Yup, it's that time of the year again where your friendly blogger puts his neck on the line and opens himself up to ridicule by putting out his football predictions for the year. I'll be putting up my League One and Two predictions today followed by the Championship on Friday and the Prem on Sunday. Bet you can't wait...
Anyway, let's start off in the basement, shall we? My tip for the title this season is Notts County - they exceeded expectations to finish in the play-offs last season and it was only a late hiccup that prevented them from going up automatically. With some promising new signings and a good young manager in Kevin Nolan, they should be in prime position to return to League One this time out.
MK Dons should be a shoo-in for promotion, having been in the Championship just three years ago. Key word there - "should". This is a team that's been backsliding for a few years now and as a few before them will tell you, a big stadium and decent attendances doesn't necessarily guarantee success at this level as there'll be plenty of teams queuing up to kick you down to size. However, the appointment of Paul Tisdale, an experienced manager at this level with Exeter, is a good one and they should be able to make an instant return to the third tier barring any hiccups.
Beyond those two, there's a few sides who could round out the automatic promotion places but my tip is Lincoln who scraped the play-offs in their first season back in the league and, having held on to promising manager Danny Cowley and bolstered their squad with some decent looking signings, should be capable of going one better this time out.
Other possible contenders who may have to settle for a play-off place include Mansfield and Swindon who will both be looking to put last season's underachievement behind them and Northampton who've shaken off the disappointment of relegation with the appointment of the popular Dean Austin as their manager and have given their squad a much-needed revamp.
It could go either way for last season's beaten play-off finalists Exeter - the loss of long-serving manager Paul Tisdale to MK Dons is a bitter blow for the Grecians but they've managed to keep the nucleus of last season's squad intact and if new manager Matt Taylor, formerly Tisdale's assistant, can hit the ground running then they should be in with a shout. If not, Carlisle or Cambridge could both feasibly swoop to steal the last play-off place - the former have made a canny looking managerial appointment in John Sheridan, a veteran of getting out of this division while the latter always seem to be there or thereabouts.
Harry Kewell did impressively at Crawley last season, steering a side tipped by many for relegation to the safety of mid-table but going any higher may be beyond their means. Their main concern will be hoping a bigger club doesn't swoop for their manager. Tranmere, back in the league after three seasons away, should have the firepower to consolidate in mid-table before kicking on for a possible promotion push in 2019-20. At the other end of the scale, their north-west neighbours Oldham and Bury will probably be wandering around like plane crash survivors following disastrous relegations last season. Both are unlikely to finish above mid-table and with the financial sharks circling Oldham, it could be much worse if they're not careful.
Colchester, Crewe and Stevenage all look unlikely to improve on their mid-table finishes last season while the arrival of former captain Neil Aspin as manager galvanised Port Vale to safety last time out. They could be dark horses for a play-off shot but a mid-table finish while the rebuilding continues seems more likely before giving it a proper tilt at the top 7 next season.
Looking at potential strugglers, Macclesfield's celebration of winning the National League was cut cruelly short by manager John Askey being poached by near-neighbours Shrewsbury. New manager Mark Yates will need to ensure the confidence the team showed last season rolls over into this one to ensure they stay afloat. Newport did well to finish in the top half last season but with a lot of their best players being picked off by the vultures, a repeat would be a big ask. Cheltenham always seem to be down among the dead men these days and Grimsby and Yeovil both struggled to stay clear of the bottom two last time out and haven't made any changes that suggest the same doesn't beckon this season.
They should manage to limp in ahead of Forest Green and Morecambe though, both of whom only just squeaked home last time and may struggle to do so again. Morecambe have been down among the dead men for a while now and another great escape may just be one ask too many while Forest Green struggled to make the jump up from the National League last season and seeing their chairman cutting his investment back as the realities of League football kick in, they may not be so lucky this time out.
FINAL TABLE
1. Notts County
2. MK Dons
3. Lincoln City
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4. Swindon Town
5. Mansfield Town
6. Northampton Town
7. Exeter City
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8. Carlisle United
9. Cambridge United
10. Crawley Town
11. Tranmere Rovers
12. Bury
13. Colchester United
14. Stevenage
15. Oldham Athletic
16. Port Vale
17. Crewe Alexandra
18. Macclesfield Town
19. Newport County
20. Cheltenham Town
21. Grimsby Town
22. Yeovil Town
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23. Morecambe
24. Forest Green Rovers
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