2014/15 Season preview: Macclesfield

Last season’s finish:

15^th

Another mixture of good and bad form, but with less money than before

Players out:

Danny Andrew is the biggest loss. A good, pacy, left-sided player who showed his skill throughout the season, and as a result, he's joined Fleetwood Town for the new season. Very good at free kicks as well. He'd done more than enough to attract the scouts from the lower leagues. All the best to him at Fleetwood.

We've lost two key goal scoring strikers, Scott Boden filled the gap Connor Jennings created after leaving mid season, but all the wrangling over budgets saw him move to Halifax. And although Jennings was a loan signing, he was a vital asset to surviving in the Conference after we'd got off to such a poor start. His goal rate was impressive, but was prone to injury, and he left Macclesfield mid-season as a result. If we can get a regular goal scorer like Jennings (now with Wrexham, should be interesting to see how he fares) for this season, then there's less reason to worry.

There is talk Matthew Barnes-Homer will return, he's been on trial at Macclesfield, the question is whether Askey has the money to sign him

Players in:

Another loan signing from last season, George Pilkington has joined us from Luton and will provide a solid role at the back, a defender with vast League and non-league experience required.

I'm interested in Adriano Moke, a product of the Glenn Hoddle Academy, a pacy winger who has impressed on trial here, enough for the manager to sign him up. He should play a key role down the wing, and set up the opportunities for goals.

With a mixture of promising youth and vast experience (Danny Whitaker, captain Paul Turnbull and Chris Holroyd have all signed new contracts) we're cautiously optimistic for the new season

Club news:

The future of Macclesfield Town. A planned takeover didn't happen after our owner wrote off the debts, yet the budget is still incredibly tight for the manager. Smaller even than last season, though funds are said to be promised mid-season if all is going not very well. I hope it doesn't go to that stage, Askey worked well on last season's small budget, and did incredibly well to stay with the pack in a close battle for the playoffs. Eventually, Macclesfield lost form and drifted into a mid table finish, but given the troubles, it was a relief Macclesfield had survived

Matches to look forward to:

It's been 17 years since Macclesfield last met Altrincham on an equal platform, so the old Non-League rivalry will surely flare up when we meet in September, and again in January.

Local games with Chester and Wrexham should also be a great spectacle, particularly with the Macclesfield connections this season, Chester's new signing Peter Winn being ex-Macc and former club legend Steve Burr in charge; ss well as Connor Jennings up front for Wrexham

Predictions:

Macclesfield to finish 12^th

Champions – Grimsby Town

Play-off winners – Forest Green Rovers

Relegated – Welling United, Nuneaton Town, Southport and Dover Athletic

Thanks to Ian Stewart @ianthenoodle for helping out with this post

2014/15 Season preview: Lincoln

Last season’s finish:

14^th

The season was much improved with players showing passion to play for the club. There was always an element of togetherness something which we hadn’t seen in recent seasons

Players out:

There were a few players which left who we weren’t expecting. Jake Sheridan I think being one. He shows a lot of promise and had improved dramatically over the season becoming a regular starter. He will be an asset to Alfreton. I don’t think there were any other players that we will miss as we were lucky in being able to retain our key players despite numerous enquiries from Football League clubs

Players in:

Our signings so far are: Sahr Kabba, Tony Diagne, Nick Townsend, Hamza Bencherif, Jake Caprice, Marcus Marshall, Jordan Burrow and Karl Ledsham. I believe that each one of these individuals are going to be key. These are the strongest signings we have made in terms of ambition

Matches to look forward to:

The Grimsby games! However, I am looking forward to the long away trips as they’re always good

Predictions:

Lincoln to finish in the top 10

Champions – Forest Green

Play-off winners – Halifax (they’re ones to watch)

Relegated – Dover Athletic, Dartford, Chester City and Welling

Thanks to Lucy Rogers @lucerogers for helping out with this post

2014/15 Season preview: Kidderminster

Last season’s finish:

7^th

A season of turmoil off the pitch with 3 different managers killed any play-off hopes we had

Players out:

Both our full backs Lee Vaughan and Mickey Demetriou moved into the football league and were our main attacking outlet and source of creativity so will be very hard to replace

Players in:

Craig Reid and Reece Styche are both proven strikers at this level and have goals in them, while Ahmed Obeng is a young winger who's looked promising during pre-season and had pace to burn!

Matches to look forward to:

Obviously the home game against Bristol Rovers is going to be the biggest  in terms of attendance and atmosphere. I am also looking forward to the two Telford games as that's our derby now Hereford are no longer with us

Predictions:

Kidderminster to finish 6^th

Champions – Bristol Rovers

Play-off winners - Gateshead

Relegated – Welling, Nuneaton, Macclesfield, Dover

Thanks to Ben Hudspith @benhudspith2 for helping out with this post

2014/15 Season preview: Chester

 

Last season’s finish:

21^st – relegated, but reprieved due to Hereford’s demise

I'm glad it went quickly, as it was one of the worst seasons I've had following Chester!

Players out:

I hate to criticise my own team, but it's safe to say that I won't miss any one of those who pulled on the Chester shirt and have not been retained. It really was a dire effort by those involved; the likes of Seddon, Jarrett, Heath, Lindfield (arguably the worst player I've ever seen), Reed and McIntyre were a tepid bunch. Only Lewis Turner, who we had on loan from Leeds and recently joined Harrogate, can hold his head high

Players in:

Steve Burr knows this league inside out, and that is of a huge benefit to us, compared to last season, where our previous manager had no clue of Conference football (and it showed) – Burr knows what he has to get in to improve on last season’s dismal showing

We've got in a seasoned pro in Chris Iwelumo: ex Scotland international, and while he's "past it", he brings valuable experience to the front line and this has been noticeable in pre season friendlies so far

In midfield, the one who's stood out for me is Kingsley James. We lacked someone last season who, whilst doing the dirty work in the middle, could also bring other players into the game with his wide range of accurate passing. He's really impressed me in pre season

We also welcomed Peter Winn from Macclesfield, and he comes with a good reputation as well, having played well against us in both games versus Macc last season

Wayne Riley is a pacey, skilful winger signed from Hednesford and we welcome an old nemesis in John Disney, again from Hednesford, but again, he's a player who will give 100% when it matters

At the back, it's pretty much as you were as last season, with Gareth Roberts arriving from Notts County, bringing experience at the back. He does like to try forward and while that's one advantage attacking, it could lead us to being prone in defence as teams counter us

To sum it up, every player will be key for us next season, we need them all to stand up and be counted. We don't want a repeat of last season!

Club news:

The Club decided to go full-time in the summer. Being part time in a league like the Conference is a huge disadvantage. Luckily, we've got the budget (albeit a tight one) to go full-time and this should improve us greatly, especially later on in games. Late goals conceded was almost fatal for us last season and the amount of points lost from winning positions in the final 10 minutes of games was sickening

Matches to look forward to:

We have been given a second chance and instead of visiting the likes of Guiseley, Boston, Barrow and Stockport, it's big games against the likes of Wrexham, Bristol Rovers, Torquay, Kidderminster, Altrincham and Barnet that whet the appetite. Apart from Wrexham, I'm really looking forward to Telford – my favourite away day. A local game, a fantastic stadium and two sets of fans proclaiming who dislikes Shrewsbury more makes it all an entertaining affair

Predictions:

Chester to finish 12^th

I said 14th last season, that went well! I don't think we will struggle, I doubt we would trouble the play-off contenders either

Champions – Bristol Rovers

Play-off winners - Eastleigh

Relegated – Alfreton, Altrincham, Dover, Dartford

Thanks to James Hewitt @cestrian_jim for helping out with this post