Your team's chances for this season

[Panda]

The football season's here again! And that means it's time to assess your team's chances for the season. Will you win anything? Will you go up? Will you stay up? Share your thoughts below.


Team:


Division:


Greatest hope this season:


Biggest fear:


Most likely reason for success:


Most likely reason for failure:


Best summer signing(s):


Most important player:


Most underrated player:


Young player to watch:


Player you'd happily drive to his next club:


One change you'd make at your club:


Have you got the right manager?


What advice would you give him?


Which team do you most want to beat this season?


Best away fans:


Best away ground to visit:


Opposition player you despise:


Opposition player you secretly admire:


Where will you finish?

[Panda]

Team: Marske United


Division: Northern League Division One


Greatest hope this season: Winning the FA Vase and being competitive in the league again.


Biggest fear: We go backwards in the league and have another early exit in the Vase.


Most likely reason for success: We scored over 100 goals last season but only finished 5th. An improved defence should change that.


Most likely reason for failure: An injury crisis that decimates the relatively thin squad.


Best summer signing(s): Josh Rowbotham - one of the best young defenders in the league.


Most important player: Danny Earl scored 30 league goals last season but overall, the team improved when Ashley Coffey came into the side. A strong, tall target man who looks well capable of playing at a higher level (especially considering the last player we had of that ilk was Jordan Hugill, who now plays for Preston in the Championship).


Most underrated player: The whole team is underrated by the rest of the league. We always go under the radar when people talk about title contenders, yet we've been top 5 three seasons running.


Young player to watch: Connor Short. England schoolboy international who made his first team debut last season. Could end up being used as a supersub who can run at tired full-backs.


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: It's been a few years since we've had any real donkeys.


One change you'd make at your club: Speed up the planned ground improvements but that one's out of the club's hands really.


Have you got the right manager? Absolutely. Three top 5 finishes, a league title, a cup final, and two other semi-finals...


What advice would you give him? He doesn't need any advice from me.


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Aside from local rivals Guisborough, it would be Bishop Auckland. Their whiny fans act like they're Man U or something.


Best away fans: Whitley Bay are generally a good bunch.


Best away ground to visit: Penrith is probably the most popular away trip of the season


Opposition player you despise: Ben Harmison. Brother of ex-cricketer Steve who is now manager of Ashington. Big clogger - one of the worst footballers I've ever seen.


Opposition player you secretly admire: Paul Brayson. In his 40s and still scoring 40 goals a season.


Where will you finish? Top 5. I'd love us to win the league again and get promoted (it's now mandatory) though it would make the club less secure financially.

[Tom]

Surprised there's been so little interest in this, always been one of the best threads in the Sports board.

Team: Reading

Division: Championship

Greatest hope this season: Automatic promotion

Biggest fear: This time last year I would have said relegation. Even though the year ends in 8 I don't see that this season, so i'll say Jaap Stam leaving putting us back to square one.

Most likely reason for success: Jaap Stam, can't think of anyone better, possibly Kermorgant if he can recapture his form from last season when he returns from injury (predicted to be in a couple of months), not convinced he will though.

Most likely reason for failure: Probably lack of squad depth, we definitely lack a prolific goalscorer in the absence of Kermorgant, although my advice to Stam below is another reason.

Best summer signing(s): I've not been particularly pleased with our summer business so far, all been rather average really, and certainly no signings like Liam Moore last summer (which I thought was great) whose arrival convinced me that we wouldn't be going down last season. I would say Modou Barrow, wasn't sure how much end product he will have but think he'll be an exciting player to watch (which seems to have been reflected in his early performances so far).

Most important player: Difficult one as I thought our most important player was Al-Habsi, especially in the big games, and he's gone now. So i'll say Liam Moore.

Most underrated player: Again difficult, but i'll say Chris Gunter simply because we don't have any natural right-backs as cover for him atm (youngster Tennai Watson is expected to be out until December) and he can also fill in at left-back where we look light atm with Obita injured along with another youngster Omar Richards too. Can also play in a back 3 in an emergency as well. I suspect that if he was missing at right-back we'd play wing-backs and wouldn't play a back 4. New signing Bacuna from Villa is cover but I only see him being used as a wing-back not a full-back.

Young player to watch: Many of the u23 players I knew and liked have either left or gone out on loan so i'll stick with someone who's a key player in the squad already. Central midfielder Liam Kelly broke through last season out of nowhere really, wouldn't say he'd ever really stood out when i'd seen him at youth/u21 level and the previous season he'd been on loan at Bath City with both Steve Clarke and McDermott completely overlooking him. He's a classic example of a player benefitting from a change in manager. When Stam saw him he liked him instantly and couldn't understand why he hadn't been given a chance before. On the evidence of this season so far he seems to have added more goals to his game which is only going to improve him further. I thought it was interesting that he was left on the bench for the playoff final when he was expected to play a key part, the cynic in me thought it was to take some attention away from him... He's our most exciting young player since Gylfi, but obviously he's complete rubbish really!

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Sandro Wieser one of the most bizarre signings we've made in recent years. A Liechtenstein international central midfielder in a position where we had plenty of options on a 3 year contract. I couldn't see how he was going to play and he struggled to make the bench most of the time. I think he struggled with injury (I recall he was missing from Liechtenstein's games at times) but his standout moment was getting sent off in a Checkatrade Trophy game, early on IIRC, oddly I think he was then on the bench for the next first team game! Stam has said in pre-season that he wants him to get lower league experience in England, the fact that he doesn't seem to be injured and is still at the club says it all!

One change you'd make at your club: We could have had a proper pre-season...Also our injury list has gone down, but we have I think half a dozen players who still aren't likely to return before the end of the month, with some like Kermorgant and Watson out longer-term, so something's not right there.

Have you got the right manager? Absolutely, hopefully he'll stay for at least a couple more years. I didn't agree with the decision to get rid of McDermott, though things I've been told since make it more understandable, but despite the style of play not being that exciting to watch last season, even when we were being open, he's been an absolute revelation.

What advice would you give him? Not to be so naïve in away games. I did get the impression last season that he thought we could play our game and it would work. We were open, and we're still inconsistent and unpredictable. The result depends on which team scores first. Listening to the first game of the season at QPR it sounded like we were doing ok and after QPR scored we rather fell apart. Maybe there's still an underestimation of away games, there are very few away games in the Championship these days, because in the playoff away games he completely changed his approach, so maybe in the big away games this season it will be different.

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Off the top of my head Millwall.

Best away fans: Always impressed with anyone who fills the away end. Leeds fit into this category but after the trouble they caused when they came to the Mad Stad last season I wouldn't include them...

Best away ground to visit: Fulham, still not been and won't be going this season either as I noticed this week that it's a midweek game...

Opposition player you despise: Can't say i'm a fan of John Terry...

Opposition player you secretly admire: Neves who Wolves signed this summer looks very impressive.

Where will you finish? Lower mid-table as I think we'll miss Al Habsi and I wasn't sure how many goals our front 2/3 would get. Probably too negative but as last summer showed with the Moore signing still time for that to improve. Stam has talked about wanting 3 more players, if we get those i'd probably say top half, maybe with a playoff push.

[raliverpool]

^ I missed this thread earlier....

Team: Liverpool FC

Division: Premier League

Greatest hope this season: Winning the Champions League (we wont win the Premiership)

Biggest fear: Manchester United do the PL & ECL double; & Everton finish higher in the League.

Most likely reason for success: Brilliant offensive line up in midfield playing Jurgen Klopp's way.

Most likely reason for failure: Lack of summer signings; Defense shipping in far too many goals, & first team squad spread far too thinly for PL & ECL campaigns.

Best summer signing(s): Salah (not exactly spoilt for choice, unfortunately)

Most important player: Countinho Mane

Most underrated player: Henderson (thanks to "Sir Red Nose" & the "Man Ure" supporters and their sycophantic Sports writers for The (Manchester) Guardian & BBC (whose sports department is situated in Salford)

Young player to watch: A toss up between Alexander-Arnold & Solanke

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: No one, other than Sakho provided the car makes a return journey with £25-30 million

One change you'd make at your club: Force the LFC coaches to watch Sky's Monday night football with Gary Neville & Jamie Carragher reviewing the weekend fixtures, as they might learn some tips how to defend set pieces & corners.

Have you got the right manager? Yes

What advice would you give him? Get the side to learn how to defend free kicks & corners, because they all too frequently look like they don't have a clue.

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Manchester United (& Barcelona in the ECL)

Best away fans: Everton

Best away ground to visit: The Emirates Stadium

Opposition player you despise: Fellaini (Manchester United)

Opposition player you secretly admire: Rooney (Everton)

Where will you finish? Honestly I fear we will finish 6th, unless we pull off some great signings before the transfer window shuts.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Team: West Ham


Division: Premiership


Greatest hope this season: 8th place and a cup run


Biggest fear: Relegation, I make it 57 competitive games since we started shipping goals for fun 104 goals in 57 games, 1.82 a game, at this level if you cant score at the other end your in big trouble, 120m spent on 20 new players since then has just made things worse


Most likely reason for success: Overspending, we can outgun teams below and around us


Most likely reason for failure: Well Bilic has been backed by the board and in the first game of the season we had 9 Bilic signings start so however much the players under perform him and his coaching team are to blame if every player we have signed gets worse and we keep conceding 4 a game, his tactical naivety is concerning


Best summer signing(s): Hernandez and Zabaleta, both filled gaping holes in our squad


Most important player: Antonio, he offers us a different dimension, pace, power, goals and direct play


Most underrated player: Mark Noble, most fans want him out because he is "too slow" but we have won one game without him since 2014 and that was Accrington Stanley 1-0 in the 94th minute thanks to a Payet wondergoal


Young player to watch: Declan Rice, 18 year old, came on v Man U and looked our most composed player


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: One positive is we have had a huge clear out of average players, Randolph, Nordveit, Valencia, Fletcher, Feghouli etc but Snodgrass has been a disaster, 0 goals, 0 assists, zero pace


One change you'd make at your club: Sign two more players, a solid defensive midfield player and a backup for Lanzini


Have you got the right manager? After his first 30 games id say yes, after the last 70 i'd say no, the stadium move was massive, losing Payet even bigger, not being able to field a settled team played its part so he maybe deserves until Christmas with his rebuilt squad but how long do you let abject failure go on? nice guy or not


What advice would you give him? Sack the fitness coach because we are the unfittest team in the league so I question about the 69 year old handball fitness coach and bring in a defensive coach to work with the defence, stop playing fullbacks as wingbacks when playing a back 4, there is so much, just ask for help


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Spurs


Best away fans: Newcastle


Best away ground to visit: Brighton because its new and different


Opposition player you despise: Diego Costa


Opposition player you secretly admire: Lukaku, think he is the best striker in the league


Where will you finish? if things magically click 8th-10th, if it goes wrong 11th-16th

[Tom]

Aug 19, 2017 11:05:30 GMT 1 Tom said:

One change you'd make at your club: We could have had a proper pre-season...Also our injury list has gone down, but we have I think half a dozen players who still aren't likely to return before the end of the month, with some like Kermorgant and Watson out longer-term, so something's not right there.

Knew that it was asking a bit much to expect everyone to stay fit for the rest of the month and international break and so it proved. 2 players went off with injuries in the first half today (1 of which was Kelly after i'd bigged him up earlier..) and another player who started on Tuesday wasn't in the squad at all.

[frag]

Team: Arsenal

Division: Premier League

Greatest hope this season: Winning the Europa League, and finishing above Spurs, while Alexis and Ozil renew their contracts

Biggest fear: We slip below Everton (potentially others), finish outside the top 6 and are left with no European football, no Ozil, and no Alexis

Most likely reason for success: Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette forming an irresistable front line

Most likely reason for failure: Poor tactics, team selection and motivation, leading to last season's combination of sterile attack, a defence made of papier mache, and no mental strength.

Best summer signing(s): We've only had two, and they've both scored! Lacazette scored within 90 seconds of his debut, you can't ask for much more than that.

Most important player: Laurent Koscielny. Our defence barely looks competent without him. Case in point: with him on the pitch vs Bayern Munich, the aggregate score was 2-1 to us. Without him? 0-9.

Most underrated player: Mesut Ozil. Possibly still the best #10 in the league.

Young player to watch: Rob Holding, you know. He's better than Cannavaro...

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: It seems strange to put a player with 100 Arsenal goals here, but Theo Walcott's position right now is "impact sub", yet he makes next to no impact when coming on. If the alternative is losing him to C*teh for nothing, I'd also drive Alexis to Paris, provided I can continue on to Monaco and come back with Lemar.

One change you'd make at your club: Change the ownership.

Have you got the right manager? No.

What advice would you give him? Playing two left backs at centre back and a right back at left back doesn't lead to a cohesive team. Put players in their best positions, and buy a central midfielder who can/will protect the centre backs, and we'd have a title-challenging team.

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Spurs

Best away fans: I don't go to enough matches to answer this

Best away ground to visit: I don't go to enough matches to answer this

Opposition player you despise: This used to be Diego Costa's home, but he's too busy sulking in Brazil. Dele Alli is possibly the dirtiest Spurs player, he can go here.

Opposition player you secretly admire: Ngolo Kante is quality, and exactly the kind of player we're missing.

Where will you finish? 3rd-6th will be close (with the two Manchester clubs out in front); I'll retain some early-season optimism and say 4th.

[Earl Purple]

Aug 19, 2017 11:05:30 GMT 1 Tom said:

Surprised there's been so little interest in this, always been one of the best threads in the Sports board.

because I looked for it and couldn't find it so it must have disappeared in the swamp of posts that came after it.

Seems everyone else missed it until it got revived on 19th

[Earl Purple]

Team: Charlton Athletic

Division: League One

Greatest hope this season: We go up this season and Crystal Palace and Millwall both go down. Not too bad so far, Palace no points from first two games, getting thrashed at home by Huddersfield. Millwall just 2 draws and 2 defeats from 4 games which puts them 2nd bottom. Whilst we had 2 league wins and one defeat putting us 6th at the moment.

Biggest fear: Those two survive and we don't go up. I don't think we'll be relegated to league 2 though.

Most likely reason for success: The board have finally stopped interfering and have given our manager a decent budget, helped by some of the big money we made last season from sales of top players. (About 18 million for sales of Gudmunsson and Lookman)

Most likely reason for failure: Bad signings or bad tactics in the games.

Best summer signing(s): Not sure how good any of them are. Mark Marshall maybe?

Most important player: Possibly Ahmed Kashi and his injury in 2015 is possibly one reason why we went down that season but he's back.

Most underrated player: Maybe also Patrick Bauer in defence.

Young player to watch: Another defender, Jay Dasilva. Unfortunately though he's a Chelsea player on loan to us. Whether they'll ever want him in their first team or will just buy talent we will have to see.

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Tony Watt has already gone there.

One change you'd make at your club: I'd still get rid of Katrien Meire but I don't mind Roland if he puts the money in.

Have you got the right manager? Possibly - good enough.

What advice would you give him?

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Peterborough and Bury because they did the double over us last season.

Best away fans: Bradford City, given they came so far for a midweek game.

Best away ground to visit: I've never been to Ewood Park so I have no idea how good it is, and am not planning to find out. AFC Wimbledon are the only other London club in our division and they play in Norbiton near Kingston Upon Thames which makes Gillingham a bit more of a "derby".

Opposition player you despise: Can't think of any.

Opposition player you secretly admire: Or that.

Where will you finish? In reality 5th would be a reasonable position but then we'd have to play in the play-offs so of course we hope for 2nd but we need strengthening before the transfer deadline and to avoid major injuries if we are going to do that. We'll probably finish higher than last season's 13th but too long in this division makes it harder and harder to get out of. We did in our 3rd season last time. This is our 2nd season down here.

[Tom]

Aug 21, 2017 11:17:03 GMT 1 Earl Purple said:

Aug 19, 2017 11:05:30 GMT 1 Tom said:

Surprised there's been so little interest in this, always been one of the best threads in the Sports board.

because I looked for it and couldn't find it so it must have disappeared in the swamp of posts that came after it.

Seems everyone else missed it until it got revived on 19th

Yeah looks that way. I saw it a week ago and was waiting until I had more time before posting. I don't often go into the New posts section, especially not for Sports stuff, so I was being constantly reminded to do it whenever I went into Sport.

On another note, how's Fosu getting on at Charlton?

[Earl Purple]

I haven't been to a game yet so I wouldn't know.