The English Football League kicks off on Saturday (August 7th) and every club up and down the country will be hoping to get off to a winning start. August is early days, but I’m going to try and pick a winner of each npower football league. Some say it’s an impossible task to pick all three league champions and I tend to agree, but here goes with my picks for the npower Football League 2010/11 season.
npower League Two
Bradford City (8/1 odds) are generally regarded as the bookmakers favourite to lift the title but I’m going to look a little further down the betting list for my selection. Rotherham United (11/1) lost in last season’s play off final 3-2 against Dagenham and Redbridge after finishing in fifth spot in the League Two table, and to me they look a good bet to figure even higher up the league this time round.
Adam Le Fondre finished last season with 27 goals and the ex Stockport and Rochdale striker looks likely to continue the trend once again. Club manager Ronnie Moore is currently enjoying his second spell at the Millers and has enough football managerial experience to steer his club through the high and lows of what looks to be a very open League Two title race. Oxford United (14/1) arrive back into the football league proper and I expect them to also be involved in the title shake up.
npower League One
As hard as I look at the 24 teams involved in the race for promotion and Championship football I just can’t pick any other team than Southampton (12/5). They started last season with a 10 point penalty after their holding company Southampton Leisure Holdings plc went into administration but still finished the season in 7th place with 73 points. They were still 22 points adrift of 2009/10 League Two winners Norwich but their goal difference of 38 was only bettered by the champions themselves.
Southampton manager Alan Pardew will look to Ricky Lambert to once again bag a load of goals having found the net a staggering 37 times last season. Summer signings Ryan Dickson, Danny Butterfield and Frazer Richardson bolster an already strong squad and in my opinion League Two is a 23 field race to finish second to the Saints. If Southampton do fail to reach top spot then I’ll plump for the Robins and Swindon Town (18/1) to clinch the title.
npower Championship
This is the hard one. Middlesborough (6/1), Nottingham Forest (15/2), Reading (12/1) and QPR (12/1) are all easy to tip but I’m going outside of that well fancied quartet. Bristol City (16/1) have recently pulled off a major signing in the giant frame of England goalkeeper David James, and his experience and presence could provide the difference to a City side who struggled a bit last season but have a quality squad and excellent manager in Steve Coppell.
Nicky Maynard scored 10 goals in City’s last 10 games of the 2009/10 season and the ex Crewe Alexandra forward is a good bet to net a hatful in this coming one too. Coppell has shored up his defence with the signing of James and also with right back Nicky Hunt arriving at Ashton Gate on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers. City have also paid an undisclosed fee to QPR for Jamaican centre back Damion Stewart as Coppell and City aim to concede fewer goals this term. If Maynard hits top form I’ll take them as my choice for the Championship winners come next May. Newly promoted Norwich (16/1) are my pick to push Bristol City the whole way.
Picking one winner from the three npower leagues is difficult enough but selecting all three correctly is near improbable. If you have a hunch on which teams will finish the 2010/11 season in top place then please leave your fancied teams in the comments box below.
Only a Championship prediction from me.
I would say Forest because I support them but in fairness I think we will struggle.
Automatic= Middlesborough, Burnley
Play-offs= Milwall