Premature Predictions 2017/18

[SMH]

Pre-season means absolutely nothing. It has no relation to how well you perform in the league.

Rubbish. We looked awful and didn't score a goal in our first six or so games of pre season. We went on to be relegated with the least goals scored in the league (bar Rotherham maybe).

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

I'll agree with Don and say a mid-table finish this year for Scunny. My mid-table is 9th to 16th. Our first half of last season was excellent, as we played with a lot of freedom. I found Alexander's negative tactics cost us in the second half of the season and we became really poor. The manager's decision not to go for the win in the Millwall second leg play-off was disgraceful. With this in mind, I doubt Alexander has it in him to challenge right at the top again. He brags about us improving with him in charge. Well, we were 3rd last season and failed in the play-offs, so as far as I am concerned, it's promotion or bust for him this season. Big ask.

Anyway, we are ickle Scunny and this league seems to be full of big dick swinging teams or it seems on this forum's threads. Accordingly, it seems realistic to think that we will do well to get in the top half from what I've read.

 

[Lance Stoe]

Top half in this division is acceptable always for Scunthorpe. It's a good League to be in. Every ten years hopefully we can have a couple of seasons in the Championship

 

[Dale4ever]

1 Charlton
2 Blackburn
3 Bradford
4 Wigan
5 MK Dons
6 Portsmouth
7 Rochdale
8 Scunthorpe
9 Bury
10 Rotherham
11 Oxford
12 Fleetwood
13 Southend
14 Northampton
15 Bristol Rovers
16 Oldham
17 Doncaster
18 Peterborough
19 Plymouth
20 Walsall
21 Wimbledon
22 Shrewsbury
23 Blackpool
24 Gillingham

 

[Lance Stoe]

Predictions

1 Blackburn
2 Charlton
3 Oxford
4 Portsmouth
5 Bury
6 Northampton
7 MK Dons
8 Southend
9 Rochdale
10 Rotherham
11 Bristol Rovers
12 Scunthorpe
13 Oldham
14 Plymouth
15 Doncaster
16 Gillingham
17 Bradford
18 Shrewsbury
19 Walsall
20 Wigan
21 AFC Wimbledon
22 Peterborough
23 Blackpool
24 Fleetwood

 

[RobboPOSH]

Predictions

1 Blackburn
2 Charlton
3 Oxford
4 Portsmouth
5 Bury
6 Northampton
7 MK Dons
8 Southend
9 Rochdale
10 Rotherham
11 Bristol Rovers
12 Scunthorpe
13 Oldham
14 Plymouth
15 Doncaster
16 Gillingham
17 Bradford
18 Shrewsbury
19 Walsall
20 Wigan
21 AFC Wimbledon
22 Peterborough
23 Blackpool
24 Fleetwood

22nd? Even i'm not that optimistic.

 

[womble76]

Ha ha keep putting us in the bottom 4 people. You could be right. However there is no way Fleetwood will be there

 

[Lance Stoe]

Fleetwood have lost players. Plus I think Rosler will get snapped up. Hope they stay up. It's a decent away day and they have friendly fans but I think it's inevitable they will go.

 

[Lance Stoe]

22nd? Even i'm not that optimistic.

McCann?? Not doing the business??

 

[Lance Stoe]

Ha ha keep putting us in the bottom 4 people. You could be right. However there is no way Fleetwood will be there

How many will you bring on the opening day?? Hopefully get 50000 there. Need your help though

 

[RobboPOSH]

McCann?? Not doing the business??

Wants to play midfielders as wing backs. If we don't sign any proper wing backs the opening day against Plymouth could get messy. I've got no faith and he'll be gone by christmas.

Always wanted to go to Forest Green...

 

[T.A]

How many will you bring on the opening day?? Hopefully get 50000 there. Need your help though

Ambitious.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

How many will you bring on the opening day?? Hopefully get 50000 there. Need your help though

While your hopeful attendance is a tad optimistic , I would speculate more likely to be 3,000+. It's summer holidays, it's a long way from London and some fans will need to be convinced first.

 

[womble76]

While your hopeful attendance is a tad optimistic , I would speculate more likely to be 3,000+. It's summer holidays, it's a long way from London and some fans will need to be convinced first.

Put it this way. I go most places and I can't be arsed with Scunthorpe opening day. We will bring 500 max imo.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

Put it this way. I go most places and I can't be arsed with Scunthorpe opening day. We will bring 500 max imo.

Exactly.

 

[UTS]

1 Wigan Athletic
2 Charlton Athletic
3 Blackburn Rovers
4 Bradford City
5 Oxford United
6 Northampton Town
7 Rotherham United
8 MK Dons
9 Portsmouth
10 Fleetwood Town
11 Scunthorpe United
12 Southend United
13 Bristol Rovers
14 Plymouth Argyle
15 Bury
16 Doncaster Rovers
17 Peterborough United
18 Oldham Athletic
19 Rochdale
20 Walsall
21 AFC Wimbledon
22 Blackpool
23 Gillingham
24 Shrewsbury Town

 

[womble76]

1 blackburn
2 wigan
3 Bradford
4 rotherham
5 oxford
6 Bristol rovers
7 fleetwood
8 Scunthorpe
9 Bury
10 rochdale
11 mk dons
12 charlton
13 Southend
14 Northampton
15 portsmouth
16 Oldham
17 Doncaster
18 wimbledon
19 Plymouth
20 peterborough
21 walsall
22 Shrewsbury
23 Blackpool
24 Gillingham

I found this really impossible to do. Think there is not much between 3/4 of the sides.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

1 Bradford City
2 Portsmouth
3 Blackburn Rovers
4 Wigan Athletic
5 Charlton Athletic
6 Milton Keynes Dons
7 Rotherham United
8 Plymouth Argyle
9 Bristol Rovers
10 Oxford United
11 Southend United
12 Northampton Town
13 Gillingham
14 Doncaster Rovers
15 Peterborough United
16 Shrewsbury Town
17 Walsall
18 Oldham Athletic
19 Scunthorpe United
20 AFC Wimbledon
21 Bury
22 Rochdale AFC
23 Blackpool
24 Fleetwood Town

Does anything stand out that looks odd in the above table? Oldham finishing 18th ? Or maybe my choice of Scunny to finish so low?

Well Womble76, I found this prediction really easy to do, because it is purely based on last season's average home attendance figures. If I had to think about it, I would find it very difficult, as you did. I reckon it could be a very competitive league this year, maybe more so than we have had for a while.

 

[RobboPOSH]

1 Bradford City
2 Portsmouth
3 Blackburn Rovers
4 Wigan Athletic
5 Charlton Athletic
6 Milton Keynes Dons
7 Rotherham United
8 Plymouth Argyle
9 Bristol Rovers
10 Oxford United
11 Southend United
12 Northampton Town
13 Gillingham
14 Doncaster Rovers
15 Peterborough United
16 Shrewsbury Town
17 Walsall
18 Oldham Athletic
19 Scunthorpe United
20 AFC Wimbledon
21 Bury
22 Rochdale AFC
23 Blackpool
24 Fleetwood Town

Does anything stand out that looks odd in the above table? Oldham finishing 18th ? Or maybe my choice of Scunny to finish so low?

Well Womble76, I found this prediction really easy to do, because it is purely based on last season's average home attendance figures. If I had to think about it, I would find it very difficult, as you did. I reckon it could be a very competitive league this year, maybe more so than we have had for a while.

Posh to finish as high as that is optimistic.

 

[Franchisor]

There's always one or two teams that overperform and surprise with their league position each season. Last season would be Fleetwood.

I think Bury will do well this year.

 

[Franchisor]

Why are so many people thinking that Portsmouth will do well?

They haven't signed anyone remarkable, and finished on equal points with Doncaster in L2, winning it by the skin of their teeth on the final day. They didn't smash it, lost more games than Luton did and finished on 87 points - hardly a record breaking points total.

Good squad, but on paper no better than a lot of teams in L1.

 

[Gills4years]

It is somewhat ironic that many on here are tipping us to finish bottom this coming season. That may happen but actually at the moment we look a lot more solid and organised than last season (not difficult, I know !)

McDonald and Dack have gone, but age and lack of interest meant that neither were particularly effective last season (Cody v Brizzle Rov excepted). Dack looked in need of a fresh start and I am sure he will do well for Blackburn.

I am quietly confident that we will at least be more competitive and hard to beat which will be less frustrating. However, it may be lack of goals that condemns us.

 

[Rob_of_the_green]

Why are so many people thinking that Portsmouth will do well?

They haven't signed anyone remarkable, and finished on equal points with Doncaster in L2, winning it by the skin of their teeth on the final day. They didn't smash it, lost more games than Luton did and finished on 87 points - hardly a record breaking points total.

Good squad, but on paper no better than a lot of teams in L1.

Oi, finished on equal points as us not Doncaster!

Portsmouth have got quite a strong squad actually by the way and I'd say they performed below the sum of their parts until the later stages of the season, it's hard to know why that is because they've done it for 2/3 years now (could be pressure of expectation or Paul Cook), changing their manager could subsequently go either way in my opinion

 

[GFC4EVA]

It is somewhat ironic that many on here are tipping us to finish bottom this coming season. That may happen but actually at the moment we look a lot more solid and organised than last season (not difficult, I know !)

McDonald and Dack have gone, but age and lack of interest meant that neither were particularly effective last season (Cody v Brizzle Rov excepted). Dack looked in need of a fresh start and I am sure he will do well for Blackburn.

I am quietly confident that we will at least be more competitive and hard to beat which will be less frustrating. However, it may be lack of goals that condemns us.

Tbh a few weeks back i expected us t go down rock bottom with a very low points tally, but i have been suprised how more solid we look defensivley and how much fitter we look as gills 4 years says our main concern could be goals but all our strikers have been scoring in pre season, with a good start we could suprise a few, not saying we will be challenging because im sure we wont but see no rason why we cant be fairly comfortable in mid table

 

[Shrimpurh]

We would of made play offs last year if it wasn't for our dreadful start and we've replaced Thompson and Will Atkinson with Turner and Kightly. Another couple to come in definitely will be a stronger side than last year

 

[Don Tonberry]

Why are so many people thinking that Portsmouth will do well?

They haven't signed anyone remarkable, and finished on equal points with Doncaster in L2, winning it by the skin of their teeth on the final day. They didn't smash it, lost more games than Luton did and finished on 87 points - hardly a record breaking points total.

Good squad, but on paper no better than a lot of teams in L1.

We finished two points better off than Doncaster. If anything we probably under-performed under Paul Cook as he was stubborn and the pressure was getting to him.

Our end-of-season form was outstanding and we've got an upgrade on our previous manager. Our squad was already decent but we've made some decent signings, although we probably need one or two more.

I'm not saying we're gonna storm this league but I think we'll have a good season.

 

[3Loggerheads]

I know you all will not agree, but there is no way Shrewsbury will be in a relegation battle this season. Be prepared to be surprised....top half finish!

 

[Charlie]

I would echo the opinion of others that this league is much harder to predict than the Championship.

As a Rotherham fan I began preseason incredibly pessimistic following Warne's appointment and being mindful of the losing mentality of our team last year. My pessimism continued as we retained older heads, such as Wood and Mattock, while releasing and transferring young players who could prove useful in this league, such as Smallwood and Thorpe.

However, immediately before our preseason tour to Austria my fears were eased as we appeared to have conducted our business sensibly and swiftly without any talk of big money purchases, despite the Danny Ward money coming in.

Warne's positive outlook has been mentioned across our social media, with talk of him using sports psychology to change the mindset of our players.

Ultimately I'm realistic that promotion will be a massive push. I might be proved wrong in May next year but I don't think I'll regret not taking the attractive odds on us. However, at the same time I don't think we will be relegated now. I think it'll be a nice change to have a season to consolidate and with a fresh, young team promotion talk may not look so ridiculous next summer.

14th for us I think.

 

[Simpo]

Hope Warney gets a warm welcome at Latics, he had an brilliant couple of seasons for us, and was treated shit by the club.

(Rob Scott was bad.)

 

[Gassy]

Why are so many people thinking that Portsmouth will do well?

They haven't signed anyone remarkable, and finished on equal points with Doncaster in L2, winning it by the skin of their teeth on the final day. They didn't smash it, lost more games than Luton did and finished on 87 points - hardly a record breaking points total.

Good squad, but on paper no better than a lot of teams in L1.

Tbf, we gained promotion on the last minute of the L2 season and were in with a decent playoff shout until the penultimate game...