Your club's chances for the new season

[Panda]

With the new season just around the corner it's time to tell everyone how you think your team(s) will do this season.


The thread is inspired by FourFourTwo's annual club-by-club guide (out now!).


Fill in the spaces below and tell us how well (or not) you think your team will do this season:


Team:


Greatest hope this season:


Biggest fear:


Most important player:


Terrace favourite:


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 ground to visit:


Opposition player you despise:


Opposition player you secretly admire:


Where will you finish?

[Maximo Mark]

Team: Nottingham Forest


Greatest hope this season: Promotion


Biggest fear: The lack of a left-back haunts us for the third season running.


Most important player: Lewis McGugan - last season he finally delivered what he'd promised for years. Incredibly creative, both for himself and others.


Terrace favourite: Guy 'The Moose' Moussi - it's good to see him back even if it is just because no one better did come in for him. The effort he puts in is incredible and the fans love him, last season he ran down the wing and pulled up after pulling his hamstring, but still kept trying to run crossing the ball for Earnshaw to score! He'll be more of a favourite now after saying he could never have joined Derby even though they offered him a contract worth more.


Young player to watch: With Billy gone and McClaren in I have some faith that youth might actually be used. In the last two and half years the only youth he played was Brendan Maloney when forces and three sub appearances to Niall Rodney. Jamal Lascelles is a very highly rated centre half and Arsenal have shown interest, whilst midfielder/fullback Kieran Freeman has been excellent in pre-season.


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: No one! With Tyson, Adebola and McKenna all leaving in the summer there's no one left who I don't want hear. I think Joel Lynch is crap but with no left back at the club getting rid of him would likely be a disaster!


One change you'd make at your club: The belief that you can go into a third consecutive season without a left back.


Have you got the right manager? I hope so. I'm looking forward to the season with him certainly.


What advice would you give him? Forget Routledge, sign a left back!


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Derby of course and I think I'd get a great deal of satisfaction beating big spenders Leicester as well this season. However the team I want to take 6 points off most is Blackpool, it still hurts that they beat us 4 times in one season and gave us that play-off humiliation.


Best away ground to visit: I don't really do away matches but I'd love to go to Brighton.


Opposition player you despise: who can I say now Robbie Savage has retired, Kris Commons is in Scotland and Grant Holt is in the Premiership?! It'll have to be between Marlon King and Nathan Tyson this season.

Where will you finish? 8th

[suedehead]

Jul 30, 2011 20:16:34 GMT 1 Maximo Mark said:

Best away ground to visit: I don't really do away matches but I'd love to go to Brighton.

The new stadium has been on local television a lot over the last few days and it looks fantastic Now I just need to arrange a visit.

As I don't get to see Brighton very much, I can't really answer all the questions so I shall be selective.

Greatest hope - mid-table obscurity. I'd like a nice relaxed end to the season which hasn't happened in the second tier for a while.

Biggest fear - losing Gus Poyet. There are two reasons for not wanting a challenge for the play-offs. First, I don't think Brighton are ready for it. Second, it will make Poyet a target for many of the vacancies which are bound to arise as the season goes on.

Watching interviews with Poyet last season it is obvious that he has developed an affection for the club and, naturally, the fans love him. We've lost some good managers in recent years because of a perceived lack of opportunity to progress. With the new stadium, that is less of an issue so I hope Poyet stays for many years to come.

Have you got the right manager - see above

What advice would you give him - "You know a lot more about football than I do so don't listen to me - apart from when I say you should stay at Brighton."

Which team do you most want to beat this season? - as they just about stayed up it has to be Crystal Palace.

Where will you finish - I'll go for 14th.

[Shireblogger]

Team:
Southampton

Greatest hope this season:
Beat Portsmouth twice and finish above them in the table.

Biggest fear:
Club gets put up for sale.

Most important player:
Rickie Lambert - can he perform as well (and as consistently) in the Championship as he did in League One ?

Terrace favourite:
Goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, who is now reaping the rewards of his loyalty during the darkest days.

Young player to watch:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Not just Saints fans who are watching him. Scouts from Chelsea and Arsenal, amongst others, apparently.

Player you'd happily drive to his next club:
None. We'll need the deep squad this year, and all the obnoxious mercenaries left when the club went into administration a few years ago.

One change you'd make at your club:
Shirt sponsor's logo. It looks really childish.


Have you got the right manager?
Absolutely. Nigel Adkins ticks all of the right boxes for me.

What advice would you give him?
Ignore everyone else's advice, including mine. Too many people in football with too many stupid opinions.

Which team do you most want to beat this season?
Portsmouth, obviously.

Best away ground to visit:
For me, Derby. My employer has a corporate box, so I get to join the prawn sandwich brigade for once. And it's only 20 minutes from home.

Opposition player you despise:
I'll wait until we draw a Premier division team in a Cup competition, and then I'll name the selfish, talentless, cheating b*st*rd. I'll not be short of options.

Opposition player you secretly admire:
Robert Green, West Ham goalkeeper. After all the totally unfair abuse he's had to put up with, the fact that he is still playing is a credit to the guy. Add the fact that he is a very good 'keeper, and he gets my full admiration.

Where will you finish?
Mid-table. Hopefully comfortable mid-table, as opposed to late season surge to mid-table.

[Panda]

Going to do two of these...


Team: Middlesbrough


Greatest hope this season: Challenging for promotion with a small, young squad


Biggest fear: The squad turns out to be too thin and we get sucked into a relegation dogfight


Most important player: With Lita on his way, we're relying on Scott McDonald for goals. It's important that Rhys Williams stays fit as well.


Young player to watch: Always a few at Boro but I'll say Cameron Park as he's ex-Marske


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Seb Hines couldn't kick my arse


One change you'd make at your club: Reduce the ticket prices if you want more fans in


Have you got the right manager? Definitely. Tony Mowbray is a Boro legend. There was a huge improvement after he took over last season and if things don't go well this season it won't be down to him.


What advice would you give him? Make sure the players keep believing in themselves.


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Dirty Leeds.


Best away ground to visit: Haven't visited any but the KC Stadium and Brighton's new ground look nice.


Opposition player you secretly admire: Lucciano Becchio and Peter Whittingham


Where will you finish? Mid-table

[Panda]

Team: Marske United (Northern League Division 1)


Greatest hope this season: A top 10 finish on the back of last season's promotion


Biggest fear: Going straight back down to Division 2


Most important player: Chris McGill's pace will cause a lot of teams problems


Terrace favourite: Anthony 'Basher' Roberts - no-nonsense defender who gives everything for the club. Described in the matchday programme as "a highly salubrious fanny of a defender with shocking taste in underwear"


Young player to watch: Tommy Marron - new signing, only 19, once on Hartlepool's books, looked really good in pre-season. Had interest from clubs several levels higher.


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Wouldn't get rid of any of them. Everyone tries their heart out at this level and everyone has their part to play.


One change you'd make at your club: Go back to the yellow paint job we had at the ground last season instead of the new green one.


Have you got the right manager? Yes. Guided the team to long unbeaten run to clinch promotion last season.


What advice would you give him? We tend to struggle without width and pace. And with several big clubs on the fixture list early on, don't let the players get downhearted if we don't start the season well.


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Guisborough, plus one of the big three (Spennymoor, Whitley Bay, Bedlington Terriers)


Best away ground to visit: Will be visiting a lot more this season but so far Billingham Synthonia and their big stand that stretches almost the length of the pitch. Guisborough is a nice place to go to as well.


Opposition player you secretly admire: David Onions (Guisborough) - ex-Marske striker who bangs the goals in and scored the winner against us in the North Riding Senior Cup final and after his FA Vase exploits last season, Paul Chow (Whitley Bay)


Where will you finish? Probably around 12th-15th

[o]

Team: Mansfield Town

Greatest hope this season: Promotion.

Biggest fear: Miss the play offs for the 4th year running.

Most important player: Hard to say, as so many are new players, be nice to see Briscoe score 20 a season again, Thompson in defence might be our rock, so keeping him and Marriot the goalie fit?

Terrace favourite: I like Briscoe when he runs at players, Murray in midfield has been excellent in pre season as well.

Young player to watch: Tom Naylor, centre half, been watched by Doncaster and Leeds I think, has to be the right price though as we dont need to sell.

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: I'm quite happy with the squad at the moment, I dont like to slag players off.

One change you'd make at your club: Knock the old bishop street stand down, and turn into corporate with terracing.

Have you got the right manager? We shall see, he's had 3 promotions in 5 seasons, so knows what he's doing in my book.

What advice would you give him? Dont read the criticism on Stagsnet, and have a Plan B.

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Luton!

Best away ground to visit: Not been to many, but hoping to get to Fleetwood, looks nice from the photos I've seen.

Opposition player you despise: Hummm, cant really think of one at our level.

Opposition player you secretly admire: Brodie always seems to score goals.

Where will you finish? Top 5 hopefully, and then we'll have the lottery of the playoffs.

[Razzle Dazzle]

Team: West Ham

Greatest hope this season: Automatic promotion at the first attempt

Biggest fear: struggle to adjust to relegation and start slowly

Most important player: Kevin Nolan, been there, done it so hopefully he will be as influential as he was at newcastle

Terrace favourite: Scott Parker, although he will be out the door soon, Mark Noble has been with us a long time and always gives 100%, a local lad that loves the club and the fans apreciate that. he had a few ups and downs in form when played right midfield but he did it for the team, he plays his best football in the middle and he is still only 24


Young player to watch: Freddie Sears, there are a few to choose from, James Tompkins was the only positive from last season in defence and a season in the championship will be good for him, Jordan Spence, he captained England u16,17,18 and 19s aswel as having a brilliant loan spell last year at Bristol City in the Championship so i have high hopes for him stepping up and making RB his own. As for Sears i was impressed at how he played last season when he came in the team, he is scoring in pre-season, had a good end to the season and now we have a manager that knows what he is doing. Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas should do well at this level aswel

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Julien Faubert, worst defender in the whole championship, not much better in midfield and is probably on 60k a week, enough said

One change you'd make at your club: Need a goal scoring striker

Have you got the right manager? Yeah, some might complain but i will happily trade conceading 3 or 4 goals a game and loosing for winning and keeping clean sheets

What advice would you give him? Teams that do well in the Championship can play a bit of football aswel getting stuck in so at home it might be better to try and play than just kick it long, the fans would get on is back and it will be a nightmare

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Leicester, i reckon they will be up there to win the league so wouldn't mind picking points up off them

Best away ground to visit: like everyone else brighton would be good to visit

Opposition player you despise: Marlon "Rapist" King

Opposition player you secretly admire: Max Gradel and Oxlade-Chamberlain

Where will you finish? 2nd

[raliverpool]

Team:
Liverpool FC

Greatest hope this season:
King Kenny delivers the elusive 19th title

Biggest fear:
We'll go backwards with a near permanently injured Stevie G; waste of money purchases Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, etc; and a lack of quality in defence

Most important player:
Luis Suárez

Terrace favourite:
Steven Gerrard & Jamie Carragher

Young player to watch:
Thanks to Rafa's efforts in the Youth set up we are not short of options but Conor Coady (is a future Liverpool & England midfield legend)

Player you'd happily drive to his next club:
Christian Poulsen (cheers Roy Hodgson)

One change you'd make at your club:
None, after the Muppet Show nearly destroyed Liverpool, and destroyed Rafa (a must read: www.amazon.co.uk/Epic-Swindle-Months-Pair-Cowboys/dp/0857385992/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top ), we're in as good a place we could realistically wish for off the field. .... but a new 65,000 seater, and signing someone like Scott Dann in defence would be nice.

Have you got the right manager?
Is the Pope Catholic?

What advice would you give him?
Our manager knows what he is doing especially as he is ably assisted by Steve Clarke & Kevin Keen. Just try and get a Top 4 finish.

Which team do you most want to beat this season?
Manchester United (of course)

Best away ground to visit:
Goodison Park (for the atmosphere)

Opposition player you despise:
Dimitar Berbatov (the cheating diver always seems to have the hex over us, having taken over from Didier Drogba)

Opposition player you secretly admire:
Wayne Rooney

Where will you finish?
Anywhere between 3rd & 6th. I fear the two Manchester clubs will run away with the battle for the title.

[Paddy]

Jul 30, 2011 22:38:35 GMT 1 Shireblogger said:

Terrace favourite:
Goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, who is now reaping the rewards of his loyalty during the darkest days.

Glad he has found somewhere to go...

[Paddy]

Team: Ipswich Town


Greatest hope this season: Champions of Championship


Biggest fear: relegation


Most important player: There's a lot of new blood in the team this season, but I think if JET can play well we've bagged a bargain.


Terrace favourite: Since I haven't been about the place in couple years not too sure.


Young player to watch: Ronan Murray


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Tommy Smith - he just is inconsistent.


One change you'd make at your club: At present moment not a lot.


Have you got the right manager? Paul Jewell is a wiley old fox at football managing. He has experience at this level, maybe if we're promoted we'll give him time but could see him leaving quickly.


What advice would you give him? Sort out the defence.


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Usually it'd be Norwich 'Canaries' City, but this year it'll have to be Leeds Utd, Peterborough 'Posh' Utd and West Ham.


Best away ground to visit: N/A


Opposition player you despise: Anyone who scores against us


Opposition player you secretly admire: Craig Mackail-Smith - We looked at signing but Posh wanted too much for him.


Where will you finish? 3rd or 11th

[frag]

Team: Arsenal


Greatest hope this season: Cesc stays, we sign a defender, sort out the defence of set pieces, and win a trophy. Well, we can dream...!


Biggest fear: Cesc and Nasri goes and aren't replaced, the defence doesn't get sorted, and we finish in mid-table


Most important player: Cesc. Best player in the PL. Noticing a trend here?


Terrace favourite: Wilshere


Young player to watch: Miyaichi if he gets his work permit. It'll be interesting to see how Gibbs and Jenkinson do.


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Squillaci


One change you'd make at your club: Learn how to close a game out


Have you got the right manager? Yes... for now.


What advice would you give him? Open the chequebook, and have a plan B!


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Barcelona, closely followed by Spurs, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Stoke, and the teams we failed to beat last season: Liverpool, Newcastle, West Brom, Sunderland. It's a long list this year!


Best away ground to visit: I haven't actually been to an away game in 16 years


Opposition player you despise: Evra


Opposition player you secretly admire: Messi


Where will you finish? Who knows? I'll pin the tail on the donkey and say 4th.

[vastar iner]

Team: Birmingham City


Greatest hope this season: Promotion and UEFA League place


Biggest fear: Relegation and administration


Most important player: I have no idea who will be left come the transfer window's end...Scott Dann but I doubt he will stay. Him apart, Adam Rooney


Terrace favourite: Stephen Carr


Young player to watch: Nathan Redmond


Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Our squad at present is about 17 strong, so we need everybody and every body


One change you'd make at your club: Stop haemorrhaging players because of short-term cashflow problems


Have you got the right manager? Yes


What advice would you give him? Don't panic


Which team do you most want to beat this season? Doesn't matter, there's nobody we have a rivalry with; Leeds for the Bates connexion I suppose


Best away ground to visit: I don't go to away games


Opposition player you despise: with no animosity for any teams in the division, there's no real reason to despise any of their players


Opposition player you secretly admire: Robert Snodgrass


Where will you finish? 8th

[Robin]

Jul 31, 2011 11:49:02 GMT 1 o said:

Team: Mansfield Town

Most important player: Thompson in defence might be our rock, so keeping him and Marriot the goalie fit

You spoke too soon!!

[Earl Purple]

Team: Charlton Athletic


Greatest hope this season: Promotion, of course. A lot of new signings in the summer, we need to see what they can do

Biggest fear: Either that the players take too long to gel or that Chris Powell is simply not cut out to be first team manager and gets all the tactics wrong.

Most important player: Bradley Wright-Philiips will probably need to score large numbers of goals.

Terrace favourite: Scott Wagstaff is home-grown and has been at the club a long time and it would be nice if he could fit in and have a good season.

Young player to watch: Yado Mambo has made it into the full squad at the age of 19. He is a defender and not sure how much first-team action he will get.

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Paul Benson, never really rated him.

One change you'd make at your club: Ok we'll give the manager a chance and I wouldn't want him to have to leave the club but maybe someone more experienced at first-team managing for now with him as assistant.

Have you got the right manager? No, I don't think so.

What advice would you give him? Ensure the confidence of the team remains even after a defeat.

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

Best away ground to visit: Possibly Hillsborough, but unlikely to go there.

Opposition player you despise: None

Opposition player you secretly admire: Also none.

Where will you finish? Unfortunately probably 9th after a bad start, firing the manager, then a run too late.

[Tom]

Always pleased to see this thread back each year. The last week has given me time to think about my answers!

Team: Reading

Greatest hope this season: Promotion

Biggest fear: Losing Long and not replacing him has to be the main concern.

Most important player: Shane Long. Without him we'll be mid-table

Terrace favourite: "There's only one Shane Long"

Young player to watch: Jordan Obita, 17 yr old winger seems to have generated excitement during pre-season. He got mentions here and there back end of 09/10 and then made his debut as a sub in the Carling Cup as a 16 yr old last year. Only discovered towards the end of last season that we beat Prem clubs to sign him around Feb/March 2010. He's been involved with the England U19s for the last year and his emergence i consider to be a bonus as if the England U19 side had qualified for the European Championships earlier in the summer he prob wouldn't have featured much, if at all, in pre-season.

Player you'd happily drive to his next club: Wouldn't say there's anyone in the current squad i dislike.

One change you'd make at your club: Stop letting players leave and then struggling to replace them. Letting 3 CBs leave over the summer (expected Zurab to go without promotion but after Mills was sold the decision to let Ingi go looked particularly bad) left us in a difficult position.

Have you got the right manager? Absolutely. McDermott has done a superb job so far. To add to what i said last year about being tough to beat,well organised, he's also got man-management skills (speaks to players one-to-one on a regular basis), tactical skills, and motivational skills (see Norwich at home, the best 2nd half i saw last season, and the first 15 mins of the 2nd half at Wembley). He's potentially better than Coppell, so we've got to be careful that balancing the books doesn't make us uncompetitive as I can see him as a future PL manager. If we sold Long to another Championship club wouldn't be surprised to see him walk.

What advice would you give him? None!

Which team do you most want to beat this season? Possibly Millwall, but none really stand out

Best away ground to visit: Would say Brighton, but won't get the chance to go sadly

Opposition player you despise: Dunno

Opposition player you secretly admire: Dunno off the top of my head

Where will you finish? Top 8. Excited by the attacking quality, but a bit concerned by the defence, not quite as much as going into last season, but this year the division is stronger/more competitive so therefore the same prediction as this time last year.

[Tom]

Aug 5, 2011 18:00:53 GMT 1 Tom said:

Always pleased to see this thread back each year. The last week has given me time to think about my answers!

Team: Reading

Young player to watch: Jordan Obita, 17 yr old winger seems to have generated excitement during pre-season. He got mentions here and there back end of 09/10 and then made his debut as a sub in the Carling Cup as a 16 yr old last year. Only discovered towards the end of last season that we beat Prem clubs to sign him around Feb/March 2010. He's been involved with the England U19s for the last year and his emergence i consider to be a bonus as if the England U19 side had qualified for the European Championships earlier in the summer he prob wouldn't have featured much, if at all, in pre-season.

Was so close to going for Manset, maybe i should have done with his 2 goals yesterday! This is his first full season after making the difficult jump from L2 to Championship mid-season last year and he's in better shape now. Taking Long out of the equation as i think he's prob going (i was convinced he was off back in June but been less convinced the last few weeks as he's still here and not sure whether clubs are prepared to meet our valuation) i reckon one of our strikers will get 15 goals this season and i really believe it will be him.

[Paddy]

Brighton's away kit is bright on the eye!

[Earl Purple]

started with 3 wins and a 2-0 lead but threw that away to draw 2-2 so 3 wins and a draw. Now the team just need to pick themselves up from this and go back to winning.

[suedehead]

So far, so good

We are top of the league, we are top of the league

I'm not expecting it to last so I thought I'd enjoy the moment