League 1 Predictions

[joethegill]

K

And this is controversial how....?

You've had a mare here.

 

[JJH]

Still don't think Rovers will trouble the top six anyway, they've had a decent start though. Can go 4th if they win their game in hand.

 

[MJA]

Champions:
Coventry

Runner up:
Charlton

Playoffs:
MK Dons
Sheff Utd
Bolton
Millwall

Relegated:
Bury
Shrewsbury
Wimbledon
Oldham

Top Scorer:
Lee Novak

Best Player:
Not a clue

Surprise Package:
Northampton

 

[joethegill]

It's October mate, don't panic.

 

[MJA]

It's October mate, don't panic.

I'm not sure Coventry will recover sufficiently enough to become champions

 

[SF_]

Scunny and Bradford going well at the top, is it safe to say that this league is piss poor once again this year?

Neither of their squads look particularly stronger than previous seasons.

 

[T.A]

All league 1 squads will look piss poor compared to the majority of Championship clubs - it's another world with the amount of money being spent on fees and wages. Probably only Burton, Rotherham and yourselves don't spend stupid amounts of money.

 

[MJA]

T.A is spot on, the gap between the Championship and L1 is widening. Teams in the Championship are now spending more in fees and wages than teams in the top divisions of other European leagues do and I can only see this gap increasing in years to come because there is simply no money finding its way down to the lower leagues anymore

 

[SF_]

All league 1 squads will look piss poor compared to the majority of Championship clubs - it's another world with the amount of money being spent on fees and wages. Probably only Burton, Rotherham and yourselves don't spend stupid amounts of money.

T.A is spot on, the gap between the Championship and L1 is widening. Teams in the Championship are now spending more in fees and wages than teams in the top divisions of other European leagues do and I can only see this gap increasing in years to come because there is simply no money finding its way down to the lower leagues anymore

Fair points.

The gap in finances is outrageous but that doesn't mean survival is impossible - Rotherham have scraped it for the last two years, we're doing ok and Burton & Barnsley don't look out of place at all. Despite the ridiculous money being thrown about, I don't think the standard of player is any better than it was a decade ago. A central midfielder signed from Reading isn't automatically better than one who was playing there 5 years ago just because he costs an extra £3m.

You're also getting teams who are now paying the price for their years of mismanagement and overspending such as Bolton and Blackburn which helps to even things out. You'll always get a complete car crash of a club every season...Blackpool... Charlton...

Teams coming up also tend to have good coaching set-ups in place and a core of players who will run through walls for them. You can spend what you want but that's not something you can just buy, shown by Villa's £45m forward line losing 2-0 to our first eleven which cost £500k.

League One is looking very even these days though, hence my previous post. The stand-out quality sides are looking rare these days, particularly over the past two seasons. Not a bad thing for the 'smaller' clubs but over time the standard of the league will stay more comparable to League Two than the Championship. Can't really see how that's going to change.

 

[T.A]

It probably won't change but teams that get relegated from the Championship now seem to be teams that are finically imploding or just being mismanaged (Charlton, Bolton) or teams unwilling to pay stupid amounts of money for players (MK Dons) even this season even though it's very early Rotherham, Blackburn and Cardiff all fall into them two category's.

 

[The Reverend Skyblue]

I'm not sure Coventry will recover sufficiently enough to become champions

Don't write us off just yet MJA, we have a game in hand and nine points to play for in the next week.
We could be in the playoffs on no time.
Probably not knowing us ,but new manager syndrome and some decent fixtures coming up you never know.
I've got to stay positive somehow

 

[joethegill]

Rochdale were bottom not too long ago and look where they've got to now.

 

[loz]

Scunny and Bradford going well at the top, is it safe to say that this league is piss poor once again this year?

Neither of their squads look particularly stronger than previous seasons.

Last year, Scunny missed the play offs on goal diff and once again have made some good signings including a free gift from our former manager. Bradford have their strongest squad in years and if they knew what those funny poles with nets on actually are, would be well away by now. As for the division, once again virtually any team can beat anyone else.

 

[joethegill]

Still think we'll do well in this league, injuries are starting to ease off a touch. Bond back this weekend, Cargill back in training next week, Garmston not too far away, Herd and Nouble have an extra weeks worth of training in the locker and Wagstaff, Cody and Dack will only get fitter with more minutes on the pitch. Still have our long-termers with Martin, Morris and Quigley, but we can more or less write them off for another 3 or 4 months at best. You only have to look at last season to see where two of the three promoted sides were at this stage last year, so I'm not overly worried right now. If we're lower mid-table come January then I expect a few quid to be spent, but I really think we'll be back in the mix by then. We aren't far off points wise, and we've been shite since August.

 

[loz]

Agree with you Joe. You and Barnsley supporters know how radically things can change between January and May. Of the top teams, I expect Scunny, Bradford and Sheffield to stay the course(no idea what order) but teams much lower down will come into the equation. I expect Millwall to find their old form when heavier grounds, more injuries and suspensions kick in.

 

[Didcot Ox]

One thing you can say about this league, is that anyone can beat anyone on their day. It's all about consistency, if you can string a few wins together 4-5 in a row lose one then win 4 again you will be up there come May.

I think we will finish top half where is anyone's guess.