It's that time of the year, the football season is finally here again and fans around the country are eagerly anticipating another wonderful year of football.
Nowhere is that truer than in the lower leagues of English football. The fans are outstandingly passionate and here are some of their opinions on the forthcoming campaign..
AFC Wimbledon
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Words By: @TharshBala
Season Review: After lying in mid table at Christmas, we would have been happy to finish near the play offs at the end of the season. Not only did we achieve this, we also secured promotion as underdogs through the play-off final. The final at Wembley was an unforgettable experience, and I think I can speak on the behalf of my fellow AFC Wimbledon fans in saying that it was the best day in the club's short history. We massively exceeded everyone's predictions, especially on our small budget and our meteoric rise in the past decade, just goes onto show how anything can be achieved with belief.
Key Signing: Dominic Poleon - Will need his pace to replace Ade Azeez, will be interesting to see if Neil Ardley uses him as partner for Lyle Taylor up top, or as a super sub. Being 22, I think Poleon will grow into a top player under Ardley's guidance.
Best Player: While Paul Robinson was voted Player of the Year, I personally believe that Lyle Taylor was our best player last season, without his eye for goal we would have got nowhere near the playoffs.
Worst Player: I wouldn't say there was one player who stood out as being exceptionally terrible, I do however think we were correct to get rid of Callum Kennedy, despite his service to the club over the past few years, he just never seemed like the same player after Jonny Meades had stripped him of his place in the starting XI.
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Ideal Signing: There have been talks of us potentially luring Nigel Reo-Coker back to Wimbledon, he played for the original side back in the early 2000s so it would be a homecoming of sorts. His experience of playing in the Premier League would prove invaluable in our debut season in League 1 and would also prove a good replacement for the ageing Dannie Bulman.
Season Prediction: As much as I'd like to say we will comfortably finish in the top half of League 1, I sadly think this won't be the case. This is new pastures for us, and with our small budget we will find it tough to compete financially with the teams around us. With a sense of realism, I predict we will be involved in a relegation fight while we find our feet in League 1. I think we will do just about enough to survive and finish 19th.
Wimbledon are 4/6 to 'Finish in the Bottom Half' at SkyBet and 4/1 to 'Get Relegated' with the same bookmaker.
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Bolton Wanderers
Words By: @JonnyEckersley for @LionOfViennaSte
Ey, this is weird, writing an article for another website. I feel like I'm somewhere I shouldn't be, like my best mate's older sister's bedroom. When she's at work. And he's not at home. Wait, what?
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ANYWAY, moving on to the more pressing matters at hand here; yes, I'm a Bolton Wanderers fan, and fuck me it's been very depressing for the last few years. We've had too many shit managers to mention since the days of now-England head honcho Sam Allardyce, and, as a result, find ourselves languishing in the depths of English football's third tier for the first time since 1993. A big fish in a very small pond, you might say.
Being one of the biggest clubs in the league, plenty of people will tip us to bounce back at the first time of asking, just as our pie-eating neighbours did this year. So, without further ado, I'll stop waffling and get on with a season preview for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
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Season Review: Where am I supposed to start here? We were relegated from the Championship 11 points from safety thanks to the outstanding efforts of Neil Lennon and his band of merry wankers. We had well documented financial problems - namely owing our previous owner just shy of £200 million - but other issues such as staff not being paid just before Christmas and a number of seemingly 'dodgy' bids being tabled to take over the club made 2015/16, well, a fucking shit show.
Now, though, all that's behind us. Former Wanderers forward Dean Holdsworth and football agent Ken Anderson (Google him, he looks like he's melting all the time) now own my beloved Bolton. We've sacked off that little ginger prick and hired a real manager, Phil Parkinson from Bradford, the man who masterminded some of The Bantams' greatest moments in recent history, and I, for one, am very darn excited.
Key Signing: What I failed to mention above is that we were also under a transfer embargo for pretty much the entirety of last season. This was for various reasons; the main one being we owed the tax man a fuck load of cash. The embargo has now been lifted, in part, but we still haven't signed anyone notable. I'd say I'm most excited about our new #9, Jamie Proctor. The 24-year-old Preston born hitman was on loan with Bradford from Fleetwood for a month in January this year. He then signed permanently for the club and scored six goals in 21 appearances. Not the greatest haul, I'll admit, but he's worked with Phil Parkinson before and, in all honesty, anything's better than Gary Madine. I'm pretty sure that useless bag of shite still wears a tag. Dickhead.
Best Player: Up until two weeks ago I would've said Rob Holding but we've sold him to Arsenal, which I'm still really upset about, so I'm quite hard pressed to choose one individual here. Zach Clough and Josh Vela, two of our other academy prospects, have been looked at by Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, and are both very good. Clough is a tricky forward who should be able to use his pace to exploit lumbering League One centre halves week in, week out, so he's a great bet to score in plenty of our games - especially playing off Proctor. Josh Vela is a central midfielder by trade that also plays regularly at right back, and although he doesn't score many goals, he wears his heart on his sleeve and obviously loves the club. In all honesty, we've got a small squad brimming with young players so I'm expecting more lads to break through from the academy this season.
Worst Player: Dorian Dervite. French centre half signed by Dougie Freedman. I fucking hate his guts.
Ideal Signing: A problem we've had in the last few years is that we're lacking real quality in wide areas. Although that sounds like a properly wanky cliché, it's true. Fuck knows who we should sign - we don't really have the money to pick and choose that much - but I'd love to see a real flair player come in. One of the things we've missed badly, particularly since we left the top flight, is a player that can really penetrate teams and get fans excited. (Get your mind out of the gutter). We had young Wellington Silva on loan from Arsenal last year and he showed flashes of brilliance from time to time, but not enough. So yeah, a wide player that loves a stepover. Cristiano, you know where we are.
Season Prediction: Pretty tough one, this. Obviously I'd love for us to go up at the first time of asking, but on the other hand I think we need time to rebuild our club properly from top to bottom, so a few seasons stabilizing in League One would also be a good thing. Ultimately, though, money is what we're short of and the only way to get more of that is to go further up the Football League. I'm going to say we'll get into the play-offs but lose in the semis.
So there you have it, ladies and gents; my crash course on Bolton Wanderers. We can predict all we like, but really, no fucker knows what's going to happen, do they? And that's why we all love football.
Football is tough to predict, but Bolton are 9/5 to 'Finish in the Top 6' at 10Bet and that looks like a pretty good gamble.
Bradford City
Words By: @JoshSpruyt
Season Review: We achieved a 5th place finish in the league before deservedly losing to Millwall in the playoff semi-finals. Our success during the league was mainly down to a watertight defence, which conceded the second least goals in the whole division behind promoted Burton Albion. The regular back four of Stephen Darby, Rory McArdle, Reece Burke and James Meredith were fantastic, with a special mention also to goalkeeper Ben Williams who broke the club clean sheet record with 22 shutouts.. To be brutally honest, without the loan signings of Kyel Reid, Reece Burke, Lee Evans and Josh Cullen, we wouldn't have finished in the top 6 - notably Burke and Cullen on loan from West Ham United, who will both play at a much higher level in the near future.
Key Signing: If I'm honest, I don't think we have made it yet! Last season we struggled in front of goal (proved by a below average return of 55 league goals) and if we really want to challenge at the top end again this season, then an out-and-out goalscorer is essential. At this moment in time, new centre half Matt Kilgallon looks a real coup for a League One side - the 32 year old has never played outside of the Premier League or Championship and will be essential in another strong back line this season. Another notable signing is Romain Vincelot, who stood out in a strong Coventry City midfield last season.
Best Player: For me, you won't find a better centre-half than Rory McArdle in this league. The Northern Ireland international is frighteningly consistent, a colossal in the tackle and, although not being blessed with pace, is positionally superb. Unfortunately though, he's injured for the first month of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery during the summer.
Worst Player: A difficult question as there really isn't a stand out 'worst' player in the squad, however Billy Clarke can be very frustrating to watch. A player obviously blessed with talent seemed to struggle in his second season as a Bantam, after a superb first in which he finished as the club's top goalscorer. We're going to have a very competitive front line this coming season, and if Clarke continues to frustrate then he may find a starting berth hard to come by.
Ideal Signing: It's got to be a striker, simple as that. The two main rumours I've seen are Kieran Agard from Bristol City and Paddy Madden from Scunthorpe, either of which would be a fantastic addition to a goal-shy frontline. Whether either are realistic remains to be seen, however if I had to pick one I'd love to see Madden in a City shirt! Our new owners don't seem to mind dipping into their pockets if the right player becomes available (as proven with Kilgallon and Vincelot) so hopefully a striker of Madden's or Agard's ilk arrives before the end of August.
Season Prediction: I'm going to go with 5th again. I think the league is there for the taking this season, as there really isn't a stand out team in my opinion. Teams like Charlton, Bolton, Sheffield United and Millwall will all be up there, along with ourselves, Peterborough, MK Dons, Scunthorpe and Walsall floating in and around the playoffs. If we add that elusive goalscorer and another top quality attacking midfield player, we'll be right in the mix!
Bradford are a tempting 13/8 to 'Finish in the Top 6' at bet365 and a respectable 12/1 to 'Win the Playoffs' at SkyBet
Bristol Rovers
Words By: @coleb86
Season Review: We exceeded expectations last season. Having been in the Conference the season before, I don't think any fan would've said we'd get promoted again. We were taken over in February, and whilst there were no transfers with them at the helm, the atmosphere changed. We went on a six match running streak from in March and that's when it actually became possible. Combine that with a player that ended top goalscorer and it's an excellent season.
Key Signing: Ahead of 16/17, we've not actually signed many players, and of the ones we have, I don't think any of them will be standing out as key players. We offered all but one player (sounds harsh) a new contract, and it turned out to be a waiting game on our striker Matty Taylor. There was a lot of interest from Scotland and Championship clubs, so I think him re-signing is as key as it's got thus far.
Best Player: Whilst I've praised striker Matty Taylor, I actually think our best player is the versatile Tom Lockyer. He's a Wales U21 international and we just seem so much more solid in defence when he plays. We lost one game from March onwards last season and he didn't feature in that.
Worst Player: I'm not sure about a worst player - but there are a couple I'm not convinced by, presumably because I've not seen them play much. Liam Lawrence was signed in January and considering he has a wealth of Premier League and International experience, he didn't seem to make much of an immediate impact. Having said that, I saw him in a pre-season friendly in July and he looked to have improved.
Ideal Signing: I think we need another striker, which seems odd to say when we have 4 senior strikers and more attacking players. Taylor re-signing was great, and his 27 league goals were the most of anyone from the 92 league clubs, but we technically have the same team, bar one or two, that we had last season, and largely similar to what we had in the conference. Another 30 goal a season striker and I actually think we will be taken seriously in League One.
Season Prediction: I think we'll make the play offs, so top 6.
Are you as optimistic? Bristol Rovers to 'Finish in the Top 6' is a hefty 6/1 at 10Bet.
Bury
Words By: @ArminPishro
Season Review: We had a great start to the season. We did a lot better than everyone expected, beating teams like Sheffield United, Walsall and Coventry, but by the end of October we started to drop a lot of points and ended up having a below average 2nd half to the season. However for our first season back in League 1, I think we had a good season as we managed to comfortably avoid relegation.
Key Signing: This has to be Ben Williams from Bradford. We struggled to find a main goalkeeper last season, and ended up using SEVEN throughout the campaign. Williams looks like he is capable of becoming our number 1 keeper and remaining there all season.
Best Player: Comfortably Danny Mayor, he was League 2 Player of the Year in 2013/14 and although he wasn't as influential last season, he has the ability to change the game when we are struggling to create chances.
Worst Player: We've had a massive clear out over the summer so have got rid of our worst player from the last season in Danny Pugh. Currently our worst player is Hallam Hope, he has failed to live up to the expectations since signing in 2014 but has been excellent in pre-season and could become influential this time around.
Ideal Signing: We lost our key striker Leon Clarke last week, we have since been linked with several players, one of which has been Adam Le Fondre; this seems unlikely though. If we were to sign him, he'd be a more than capable replacement for Leon.
Season Prediction: Although we have lost some big players in Hussey, Peter Clarke and Leon Clarke, we have managed to make some great additions in Neil Danns, Leon Barnett and Zeli Ismail. We should be able to avoid relegation comfortably again this season and then maybe push towards the playoffs towards the end of the campagain, though I expect us to narrowly miss out.
Bury are a tempting 2/1 for a 'Top Half Finish' at SkyBet.
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