Read the Championship preview here and the League 2 one here
The League 1 season gets underway this weekend. Here are a few things to look out for.
Wolves
This time two years ago Wolves were preparing to get their Premier League campaign underway, but after successive relegations they find themselves down in the third tier of English football.
The names Terry Connor, Stale Solbakken and Dean Saunders are unlikely to make any ‘best of’ lists in this part of the world and the board have rightly taken some stick for a string of poor managerial appointments. However, in Kenny Jackett they have a boss who knows this division like the back of his hand and he could be the man to steady the ship. Some of the more expensive flops from the last few years have moved on and new signing Sam Ricketts should impress at this level. Leigh Griffiths is back after a storming loan spell at Hibs too, he should get plenty of goals as they look to bounce straight back to the Championship. Anything less than that would be a disaster.
Coventry
With the prospect of a
68 mile round trip to Northampton for ‘home’ games this season, Coventry supporters might have hoped things were unlikely to get any worse. But with the CVA still to be signed, liquidation of the club is a real possibility, an outcome likely to trigger the sort of point deduction that would see them as good as relegated before a ball has been kicked (see Luton).
Add to that a transfer embargo which will largely force Steven Pressley to rely on youth-team players this season, and the fact that only 200 season tickets have been sold for the Sixfields, there could still be a lot more pain to come.
Bristol City
City were relegated from the Championship along with Wolves last season, though their decline was much more protracted, with the transformation from promotion contenders to relegation battlers drawn out over a period of 5 years. The chairman has been speaking about the cost of that failure recently (£50m give or take) and the desire to change tack.
Less big name veterans (David James) and more hungry youngsters are the order of the day, and one player who falls in to that second category is Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. The ex-Arsenal midfielder could be a real threat as this level. New manager Sean O’Driscoll knows a thing or two about developing younger players as well, so things could be on the up, despite the club having just dropped down a division.
Sheffield Utd
The Blades are about to start their third season at this level and will do so with a new manager, David Weir. They’ve been trying to play down the pressure and expectation levels at Bramall Lane, but a 4th year in League One for a club of this size is surely unthinkable, especially with neighbours Wednesday enjoying a spell in the Championship. They finished 5th last season and went out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage, their young squad will need to improve this time around.
Bradford
The Bantams won’t see many better seasons than the one they just had. A run to the League Cup final was followed by a late surge into the League 2 play-off places and a Wembley win at the second time of asking. If they can keep that momentum going then Phil Parkinson’s side could be in for another decent year.
PREDICTIONS:
Promoted - Brentford, Wolves, Peterborough
Relegated - Coventry, Carlisle, Colchester, Stevenage
Any fans of a League 1 side on here? Who or what have I missed?