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..
Charlton Athletic
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Words By: @dannybullock
Well, well, well. It's the eve of a new season and Charlton are once again gearing up for League One season. An outright awful season saw us relegated to the third tier for the first time in seven years.
A string of shocking decisions by those in power last season makes the 2011/12 season look a far cry from our current reality, in which it took the muppets upstairs almost all season to appoint an actual manager.
Season Review - Last season was our worst for a very long time. It seemed as though every single weak resulted in a loss for The Addicks, with supporters demonstrating vehemently their clear frustrations at Roland Duchatalet and his apparent insistence to destroy our club.
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The appointment of Karel Fraeye, and the 11-0 aggregate loss to Huddersfield and Hull that followed, was the tipping point for most fans and most are now just happy that we've appointed someone that knows the English game fairly well in Russell Slade.
Key Signing: Our acquisition of Swindon striker Nicky Ajose is arguably one of the best signings in the entire league. The frontman bagged 24 goals for The Robins, only beaten to the top scorer accolade by (the now infamous) Will Grigg. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off at the end of last season.
Best Player: Almost all of our fairly decent players made a move away from SE7 this summer, with Jordan Cousins crossing London for QPR and Johann Berg Gudmundsson getting back from Euro 2016 and heading straight up to Burnley. From the crop we currently have, I'd have to say Alou Diarra. Despite being well past his prime, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that could prove invaluable this season.
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Worst Player: Morgan Fox. Utter shite.
Ideal Signing: This summer has seen 15 players depart and only five come through the door at The Valley so an ideal signing would probably be someone in every fucking position.
Season Prediction: To say I was optimistic at the start of the summer, my expectations for our season have taken a serious hit. Our first team is good enough to challenge any in the league on it's day but we lack depth so I can't imagine us getting anywhere near the Top 6 unfortunately.
Fancy Charlton to struggle? They're 8/11 'Not to Finish in the Top 6' with Betfair
Chesterfield
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Season Review: Witnessing the decimation of a fantastic squad last season was painful. Maybe if they'd remained together it could have been another successful years for us. Unfortunately it is what it is and I'm glad we were able to maintain our position in the division in the end.
Key Signing: He may not be our best signing of the summer but all eyes will be on how Ched Evans fairs in his first season back in League One. After four years out of the game his signing is a gamble but hopefully he can recapture some of his old form for us. His October retrial for the rape allegation that kept him out will be key to our season.
Best Player: Whilst this could prove to Ched Evans, I'd have to go for last year's Player of the Season Sam Hird, an absolute rock at the back for us.
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Worst Player: Think it's unfair to single someone out as the worst. After losing some of our better performers this is an average squad with average players.
Ideal Signing: The new transfer system could see us needing cover all over the park, but a player I'd love to see make a return to the club is Sam Morsy. Wigan seem open to letting him leave but a deal looks unlikely unfortunately.
Season Prediction: We've looked much more organised of late under Danny Wilson, but there are too many inconsistent players at the club so we'll do well to avoid being in a relegation dogfight. I expect us to stay up but it may be by the skin of our teeth.
Chesterfield are 5/2 to be Relegated with BetVictor.
Coventry City
Words By: @M_Roper96
Season Review: Last season was a typically frustrating one for us Coventry fans. Despite an abysmal pre-season, we were very quick off of the blocks and we sat top of the league in November. Some tantalising displays under Tony Mowbray had us believing that we could finally achieve an elusive top six finish. However, with injuries plaguing our defence and too many players hitting a rocky patch, we sunk like a stone.
Going from certainties to win promotion to a side devoid of confidence, we plummeted down the league table. On a positive note, we did finish the season strongly to secure 8th place. Will it be a missed opportunity that comes back to haunt us?
Key Signing: Recruitment has been painfully slow this summer, and when you lose the midfield pairing of John Fleck and Romain Vincelot, you always have a tough task in replacing them. However, Bulgarian international Vladimir Gadzhev signed at the tail-end of last season and he could be vital this year.
Jodi Jones is also a player who is very exciting, and after impressing during a loan spell from Dagenham and Redbridge during the last few months of 2015/16, we have done very well to secure his signature. At only 18 years of age, he has a massive future in the game and I'm sure he will terrorise League One defences this term.
Best Player: It's hard to say with so many outgoings, but I would say that Gadzhev looks to be everything you want in a midfielder. Another player who is an exceptional talent is academy graduate Jordan Willis. After an injury-hit season last time around, he will be looking to stamp his authority on Mowbray's team.
Worst Player: Well, this is a bit harsh isn't it! I don't really think I can pick a worst player as I think it's perhaps unfair. Everybody at the club has a part to play in the upcoming campaign. A lot of fans give Sam Ricketts an awful amount of stick, but sometimes it's unwarranted. Last season we had Darius Henderson and Peter Ramage, they would've took the unwanted accolade if they were still around.
Ideal Signing: I've heard that the Pogba deal hasn't gone through yet? In all seriousness, I just want us to sign a solid centre-back as we are very light in number in that area. There is still a possibility that we could offer Reda Johnson a new deal, and when he is fit he is one of the best defenders in the division.
Replacing the goals of Adam Armstrong will also be very difficult, so a proven goal scorer wouldn't go a miss. However, we are strapped for cash so free agents and loan deals are all we can muster. I do hope Marvin Sordell can be a success, but I don't think we can rely on him to score bucket loads.
Season Prediction: At this stage it's difficult to call. With the current squad I would say a mid-table finish is quite likely, but if we can strengthen before the end of the window, a push for promotion becomes the target. We've had very little success over the years, it would be brilliant to achieve promotion. I have no doubt that it will be a long, hard season.
Interestingly, Coventry are a generous 7/4 to 'Finish in the Bottom Half' at Paddypower and 11/2 'to be Promoted' at BetVictor.
Fleetwood Town
Words By: @dominic2905
Season Review: Last season was a somewhat rocky one for the club, filled with an array of ups and down. After sacking Graham Alexander following a 5-1 defeat to Gillingham, we appointed Steven Pressley of Coventry in his place. This proved to be ill-faited though, as the season was massively underwhelming; culminating in narrowly avoiding relegation.
Key Signing: We've made a few decent signings so far in the transfer window to be fair. Ashley Nadesan looks to be a real talent from Horley, scoring 99 times over the last two seasons, whilst goalkeepers Alex Cairns and Chris Neal are both very good goalkeeping acquisitions. However, our best signing may prove to be that of Uwe Rosler after Pressley bailed just a week before the season begins. Cheers for that mate.
Best Player: Whilst veteran defender Nathan Pond and last season's top scorer Bobby Grant are both good shouts, it's midfield maestro Jimmy Ryan that I see as our best player; and I think others agree considering he was named our Player of the Season last time out.
Worst Player: Eggert Jonsson is a stupid player with a stupid name that contributes to conceding stupid goals. Stupid.
Ideal Signing: There are a few loanees from last season that I'd love to have back. Stefan Scougal and Wesley Burns would be ideal additions to the squad ahead of the season, though I expect Uwe has some additions in mind already.
Season Prediction: As previously mentioned, I expect Rosler to give us a huge lift and if we're able to cope well with the Christmas congestion of fixtures; I'll take mid-table obscurity as a sign of a successful season. 14th.
Fleetwood are a backable 4/5 to 'Finish in the Bottom Half' with Paddypower
Gillingham
Words By: @kmcilheron
Season Review: I feel we can take many positives from the past season, but there are also negatives we need to build on. Being top for most of the season was an incredible achievement but ultimately finishing outside of the play-offs was a bitter pill to swallow.
Key Signing: Our key signing this season has probably been Scott Wagstaff from Bristol City. He comes with a whole host of Championship level experience and could prove to be crucial for us this season.
Best Player: By far and away our best player is Bradley Dack, who a lot expected to be elsewhere come the start of the season. Last year's League One Player of the Year was heavily rumoured with a move away from Priestfield but nothing seems to have materialised following his injury.
Worst Player: I wouldn't say he's our worst player per se, but I was glad to see the back of Doug Loft this summer. Although he was a great captain and always gave his all, I don't think he's up to the standard we set last year and seems to have found his level now at Colchester.
Ideal Signing: My ideal signing would be a contract extension for Dack. Other than that, I'd love a 15-20 goal a season striker. Cody McDonald struggled for form in the back end of last season and Rory Donnelly wasn't good enough for sustained periods. John Quigley scored seven goals in 23 games for Woking last season so I don't expect him to be a viable solution.
Season Prediction: There are so many good teams in the league this season so I would personally be happy with a Top Half Finish, though most will want to aim higher than that and achieve what we failed to last season.
Gillingham are 10/11 to 'Finish in the Top Half' at most bookmakers, with SkyBet our choice for this one.
