FOOTBALL - 2020/21 EFL League 1 & 2, National Leagues and Regional Leagues

[neoELITE]

I've waited a while before starting the new thread as doing it on mobile is difficult and I only have my work laptop and didn't want to log in until today as I've been off on leave all week and wanted a complete break.

 

Here we are again - this season is going to be very odd with behind closed doors games, limited capacity games, probable postponements and a season that will need to be shorter in terms of calendar months.

 

We could end up with less teams in leagues than ever before if Covid and lack of income bites - there are a few clubs in serious danger of going the way Bury sadly did last season.

 

I wish you all well for the season.  If you post and aren't listed below, can you let us all know who you support as I can tag you.

 

I've got my season ticket already but might not see a single game.  Strange times.

 

I've added a poll again.

 

@neoELITE - Plymouth Argyle

@Fatsam - Wrexham

@Cosmic_Guru - Sutton United

@El Pibe - Exeter City

@Coltrane - Portsmouth

@Danster - Bristol Rovers

@carleton - Bury

@Chawkso - Oxford United

@merman - Ipswich Town

@wullie - Coventry City

@AfromB - Coventry City

@Billy Brown - Crewe

@Spleen - Portsmouth

@wev - Notts County

@grounded_dreams - Southend United

@gospvg - Oxford United

@MikeBeaver - Ipswich Town

@rgraves - Peterborough United

@artz - Wimbledon (the real ones)

 

[AfromB]

Morning, I’m not sure that us Coventry fans will be in here too much this season though. I’m sure we’ll see you next season though.
 

I will in all honesty probably be posting in this thread as my wife supports Tranmere and we go to watch them fairly often. 

[neoELITE]

18 minutes ago, AfromB said:

Morning, I’m not sure that us Coventry fans will be in here too much this season though. I’m sure we’ll see you next season though.
 

I will in all honesty probably be posting in this thread as my wife supports Tranmere and we go to watch them fairly often. 

 

 

Sorry to you and @wullie

 

I copy/pasted from the previous thread and forgot you are now part of the elite.

 

[Danster]

I see the poll shows us all brimming with positivity about the new season...

 

[wev]

I think it'll be Play Offs again. Last season I was told if you don't escape from the Conference on your first try then it becomes a little harder next time, I think to counter that though Notts County were in real bad shape at the start of the season and things are a little more settled now

[neoELITE]

@tbb want to join in? It's Osset isn't it?

 

Also, thanks for locking the old thread.

 

We've signed Frank Nouble. A bit odd really considering we tend to buy mid 20s players but he's going to play just off the front two. He's usually up front or on the wing. I'm not that optimistic with this addition.

Panutche Camara from Crawley is someone I am optimistic about. I've been impressed when he's played against us.

 

Hey @El PibePibe - loving the new kit

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/OfficialECFC/status/1293577881004707840

 

[MikeBeaver]

In ever optimmistic fashion, I've gone for ITFC to gain automatic promotion.... fat chance, but who knows, we did alright for the first half last time out, then went to shit.

[neoELITE]

58 minutes ago, MikeBeaver said:

In ever optimmistic fashion, I've gone for ITFC to gain automatic promotion.... fat chance, but who knows, we did alright for the first half last time out, then went to shit.

 

A rare Ipswich fan appears. 

 

I assisted an Ipswich goal once. I used to sit adjacent to the corner flag at Home Park about fifteen rows up.

Ipswich won a corner after a break away, I caught the ball and threw it back, the Ipswich player caught it, took a quick corner when we only had two defenders back and they scored. I almost got lynched.

[MikeBeaver]

38 minutes ago, neoELITE said:

 

A rare Ipswich fan appears. 

 

I assisted an Ipswich goal once. I used to sit adjacent to the corner flag at Home Park about fifteen rows up.

Ipswich won a corner after a break away, I caught the ball and threw it back, the Ipswich player caught it, took a quick corner when we only had two defenders back and they scored. I almost got lynched.

A follower of my local club ( Ipswich ) and MUTD ( The first match I watched on telly was Villa and Utd, pureply picked Utd based on the red kit :-p ).

That's proper harsh about throwing the ball back, I suspect these days, you'd get supporters holding the ball up instead, trying to delay the game as long as possible.

 

Last time I went to a town match, they were in the Championship, doing OK, seems things have gone seriously South in the last couple of years, bring back George Burley

[neoELITE]

@MikeBeaver if you don't go to one game this season, you're a wrongun.

Or at least, buy a shirt and grow John Wark side burns.

[MikeBeaver]

2 hours ago, neoELITE said:

@MikeBeaver if you don't go to one game this season, you're a wrongun.

Or at least, buy a shirt and grow John Wark side burns.

 

Thinking about the Home kit, it's looking good, and no more shitty gambling sponsor, which is always good.

 

If they do allow fans at any point this year, I'll be there for sure.

[Guest]

Managed to get to a "behind closed doors" game today as I'm on the media team. Wasn't the greatest game but still nice to be there. 

Ossett Utd 0-1 Maltby Main

 

[Billy Brown]

Difficult to know what will happen this season for Crewe in League One. It's a step up but is it that big a step up? It's a few years since we were at this level, so I honestly don't know.

 

Pros: Young squad with no fear and sky-high confidence after being top of the table when everything stopped (although dropped down to 2nd on pts per game); we've kept hold of key players like Kirk; added a bit of pace and power up front with Zanzala from Accrington Stanley.

 

Cons: No reinforcements in central defence yet, where we've lost vital experience in Nicky Hunt (released) and Michael Nottingham (was only on loan and Blackpool seem keen to keep him). We're always a team that tends to concentrate on the excitement of attacking football, but with that comes a notoriously leaky defence. Here's hoping we can add some quality.

 

If so, and if we get a strong start, I don't see why we can't have another successful season given the exuberance of youth. I look forward to the 4-2 defeat on opening day, then.

[neoELITE]

Oxford have just signed an ex-Barcelona player.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53792433

[rgraves]

Our season depends entirely on when we sell Ivan Toney - he's off for sure, so we just need to get it done and spend the money wisely to replace him. The longer it rumbles on, the more of a 'panic buy' I think his eventual  replacement will be.

[wullie]

On 15/08/2020 at 11:33, neoELITE said:

We've signed Frank Nouble. A bit odd really considering we tend to buy mid 20s players but he's going to play just off the front two. He's usually up front or on the wing. I'm not that optimistic with this addition.

 

We had him briefly on loan which was made permanent for the rest of the season. At times he looked unplayable, but that tended to be more during the loan period than after signing properly. If you can get him motivated there's a cult hero there

[Chawkso]

5 hours ago, neoELITE said:

Oxford have just signed an ex-Barcelona player.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53792433

Haha yes, I saw that - looks like he played a whole ... 13 minutes for the first team!

 

We've managed to keep the nucleus of last year's team so hopefully that'll provide some stability to keep some momentum into next season. We're resigned to loosing Dickie who had a great season, too good as it obviously drew some attention to him, but for clubs like us we have to sell to survive. So I'd take a payout if it means we're financially secure this season.

 

Had a fairly busy window so far, signed Taylor on a permanent which I was surprised about as I didn't think we'd be able to afford his wages but he's a local lad so maybe it's better for his family life. Either way, I'm not complaining, if he's fit he tends to score. Another surprise was that Brannagan signed a new contract, much like Dickie I though he'd be off to bigger and better things but has committed to staying.

 

In terms of new recruits we've brought it a young lad from Northern Ireland, we seem to have done pretty well there with Whyte (now gone to Cardiff) and Sykes in previous seasons. A right back from Hearts, Sean Clare, who seems quite well regarded, and the chap from Barcelona Forest, who seems to be something of an unknown. Robinson does seem good at developing young players who perhaps haven't found their footing elsewhere so hopefully he can unlock his potential.

 

[neoELITE]

Who's our money on going bust?

 

Oldham

Wigan

Sunderland

 

I think Sunderland are in massive trouble if the cap on wages happens. £2.5m max on League 1. They're paying Aidan McGeady about £1m a year.

 

The only reason he's still there is because they're paying him a lot of money. 

 

Will Grigg. Also at Sunderland. He's got to be on a £1m a year too of you watched Sunderland Til I Die. 

 

We're in for an interesting season.

 

[El Pibe]

On 15/08/2020 at 11:33, neoELITE said:

@tbb want to join in? It's Osset isn't it?

 

Also, thanks for locking the old thread.

 

We've signed Frank Nouble. A bit odd really considering we tend to buy mid 20s players but he's going to play just off the front two. He's usually up front or on the wing. I'm not that optimistic with this addition.

Panutche Camara from Crawley is someone I am optimistic about. I've been impressed when he's played against us.

 

Hey @El PibePibe - loving the new kit

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/OfficialECFC/status/1293577881004707840

 

 

Not a huge fan of it.

[merman]

On 15 August 2020 at 19:37, MikeBeaver said:

 

Thinking about the Home kit, it's looking good, and no more shitty gambling sponsor, which is always good.

 

If they do allow fans at any point this year, I'll be there for sure.

 

Agreed on the gambling sponsorship, good to see it gone.

 

The Ipswich squad is strong enough to be up at the top again, I just don't see us getting automatic promotion without signing at least one reliable striker. We will have to see if we can make any shrewd loan signings.

[MikeBeaver]

44 minutes ago, merman said:

 

Agreed on the gambling sponsorship, good to see it gone.

 

The Ipswich squad is strong enough to be up at the top again, I just don't see us getting automatic promotion without signing at least one reliable striker. We will have to see if we can make any shrewd loan signings.

Loans are literally all we've had for a long time :-(
I think the team mostly play decent football, just fell apart after Christmas and couldn't get back to where we should be, there was a pretty good run going for 18 weeks or so if I remember correctly, and even then, we were sitting in the top 3 till the end of January, and then well, we fell apart, lost or drew almost everything and then it was called off :-(

Average position of the season should have been how places were decided ;-)

[neoELITE]

I had to fill out a survey after renewing my season ticket on where I'd like to sit in the ground. Our capacity is about 18,500 and we've got 5,000 season ticket holders. We should be able to fit people in.

It's possible crowds will return in October. 

The main issue for me is getting in and out of the ground and half time. I'm a little concerned about it as it's vital that clubs get this right and, more importantly, fans follow the rules. I can't see football crowds sticking to the rules in certain areas. We had an entire season last time of our singing end refusing to sit down and when the club released a statement ordering them to sit and stewards were mandated to eject those who wouldn't comply, it became a battle of wills and the fans won. What club would ban 800 of their most loyal and vocal fans?

I really hope that it's planned properly and fans know exactly what they should be doing but I can see our singing end ignoring guidelines. 

[Angles Morts]

It's going to be an anticlimax if we have to play the first match at Plough Lane behind closed doors or limited capacity after waiting 30 years . I don't live near enough to warrant getting a season ticket so won't be first in line when doors are opened.

 

It looks like we've got a full squad back together at least, I was worried when we let go of every single player whose contract was up. Hopefully there are no more financial surprises in store in the the near future.

 

If Brentford are kind enough to loan us Marcus Forss again, seeing as they have just splashed out on a striker, then I could see us doing not terribly.

[neoELITE]

1 hour ago, artz said:

It's going to be an anticlimax if we have to play the first match at Plough Lane behind closed doors or limited capacity after waiting 30 years . I don't live near enough to warrant getting a season ticket so won't be first in line when doors are opened.

 

It looks like we've got a full squad back together at least, I was worried when we let go of every single player whose contract was up. Hopefully there are no more financial surprises in store in the the near future.

 

If Brentford are kind enough to loan us Marcus Forss again, seeing as they have just splashed out on a striker, then I could see us doing not terribly.

 

Welcome aboard @artz - I've tagged you as a Wimbledon supporter in the OP.

 

Alas, football crowds won't be back until October according to a friend I have at the club who's in charge of marketing and the commercial side.  It hasn't been stated anywhere but that's what my club are working towards so they're looking at providing free ifollow streams for anyone who renewed their season ticket. 

 

I think we'll see postponements too as there will be players contracting Covid - it's inevitable.  Marseille in the French League can't play their first fixture

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53817571

 

I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't be going to watch my team this season - if I do end up being able to go, it'll be a small bonus.

[Spleen]

We'll make the playoffs again and play terribly in then. Again. 

[Ork1927]

On 18/08/2020 at 07:33, neoELITE said:

I had to fill out a survey after renewing my season ticket on where I'd like to sit in the ground. Our capacity is about 18,500 and we've got 5,000 season ticket holders. We should be able to fit people in.

It's possible crowds will return in October. 

The main issue for me is getting in and out of the ground and half time. I'm a little concerned about it as it's vital that clubs get this right and, more importantly, fans follow the rules. I can't see football crowds sticking to the rules in certain areas. We had an entire season last time of our singing end refusing to sit down and when the club released a statement ordering them to sit and stewards were mandated to eject those who wouldn't comply, it became a battle of wills and the fans won. What club would ban 800 of their most loyal and vocal fans?

I really hope that it's planned properly and fans know exactly what they should be doing but I can see our singing end ignoring guidelines. 

 

Impossible to manage properly, but really the best way to try and get people to comply with the rules is to have everyone in the ground nice and sober.

 

But while clubs could not serve alcohol in the ground - I'm not sure how you stop everyone having their pre-match pints from somewhere especially as its a going to be an important part of the match day routine for a lot of fans.

[Fatsam]

Wrexham's capacity is over 10,000 and we've calculated that 2,600 is doable with social distancing. The plan is for no food and drink to be served in the stands, presumable so people can arrive and go to the bog while keeping their distance. Hospitality stuff will still happen, but with reduced numbers.

 

We've got a reduced playing budget, but reckon we'll still lose 500 thousand next season. Hard to estimate though really.

 

We've made some new additions and almost have a realistic 11 to put out now. Most recently striker Ponticelli has signed from Coventry after briefly impressing on loan for us last season. He's probably the one that carries all our hopes on his shoulders at the moment so he'll inevitably be a disappointment or get injured all the time.

[neoELITE]

What I worry about is that people in our singing end will just gravitate towards each other once they're in the ground. 

With reduced capacity, they could feasibly be distanced and still together in their end as most of our ground is a bowl. I have no faith they'll distance. The dick heads last season were asked to sit down and decided, via Facebook groups to get smoke bombs into the ground to protest.

 

Fixtures are out, we should be top of the league at the end of September. On paper.

[Angles Morts]

I'm not sure our stadium will be finished for October. Hopefully it will be ready and crowds allowed for our home match against MK on 30th January for a bit of atmosphere.

[neoELITE]

4 minutes ago, artz said:

I'm not sure our stadium will be finished for October. Hopefully it will be ready and crowds allowed for our home match against MK on 30th January for a bit of atmosphere.

 

Is there going to be an allotment you have to walk through to get to the away end (for posterity)?