mad norm wrote:At the end of the season we will be somewhere in the league
We will still be blathering on about a new ground
We will only have two years left at Rodney Parade.
95% of the refs and lineos will be a bloody disgrace (especially those from east of the Severn)
Jamille will have backed into a defender 147 times and won a penalty twice
The majority of our games will be won with a single goal margin
Our G D will be vastly improved
Someone will figure out that long throws are a waste of time
Doris will at last get her hip replacement.






As posted before I think we will have a good season and make the playoffs with a bit to spare.

Bloody hell Norm. I find myself agreeing with almost everything you have to say, although I think it will be 3 seasons left at RP, until June 2023?, but have no knowledge of Doris' hip.

He's not as cultured a centre half as Franks but I thought we looked more solid with O'Brien in the team. I still think there is more to come from Sheehan. Neither King nor Townsend will match up to Joe as a shot stopper and Butler will prove difficult to replace. Labadie's fitness could be key to a successful season. I say we'll match last season with a 7th place finish.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll be a bit more solid defensively. I worry that Matt and Amond surely can’t score as many as last year so we need to make up the deficit elsewhere. So I’m hoping the additions (and possibly the ones yet to come) can contribute a few more goals than Azeez or McKirdy did. Equally I’d like to see some creativity from somewhere as we’ve lost a bit of that with Butler so other than Robbie who can be a bit predictable sometimes we don’t have that from last years squad. Some big sides have come down so we may find it hard but hoping we can be thereabouts for the playoffs again!

I'm more optimistic heading into this season than I was last season, so that's probably bad news for the club and I'd like to apologise up front. (Last year I was convinced we were going down before the season started, to give you an idea of my predictive prowess.)

I feel like we're probably a playoff team, but L2 is always so competitive that we could be good enough for the playoffs and wind up 14th.

Whilst I'm lamenting the loss of Butler, from what I saw of the Al-Ahly game King's distribution is excellent and he's got every possibility of being the standard of Day - though I wait to see where his flaws are.

Apart from those two and the right back position, we could field the same team that went on a streak at the end of last season, and at worst we've got other centre back options on top of those we had before.

Our success above or below last season could come down to how well Haynes and/or Nurse fit in at left back, how Leadbitter does (red card on debut is a bit concerning), but all of that could be offset with some good Championship/League One level squad player loans.

I'm going to be positive, hope the full backs fit in well and the keeper settles quickly, and go for top three - after an early FA Cup elimination away to a top half League One side. No harm in optimism, eh?

It seems that the general consensus is about the same as last season.

My own view is that whilst I don't think there is too much danger of it being a struggle I don't think we are quite as strong this season. For me the biggest loss is Poole and I'm not sure he will be easy to replace.

I think comfortable mid table. Although for the reasons set out in the initial post by October that could look ridiculous.

I think my prediction last year was 15th, and I expect an improvement on that. Day will be the big miss and Demetriou re-signing the big bonus. Not a dazzling original insight, I realise.

I'm not quite so sure about Butler although all other things being equal I would like to have kept him. However, we wouldn't only have had to at least match what Peterborough must be paying him, but sign him up for 3 years, which would drive a coach and horses through what seems to be a long-standing club policy.

And this is a wild guess but it must be possible we are getting both Haynes as a replacement and Nurse as cover for the same money which would have to be good business.

Time for an update. A couple of signings in the last few days. Two more would do for me.

I think that this season we will see an overall improvement in the quality of the top teams. The likes of Mansfield, Plymouth, Bradford, Salford and Exeter will be fighting out at the top. I think the top teams will take more points off the 'lesser' teams and we will see a greater disparity in points all through the table.

I don't think there will be mid table clutter like we saw last season with a number of clubs scrapping for the play off spots. I think the play offs could be done and dusted way before the end of the season. I think we will be one of them.

Obviously, we will know more when we have seen the newbies play a few games. However, I will stick my neck out and say we will be as strong as we were last year. 7th for me.