Slow start but promising signs for Cobblers

It’s not been the barnstorming start that we wanted in our return to League Two – with two games down the Cobblers have collected just a solitary point – but considering the way in which the fixtures have fallen Dean Austin should still have plenty to be encouraged by in these early knockings of the campaign.

The opening day saw Lincoln come and do a job on us and welcomed us back to League Two by producing an away performance that Danny Cowley would have been delighted with. The Imps came to Sixfields to be physical and outmuscle Town with their height and power key in their victory. The Cobblers started brightly and could well have had an early lead but Shaun McWilliams’ withdrawal through injury seemed to shake our flow and broke up a midfield trio involving himself, John-Joe O’Toole and Matt Crooks that had the right balance to take control of the centre of the park.

It was perhaps the wrong move from Austin to replace McWilliams not with the strength of Sam Foley but with the more technical Jack Bridge but we still created enough to win the game, let alone claw back a draw. We ended up with neither thanks to a sucker punch from Matt Green who got on the end of a cross from the right to nod in the only goal of the game. The Cobblers could have had three or four thanks to some clear opportunities going begging for Dan Powell, Sam Hoskins and Andy Williams but the positive news from the first game was that chances were being created and forwards were breaking through a tough Lincoln backline who will keep out plenty of League Two sides this season.

It all felt like a little bit of a false start but it wasn’t an awful performance by any means against one of the favourites for promotion. The absence of Junior Morias, still not up to speed thanks to a slight knock, didn’t help and the striker was again missing for Saturday’s long trek up to Carlisle.

Transfer deadline day came and went and it was a case of no news is good news as the clock ticked on with no departures. There were a few nibbles of a rumour about Crooks leaving but nothing materialised and we go with what we have pending any loan moves in the next couple of weeks.

Ironically, two of those at the top of the rumoured departures list, Crooks and Kevin van Veen, both found the net at Brunton Park in what should go down as a good point taken from Cumbria on Saturday as long as we can build on it next Saturday back at Sixfields.

Both goals were well taken by the Town men with van Veen nodding in to level following Jamie Devitt’s opener for the Cumbrians and Crooks getting on the end of a good move and pass from Sam Hoskins. It was a case of lacking concentration from the off though as United hit back to grab a point straight away thanks to former Cobblers loanee Hallam Hope.

With the McWIlliams injury news not as bad as first thought and the likes of Morias and Shay Facey to come in there’s reason to think that Town have plenty still in the locker ahead of a busy few weeks of league and cup action. Victory on Saturday at home to Cambridge would be very welcome!

 

League Two Season Preview: Part One

Welcome to the first part of four League Two Previews ahead of the big kick off on Saturday. I’ve gone alphabetically so that I can look at each club in detail rather than throwing teams into groups so hopefully this provides a decent look at the Cobblers’ opposition for the next nine months.

Let’s get to it with the first six teams under the spotlight…

Bury

Last season…

There were more than a few enviable looks in the direction of Bury Football Club last summer with then manager Lee Clark overseeing a big turnaround in playing staff in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the 2016/17 season where the Shakers survived by a single point in League One. On paper, the signings of the likes of Chris Maguire, Jermaine Beckford, Harry Bunn and Stephen Dawson looked like excellent pieces of business despite the loss of James Vaughan to Sunderland and Clark’s men were given dark horse status by some.

After a poor start, Clark paid the price and Ryan Lowe stepped in briefly to attempt to steady the ship. Chris Lucketti was appointed in November, bringing with him strong links to the club he served loyally for over 200 appearances in the nineties. But just two months later, Lucketti was shown the door thanks to ten winless matches and Lowe returned until the end of a tumultuous season that saw the Shakers finish rock bottom of League One.

Three managers, shocking form, the loss of Beckford to a long term injury and a season that completely failed to live up to any kind of hype. It really couldn’t have gone any worse and the emergence of youth team graduates was the only silver lining leading to first team appearances for the likes of Saul Shotton, Callum Styles, Ryan Cooney and Joe Adams.

Another new dawn begins for Bury back in League Two and after last summer’s giddy hope there will surely be calls for a fresh approach from the powers that be.

Transfers…

In: Byron Moore (Bristol Rovers), Will Aimson (Blackpool), Chris Dagnall (Crewe), Chris Stokes (Coventry), Gold Omotayo (Unattached), Jordan Archer (Chester), Mathew Hudson (Preston), Tom Miller (Carlisle), Dominic Telford (Stoke)

Out: Andrew Tutte (Morecambe), Zeli Ismail (Walsall), Chris Maguire (Sunderland), Callum Reilly (Gillingham)

Promotion Odds…

10/3

Outlook…

In a similar vein to the Cobblers, Bury went through three managers last season and settled on Ryan Lowe, already placed in temporary charge twice before by the Shakers. Lowe’s task is to rejuvenate a club who failed miserably last season in finishing bottom of League One and the departures of Zeli Ismail, Chris Maguire and Callum Reilly back to League One clubs won’t help the cause. They’ll be looking to new signing Chris Dagnall for goals – the former Crewe man hit 17 in League Two the season before last – and will be hoping that Beckford can recover from the knee injury that kept him out of the second half of last season. If he does, he’ll feel like a new signing.

Lowe has plenty to do and I can see nothing higher than a top ten finish for his Bury side at this stage.

Cambridge United

Last season…

Cambridge had re-established themselves well back in League Two following promotion back from the National League three seasons earlier and headed into 2017/18 on the back of two top half finishes. The plan was for the U’s to kick on under Shaun Derry’s stewardship and make a fist of a shot at the playoffs.

Early season form of five wins, one draw and five defeats from the opening eleven games pointed to another season of failing to bother the top seven but still keeping their heads above water. 2018 didn’t start well for Derry, though, with back to back 0-0 home draws followed by three consecutive defeats including a 5-2 hammering at Forest Green Rovers. Another stalemate at home, this time against Lincoln City, led to Derry being relieved of his position, though the fact that the sacking was announced just three minutes after the Imps draw led you to believe that it was in the pipeline ahead of the game.

Derry left United 14^th in League Two and the reins were handed to assistant manager Joe Dunne, initially until the end of the season before the role was made permanent ahead of the final game of 2017/18. Dunne will now look to help to propel the U’s to the next level and aim for a top seven place now that they have once again become established members of the Football League.

Transfers…

In: Louis John (Sutton), George Taft (Mansfield), Reggie Lambe (Carlisle)

Out: Uche Ikpeazu (Hearts), Leon Legge (Port Vale), Piero Mingoia (Accrington)

Promotion Odds…

11/2

Outlook…

It’s looking difficult for Cambridge boss Dunne in his bid to compete with the top seven or eight teams in the league and it’ll take a big effort to pull them into the top half and playoff contention. Home form will once again be key in any bid to top the twelfth place finish of last season with the U’s finishing fifth in the table for home results last time out. Away form was shaky with just four wins on the road all season.

Having not yet properly replaced top scorer Uche Ikpeazu it could well be a more underwhelming season for United so I’m going for a bottom half finish.

Carlisle United

Last season…

Three seasons after they returned to the basement division, after a lengthy spell in League One, Carlisle’s hopes were high of finally breaking down the door back to the third tier under Keith Curle, a man who had led them to the playoffs in 2016/17 only to be beaten at the semi-final stage by Exeter.

Six defeats in the opening couple of months had The Cumbrians playing catch-up, though, and a stop-start season halted any sustained challenge for another playoff campaign. Brief hope came from four straight victories in February and early March that lifted them to within three points of that target but three draws in a row followed, meaning vital points were dropped and a home defeat to Lincoln all but ended the challenge for another year.

Curle then announced at the end of April that he would be leaving the club after three and a half years at the end of the season. John Sheridan was appointed as the new boss at the start of June with the former Oldham, Notts County, Plymouth, Newport and Chesterfield man setting his stall out early by stating that he wants to be the man to lift Carlisle back into League One.

Transfers…

In: Joe Fryer (Middlesbrough), George Glendon (Fleetwood), Macaulay Gillesphey (Newcastle), Gary Miller (Plymouth), Adam Collin (Notts County), Regan Slater (Sheffield United), Jerry Yates (Rotherham)

Out: Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Stevenage), Reggie Lambe (Cambridge), John O’Sullivan (Blackpool), Tom Miller [Bury)

Promotion Odds…

11/2

Outlook…

With Keith Curle having taken Carlisle as far as he could, it’s now down to John Sheridan to finally help the Cumbrians take a step back up the league ladder. Sheridan certainly has previous form having led Chesterfield to the League Two title in 2011 and taken Plymouth to the playoffs in 2015 but has been in and out of clubs far quicker than he would have liked in the last few seasons. This is a chance for Sheridan to really build something at Brunton Park and keeping hold of winger Jamie Devitt could be key. Devitt scored eleven times last season and had attracted interest from Swindon but Sheridan is keen to hold onto the winger.

The U’s were better on the road last season than they were at Brunton Park so Sheridan will be looking to change that in a bid to make the playoffs. But I can see another season of transition for his side, albeit with a top ten finish.

Cheltenham Town

Last season…

With one season back in the Football League under their belts, Gary Johnson’s team were looking to build on their survival in 2016/17 and the former Cobblers manager brought in a whole host of new faces at the start of the season including striker Mohamed Eisa from non-league Greenwich Borough, who would go on to be a revelation.

It was a tough opening for the The Robins, though, as they lost five of their first seven games to leave them playing catch up right from the off. Victories were to follow in September with home successes against Mansfield, Swindon and Lincoln particularly eye-catching. Form steadied from there but never kicked on enough to really trouble the top half of the table.

Looking the other way and Eisa’s goals – twenty three in the league – kept Town above water and had many suitors heading towards Whaddon Road to take a look at the talented striker. Bristol City eventually broke Cheltenham’s resistence with a bid too good to turn down and the Robins will now be looking for their next talisman ahead of the new season, hoping to improve on their seventeenth place finish. With four defeats in a row ending the last campaign, Johnson may well find himself under pressure if they don’t start well.

Transfers…

In: Alex Addai (Merstham), Johnny Mullins (Luton), Ryan Broom (Bristol Rovers), Ben Tozer (Newport), Conor Thomas (ATK), Chris Hussey (Sheffield United), Tom Smith (Swindon), Sean Long (Lincoln), Josh Debayo (Unattached), Manny Duku (Hayes & Yeading), Jacob Maddox (Chelsea), Liam McAlinden (Exeter)

Out: Harry Pell (Colchester), Carl Winchester (Forest Green), Jamie Grimes (Macclesfield), Jordan Cranston (Morecambe), Mohamed Eisa (Bristol City)

Promotion Odds…

9/1

Outlook…

Gary Johnson has gone for his usual clear out and mass signings method in an attempt to propel his Robins side up the table but the loss of top goal striker Mo Eisa is obviously a huge hit to their chances. A whole host of new faces will take time to mould into a team that can challenge but the question will linger as to whether Johnson will be given that time considering how they ended last season.

Replacing Eisa’s goals will be the toughest task and hopes are high for the striker Manny Duku who scored thirty nine times for Hayes and Yeading in the Evo-Stick South East league last season. I can’t see anything other than a bottom half finish for Town despite that but they should have enough to steer well clear of danger.

Colchester United

Last season…

After John McGreal had led Colchester to within a place of the playoffs, it was hoped that he could take them into the top seven last season. But an inconsistent campaign led to a mid-table finish in a season that also saw McGreal’s men eliminated from the FA Cup at the hands of non-league Oxford City in the First Round.

There were periods of the season that highlighted the promise within the squad, though, with patches of form that led U’s fans to believe that on their day they could be a match for anyone in the league. Three wins in a row at the end of March and start of April gave them a glimpse of a late surge but they would then go on to lose four of the last five to leave them frustrated in the middle of the division.

McGreal, like Gary Johnson, could well be feeling the heat if his side begin in the same vein this season as they did last. A trip to Meadow Lane to face Notts County probably wasn’t on McGreal’s list of ideal opening games but he’ll be looking to get out of the blocks quickly again.

Transfers…

In: Harry Pell (Cheltenham), Noah Chesmain (Millwall), Bailey Vose (Brighton), Luke Norris (Swindon), Ethan Ross (West Brom), Frank Nouble (Newport), Aaron Collins (Wolves)

Out: Drey Wright (St Johnstone), Sam Walker (Reading), Kurtis Guthrie (Stevenage)

Promotion Odds…

4/1

Outlook…

Colchester have added well to their squad from last season with seasoned lower league pros like Harry Pell, Frank Nouble and Luke Norris coming in. Nouble and Norris could well form an exciting front line for the club who have also kept hold of talismanic academy product Sammie Szmodics through the summer so far. There’s no reason, now that McGreal has imbedded his ideas and ways of playing, why Colchester can’t be at least amongst the playoff contenders come the end of the season.

Crawley Town

Last season…

Headlines were made in Crawley last summer as it was announced that former Champions League winner, Premier League star and Australian international Harry Kewell would be taking the vacant hot seat at The Red Devils. Kewell had only previously managed the Watford under 21s squad at Vicarage Road but was confident that he could make a name for himself all over again at the Broadfield Stadium.

The season didn’t start well for Kewell with three defeats in a row but he did get his first points on the board with back to back wins against Swindon and Yeovil. Town never got going in the early part of the campaign though and they would only win twice in the next thirteen outings. Just as it looked as though Kewell’s tenure might end early, his team began a terrific run from late November through to the end of February, during which they won eleven times, losing on just four occasions and drawing once. The 1-0 home success against Lincoln was their fifth home league win in a row – their best ever league run – and even had them two points from the playoffs.

That particular target was a step too far, though, and it was always going to take a lot to keep the form going all the way through to the end of the season. Town would only win once more and ended up in fourteenth place but there are signs there that Kewell is starting to build something as he really gets his feet under the table this summer and into his second season in charge.

Transfers…

In: George Francomb (AFC Wimbledon), Brian Galach (Aldershot), Ollie Palmer (Lincoln), Ashley Nathaniel-George (Hendon), Reece Grego-Cox (Unattached), Dominic Poleon (Bradford), Filipe Morais (Bolton), Romain Vincelot (Bradford)

Out: Jordan Roberts (Ipswich), Thomas Verheydt (Go Ahead Eagles), Josh Yorwerth (Peterborough), Enzio Boldewijn (Notts County)

Promotion Odds…

6/1

Outlook…

There were patches of reinforcing to do for Kewell at the start of his important second season as a full time league manager with Jordan Roberts and Enzio Boldewijn leaving a hole in their midfield after signing for Ipswich and Notts County respectively. But Dominic Poleon is a clever signing at this level from Bradford and should replace some of the creativity that’s been lost. Romain Vincelot also joined from Valley Parade and should thrive at this level once again. Filipe Morais brings extra pedigree to the side after learning about his release from Bolton on Twitter with many Wanderers fans disappointed at his exit.

Kewell certainly seems to have the nous to spot a good player at this level already and the Red Devils are a dark horse to become playoff contenders.

The relentless charge goes on…

O’ Toole – brace

After what could constitute a Cobblers ‘slump’ with back to back draws against Hartlepool and Wimbledon, Town returned to their extraordinary and swashbuckling ways yesterday at the end of what could have been another massively tough afternoon. There’s simply no stopping us and the way in which we tore apart a Carlisle side that still have promotion ambitions of their own was another message sent to League Two.

It was also a message returned back to Keith Curle, the United manager, who had expressed shock during the week that we were the runaway leaders and in return got full proof sent straight back at him. Curle, serially bothered by Northampton Town, will now be left ruing the fact that he wrote the team talk for the Cobblers players ahead of the game.

It was another performance of high quality from Town who simply stepped up a gear in the second half when the home side threatened to fight back. The Cobblers had taken the lead through a John Marquis flicked header and a John Joe O’Toole effort before former loanee Hallam Hope halved the deficit. It’s a measure of just how far we’ve come this season that rather than give in to usual Cobblers law of conceding again and going on to lose that we just picked things up again to ram home three more crucial points.

Ricky Holmes set up O’Toole for his brace before James Collins wrapped things up in style for a resounding victory to reward the 457 Cobblers fans who had made the long journey north. The trip home would become even more celebratory as news trickled in of second place Oxford and third placed Plymouth drawing with one another and of Accrington dropping points at Wimbledon to leave us thirteen points clear at the top and a gigantic twenty one clear of Stanley in fourth.

Games in hand are yet to be played including all four sides currently occupying playoff places squaring off against each other on Tuesday night but even so the gap is now surely insurmountable enough for us to start planning for League One football. It’s now got to be a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ we’ll be promoted and attention will soon be turned to the title race which is still going to give us a big challenge. Chris Wilder isn’t the type of manager to let standards slip and though there must surely be a big celebration coming up in the next month or so he’ll keep feet well and truly on the ground.

For the supporters who have been rock solid throughout the troubles off the field in the first half of the season, taking the rough alongside the smooth, this is all the biggest possible reward. Pride just doesn’t seem a big enough word to some this all up at the moment but we are edging close to getting that single letter in front of our name on the league table that would mean everything…P.