Sky Bet League Two Season Preview 2013-2014

Ladies and gents, the new football season is almost upon us at long last. It's time to find your quarters (or purple and black stripes!), dust off your scarves and clear your throats ready for what is sure to be an exciting season under the management team of John Ward, Darrell Clarke and Marcus Stewart. The aim among the players is to go for promotion and with the form we hit in the second half of last the last campaign it's a realistic ambition. Confidence is high, excitement among supporters is at fever pitch and with the hope each new season brings why shouldn't we believe this is our year?

Lifted from: westerndailypress.co.uk

It's taken a VERY long time to get the signing we've all wanted but after weeks of negotiations a satisfactory conclusion was reached and our number 1 transfer target signed a 3 year contract. John-Joe O'Toole weighed up his options over the summer before committing to Rovers and it really is some coup to get him on board given the interest from elsewhere, with Portsmouth, Gillingham and Southend United among the clubs trailing the midfielder. It's our marquee signing and brought the total of new recruits up to 2 following the early-summer capture of goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall from Millwall. Both players enjoyed successful loan spells last season and will already be familiar with the club and their team mates, meaning we should be able to really kick on from the start this year.

We know that defensively we're very strong and man for man I can't say I'd swap any of our back 5 for anybody else in this division. Our midfield did look decidedly inexperienced a few short days ago but with O'Toole's signing and the potential for a new winger to join too we now look well equipped in the middle of the park. Matt Gill's return from long-term injury is also a timely boost and he could be fit enough to play a part on the opening day. The Rovers strikeforce looks good although we do lack a genuine goalscorer from our pool of forwards. Returning target man Matt Harrold will be keen to hit a similar number of goals to the 18 he recorded in 2011-2012 and David Clarkson will be looking to hit goalscoring form after sorting out his ankle problems over the summer. Young guns Eliot Richards and Ryan Brunt make up the quartet of first team strikers and both will be looking to push on this season and really make a name for themselves in the first team. Ideally another man will be brought in to cover for short-term injury Brunt is carrying and to provide a further goal threat but it remains to be seen whether Ward can identify a target.

Lifted from: bbc.co.uk

The squad doesn't have a whole lot of depth at the moment given the torrid time we've had with injuries over the past 12 months but as players return over the coming months we'll start to look very strong indeed. Garry Kenneth and Seanan Clucas look set to return between August and late-September to boost the spine of our team while Ollie Clarke and Jim Paterson will return within weeks after sustaining pre-season injuries. Danny Woodards isn't expected back until the new year but our former player of the season will bring quality to our full-back areas as well as central midfield. It's highly unlikely we'll see Fabian Broghammer play any part given his cruciate ligament damage but the club have promised to look after him on his long road to recovery.

So, overall we're looking good and are almost ready to embark on the new season. But, how are the other clubs in League Two looking? Who will be competing at the top and who will be scrapping to avoid the trapdoor in to the newly named Skrill Premier Division which, for all intents and purposes, is the Conference? It's always hard to say as there are surprise packages every year but it's worth a look at the others.

Guy Whittingham - Lifted from: portsmouth.co.uk

You can bet your life Sky Sports and BBC's The Football League Show will re-name League Two the Portsmouth League given the size of the Fratton Park club and I have no doubts they will live up to their billing of title favourites. The Pompey fans, having taken over the club, are just delighted to have a team to support and are looking forward to sampling the fourth tier and fighting for success after a few troubled years which almost saw them go out of business. Guy Whittingham, Portsmouth manager, has recruited well so far and will be looking to bed his players in as quickly as possible. Fratton Park will be the big away game for all clubs this year and the vocal backing that Pompey get will ensure it isn't an easy place to take 3 points from but that support may also prove a hindrance should the team start poorly. Over 10,000 season tickets have been sold on the South Coast and they will almost always sell-out their away allocations across the country too. I can't see past Portsmouth this year in truth and fancy them to be up there for the duration after a potentially shaky first month or two.

Chesterfield and Fleetwood Town have spent big on wages this summer in an attempt to bolster their ranks and Paul Cook and Graham Alexander will be pleased with the players they have brought in. Chesterfield will have been disappointed with their finish last season and will want to do a lot better this time and now that Cook has found his feet at the club the Spireites will be a lot stronger. Their stadium is compact and that will make it an intimidating place to visit if the hosts are doing well. Fleetwood on the other hand don't have a fanbase who will offer vocal support but they do have the finances to compete with the best in the division. They will want to integrate the experienced pros they've drafted in this summer with the younger players they recruited in January and hope the combination is good enough to win promotion. The bookies have them up there with the favourites and it's easy to see why.

Mark Yates - Lifted from: thefa.com

Play-off semi-finalists Cheltenham Town will be looking to go one better in 2013-2014 and manager Mark Yates has instigated a successful recruitment drive that would suggest they will be up there again. Oxford United are another side who will seek improvement and admittedly their starting XI is shaping up to be stronger than the side we saw in the second half of last season. Play-offs would be a realistic bet for the U's because they do have a tendency to struggle with expectation, much like Rovers have in the past. Relegated Bury have undergone big changes in the last couple of months but will exit pre-season content with the work they've done. Gigg Lane is not a nice place to visit and I'd hazard a guess that the Shakers will pick up a lot of points at home this season. If they can get their form right away from home they've got a great opportunity of gate-crashing the top 7.

Elsewhere, Rochdale, Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Hartlepool United and Scunthorpe United will be harbouring hopes of a play-off campaign and good form in the new year will give any side an opportunity of achieving it. Having said that I could quite easily see any of them, particularly the latter two, fading in to a season of mid-table obscurity. Northampton boss Aidy Boothroyd reckons his charges are 'not ready for the season' and while a slow start may be a distinct possibility the Cobblers have enough in the locker to remain in the mix in the top half.

Rowett and Delap - Lifted from: bbc.co.uk

Below that and you will find a clutch of teams
who will likely be battling it out in the lower half of the division, even if one or two of them think they can do a lot better. The likes of Accrington Stanley are perennial strugglers and under James Beattie's stewardship it looks like he faces a difficult task in avoiding another long hard season. I think Morecambe will be down there this time given tight finances and AFC Wimbledon, despite making a couple of good signings, probably don't have enough about them defensively to avoid shipping goals away from home. Both Newport County and Mansfield Town, newly promoted to League Two from non-league, will be delighted to be back around the fourth tier and will undoubtedly make the most of trips to Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle after years of travelling to the likes of Barrow. I don't see either side pulling up any trees although Mansfield look the more likely of the two to embark on a good run at some stage. Come May they will both be happy to retain Football League status. My tip for surprise strugglers are last season's nearly-men Burton Albion. Gary Rowett did a tremendous job in turning the Brewers into play-off candidates on limited resources last year but he has lost his star performers over the summer and will struggle to replace them. The additions of Rory Delap and Rene Howe will be looked upon as big signings but I fear they won't be able to keep the team in the top half single-handedly and that could mean they falter badly. I could easily be proven wrong but that's my instinct as things stand at the moment. Don't go putting bets on the predictions I've made unless you've got more money than sense!

I can't guarantee Rovers will finish in the top 7 and I can't even assure you that we won't be in trouble come Christmas, such is the nature of football. We all have the same dreams each summer that we'll get things right but it never quite comes together - or it hasn't done yet. I do get a sense though that there is something different about this year and my optimism actually seems more justified in mind. There is something more well-rounded about our chances right now. We have a coaching team that blends together experience with exuberance, a first team squad that mirrors this perfectly with a strong spine and an energetic crop of teenagers, a united fanbase that offer support up there with the best and a board of directors that have worked tirelessly to ensure we can continue to grow in future years. We have a youth setup that is primed to produce young talent and with the UWE Stadium just two years away, we have a new home that will attract good quality players to Bristol Rovers for many seasons to come. With all that still to come the club have to show they mean business right away and do whatever they can to ensure that by the time we play our opening game at the UWE in 2015 that we are a League One club. If we can do that then we will be in the perfect position to build on momentum, and in sport that's an ingredient that is difficult to produce.

Uwe Stadium - Lifted from: uwe.ac.uk

I would love nothing more than to see that happen in 9 months time and with a bit of luck on the injury front, something we've lacked for 18 months, I think we'll prove ourselves to be promotion contenders. If you aren't optimistic now then you never will be, it's as simple as that.

Expectant? No. Positive? Absolutely.