Great expectations

[Cliff Byrne’s Right Peg]

Another season upon on us, where do we expect to finish?

Not attended one friendly this year so reserving judgement on the new lads. Whitehall/Roberts/Evans/Boyce/Beestin/ are proven at this level and I suspect based on the eye test the likes of Denton/Rowley and potentially scales should step up too, we should have enough strength to avoid a relegation scrap with these alone.

The keeper situation remains a mystery, if Campbell repays the faith shown in him a top half finish is achievable, however reading the comments on social media I suspect Iron fans won’t offer him the luxury of time.

Finally I can’t help agree we are lacking that presence in the middle, a fully fledged CDM who can sit back and allow the attackers to flourish and step up when the game becomes a slugfest in the middle. I’ve seen Rowley/Scales suggested as alternatives but I’m not sure that’s answer.

Expect us to be anywhere from 10-16th. Be content with that with a long overdue cup run thrown in too

[64]

I don’t see us finishing very high , purely because we still have a few from last and most of them were just not good enough .
I’m pleased we kept Evans as he played very well in the second half of the season and signing Rose is a good sign.If we defend as well as we did in the last half, our keeper will be ok, after all, the journey man got away with it last season and became a hero ,
I don’t like this idea of a CDM, it’s just a crap gaslighting midfielder who leaves us lacking in attack from the gamer era where every player has to have a dedicated and limited role (effing number 10s etc).I’d like to see a partnership that works as a team there ,no point one hanging back all the time ,it just makes it easier to defend against us and doesn’t help our attackers.
I worry about our attack, Neither Beck or Whitehall can bring our wider players into good positions if we’re going to use the same system we need a proper centre forward who will hold it and bring them in from wide, Beck fits the bill in style but not quality ,let’s hope he improves .Whitehall has the ability I believe but not the tactical nouse ,or he just won’t play for the team in that way. One of them has to change for the better .
Our wide players also need to move the ball quicker into our forwards so the can bring them back in to play further up field .
Whether it’s 4-4-2 or any other PlayStation imagined formation, if we don’t pass it forward quickly enough we’ll get mullered

[Awaywego]

Wow that was a long post from your normal cryptic one liners 64.

Have you morphed into WG lol.
Anyone would think you know about football with that post, but you let yourself down if you couldn’t realize who were our best players were last season when everyone else could, your hatred of Clunan, Fitz and Whitehall for whatever reason God only knows why.
Nice try but better off going back to type imo you wont fool anyone.

[Rene Artois]

4-4-2 say:

8th SCUNTHORPE – “They had to go through the play-offs, but the Iron are back in the National League – albeit without goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons, whose club-record 26 clean sheets earned him a move to League One Northampton.
Branden Horton brings National League pedigree, while there’s a chance for Declan Howe, who hit 67 goals in Gainsborough Trinity’s last two campaigns.
8th placed”

[Rene Artois]

A more realistic assessment by the Fylde Guy?:

16th: Scunthorpe United
A week ago I had Scunthorpe a couple of places higher, but on reflection I think I may have been slightly overrating their squad.
Looking at the Iron’s squad there are plenty of players that are very capable of holding their own at National League level. The likes of Mark Beck and Danny Whitehall are proven goalscorers at this level previously and elsewhere they have a good amount of experience of the National League calling on players like Joe Rowley, Callum Roberts, Will Evans and Andrew Boyce. Mixed with promising youngsters like loanee Dubem Eze and Oli Ewing signed permanently from Leicester City there’s definitely potential there, but they’re also a way off being able to compete towards the top just yet. It will be interesting to see if Declan Howe can manage the step up after scoring almost 40 goals for Gainsborough Trinity at step three last season. Billy Chadwick returning once again on loan from York City is also a huge boost.
In managing their way through a tricky play-off campaign manager Andy Butler has shown that he’s capable of preparing his players well both physically and tactically for important games and I do see them being able to pick up more than enough wins to comfortably survive. Unfortunately though I think there are still limitations to their squad which will probably mean they aren’t challenging the top ten or play-off spot, but in their first season back the primary objective for the club is to ensure their survival in the National League as quickly and as stress free as possible. They’re certainly a club with big potential to get back into the EFL over the coming years, but it’s not going to be any time in the near future.

[Rene Artois]

Non League Insider say:

1 user thanked author for this post.

Plymiron

[Rene Artois]

National League calculator – input your match predictions to generate a week by week table… or just input the Irons fixtures

I did our fixtures and ended up on 58 points – which was fourteenth place last season.

[64]

I’d love t know which bit about the three you mention Awaywego I am wrong about? just claiming them to be our best isn’t a proper assessment of how they play. For instance did Whitehall play a team game and bring others in to play much ? He has ability but if he just stands around waiting like he did last season he won’t get the chances .Had he done his job and occupied defenders others would have more space and our play would not have stalled so often.
Did pointy Clunan just make a pass and not join in the rest of attacks? In fact he would often turn his back on attacks and go back to defenders for a natter or something ,that killed any impetus we may have generated. He was our captain and responsible for our tempo which was awful. Or are you now going to tell me you loved our style of play and tempo ?
Did the greatest keeper the world has ever seen actually have much to do? I can’t remember any worldies or consistently fantastic distribution.

[ironfromafar]

two aims …hopes … stay up and not get involved in a Boston style relegation battle where only a crazy late run saves us.

Im predicting mid table finish (and sticking with my score draw start at Tamworth)

[Rene Artois]

SUFC season preview by Stones Goals.
Best preview I’ve seen. Good work.

SUFC Renaissance

1 user thanked author for this post.

Plymiron

[Deereyme66]

Anyone’s guess really between scraping into playoffs to narrowly avoiding relegation and lots of mid table consolidation/stability in between. No ‘Deerey Dreamland’ this season.

[cassidystash]

I don’t think, over a season, that we have the resources to compete with Carlisle, York and FGR. However, should we scrape into a playoff place, I wouldn’t rule out our chances in a one off game against them or any other.

[ironfromafar]

cassidystash wrote:

I don’t think, over a season, that we have the resources to compete with Carlisle, York and FGR. However, should we scrape into a playoff place, I wouldn’t rule out our chances in a one off game against them or any other.

Cant see us attaining the dizzy heights of the play offs Cass .. you mention FGR,Carisle and York but there are lots of others in with a shout.. Southend , Hartlepool and Rochdale to name just 3 more who INO will be up come the end of the season.

Mid table would be ok ..we are looking tasty up front and hoping for some attacking football and not too defensive from Butler.

UTI

[Deereyme66]

I do find this new found alarm that Butler is putting too much emphasis on attack amusing. Bloke’s damned if he does (‘signing too many attackers!’, damned if he doesn’t (‘too defensive Butler!’). Similar to when the weather goes above one degree for people’s liking.

[ironfromafar]

no alarm in my post .. just expecting to see more 3-2s n 3-4s scorelines this season and it s wait n see how many Scunny come out of on top.
I do still think the squad is a tad unbalanced and not judging AB until we see how he lines them up and what sort of a tune he can get out of the group hes chosen.

1 user thanked author for this post.

lesgeo

[Deereyme66]

I wasn’t referring to your post IFA, more a number of other comments and posts about it on social media. I’m in general agreement with your points, though perhaps less worried on the goal conceding front against the teams less fancied.

1 user thanked author for this post.

IronIronIron

[Awaywego]

Don’t forget everyone of the teams IFA mentioned will have us in in there other 6 to worry about.
Resources or no resources if anything the last 2 seasons have shown is it’s how you use your resources beaten twice to the title by teams with far less than us, and we hardly deserved to win the playoffs, but we made it in the end so would hope we stop worrying about everyone else and let them worry about us.

[ironfromafar]

Ive had a cheeky tenner on Yeovil for promotion @ 66/1

[CMC]

We’ll stay up, probably bottom 6-8, as the season goes on we might strengthen and see what happens from there.

[Awaywego]

Take it you mean to win the league IFA.

[Iron-awe]

Mid table will be a decent season IMO, inside the top ten will be a bonus.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Northumbiron, ironfromafar

[ironfromafar]

Awaywego wrote:

Take it you mean to win the league IFA.

yes correct i thought 66s was worth he punt.Promotion via playoffs odds dropped to 28/1 so might as well have put a tenner on Scunny to be champions which is shear folly.
Yeovil are backed by big money now and are a dark horse IMO and a tenner is approx a quarter the cost of a Sunday soapy followed by a roast dinner (as info for Deerey)so depending on how we get on at Tamworth this weekend i will go directly home after the morning Church service and choir practice….HONEST !!

[Deereyme66]

Out the frying pan and into the fire.

1 user thanked author for this post.

ironfromafar

[Iron-awe]

Deereyme66 wrote:

Out the frying pan and into the fire.

Be a good logo to put on the front of the food outlets on match days.

[Northumbiron]

If we finish where the bookies have us I’ll be happy.

Didn’t they have us down to finish second last year, with Chester top?

[TheJuryeffsOut]

Playoffs.

[Sanfran49]

Greatest Improvement needed over the season – Quality of the passing and direction. Chuckle bros style will not be good enough.
Neither will a stubborn attitude from AB.

The team needs stability establishing asap, and a formation that helps the players settle quickly. Experimentation will lead to more fails than successes I fear.

My final request – No Targeting ! All games are there to be won, but go into them with indecision and problems occur.

Best to all and special mentions to the travelling fans – please be careful on your travels and get home safely.

[SODIron]

I don’t expect Scunthorpe United to gain promotion this season, and reaching the play-offs would in my opion, would be beyond what the current squad can expect to achieve. Realistically, I expect us to finish the season somewhere between 12th-16ht place.

[Northumbiron]

We’re one of the clubs suffering from having a Morecambe fixture early season.

By the end of the month we’ll be a game behind most clubs and if we don’t get points off Tamworth and Woking then we’re already playing catchup.

Need a strong start to the campaign.

[PhilAnders]

I’m optimistic for the season overall. I think we will finish 14-18th. My NAP for promotion is York, there is a reason Carlisle were relegated (Morecambe’s has become apparent) and I think they will be in the play offs. My optimism does not extend to today at Tamworth though and I hope we are lucky enough to come away with a draw. Brain tells me we will have 5 at the back, and despite a bench packed with forward minded players we will lose, probably 2/3-0/1.

[Author]

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