perfectOzblue Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Bournemouth – Lost most of their good players from last season. Can see them struggling. Brentford – My dark horses, Always awkward and made a couple of decent signings. Bury – Can’t see them repeating Rochdale’s successes last season. A lot depends on their start. I think they’ll struggle. Carlisle – Seem to be positive about their chances. Seem to be emulating us as perennial mid-table mediocre experts. Charlton – If they can get all their new players to gel, good chance for top two. Chesterfield – Can see them being like Notts County last season. If they are relying on Allott and Whittaker in midfield at this level, they’ve got problems. 18-20th. Colchester – Seem to be in a similar position to us. Some quality but cost-cutting measures have bitten. Could struggle. Exeter – Good manager and did pretty well last season. Could be knocking on the door of the play-offs. Hartlepool – Always think they’ll struggle, but they always seem to be fine. Can’t see them higher than 16th though. Hudds – Gotta be favourites. Orient – Great second half of last season but have lost a few players. As likely to be bottom four as top ten. MK Dons – Kept most of their decent players. Top six. Notts County – I expect them to be a lot better than last season. Have bought some good players. Martin Allen may be irritating but he gets results (sometimes) at this level. Possible play-offs. Preston – Not sold on them being challengers. Were pathetic last season. Top eight maybe. Rochdale – Cannot see them being as good as last season. Could be tough year for them. Scunthorpe – Always bounced back before but don’t think they have a Billy Sharp/Gary Hooper to fire them back up. Always good for plenty of goals but think they will be mid-table. Sheff U – Again, I’m not sold that they will challenge. Gradually lost most of their good players in recent seasons, seem to be relying on old warhorses and inexperienced kids. Don’t have the quality of a Leciester/Norwich. 8-10th. Sheff Wed – Gotta think they will go better than last season, but still don’t seem to have that great a squad. Gary Megson never inspires confidence either. Possible play-offs. Tranmere – Struggled last season, don’t seem to have radically improved their squad. Bottom four candidates. Walsall – Ditto. Wycombe – Don’t know much about them must confess, but don’t seem to have purchased any real quality. Bottom four possibles. Yeovil – Lost some of their quality players like Bowditch. Always seem to scrape by and upset some of the big teams, but got to think they will be down among the no-hopers this year. And…Latics Cannot say my hopes are that great. Better than 12 months ago at least. Could be long distance optimism, but I think we will be okay. Reuben Reid could – COULD – be useful, our defence looks good (if they stay fit) and we have two decent wingers. Would really love a crack at the play-offs, but I think mid-table (at best) is more realistic. Edited August 1, 2011 by perfectOzblue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy_Fent Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) I did a thread the other week with what I thought would happen this season but it got dismissed http://www.owtb.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35593 Edited August 1, 2011 by Tommy_Fent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pukka Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Two word preview: Bournemouth – Going backwards Brentford – Dark Horses Bury – Bottom 8 Carlisle – Half Way Charlton – Capital Gains Chesterfield – Rejects prosper Colchester – Bloody boring Exeter – Devon Sent Hartlepool – Monkey trouble Hudds – moneybags win Orient – Crafty Cockneys MK Dons – Unpopular success Notts County – Top half Preston – Glowing Permatan Rochdale – Harder times Scunthorpe – Won knill Sheff U – Blunted Blades Sheff Wed – Megson Out Tranmere – Struggling Scousers Walsall – Survival again Wycombe – Straight Back Yeovil – Bye Bye Latics - Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookers_Carl Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Two word preview: Latics - Who knows? At the moment I would say Latics - Just Safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 There's absolutely no logical reason why we shouldn't do it this season; it's going to take something even more spectacular than going 27 games unbeaten and throwing it all away in a mad 7 minutes! I'm sure you're all as excited as us to see how we manage to blow it this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Your all missed Stevenage. They got to be up there for promotion (just kidding) see them finishing bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyOAFC Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I really don't know how we are going to do this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pukka Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I copy and pasted from above: Two word preview: Stevenage - Struggling steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngen Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Two word preview: Bournemouth – Going backwards Brentford – Dark Horses Bury – Bottom 8 Carlisle – Half Way Charlton – Capital Gains Chesterfield – Rejects prosper Colchester – Bloody boring Exeter – Devon Sent Hartlepool – Monkey trouble Hudds – moneybags win Orient – Crafty Cockneys MK Dons – Unpopular success Notts County – Top half Preston – Glowing Permatan Rochdale – Harder times Scunthorpe – Won knill Sheff U – Blunted Blades Sheff Wed – Megson Out Tranmere – Struggling Scousers Walsall – Survival again Wycombe – Straight Back Yeovil – Bye Bye Latics - Who knows? Brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggy_oafc Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Brilliant Brilliant? You sir are easily amused. Woof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latics_Fanatic Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Bournemouth – Won't challenge again this year, lost some players and were never really the same when Howe left. Brentford – They could well be up there, but hard to judge with the new management team etc.. mid-table finish would be good for them Bury – They've not spent well this summer and improved much, managed to keep hold of Lowe though, think they will struggle but will just survive. Carlisle – Same again from Carlisle, maybe find some early/mid season form but will drift away and will end up mid table. Charlton – Spent well this summer, the signings of Stephens and Evina certainly will help them - Reckon they'll get play-offs at most though Chesterfield – Can see them doing a Rochdale, slightly slow start but will find their feet and will charge on from there, anything above 15th would be a good finish for them in my opinion. Colchester – Going to struggle, haven't really signed any quality this summer and might find themselves heading down the table - time will tell. Exeter – All depends on if they can emulate their success from last season, if they can they will challenge for a play-off spot, if not they'll probably find themselves mid-table, probably similar to last season again! Hartlepool – Should have a decent season, i think mid-table would be classed decent for them, Wadsworth seemed to change their fortunes last season and have made some decent signings - Decent is the word Hudds – Have spent well again, Massive signings for the Massive club - if they don't do it this season, theres something badly wrong and clark will be out on his arse, personally think they'll just do it but i hope not! Orient – Unpredictable Orient, Good manager and they do have some quality in their ranks, but have also lost some, mid-table or just outside the play-offs MK Dons – Must challenge this year, have a good squad and should be up there with your Huddersfield's and Charlton's, Have a good manager in Robinson, i'll have them down as play-offs or maybe 2nd if things go well. Notts County – Not expecting alot from County again this year, i think they'll preform better than last season and have the right manager that is going to get them results. Preston – Don't think they're going to challenge, lost their key player - sean st ledger and are set to lose Keith Tracey, couple of seasons rebuilding for them i think - a sort of Leeds or Nottingham Forest of the division Rochdale – Have signed well this summer and it could bring them success or it could see their downfall, took a gamble on Steve Eyre but it might just work. Another unpredictable finish! Scunthorpe – The Yo-Yo team, will probably go back up again, wouldn't be surprised they should do well under Knill who will have them playing good football, Dagnall should score a few in this league Sheff U – Another Leeds/Forest type team for me, they were awful last season and the rebuilding has taken place, give it a couple of seasons and they should be out of the league. 7-10th finish? Sheff Wed – They have to be better than last season - they were truly awful.. can see them being up there coming to the end, play-off contenders for me! Tranmere – No Major signings, lost Jennings, manager that thinks they will challenge for automatic promotiom, bottom four contenders for me, truly crap team with crap fans. Walsall – Pretty much the same as Tranmere, won't do another spectacular, don't have the squad for it. Wycombe – Another Yo-Yo team, probably going to end up down there again as they don't seem to really have signed any quality. Yeovil – Another team they don't really have the squad to survive, but they often surprise us and it would be a very big surprise again, bottom 4. As for us.. We've signed some quality this year, Diamond and M'Voto and hopefully Smith will come into that category - We are defensively sound as long as we don't lose any of them to injury, as we know we require a couple new players - Full back, Centre Mid and striker would be sufficient, i hope we can be up there challenging for a play-off spot and hope that we don't get the usual mid season jitters and fall away again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latics_Fanatic Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Huddersfield MK Dons ------------------- Charlton Sheff Wed Scunthorpe Oldham ------------------- Exeter Preston Sheff Utd Brentford Rochdale Carlisle Chesterfield Bournemouth Stevenage Hartlepool Orient Notts County Bury Wycombe ------------------- Colchester Tranmere Yeovil Walsall Thats how i have it anyway, whether it will turn out like that we'll see in 46 games time! Edited August 2, 2011 by Latics_Fanatic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan up the ladder Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Hudds and Charlton have both strengthened again today - Town have signed Anton Robinson from Bournemouth and Charlton got Hamer, keeper from Reading and Andy Hughes. Three ex-Latics in their squad now. Can't see past those two teams for automatic promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc-latics Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 top six: hudds - think it'll be play-offs for them, theyve spent money but i dont know whether its me not liking them but i dont buy into them going up automatically charlton - again, spent well, but i dont think powell is right for them. they'll be up there, but i dont think they'll finish the season with powell in charge sheff weds - megson is a good manager, and has managed higher so i can see them being outsiders but sneaking into the top six. mk dons - not exciting, but they always get the job done exeter - 2 solid seasons, and i reckon they could go one better. preston - had troubles last season but of the teams coming down, they look most likely to go up to be honest top half: sheff u - from the outside, it looks like theyll spend more then one season in L1. wilson will come good but it'll take them a while to get used to the league scunny - someone else said yo-yo team and thats right, not good enough for playoffs though orient - signed a couple of decent players, used to the league bournemouth - build on last season, but having lost a few players, they wont finish as high colchester - always seem to finish around the same place, cant see this season being different notts county - allen seems to be bringing a tough approach to a club that just needs to calm down for a season or two with a bit of consistency. reckon theyll be hard to beat bottom half: brentford - first season for rosler, as we know from dickov, wont go smooth but not badly hartlepool - no reason why they wont finish higher or lower than they always do carlisle - another team that won't go up or down OLDHAM - i fancy us for mid-table, pushing for top half. we know how dickov plays but its too small a squad at the moment rochdale - eyre seems a good appointment, but they'll have a solid season again bury - lost bennett, and lowe wont get 27 goals again but they should aviod relegation chesterfield - shez is a good manager at this level, with good enough players yeovil - another midtable L1 team that wont go up/down relegation: wycombe - yo-yo team at the other end, can't rely on ainsworth for too long, if he hasnt already retired tranmere - parry is good at relegation battles but theyve been down there for a couple of seasons now and narrowly escaped stevenage - they'll put up a fight, but they wont win it walsall - only team left but after their bad season last time, they might be facing relegation, not sure about this one though, suppose you could easily say the same for us yet ive got us midtable so it'll be interesting to see who goes down think dickov said somewhere that there will be 12 teams who could all go up and 12 who could all go down. looking forward to it already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy_Fent Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 FourFourTwo prediction 1. Huddersfield 2. Sheff Wed 3. Preston 4. Leyton Orient 5. Scunthorpe 6. Carlisle 7. Sheff Utd 8. Chesterfield 9. Bournemouth 10. MK Dons 11. Brentford 12. Stevenage 13. Colchester 14. Wycombe 15. Hartlepool 16. Walsall 17. Exeter 18. Charlton 19. Oldham 20. Yeovil 21. Tranmere 22. Notts County 23. Rochdale 24. Bury Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_mighty_bosh Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Agree with most of predictions apart from FourFourTwo's which seem strange, but some things stand out to me: Are we all missing out Stevenage on purpose?! It's just asking for trouble for when we play them in early September! Personally I think they'll be a very awkward team to play and will finish a couple of places outside relegation. Also while I'm generally positive about Exeter's chances I can see them being lower mid-table this year. They've not replaced Harley and Cureton who got 30+ goals between them last season. They're a tightly-knit squad and Tisdale should be managing above this level but they'll need something special to match last year. Hudds and Charlton are my picks for auto with MK, Sheff Wed, Sheff Utd and a dark horse team that knows this division inside out making up the top 6. As for us another season of comfortable survival would do for me, hopefully with more goals (for us)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshaw Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 There's absolutely no logical reason why we shouldn't do it this season; it's going to take something even more spectacular than going 27 games unbeaten and throwing it all away in a mad 7 minutes! I'm sure you're all as excited as us to see how we manage to blow it this time! 1 Now that we have the new stadium in place,thats one upset in FEB thats NOT going to happen 2 No outings to the dogs in FEB please 3 Hope for a milder winter, so the team is not playing twice a week in FEB-Knackered 4 Have all the young lads had the mumps now?Clean bill of health then for FEB! Roll on March, and lets see were we are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc-latics Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 FourFourTwo prediction 1. Huddersfield 2. Sheff Wed 3. Preston 4. Leyton Orient 5. Scunthorpe 6. Carlisle 7. Sheff Utd 8. Chesterfield 9. Bournemouth 10. MK Dons 11. Brentford 12. Stevenage 13. Colchester 14. Wycombe 15. Hartlepool 16. Walsall 17. Exeter 18. Charlton 19. Oldham 20. Yeovil 21. Tranmere 22. Notts County 23. Rochdale 24. Bury can;t see them getting any of those positions right to be honest, or not where the bottom 4/top six are concerned. i like the magazine, and always like the preseason special (which for me hasnt arrived yet!) but their 'expert' predictions never seem to be right. football is unpredictable i know, but it's the job of these people to write about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deyres42 Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) Bournemouth – Difficult to see them doing so well again this time with key players sold. They do score goals though so should finish mid table. Brentford – Some good looking signings, especially McGinn who could be one of the stars of the division. London clubs on the doorstep too should they need to use the loan market. Play off contenders at worst. Bury – Paper thin squad, rookie manager and no Ajose. Relegation candidates. Carlisle – Not strong enough to contend at the top but should have enough to steer clear of trouble. Mid table. Charlton – Gone berserk with new signings but probably needed too. Manager didn't exactly make a flying start but should have learned from that. Top 2 contenders. Chesterfield – Loss of Davies and Smalley could hit them hard. Shez obviously knows the division well though so should keep their heads above water. Bottom 8 but safe. Colchester – Seems to be plenty of doom and gloom there with reduced budget etc. Manager will need to use all his experience but it might not be enough. Relegation candidates. Exeter – Very promising manager but 4 key players through spine of the team have departed and not been replaced. Will be tight but should just survive. Bottom 8 but safe. Hartlepool – Interesting signing in Nobby Solano but they don't score many goals. Should win enough games at home to survive though. Mid table. Huddersfield – Pressure on Clark to deliver promotion this time. Probably unlucky not to go up last season though and in an arguably weaker league should get the job done this time. Top 2 contenders. Orient – Unfashionable gaffer who knows how to get results. Looked like they might pinch 6th place last time but just faded. Key players have stayed and others have joined so looks promising for them. Play off contenders. MK Dons – Missed out in play offs last time. Leven has departed however Baldock and Gleeson have stayed and always seem to be able to attract good loan players. Play offs at worst. Notts County – Manager is a cock but does know how to get out of this division. Jeff Hughes should be a good signing but much will depend on the other Hughes - if him and Allen get along then they could improve on last season. Top half. Preston – Plenty of players have moved on but still some quality there with Hume, Mellor and Ashbee. Manager will get every last drop of effort from his side and think they'll do better than most think. Play off contenders. Rochdale – Hard to know what to expect given the influence Hill and Flitcroft had over the club. They are City's new feeder club though so should be able to grab enough loanees to keep them well out of trouble. Top half possibles. Scunthorpe – Yo-yo club but don't look to have a Hooper/Sharp in their ranks this time to get them enough goals to challenge at the top. Top half but only play off possibles. Sheff U – Rate the gaffer highly but he's got a real job on here. Some promising youth players but hard to see where the goals are coming from. Only top half. Sheff Wed – Is there a less inspiring manager in the Football League? Got nowhere near promotion last time and think it will be same story this time. Bottom half possibles. Stevenage - Manager seems to antagonise everyone he comes across but his teams seem to buy into it. Will be a horrible, nasty side to play against and can see them surviving quite easily. Mid table. Tranmere – Arguably best two players have left. Devaney could be an interesting purchase but manager living in cuckoo land if he honestly thinks they can challenge for play offs. Relegation candidates. Walsall – Stayed up last time when looking doomed at one point. Hard to see anything different this time though. Relegation candidates Wycombe – Yo-yo club, hard to see anything but another battle with the drop. Gaffer could make the difference though. Flirting with relagation, but safe. Yeovil – Plenty of coming and goings, manager does seem to have the knack of picking up good loans players so should be more comfortable this time round. Mid table. As for us.. Worried about the age, strength in depth and lack of goals in the squad but other than that it's all rosy! Can see us flirting with the relegation places but steering clear in the end, especially if our new mate Fergie can keep lending us a few players! Edited August 2, 2011 by deyres42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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