2019/20 L2 Final League Table Predictions

[darren gregory]

Was just coming here to post that. FGR in 2nd too? Can't see that. Vale won't go down, either.

In fairness without my Vale hat on his analysis is quite true but he doesn't mention Amoo who we signed

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

"While in theory it's not hard to see why The Cobblers are well-fancied, they could in practice be in for an underwhelming campaign"
Hopefully not but a good possibility, good assessment.

 

[hellogregory]

Interesting article by Bet Victor with Bradford, Plymbury and Salford nowhere near promotion.

https://blog.betvictor.com/en-gb/sp...t=leaguetwo_preview&__twitter_impression=true

19th for Carlisle. I would take that all day long.

 

[Buxton Vale]

19th for Carlisle. I would take that all day long.

That article is a thing of pure fantasy.

 

[Son of Cod]

In fairness without my Vale hat on his analysis is quite true but he doesn't mention Amoo who we signed

Yeah, I think all of his bits on everyone are well thought out. It's the best preview I've read. I see Vale as a bit improved overall though. There are similarities with ourselves in that both sides were solid at the back (as far as bottom half of the table sides go) with a very good keeper but just couldn't score. Bringing in Cullen is a great bit of business if you can keep him fit. Like us, you've got rid of a bit of dead weight and replaced with better options. Add to that, sorting yourselves out a bit off the pitch. I think you'll be comfortable, probably not quite ready to challenge, but midtable and no hint of a dogfight for sure is where I'd put both ourselves and you.

That article is a thing of pure fantasy.

Open top bus parade if they get 19th.

 

[shoddycollins]

People do know our manager has never actually managed a first team before right?

Neither had Michael Flynn before halfway through the previous season.

 

[shoddycollins]

19th for Carlisle. I would take that all day long.

Gabriel Sutton's a name that pops up often on twitter about lower-league football. Probably likes to make a few 'surprise predictions' to get people talking about them.

 

[Crewelad87]

Interesting article by Bet Victor with Bradford, Plymbury and Salford nowhere near promotion.

https://blog.betvictor.com/en-gb/sp...t=leaguetwo_preview&__twitter_impression=true

Us 3rd jeez, I think we might do alright. We were good at the back end of last season, and we have a pretty settled squad, but autos might be pushing it abit.

 

[shoddycollins]

Interesting article by Bet Victor with Bradford, Plymbury and Salford nowhere near promotion.

https://blog.betvictor.com/en-gb/sp...t=leaguetwo_preview&__twitter_impression=true

The Salford hype is starting to ease away as I think many expected them to splash the cash on a whole new squad of League One level players as a minimum. Even as they celebrated promotion people were commenting on the irony that by winning promotion those players had pretty much guaranteed the end of their time at Salford. Doesn't seem to have happened that way though, whether they're biding their time or actually finding it harder to replicate their big spending strategy at a level higher. This time last year they were signing players who had offers to play in League One, perhaps trying to convince players with Championship offers to play in League Two instead is that bit more tricky even if you can offer more money.

Expect the hype to come back though as there is plenty of time left in the transfer window and if it starts to look like they won't challenge for promotion then they'll likely pay way over the odds on two or three big names.

 

[loz]

As I know nothing about this division, I was enjoying reading the thoughts of someone who knows what they are talking about; until I got to the bit about Rory McArdle being left footed.

 

[Conker]

Neither had Michael Flynn before halfway through the previous season.

He got lucky.

 

[shoddycollins]

He got lucky.

Does benefiting from the absolute certainty that a team managed by Flitcroft will bottle count as luck?

 

[lordofthepies]

Us 3rd jeez, I think we might do alright. We were good at the back end of last season, and we have a pretty settled squad, but autos might be pushing it abit.

We should be up there though. We were the best team in the division after Christmas and we have 4 of the very best players in the league in Ng, Kirk, Pickering and Wintle. I think we definitely need another option at centre forward and centre back and I'm not yet convinced about our goalkeepers. However, the talent we have suggests we should be aiming for the top 3.

 

[Crewelad87]

We should be up there though. We were the best team in the division after Christmas and we have 4 of the very best players in the league in Ng, Kirk, Pickering and Wintle. I think we definitely need another option at centre forward and centre back and I'm not yet convinced about our goalkeepers. However, the talent we have suggests we should be aiming for the top 3.

Just trying to not be to optimistic, it hurts less when we fail which is usually the case. I agree especially in terms of Kirk and Ng if we keep them for the season that gives us a chance, because they are both ready to play higher right now imo.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

As I know nothing about this division, I was enjoying reading the thoughts of someone who knows what they are talking about; until I got to the bit about Rory McArdle being left footed.

McArdly uses his left foot for balance only. His right foot is to brog it. He can head it though . . . . . sometimes.

 

[valefan16]

All about opinions I guess, we will be backed to struggle after the last two seasons so it’s understandable, personally I think we’ve kept the main first XI squad from last year that stayed up comfortably in the end and addressed the main reasons for the struggle, I.e. lack of goals Miller was the only other forward to score (4 goals) than Pope and have added Cullen who if we keep fit should be a cracking signing at this level and Bennett who despite being maligned by Carlisle fans got 6 or 7.

Lack of pace we’ve added Rhys Browne and David Amoo which should address that and of course aren’t saddled with Aspins Uber negative tactics of sitting deep in our own half with Pope 70 yards isolated from anyone else!

And of course got rid of the disruptive players from the squad that had been unprofessional.

I think we will be comfortably not involved at the bottom but you never know so can’t guarantee that!

Anyway time for my predictions!

1. Plymouth Argyle
2. Bradford City
3. Mansfield Town
——————————
4. Scunthorpe United
5. Colchester United
6. Swindon Town
7. Exeter City
——————————
8. Northampton Town
9. Salford City
10.Grimsby Town
11. Port Vale
12. Forest Green Rovers
13. Walsall
14. Crewe Alexandra
15. Newport County
16. Crawley Town
17. Cheltenham Town
18. Leyton Orient
19. Stevenage
20. Oldham Athletic
21. Carlisle United
22. Cambridge United
———————————
23. Morecambe
24. Macclesfield Town

 

[Crewelad87]

Can't remember if I had done one of these or not, if I had it would have been stupidly early and based on even more pure guesswork than this effort.

1. Bradford
2. Mansfield
3. Exeter
-----------------------------------
4. Plymouth
5. Swindon
6. Northampton
7. Colchester
-----------------------------------
8. Scunthorpe
9. Crewe
10. FGR
11. Salford
12. Newport
13. Grimsby
14. Walsall
15. Port Vale
16. Cheltenham
17. Oldham
18. Leyton Orient
19. Stevenage
20. Crawley
21. Carlisle
22. Morecambe
---------------------------------------
23. Cambridge
24. Macclesfield

 

[Vanni]

I posted this in the wrong thread so here it is again. I made just the one change with Swindon replacing Carlisle in 12th.

1. Plymouth
2. Scunthorpe
3. Mansfield
4. Bradford
5. Forest Green
6. Newport
7. Northampton
8. Colchester
9. Crewe
10. Exeter
11. Stevenage
12. Swindon
13. Salford
14. Carlisle
15. Cheltenham
16. Cambridge
17. Grimsby
18. L. Orient
19. Walsall
20. Crawley
21. Oldham
22. Morecambe
23. Port Vale
24. Macclesfield

 

[shoddycollins]

Let's throw in Not the top 20 Podcast's predictions.

https://soundcloud.com/ntt20pod%2Fleague-two-1-24-predictions-201920

There's some good knowledgeable analysis and humour. I expect HG to dismiss them immediately though for ranking Carlisle in the unrealistically high position of 22nd. Since I was sat here listening to the podcast as I type up their prediction table, I thought I'd add some of their notes on each team. Hope that doesn't discourage folk from giving it a listen yourselves.

1. Mansfield only concern is over rookie manager, everything else screams champions
2. Plymouth expect good things based on Bury last year, should play great football
3. Bradford strongest in midfield, lot of quality out wide, goals in the side, Bowyer
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4. Swindon Wellens has overhauled them and massively improved performance
5. Scunthorpe good manager, huge squad a little dead wood left but quality is there
6. Newport good manager, great front two, motivated, ready and willing to go the distance
7. FGR Collins is a good signing, still lacking in some areas but do good business
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8. Exeter improved as the season went on, shrewd signings, Taylor is learning fast
9. Colchester McGreal gets them there or thereabouts but never there, lost key players
10. Salford some good players but not much has changed from a team who didn't win NL
11. Crewe best in 2nd half of last season but a young squad lacking defensive options
12. Walsall strikers could go either way but good at the back, big changes still to come
13. Northampton Curle gets his way in the transfer market, which isn't a good thing
14. Cheltenham Duff has shown promise, good signings, very exciting but low budget
15. Stevenage overachieved a bit last season, someone's gotta come 15th
16. Port Vale players who should improve the squad after a difficult few years
17. Orient tough situation make them difficult to predict, lost two top scorers
18. Grimsby will improve on last season, hard to make a massive case for more than that
19. Crawley could be a fun team to watch, but not a huge amount better than last year
20. Morecambe we know better than to have them in the last two, Jim Bentley
21. Cambridge could finish higher with good signings, hard to get excited about them
22. Carlisle budget slashed, wrong manager, lack the quality to have 'good days'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Oldham bad last season, unknown manager, bonkers owner, Chris Eagles
24. Macclesfield rode their luck last season, lost key players and not replaced well

 

[Son of Cod]

18. Grimsby will improve on last season, hard to make a massive case for more than that
well

Improvement
noun
an example of improving or being improved.
synonyms:advance, development, upgrade, change for the better, refinement, enhancement, furtherance, advancement, forwarding

• the action of improving or being improved.
• a thing that makes something better or is better than something else.
• finishing one place lower than last season.

Edit: just realised these are your notes not theirs

 

[shoddycollins]

Improvement
noun
an example of improving or being improved.
synonyms:advance, development, upgrade, change for the better, refinement, enhancement, furtherance, advancement, forwarding

• the action of improving or being improved.
• a thing that makes something better or is better than something else.
• finishing one place lower than last season.

Edit: just realised these are your notes not theirs

They did say something about improvement, but not sure it was the season as a whole they were talking about as they also said Grimsby were very inconsistent last season, and certainly ended it on atrocious form. Best listen to it yourself.

 

[Son of Cod]

They did say something about improvement, but not sure it was the season as a whole they were talking about as they also said Grimsby were very inconsistent last season, and certainly ended it on atrocious form. Best listen to it yourself.

Will do. I suspect I won't agree with it though. The only valid criticism I've heard/read of any preview so far is the D3D4 point about us not having too much creativity. They still ignored all the bits that Jolley has looked to fix though and put us 19th. I'll eat my hat if we're not even more comfortable than we were last season. Which was the overriding factor behind our poor run in the final third of the season. I don't remember a Town team settling for lower midtable obscurity as much as we did last season. That's the real criticism of Jolley, in my opinion. Can he rally the troops from 17th to say 10th when there isn't really much to play for from February?

 

[shoddycollins]

Will do. I suspect I won't agree with it though. The only valid criticism I've heard/read of any preview so far is the D3D4 point about us not having too much creativity. They still ignored all the bits that Jolley has looked to fix though and put us 19th. I'll eat my hat if we're not even more comfortable than we were last season. Which was the overriding factor behind our poor run in the final third of the season. I don't remember a Town team settling for lower midtable obscurity as much as we did last season. That's the real criticism of Jolley, in my opinion. Can he rally the troops from 17th to say 10th when there isn't really much to play for from February?

The other thing I remember was whether Hanson and Green could improve your attacking, that big problem being the amount of games last season where you didn't even manage to get a shot of any description away.

The justifications are a little inconsistent with the league positions they give out, but that's been the same with D3D4 as well as the Non-league Youtube channel which I also find quite interesting. With the probable exception of Jim Bentley, no manager in this division goes into a new season thinking how they can avoid relegation; they'll all go in (probably even Sol Campbell depending on how intermittently he visits the real world) with the stated aim of playoffs at least. This is reflected in almost all L2 previews which up until around 8th focus on the reasons why that club won't have as good a season as they would like to and only really start to have positive things to say once they're talking about clubs making the playoffs.

 

[Si Robin]

How long before someone takes a punt on Jim Bentley, if Oldham are struggling down there for example?

I know he's a Morecambe legend, but surely there's only so much scraping by season on season that he's prepared to do.

 

[Jimbo’s Reds]

How long before someone takes a punt on Jim Bentley, if Oldham are struggling down there for example?

I know he's a Morecambe legend, but surely there's only so much scraping by season on season that he's prepared to do.

Well we worry about this every season and every time a manager in the north west gets sacked. The saving grace is that the fans love him and always will, if we went down he would still have the full support of the fans. Which I guess these days is rare. I just can’t see him leaving for a good few years yet, but It’s inevitable he eventually will and I hope he gets the chance at a bigger club with a bigger budget because no manager deserves it more.

 

[shoddycollins]

Well we worry about this every season and every time a manager in the north west gets sacked. The saving grace is that the fans love him and always will, if we went down he would still have the full support of the fans. Which I guess these days is rare. I just can’t see him leaving for a good few years yet, but It’s inevitable he eventually will and I hope he gets the chance at a bigger club with a bigger budget because no manager deserves it more.

I wonder if he's typecast himself as the guy who keeps Morecambe up every season, which limits the sorts of jobs he might be approached about. Like if clubs who have a moderate transfer budget and ambitions beyond just staying in the league pass him over and therefore the clubs that do approach him aren't offering him anything better than Morecambe do.

 

[LS Bantam]

3. Bradford strongest in midfield, lot of quality out wide, goals in the side, Bowyer

Can’t agree with this, Scannell is literally our only quality player out wide, Zeli Ismael sounds back up at best and we don’t have anyone on the left. Centrally Matt Palmer looks good but Akpan and Jermaine Anderson will need massive improvement this season in centre mid, in fact those two positions are where we’re still short.

 

[Son of Cod]

Can’t agree with this, Scannell is literally our only quality player out wide, Zeli Ismael sounds back up at best and we don’t have anyone on the left. Centrally Matt Palmer looks good but Akpan and Jermaine Anderson will need massive improvement this season in centre mid, in fact those two positions are where we’re still short.

What is your CM like up against energetic ball winning box to box trios? Because that's what they're probably gonna face at BP second game in. Hoping we can run you off the park.

 

[LS Bantam]

What is your CM like up against energetic ball winning box to box trios? Because that's what they're probably gonna face at BP second game in. Hoping we can run you off the park.

Most of our CM’s are wank so the chance of that happening, however unlikely, could happen, thankfully though the ball will only go up to Hanson’s 50p head so at least we’ll get it back soon after.

 

[F!RTHY]

What is your CM like up against energetic ball winning box to box trios? Because that's what they're probably gonna face at BP second game in. Hoping we can run you off the park.

You’ll have to retain the ball for long periods for that to be a success.

Scannell, Vaughan, Donaldson and Doyle will penetrate your defence with relative ease.

In all seriousness, we are lacking a Gary Jones like figure in midfield; but I still believe Akpan and Anderson will come through well this season - not to mention Palmer, he’s class.