The season so far in League Two - Guesswork

Having set myself up for a fall by promising to update this blog each day, I often need to wrack my brains to think of something to write about and so as we’re nearly 25% of the way through the season, I thought I’d take a look at League Two and give my predictions/thoughts on the sides I’ve seen so far and where I think they’ll end up in May.

Of course fans of these teams will have seen a lot more of them than me this season and you can’t make any real judgments on a handful (or even one) of performances. It’s just a bit of fun, but post a comment if you agree or disagree.

Working my way up from the current table (positions in brackets), these – for the little they are worth - are my views:

Lincoln (23 out of 24) – Saw them recently against Wycombe and they showed a great deal of heart coming from behind twice. They have a good manager in Steve Tilson and I really can’t see them struggling all term. Mid-table finish.

Hereford (22) – Another good young manager in Jamie Pitman who has them playing well and they are unbeaten in seven. However, I’m sticking by my prediction in an earlier post that old boy Steve Guinan - who is currently on Northampton’s books – will be offered the job in January. Either way, they have too much talent to go down and I expect them to pull away from trouble. Bottom half finish though.

Stockport (21) – I saw them at Oxford where they were impressive in a hit and run win. However, subsequent results suggest that I might have seen them on a good day. Paul Simpson has no money to spend and will be relying on his contacts and loan deals to ensure a bottom half finish.

Northampton (19) – Ian Sampson will be hoping that they get over the hangover of their up win at Anfield pretty quickly as it seems to have dragged on and is in danger of costing him his job. Should finish mid-table.

Morecambe (17) – A poor side they day they played Oxford at the Kassam and they will do well to beat the drop.

Oxford (15) – Chris Wilder is about to set the cat among the pigeons with several loan signings which is a good indication that he has no intention of consolidating in League Two and doesn’t want any chance of promotion to slip by. They enjoyed their day out at Wembley last season and I have a gut feeling they’ll be back on the train to North London again in May.

Burton Albion (14) – This is just about where they will end up I suspect. A good manager in Paul Peschisolido, but he needs funds to help bolster a meagre squad and he just doesn’t have them.

Crewe (11) – Write off Dario Gradi at you peril. A play-off place beckons for the Railwaymen. I saw them lose at Oxford, but have faith in the old fella.

Cheltenham (9) – My surprise package for League Two. I think that they have one of the best managers in the division in Mark Yates and wouldn’t put it past them to make one of the top three automatic promotion places.

Wycombe (5) – Doing well at the moment (away from home), but I wonder whether they’ll last the pace. They were pre-season favourites for promotion, but I didn’t see anything to suggest they could do it when I was there.

Of course this is all good and well, but Bradford were string into the abyss a couple of weeks ago and now look as though they'll keep on marching up to the summit of the table. There's still an awful lot of football to be played.

Off to Whaddon Road – A-lex

Just got a call to cover the Cheltenham game against Crewe tomorrow afternoon and I’m looking forward to seeing the side Mark Yates has put together in the summer.


It’s tough being the manager of Cheltenham. The team doesn’t have a lot of money and the town itself is hardly noted as a hotbed of football. Rural Gloucestershire is rugby and horse racing country and – despite being one of the most affluent areas in the country – the football club is definitely the poor cousin in sporting terms.

Having said that, the Robins have done well to flit between League One and League Two in recent seasons. Sometimes expectations from some fans are too great given the limited resources. I remember former boss John Ward once telling me that while half the fans at Whaddon Road remembered the non-league days and were just happy to be punching above their weight in League One at that time, the other half were younger and expected the club to be pushing for the Championship and beyond!!

In the brief period of time that I have got to know Mark Yates, I suspect that he will deliver for those more demanding fans, although I suspect it will take a couple of seasons before they return to League One.

Crewe boss Dario Gradi has more experience than just about any other manager in the English game and is in his third stint in the role having twice tried to retire to the relative sanity of the boardroom as the club’s Technical Director. If anyone can revive Alex it is Gradi and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes them to a top seven finish this season.

Having said that, I predict a win for Cheltenham on their home turf tomorrow by 2-0.