Colchester
Colchester will
finally hope this is their year to break into the play-off places. The club
have flirted with the top 7 in the last couple of seasons and John McGreal will
be hoping he can deliver a top 7 finish. McGreal has an excellent squad at his
disposal but like many sides, they have lacked consistency and McGreal will
hope they can pick off from their strong finish last season which saw them
narrowly miss out on the top 7. Colchester have been active in the transfer
window so far bringing in 8 new faces while letting 10 leave the club.
Colchester have talent in their squad with the likes of Sammie Szmodics,
Brennan Dickensen, Sean Murray, Frankie Kent and Mikael Mandron. These players
will be vital for Colchester this season with a promotion push being their
prime target. Szmodics was magnificent at times last season and he will be
integral to any success the club has this season. Mandron has help the goal
scoring department this season with the club adding new fire power in Aaron
Collins, Frank Nouble and Luke Norris. All 3 of Colchester’s new strikers have
proven goal scoring records in League 2. Nouble was wonderful at Newport last
season while Norris had an excellent return of goals at Swindon. With this sort
of firepower, Colchester will be difficult to contain in attacking areas this
season and should the all have excellent scoring seasons, Colchester will
believe the top 7 is firmly in their reach. The Colchester fans will want a top
7 finish this season after constant seasons of narrowly missing out. John
McGreal will be determined to deliver in his second season in charge.
I think Colchester
will sneak into the play-off places this season after missing out in recent
seasons. I think they have recruited well and play a nice style of football
which will get results, but should they sneak into the play-offs, they must
find consistency in results to make this possible with club having baron runs
of form which did cost them in previous seasons.
My Predicted Finish:
7th
Crawley
It was a solid first
season in charge of Crawley for Harry Kewell. He guided Crawley to a
comfortable mid-table finish after a strong second half of the season. However,
Kewell will want improvement this season and his target will be to push Crawley
towards the promotion picture. Also, the club has lacked stability since Steve
Evans departure with constant change in the dugout, but Kewell is gearing up
for his second season full of belief that his side can achieve something this
season. Kewell has good players at this level in his side including Lewis
Young, Dean Cox, Jimmy Smith and Mark Connolly. Kewell has plenty of experience
to call on in his side. However, Crawley have lost key members of their squad
including Enzio Boldewijn and Josh Yorwerth. Boldewijn’s loss will be blow
after his goal and assists record last season which attracted the attention of
Notts County. Boldewijn has been a consistent performer for the last two
seasons in League 2 and Crawley will no doubt feel his loss. However, the money
brought in by those sales has seen Kewell active in the transfer window
bringing in 11 new faces so far. A blend of potential, experience and desire
have walked into the club so far this summer. Experienced heads like Romain
Vincelot, Filipe Morias, George Francomb and Rob Milsom have all joined in the
summer with the first three dropping a division. All excellent signings for
Crawley but Kewell has blended new talent and young players in his transfer
business and these include Ashley Nathaniel-George, Brian Galach, Dominic
Poleon and Reece Grego-Cox. All have a hunger and desire to succeed and improve
and Kewell will have complete faith in them. The Crawley fans will believe the
club could push for a play-off place, but a top half finish would represent an
excellent season for the club. Kewell will want improvement this season and
will be confident can push for a play-off spot.
I think Crawley will
secure a top half finish but will just miss out on a play-off spot. Kewell has
assembled a decent team and he will be confident of progress this season.
My Predicted Finish: 11th
Crewe
Consolidation has
been a constant at Crewe over the last few seasons. The playing staff pretty much
remains the same with the odd one of two signings but mainly new players coming
through their wonderful academy. David Artell is also gearing up for his second
full season in charge of the club. Crewe finished last season strongly and
secured a comfortable finish in the mid-table areas. However, it is hard to see
what Crewe’s ambition is following a mid-table finish because they aren’t going
to challenge the play-off places and they are not going to be in the relegation
battle, so it is hard to find what Crewe’s expectations are and I’m sure the
fans feel the same way. A top half finish would probably represent an excellent
season for the club. Crewe have been very quiet in the transfer window so far signing
just 2 new players while making Paul Green and Shaun Miller loan moves from
last season permanent. The experienced duo of Alex Nicholls and Nicky Hunt are
two new signings and Artell clearly feels his side lack experienced heads
because they are a young side so certainly Artell has done good transfer
business. Nicholls will hope to score goals along with the likes of Miller,
Jordan Bowery and Charlie Kirk. Crewe will be pushing for at least a mid-table
finish this season with a top-half finish being their main target this season
and this would represent an excellent season for the Railwaymen.
I think Crewe will
finish in the bottom half and should comfortably survive relegation. They will
hope to push for a top 12 finish, but I feel there are better teams around and will
just miss out on that.
My Predicted Finish:
18th
Exeter
Will this finally be
Exeter’s year? The club has suffered back to back play-off final defeats to
Blackpool and Coventry and psychologically that must affect the players. Exeter
have been the nearly men in the last few seasons but can they finally go one
step better and secure promotion. It is also a new era for the club following
the departure of long-serving manager Paul Tisdale who leaves after 12 years with
the Grecians. Despite leading them to consecutive play-off finals, Tisdale and
the Exeter owners saw their relationship break down towards the end and no doubt
both sides will have their disappointment as to how Tisdale left. However, both
Tisdale and Exeter move on with former defender Matt Taylor picked as Tisdale’s
successor and his job remit will once again say promotion to League 1 is the objective.
The club will be desperate for automatic promotion after consecutive play-off
final defeats and Taylor will be confident he can deliver automatic promotion. Taylor
has been active in the transfer window and he has seen 11 players exit the club
this summer but has managed to keep the large majority of last seasons’ side
including Troy Brown, Pierce Sweeney, Hiram Boateng, Jake Taylor and more importantly
top scorer Jayden Stockley. These players were brilliant for Grecians and no
doubt Taylor will be relying on them once again to continue Exeter’s push for
promotion. But Taylor has also added his own new signings 7 to be exact
including the likes of Jonathan Forte, Nicky Law, Lee Martin and Aaron Martin.
Further experienced players at this level to further enhance Exeter’s squad.
Taylor has also brought in hungry, young players on loan including Tristian
Abrahams and Dara O’Shea. Taylor will be confident he has a squad good enough to
be finishing in the automatic promotion places but he must have a good start as
boss because its his first managerial position and he will immediately have to
install belief in the players and fans that he can lead Exeter’s charge for promotion.
I think Exeter will
push hard for automatic promotion but will just come up short and finish in the
play-off places however, I believe it will be third time lucky for them as I do
fancy them to win the play-offs this season because they will be determined to
avoid a third consecutive season of heartache.
My Predicted Finish:
5th (But promoted as play-off winners)
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