Who are finishing in Automatic promotion spots?

[Cloudy]

Approx. 30% of the season gone, so who do you think are going to finish top 3?

No particular order but I’d go; Port Vale, AFCWimbledon & Doncaster.

Also think MK won’t be far off come May

 

[Alfie]

Port Vale, Doncaster & Notts Co

 

[valefan16]

To early to say, you can make pro's and con's for most sides, ask a couple of weeks ago and many put Gills in there so things change quickly.

Our squad depth gives us a great chance of course, Doncaster have been decent but on the flip side have fallen in some games you'd expect them to win, Notts Co have won 1 in 7 I think? So out of form but could easily change.

AFC Wimbledon have games in hand but a poor away record which they will need to address to challenge, MK likely to be ones you'd look at as the late bloomers but still seem a bit hit and miss.

Crewe are sneaking under the radar a bit.

Walsall are flying but will January kill them? As we found out last season loanees that do well tend to get recalled so can they ride that out? Will Jellis be subject to a bid and can their chairman resist the urge to cash in?

Bradford are patchy, can they find consistency?

Barrow again, is the depth going to be the problem there?

Chesterfield will want to challenge as will Gillingham and Grimsby are in the mixer. Fleetwood impressed me last weekend, one of the better sides we've played.

So its pulling names out of a hat to guess a bit this early. Vale, Doncaster and Notts probably have the depth and financial power to stick around and cope with any losses and January the best you'd think but League Two is very competitive so can't rule anyone out yet.

 

[lordofthepies]

Vale, Crewe, Doncaster.

 

[Cloudy]

To early to say, you can make pro's and con's for most sides, ask a couple of weeks ago and many put Gills in there so things change quickly.

Our squad depth gives us a great chance of course, Doncaster have been decent but on the flip side have fallen in some games you'd expect them to win, Notts Co have won 1 in 7 I think? So out of form but could easily change.

AFC Wimbledon have games in hand but a poor away record which they will need to address to challenge, MK likely to be ones you'd look at as the late bloomers but still seem a bit hit and miss.

Crewe are sneaking under the radar a bit.

Walsall are flying but will January kill them? As we found out last season loanees that do well tend to get recalled so can they ride that out? Will Jellis be subject to a bid and can their chairman resist the urge to cash in?

Bradford are patchy, can they find consistency?

Barrow again, is the depth going to be the problem there?

Chesterfield will want to challenge as will Gillingham and Grimsby are in the mixer. Fleetwood impressed me last weekend, one of the better sides we've played.

So its pulling names out of a hat to guess a bit this early. Vale, Doncaster and Notts probably have the depth and financial power to stick around and cope with any losses and January the best you'd think but League Two is very competitive so can't rule anyone out yet.

Of course it’s a guess!!! That’s the bloody point

 

[spireite]

 

[Optipez]

Port Vale and MK Dons for two. Then any of Walsall, Gills, Notts, Doncaster or Fleetwood for the other.
As Valefan 16 says we ( Notts ) have won 1 in 7 but October always looked a hard month and if we beat Harrogate on Saturday overall I'd say we'd be doing well considering injuries and the chopping and changing to the team.

Forgot to mention Bradford, think they'll be in it too.

 

[jacobncfc]

Port Vale and MK Dons for two. Then any of Walsall, Gills, Notts, Doncaster or Fleetwood for the other.
As Valefan 16 says we ( Notts ) have won 1 in 7 but October always looked a hard month and if we beat Harrogate on Saturday overall I'd say we'd be doing well considering injuries and the chopping and changing to the team.

I can’t remember seven games ago, but we’ve won more than one in that time. Beaten Carlisle and Wimbledon in October.

I wouldn’t be confident predicting anyone at this point. Vale currently most likely, but every other team who has threatened to stay top for a while has swiftly fallen apart. If they’re still there in a month then yes.

We’re doing okay but continue to frustrate, especially with our god awful first halves. If we can negotiate the winter and be in touch with the top three when we get Jones back then we’ve got a real chance.

 

[SaddlerJonny]

Walsall are flying but will January kill them? As we found out last season loanees that do well tend to get recalled so can they ride that out? Will Jellis be subject to a bid and can their chairman resist the urge to cash in?

Fortunately it's only really Nathan Lowe that is in danger of being recalled. There is a higher chance of him staying than Draper last season though, as well as with our strong links to Stoke currently. Still could happen though if they want him to be tried at L1 level. We did have contingency last season though when Draper left and Faal came in, which worked out well in the end - so hopefully we are prepared for that potential.

I'm less worried about Jellis getting a bid for him than I am for Connor Barrett, who has been such a monumental upgrade on Tom Knowles from last season. He looks unplayable at times and has brought so much end product to attack. We do have long contracts on both of them though - and with our American owners now, we seem to be less pressured to make a sale than previous years. But yeah, still very worried about either of those two going, as well as a few others. I'm hoping to see a few contract extensions in the next few months to tie youngsters like Harry Williams down. It may also be case of what happened with Isaac Hutchinson last season - stay till the end of the season. If we go up, you stay. If we don't, we let you leave in the summer.

 

[OneDecentLester]

My prediction?

Absolutely anybody in probably the top 12 considering we’re 13 games in. There’s very little to choose between many sides in this league, and it’ll be whoever hits consistency at the pivotal time of the season that go on to get auto’s.

What I will do though to save being a complete bore, is say that Walsall are the best side we’ve faced this season and it’s no surprise they’re top currently. Really like their mix of physicality & quality, makes them a nightmare to play against and that’s probably the only draw we’ve had this season (out of our SEVEN!) that I saw as a point gained rather than 2 dropped.

 

[クレイグ]

Vale for sure. Fancy Notts too. As for third? There's always one of those shitty little clubs that always manages to weasel their way into the top three despite being absolutely bloody naff.

Bradford.

 

[GTFCfish]

Vale look like certs for me as every time they play another team near the top recently they beat them, carry on in the same form and they will be up by Easter.
After we got walloped at Notts I was convinced that they would be top 3 too but then they seem to have been really inconsistent since then so I’m not too sure now.
Donny were brilliant against us too just remembered so for top 3 I’ll go Vale, Donny, and AFC Wimbledon.

 

[Scum.]

I would say once Scott Lindsey gets his chance to splash some of that Kuwaiti money in January, we will make one of them. We have to, we have the worst play-off record of any team ever despite our short history. 6 semi-final losses out of 6 play-off attempts. Fuck you Shrewsbury, Scunthorpe, Peterborough, Huddersfield, Wycombe, and Crawley.

As for the others, Port Vale and Notts County.

 

[mozzavale]

Walsall are the best side we’ve faced this season and it’s no surprise they’re top currently.

Are they?

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Vale’s results against other inform teams makes you think they’ll stay the course, Walsall are scoring plenty, and I reckon Chesterfield are in a bit of a false position atm.

Will be a poor League 2 for us next season if those 3 go.

 

[Meadow]

Approx. 30% of the season gone, so who do you think are going to finish top 3?

No particular order but I’d go; Port Vale, AFCWimbledon & Doncaster.

Also think MK won’t be far off come May

No idea. Our home form is almost perfect - going 0-2 down to Colchester before winning 4-2 spoils it. Our away form is a concern. Unless we put that right we'll be in the playoffs not in the automatic spots.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

We need to sort a few things out in January, we certainly have squad depth but need another striker and creative midfielder and ideally a winger who can beat a fullback on the outside, not asking much

 

[Stocky]

Port Vale, MK Dons and Doncaster.

Bradford to win the play-offs.

If Notts can bin Maynard they easily have the quality to make top three.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Yeah I'm pretty sure once Notts drop from 3rd to 11th our Danish brothers will activate the break close in Maynard's contract.

Will need to be in 2024 because an anticipated return of the L2 assist king early next year may scupper that.

 

[kieran_vale]

Double checked who I had preseason and it was MK, Gillingham and Doncaster. I’ll probably swap Gillingham out for Vale for now and go with that. Walsall or Bradford for the playoffs.

 

[Carver]

Going into this season you had a handful of teams with decent budgets who invested quite a bit in their squads yet the overall football hasn't improved and it's still a shit league with not one good team in it.

Im sorry but when you see the likes of Grimsby, Barrow and Walsall up there or thereabouts it just looks tinpot.

 

[BlackHaddock]

Going into this season you had a handful of teams with decent budgets who invested quite a bit in their squads yet the overall football hasn't improved and it's still a shit league with not one good team in it.

Im sorry but when you see the likes of Grimsby, Barrow and Walsall up there or thereabouts it just looks tinpot.

You must be ace to know, the life and soul at parties and such fun in general. I bet your day job is being a children's Clown really!

 

[CFC91]

Nobody really stood out so far. Thought Walsall looked the best we have faced, and Vale really did their homework and did a number on us

We've drawn 6 home games out of 7 and arguably should have won 3/4 of those - had we not conceded silly goals to teams with 10 men, or in the last min etc. If we'd won 2/3 of those 6 we'd be right up there. I think we will come good...famous last words

Looks absolutely wide open but if I had to pick one side i'd be very boring and go Vale.

 

[jacobncfc]

Of the teams we’ve played who you could see being up there, I’d also have Vale as being the best probably. Nothing stand out but they were functional and once they got ahead very good at defending a lead and keeping us at arm’s length. Barrow the others who stood out a bit to me, they pressed us extremely well for a while and played some sharp, fast passing football, but they did massively seem to tire after an hour or so.

Wimbledon looked organised but totally devoid of creativity, Grimsby got a bit of a shoeing, and our game with Chesterfield was great to watch but exposed both teams’ flaws as much as anything else really.

 

[valefan16]

Its hard to say because you only see most teams once (or none) but from what I have seen so far of the other likely contenders

Notts County - good with the ball, move it well probably as good as most in the division, can they dig in and win ugly would be the question when needed, its the one game I felt we've really gone through the ringer to get the points.

MK Dons - Far too one dimensional, could see they may have too much for the weaker sides in the league but looked weaker than Notts in terms of their offering.

Chesterfield - Similar to MK but another pass for passing sake, maybe just lack that killer instinct hence the draws which may be something they could address in January.

Fleetwood - Really liked them, not the best defensively but moved the ball well and more direct, we were excellent to beat them but still felt they looked as good as most we've faced.

Doncaster - Very good at times but would caveat that we put in a real stinker and Moore got that one totally wrong. Seemed to be the game that really woke us up.

Barrow - Only game I haven't seen on either TV or in the ground as yet (thankfully!) so can't comment other than the League Cup game.

 

[OneDecentLester]

Its hard to say because you only see most teams once (or none) but from what I have seen so far of the other likely contenders

Notts County - good with the ball, move it well probably as good as most in the division, can they dig in and win ugly would be the question when needed, its the one game I felt we've really gone through the ringer to get the points.

MK Dons - Far too one dimensional, could see they may have too much for the weaker sides in the league but looked weaker than Notts in terms of their offering.

Chesterfield - Similar to MK but another pass for passing sake, maybe just lack that killer instinct hence the draws which may be something they could address in January.

Fleetwood - Really liked them, not the best defensively but moved the ball well and more direct, we were excellent to beat them but still felt they looked as good as most we've faced.

Doncaster - Very good at times but would caveat that we put in a real stinker and Moore got that one totally wrong. Seemed to be the game that really woke us up.

Barrow - Only game I haven't seen on either TV or in the ground as yet (thankfully!) so can't comment other than the League Cup game.

Harsh saying we pass for passing sake as we’re 2nd top scorers in the division so obviously our style isn’t an issue in that regard. We also don’t have a bad defensive record, only 4 sides conceded less than us. But I get why you’d say that as in the game against you lot, we were absolutely hopeless in an attacking sense and maybe did look that type of side. That’s our worst performance of the season by a distance, but of course you deserve some credit for that in the way you set up.

I personally think we’ve just been unfortunate in a few games, we keep doing what we’ve been doing we’ll in and around the top 7 (hopefully 3) come end of the season

 

[valefan16]

Harsh saying we pass for passing sake as we’re 2nd top scorers in the division so obviously our style isn’t an issue in that regard. We also don’t have a bad defensive record, only 4 sides conceded less than us. But I get why you’d say that as in the game against you lot, we were absolutely hopeless in an attacking sense and maybe did look that type of side. That’s our worst performance of the season by a distance, but of course you deserve some credit for that in the way you set up.

I personally think we’ve just been unfortunate in a few games, we keep doing what we’ve been doing we’ll in and around the top 7 (hopefully 3) come end of the season

Thats why I put the first sentence, as you can only base it on what you see which is once or twice a season. Doncaster or Barrow fans would think we are terrible defensively for examp,e but we conceded less than we did in those two games (7) in the other 11 combined (6) so clearly not representative of our standard.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

I personally think we have been fortunate in a few games this season with the following springing to mind:

Swindon
Morecambe
Carlisle
Barrow

But as we hear most weeks that's because we have character. Plus a top goalkeeper and a solid defence keeps you in games you shouldn't be in entering the latter stages.

Fancy Chesterfield and MK to go on runs and could name so many who look likely playoff bound currently including Notts, very hard past Vale to name those other two.

 

[jacobncfc]

I personally think we have been fortunate in a few games this season with the following springing to mind:

Swindon
Morecambe
Carlisle
Barrow

But as we hear most weeks that's because we have character. Plus a top goalkeeper and a solid defence keeps you in games you shouldn't be in entering the latter stages.

Fancy Chesterfield and MK to go on runs and could name so many who look likely playoff bound currently including Notts, very hard past Vale to name those other two.

I think the only game I think we were genuinely fortunate (on the balance of play overall) was Swindon, where we didn’t play well at all.

Morecambe and Barrow were underwhelming performances but ones where we did enough to warrant a point in the second half after a slow start (I have mellowed on Tuesday night after seeing the highlights and time having passed since having to sit through it..). Carlisle we were under the pump a bit late on but already 2-0 up and dominated for an hour or so.

I think we’ve got about bang on the points we should. We should’ve beaten Gillingham and maybe Fleetwood on that, and probably got something from Vale, but we deserved nothing at Swindon and have burgled a couple of late points away from home that we maybe deserved on the balance of play, but it’s a bit lucky if you keep doing it with injury time penalties.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

We didn't play well at Morecambe, where again we didn't create much at all and got lucky at the end. Barrow first half was awful no other word for it, second half was much improved but far from effective. Fortunate to be 1-0 down when the ball went in from the corner.
Carlisle is a weird one 60 mins of controlled domination and clinically 2 up but they created more in those final 30 mins and dominated us unbelievably more some how. Still not quite sure how we didn't concede#Bassdaboss

Thankfully Barrow are goalshy and Morecambe and Carlisle both dump and in awful form when we played them.

Gills we should have got a point and should have beat Fleetwood like you said. The rest were all the correct result IMO even away at Chesterfield.

We've been more fortunate than just the Swindon game