and Warren Feeney but neither of them will score the goals to keep us out of a relegation scrap. Fletcher's solution appears to be Welsh striker Rhys Griffiths, he's got a fantastic record in the Welsh league (180 goals in 181 appearances for Llanelli) but no experience at a higher level and at 32 years old quite a bit older than most players who make the step up to League football. If he can reproduce anything like the coring form he's had in Wales it'll be a fantastic signing but if he can't then we'll be left with a real goal-scoring problem. Andres Gurrieri signed after being released by Burton, he impressed here on trial last summer (supposedly we couldn't sign him then due to his previous club wanting compensation) and Burton fans seem to think he was ok for them, I'm happy enough with the signing and he's not the only new winger, we've also signed Johnny Gorman from Wolves on loan until January. If they can replace what we had with Hemmings and MacDonald and allow Luke Young to play in the centre of midfield rather than on the wing I'll be very pleased. Our only other signing so far is goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin who was released by Watford who says he has signed to challenge Jake Cole for the number one spot rather than to be back up, Cole however was impressive for us last season and I'd expect him to at least start the season as number one.

I honestly don't know where we'll finish this season. I'm not expecting a promotion challenge despite our owner's comments on expectations and wage budget. We came very close to going down last season and at the moment I'm not convinced our team is much stronger, what we've lost has mostly been replaced but as yet the quality of the replacements is yet to be proven. Without the stress of administration and no wages and the experience gained last season I don't think we'll be in quite the same struggle as we were last season but I'm expecting to be paying more attention to the bottom of the table than the top. I don't think we'll get relegated but if we are to leave League Two at the end of the season it seems likely it would be into the Conference rather than League One. It's important for our fans to remember that rebuilding from the disastrous period in administration will take time and if we can't yet afford to immediately compete for promotion then we shouldn't try to, if spending within our means signing cheap, unproven players for now and having a few disappointing seasons then that's a price worth paying, I hope our fans don't demand we put our future at risk again if things don't go too well. Right now I'd be content with a mid table finish and a season without the constant worry of relegation, after four desperately stressful relegation battles in a row I think we deserve a relaxing year. I'm also hoping to see some more attacking football, our ultra defensive set up worked for us in the desperation of last season but it was not much fun to watch, Fletcher has said he'd prefer a more attractive style of football and I think we have the players to do it if they're allowed to and there's not the immediate pressure to get results that a relegation battle creates.

With all three of Devon's League clubs in the same division the obvious fixtures to look forward to are the derbies between us, Torquay and most importantly, Exeter. However, as I am not too confident about our chances there's a fair bit of worry mixed in with the excitement and as I'm not a season ticket holder I won't be able to get tickets for the away games and so will have to follow them from home which never helps the nerves. Living in London I usually look forward to our away trips to the capital and some shorter journeys to make, AFC Wimbledon will again be my local game so that's a game I'll definitely be attending.

Port Vale

Matt – @pvfc_matt

12^th in League Two – “A complete mess”

We saw a few of our key players take up offers from clubs elsewhere.  The main two were definitely last season’s top scorer Marc Richards and tough tackling midfielder Anthony Griffiths.

Richards leaving was always on the cards and once Chesterfield offered him a substantially better wage than what we could he was on his way; mixed views from Valiants as to how much he will be missed. The bigger and more surprising loss was that of Anthony Griffiths who decided to make the move to London to join Leyton Orient.  A tough tackling, fully committed, hard working midfielder who would put his body on the line for the sake of breaking up an oppositions attack.  His distribution was not always the best but was certainly a part of his game he had improved upon during the last season.

We have completed the ‘signings’ of six players to date, although these are still currently subject to the ongoing administration process.  At time of writing this we are under the belief that the Football League have authorised us to complete the deals whilst still in administration.  These players are:

Goalkeeper Chris Neal who played a full part in Shrewsbury’s promotion from this very league last season and will make a very adequate Number 1 for us.

Defenders Dave Artell, who captained Crewe to playoff victory last season and is a natural leader and Richard Duffy who played in League 1 with Exeter last season and comes to Vale with a lot of good reviews.

Midfielders Jennison Myrie-Williams who showed a lot of promise with his speed and trickery on the wing whilst on loan with us last season, Ashley Vincent who is another pacy winger and joins us from Colchester and finally Darren Murphy who we are lead to believe could do a similar job to what Griffiths has done for us in recent seasons.  Murphy was part of the Stevenage side which one back-to-back promotions from BSP to League One.

We also have Liam Dickinson who has agreed a deal in principle providing he can prove his fitness after fighting back from a broken ankle.  Hopefully Dickinson can prove to be the replacement to Marc Richards after scoring goals at this level for Southend, providing he proves to Micky Adams that his ankle is fully recovered.  We have also had Tadhg Purcell on trial following his release from Northampton and he’s been banging goals in for fun during our friendlies. All in all Vale fans are very impressed with the standard of players we have signed so far this summer after seeing plenty of dross and deadwood brought into our club on the ‘cheap’ in the past.

I’m not too sure how we will get on at the moment.  Back in July it seemed as though we had everything falling into place.  We had announced the signings of six players, all of which are so much better than the usual standard of player we bring in. Our preferred bidder was seemingly a signature away from taking control of the club and building on his vision to see us back in the Championship in the coming years.  There was a real buzz around Port Vale again (something we have not had for many years now) and there was genuine expectations of us fighting competitively in the top seven and finally getting ourselves back out of this league. Then everything just seemed to go stale and for weeks now there has been nothing positive coming out of the club.  It seems our ‘saviour’ Keith Ryder is struggling to complete his takeover with talk of him not having the funds to do so and we are now back to square one with our administrators re-opening the door to other prospective owners.  We apparently have two other bidders looking into buying us out of administration but this will mean the process beginning over and will almost certainly mean we start this season in administration. Despite this dark cloud hanging over us, we could still have a decent season providing the stories of the Football League allowing us to officially sign the players we have brought in during the summer are true, and providing the CVA we have in place stays in place for any new bidders and we are not hit with any further points deductions. If things take a turn for the worse with regards to the administration then who knows what this season will bring.  In fact I don’t even want to think about it.

Well we lost some of the closer games that Vale fans always looked out for. Crewe and Shrewsbury both went up and Macclesfield suffered relegation. These were all fixtures that saw a large away following from Vale and were always the ones to look for first. With the clubs that are in this league for this coming season, I think it has to be York followed closely by Torquay.  Never been to York’s ground so it will be another one ticked off the list plus I am told there is a cracking weekend to be had up there.  We always spend the weekend in Torquay and this season will be no different and can safely say it is one of the nicest places in the UK – there is nothing like an away win at the seaside!

Pre-Dagenham thoughts (20.03.12)

Following on from the Look Black n Amber exclusive earlier in the week, here’s the next piece from my portfolio, found in the Matchday Programme on Tuesday night. The opponents: Dagenham + Redbridge.

“Good evening.

Saturday’s game against Morecambe was a real game of two halves. At the end of the match we were very disappointed to come away with nothing. First half playing down the slope I thought we really took the game to them; we passed it around well and created enough chances to have it wrapped up by half time. As is the case at the moment, it only took Morecambe one opportunity to score at the end of the first 45 minutes. From our point of view, it was another sloppy goal to give away, and at the end of the day, that one mistake really cost us.

From going goals behind in the past, we’ve had the ability to turn it around and when you have attacking players of our quality, there is always a threat there. When Morecambe got their second though, it was simply a case of game over. At full time we were all aware that our second half performance wasn’t good enough – despite Morecambe defending well, we were too flat – and we simply can’t be making those kind of errors anymore. We now need to put that match behind us and move forward and what better opportunity than in front of the home crowd tonight in a six pointer against Dagenham and Redbridge.

Six of our final nine games including tonight are at home, and despite our away performances being better this season, we need to somehow turn that around and give our fans something to shout about at Underhill. We all know we need to make home advantage count, as every point at this stage of the season is vital. We went out with that mindset on Saturday and weren’t able to deliver the goods, so tonight is a good opportunity to put things right. I can’t put my finger on why our away performances have been better, but it started back earlier in the season with our cup runs. The fact is, we do need to do better at home, and like I said, what better time than tonight – at this stage of the season, one good result can turn our luck around and with the fans behind us, we can gain momentum.

As I’ve said in previous notes, playing well for 45 minutes doesn’t count for anything when we leave games without a point; we need to start playing consistently well for the entire match, take our chances and ultimately cut out any silly mistakes, particularly when defending.

Our next two games are huge: tonight against Dagenham and then Macclesfield away on Friday night. Depending how we fare points-wise at the end of the week, it’s fair to say those results alone will either make it a lot easier or a lot more difficult in terms of our scrap down the bottom. Our situation at present is a lot better than it was earlier in the season – we’ve not been in the bottom two for a while, and there are a lot more teams struggling this year. That alone gives us the confidence to press on, and with such a young side, we know we really need to push away from the wrong end of the table. We need to be the top side in the bottom six or seven – it’s almost like a mini-league down there!

We’re expecting a tough test tonight from Dagenham, because of course they are down there too, and scrapping for their lives. They won at the weekend, so I’m sure that’ll give them confidence going into tonight’s game. We have to not let that bother us, and although it’s bound to be a scrappy and hard-fought game, we have to go into it with a positive attitude. We have a new threat in Ben up front and I’m sure they’ll be aware of him and his presence. He’s another option for us – on Saturday he showed how good he is in the air. Going forward we look dangerous, so really need to cause problems for the Dagenham defenders, but of course it will be a case of taking chances.

I’m aware at the moment that the fans come away from games as disappointed as us players, but we really need everyone to get behind us. We know we aren’t the worst, or even second worst side in the League and we can get out of it again – with the support of everyone at the ground. I’ve said it before, but the positivity and support during the game really do affect the lads on the pitch and can make all the difference so please continue to back us. By sticking together, we will turn it around, beginning tonight, which is a massive game for everybody concerned.

Enjoy the game”

Mark Hughes was talking to Lucy Waldon

Match Report: Barnet 0–2 Morecambe (Barnet Fan’s Perspective)

Saturday 17^th March 2012

Underhill Stadium

Barnet started the game the brighter of the two, with Ben May (on loan from Stevenage) partnering Izale McLeod up front for the first time. For long periods of the first half, in fact, the home side dominated – Mark Byrne going closest in the opening 10 minutes, before another opportunity for the midfielder arrived, from a free-kick – but the away side also caused the Bees’ defence problems as they went forward.

McLeod then had a goal ruled out for offside, with just under half an hour on the clock, but Barry Roche was easily the busier of the two keepers. Before the end of the first 45 minutes, Barnet continued to press and rally forward at every opportunity, displaying one of the better performances of late – it was hard to see the gulf between the two sides, in terms of positions in the League. Byrne again should have done better with what could have been a great goal; on a different day, or with more confidence, he’d have hit the back of the net. Holmes and McLeod, too, had opportunities which should have seen them on the score sheet.

And, unfortunately, it was the visitors that were to go into the break ahead, when, with two minutes remaining, Kevin Ellison scored. A slip from Michael Hector allowed Stewart Drummond through on goal and although his shot was saved by Liam O’Brien, the ball was spilt straight into the path of Ellison, who converted a simple tap-in.

It was a real case of one shot, one goal, as the goal was completely against the run of play, but was merely a much-needed wake-up call for the Barnet defence to stop conceding such unnecessary goals. Despite conceding late on, it was a positive performance in the first half; the necessity to take chances was a real lesson. But when you’re at the wrong end of the table though, that bad luck seems to rear its ugly head!

Half Time: Barnet 0–1 Morecambe (Ellison ’43)

After such a valiant and pleasing performance in the first half, Barnet fans were right to feel disappointed and angered with what was an unacceptable second half display. Morecambe dropped the tempo, when necessary and saw the game out to their strengths, preserving their lead. Barnet looked lifeless and flat – with no real urgency or desire to take the game to the visitors. There was no ‘plan b’ or attempt to try and change the result, or predicament the Bees currently find themselves in.

In fact, it’s fair to say the Shrimps dominated the second half and it’s clear their second goal killed the game off – they simply didn’t allow the home side a foot-hole in the game.

There were a couple of chances for the Bees to equalise in the opening stages of the second half: Byrne and May squandering opportunities. An excellent goal from the visitors’ Jack Redshaw settled the score and the away side never looked as if they’d give up their two-goal advantage!

And Morecambe could have so easily been further ahead, the crossbar coming to the Bees’ rescue with only a few minutes remaining. Lewis Alassandra’s shot thundered against the woodwork, with Barnet’s defence hapless.

A real Jekyll and Hyde performance from the hosts in front of an infuriating home crowd. Following the second half display, though, Barnet can’t be disappointed to leave the game with nothing.

Full Time: Barnet 0–2 Morecambe (Ellison ’43, Redshaw ’63)

Attendance: 1,536

Starting line–ups:

Barnet – O’Brien; Hector, Downing, Dennehy, Mustoe; Byrne, Hughes, Deering, Holmes; McLeod, May

Morecambe – Roche; Parrish, McCready, Haining, Reid; Hunter, Drummond, McDonald, Ellison; Burrow, Redshaw

Pre-Morecambe thoughts (17.03.12)

So for those of you that don’t know, from time to time I get the opportunity to interview the Barnet captain to get his thoughts leading up to our next home game. It’s been a great chance to showcase some of the skills I learnt whilst studying for a journalism degree, as well as doing something that not only interests me, but is also a passion of mine. I started helping out last season, when our captain was Glen Southam. This season, our captain is Mark Hughes. Here is my first instalment for Look Black n Amber – seen in the match day programme for the Morecambe game last Saturday.

"It seems a while since we played Rotherham at home, with a couple of away games in the meantime. I thought we started that game well, creating chances and we got the early goal through Byrner. At the end of the first half though, having such a narrow lead always means you’re prone to throw that away, and had we been further ahead at the break, I think we would have got all three points. With Ricky and Izale in the side, always going forward, we had a fair few opportunities to extend our lead. As it was, Rotherham had a good spell in the second half, getting that equalising goal, and once we got reduced to ten men the game clearly swung in their favour. It was definitely a game of two halves. At the end of it though, I think we were all happy to get a point – they put us under the cosh a fair bit – but I think we played well with a man down, especially given the way we capitulated against Bradford previously.

We went into the Gillingham game the following Tuesday feeling positive and confident. Again, I believe we started well and created chances – when you have players of our quality going forward, you’re always more than capable of getting goals! Again we went into the break with a narrow one-goal lead, despite having chances to kill the game off before half time. Gillingham are a good side going forward, and there always seems to be a hatful of goals in their games. Once they got their equaliser quickly in the second half, we flapped a bit. Our heads didn’t drop when they got their second, but after scoring a third in quick succession it was definitely game over! Like the rest of the squad, I was frustrated at the end of the game because we hadn’t played badly, in fact I think it was one of our better performances of late – the scoreline definitely didn’t reflect the way we played!

We went into Saturday’s game against Port Vale knowing we needed to forget about the defeat at Priestfield, and if we played half as well as that, would be likely to get a result. We hadn’t been in good form, so to win our first game since the end of January was such a relief, and a real confidence boost for the boys! It’s always nice to score a winner in the final minutes of a match, and given the manner we have been conceding recently, it was good to finally have that little bit of luck. Ben scored on his debut, but I’d like to say congratulations to Andy for getting his first goal for the club – he came off the bench and was in the right place at the right time, with his first touch of the game! Hopefully now they’ll both get a couple more goals as well.

With Ben in the side now, and a couple of the youngsters coming off the bench, there is definitely competition in the side for places. We didn’t know until Friday that Ben was joining us – I’m not sure how long he’d known either. He was on the bench on Wednesday for Stevenage, so it was a case of White Hart Lane to Vale Park in four days. But we were all delighted he managed to get on the score sheet in his first game, and I’m sure he was as well – particularly on his birthday! He just wants to get the opportunity to play first team football.

We are expecting a test today against Morecambe; they’re a big, strong side with tonnes of experience, whereas we are a much younger side with players wanting to prove themselves. That doesn’t make them better than us though. We won 1-0 in the reverse fixture so I’m sure they’ll be looking to put one over on us this afternoon. Hopefully Pricey doesn’t cause us too many problems after Obita scored for Gillingham in that midweek game, although he’ll be wanting to show what the club missed out on! Going into games, we always look at how we fared in the previous match, so to win and ‘do the double’ over Morecambe would be very pleasing. A win would see us hit the 40 point marker, which would also drag a couple of teams back into the scrap again.

Enjoy the game"

Mark Hughes was talking to Lucy Waldon

League 2 season preview - part three

I thought I’d do something a little different and after completing the Twitter92 a month or so ago, I thought it’d be apt to see what my fellow League 2 supporters thought about their aspirations and expectations for their teams in the coming season. Here is part three (of four):

Hereford United

Matt Rowe – Twitter

“I think we will be closer to mid table than last term, we have cleared out the deadwood and replaced them with players with a better pedigree such as Harry Pell. I would be happy with a stable mid table finish and our chairman has already echoed this.

2 players to look out for are Stuart Fleetwood and Harry Pell. Stuart Fleetwood thrived last season next to big targetman Manset and since we have sold him to Reading we have brought in a similar player in Delroy Facey who i believe will help Fleetwood score more than his 20 overall goals last season. We had Harry Pell on loan from Bristol rovers last season for a couple of months and he changed our midfield. He adds physical presence with his height in the middle of the park (6ft 2) and also has the ability to pick out a decent pass or take on the odd player. He was Bristol Rovers young player of the season but chose to join us last month on a 2 year contract.

Games to look forward are the following away trips: Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Plymouth and also Southend as it's the first game of the season!

I am quietly confident about our chances of having a decent season. Since we sacked Simon Davey last season, who left us bottom with 5pts from 10 games, we had a change of fortune and if the season had restarted under Jamie Pitman we would've finished 12th (from the 36 remaining games). Hopefully we will see progress on the Blackfriars End where the temporary seating currently is and start to see signs of construction of the new stand”.

Macclesfield Town

Ian Stewart – Twitter

“Every season since the great escape under Paul Ince, various bookies and media outlets have had Macclesfield as the prime candidates for relegation. Every season we've proven this prediction wrong, it's not been easy particularly with our resources and certain circumstances. The best we can hope for is a mid-table finish, although with the right team attitude and good run of form, there's no reason to rule out a push for the playoffs.

The loss of two key players, Tyrone Barnett and Hamza Bencherif has not helped our prospects, but I feel there's great pace and potential in the players bought in the close season by Simmo. Like his predecessor, the late Keith Alexander. Simmo [Gary Simpson] has a knack for plucking talent from the non-league,Tyrone Barnett joined us from Hednesford Town last season. We hope that Ben Tomlinson, signed from Worksop Town, can follow on from where Tyrone left off. Arnaud Mendy is an interesting purchase as well, a big strong midfielder released by Derby County. He had a loan spell at Tranmere Rovers last season, and I've heard positive accounts from Tranmere supporters regarding his performances in midfield.

The one game that stands out is Swindon Town, it'll be a Friday night spectacle, and with the appointment of Paolo di Canio there has to be fireworks. Also looking forward to Bristol Rovers, Northampton Town and Southend United; as well as the newly promoted sides which are two juicy prospects.

We have a positive young squad that Simmo has built up, and some firm experienced league players like Nat Brown and Matt Hamshaw in our ranks. Though the only real concern is the lack of an experienced striker”.

Morecambe

Jack Steer – Twitter

“I am confident that we will do much better this season than last, which is necessary to avoid the drop! There is a much more positive attitude around the club this season under Jim Bentley, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we sneak a play-off place. Conservatively expecting mid-table, but confident that we can do much better.

New signings Izak Reid, Lewi Alessandra and Gary McDonald are all contributing to the renewed optimism around the club and will hopefully do very well. Add to those our consistent good performers Barry Roche and Andy Parrish. I think Andy Fleming will have a great season too.

Optimistically looking forward to the Accrington derby games in hope that we break the football league curse of being unable to beat them – they won’t have the benefit of Jimmy Ryan’s bi-annual deflected goal this year! Also looking forward to seeing Tony Roberts of the Daggers again.

Everything is looking very positive at the moment, the changes that Jim Bentley is making are all positive and are very much fan-focused. Everyone connected with the football club is right behind him and the players would run through brick walls for him”.

Northampton Town

Kris Holland – Twitter

“The chairman wants us to finish in the top 3, Northampton fans generally anticipate the play-offs...and me? Well i reckon we'll wind up around 9th or 10th. Reaching the top 7 is not necessarily beyond the realm of possibility but after coming within a whisker of relegation last time out, expectations have got to be reined in.

19 year-old Michael Jacobs is one to watch. The kid is absolute dynamite and was essentially the kingpin of our attacking chances last season, scoring 8 goals in league and cup; some of which were absolute corkers, while setting up more than double that. He was also voted player of the season for 2010/11. Not bad for your first season as a pro! He's destined for greater things than a drawn out career at Northampton Town so my advice is to enjoy his rare talent at your local ground while you still can.

I’m looking forward to AFC Wimbledon away. I'm one of those who is totally caught up in the romance of their rise up the leagues and I wouldn't begrudge a loss against them, so that should make for a special evening at Kingsmeadow. Also looking forward to taking on Crawley Town. It's not unfair to say they've bought their favourites tag, so it'll interesting to see what they're really made of.

For as long as I can remember Northampton's summer transfer dealings have always been built from the bottom up. By which I mean, bringing in defenders over strikers. But for this pre-season, the opposite is true The chairman has dug very deep into his pockets to bring success and League One football back to the town, with additions such as Jake Robinson, Arron Davies and returning favourite Ade Akinfenwa. With this in mind, and so very few defenders on the books, I can't wait to see what sort of formation Gary Johnson has in mind for August 6^th”.

Oxford United

Joe O’Callaghan – Twitter – Blog

“I can really see us challenging this season. Play offs definitely but hopefully higher.

Players to look out for would be Peter Leven a new signing who everyone is raving about; as well as Tom Craddock up front and Jake Wright in defence.

Looking forward to the 21^st August, where we have the scum (Swindon Town) 3rd or 4th game in”.

Plymouth Argyle

Dave Weeks – Twitter

“I think we’ll do quite well – we look like we are signing quite a few good players and with Reid as our manager we should get a few premiership loans in. As an Argyle fan anywhere above the drop zone will do us fine after two relegations in a row. I feel we can push for play-offs and reckon we will finish between 6-10th.

Players to look out for would be Luke Daley - I watched him pre-season and he was energetic and loved to take players on. If teams want to stop him running down the wing and putting crosses in they will have to put two players on him. Also Stephane Zubar, Quality defender whom strikers will find it hard getting passed. Surprised he re-signed when he could've joined PNE, proves that there is still a bit of loyalty out there.

Looking forward to quite a few games: Swindon and Bristol rovers – those two because they produce goals. Torquay’s a nice close game; AFC Wimbledon, I chose this one because after everything that has happened to them I'm happy they are back in the football league and looking forward to playing them”.