Thetownend.com

Okay, season starts this weekend so time for a nice thread of STFC and League Two related guessing that we can all look back on in April and laugh/cry/call each other names.

League Two
League Two winners:
Promoted:
Playoffs:
Who's going down?:
Division Top Scorer:

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?:
Top goalscorer:
Player of the season:
Boo Boy/disappointment:

League Two
League Two winners: Northampton
Promoted: Crawley, Bradford
Playoffs: Swindon, AFC Wimbledon, Mansfield, Walsall
Who's going down? Colchester & Barrow
Division Top Scorer: Danny Hylton (Northampton)


Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 4th
Top goalscorer: Tomi Adeloye
Player of the season: Tyrese Shade
Boo Boy/disappointment: Cian Harries

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Mansfield, Tranmere
Playoffs: Orient, Walsall, Stockport (Promoted), Grimsby
Who's going down?: Harrogate and Colchester
Division Top Scorer: Oates (Mansfield)

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 15th
Top goalscorer: McKirdy
Player of the season: Louis Reed
Boo Boy/disappointment: Cian Harries

League Two
League Two Winners Bradford
Promoted: Bradford, Stockport, Mansfield & Tranmere
Playoffs: Tranmere, Orient, Gillingham, Walsall
Who's going down?: Barrow & Harrogate
Division Top Scorer: Danny Hylton

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: Bottom half
Top goalscorer: McKirdy - 12 goals
Player of the season: MacDonald
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries & Brynn

League Two
League Two Winners: Bradford
Promoted: Gillingham, Mansfield, Tranmere PO winner
Playoffs: Tranmere, Northampton, Stockport, Doncaster
Who's going down?: Barrow & Harrogate
Division Top Scorer: Vadaine Oliver (Bradford)

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 10th
Top goalscorer: Shade - 7 goals
Player of the season: Baudry
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Bradford, Stockport, Crawley, Wimbledon
Playoffs: Stockport
Who's going down?: Rochdale, Barrow
Division Top Scorer: Khan Harratt

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 10th
Top goalscorer: Harold
Player of the season: Shade
Boo Boy/disappointment: don't like this line.

League Two
League Two winners: Swindon
Promoted: Don't care
Playoffs: Don't care
Who's going down?: Don't care
Division Top Scorer: Adeloye

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 1st
Top goalscorer: Adeloye
Player of the season: McKirdy
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

Hope Harries doesn't read this forum  :jawdrop:

I was thinking the same. Sadly I'm thinking the same for my predictions, I really hope he proves everyone wrong but he does look a poor signing.

Or let's hope he's one of those characters who revels in being doubted...

Even the club Twitter admin seemed to be going in on him a little in the Cardiff game!

Yeah, I've changed my option as this line is too negative.

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Northampton, Stockport
Playoffs: Barrow, Crawley, Salford, Orient***
Who's going down?: Stevenage, Hartlepool
Division Top Scorer: Josh Davison**

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 10th-12th (never really bothering the plaoffs later in season)
Top goalscorer: McKirdy*
Player of the season: MacDonald
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

* if still here
** I don't know the hot shots of the league
*** po winners

Its based off one or two games in preseason. I'm sure he's dissapointed in his start.

But plenty have had a less than stellar preseason and gone on to be good.

A few of you have only chosen 3 promoted side, it's going to be 4 with the Play Offs included.

I assumed that meant autos.

It did. You can choose your playoff winners too if you like, I'm not being responsible for jinxing us...

##SPOILER ALERT!##

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/league-two/

Here's how they work it out.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/methodology/how-our-club-soccer-predictions-work/

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Bradford, Crawley, Stockport, Mansfield
Playoffs: Mansfield, Nothampton, Salford, Doncaster
Who's going down?: Barrow, Colchester
Division Top Scorer: Madden/Telford

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 13th
Top goalscorer: Williams
Player of the season: Williams
Boo Boy/disappointment: McKirdy

Colchester 2nd is mind blowing. 80s to win the league in places.

Quite like Fivethirtyeight's models usually, but think this suffers from dodgy input data. Salford are not 25% better than any other team in the division, and Colchester being the second best side in the league feels like complete nonsense. If they're that confident, they could make a lot of money on Colchester!

I predict we'll finish 20th. Feel free to throw this in my face at the end of the season   :)

League Two
League Two winners: Mansfield
Promoted: Mansfield, Bradford, Swindon, Leyton Orient (PO winners)
Playoffs: Leyton Orient, Northampton, Stockport, Crawley
Who's going down?: Hartlepool, Harrogate
Division Top Scorer: Dom Telford (Crawley)

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 3rd
Top goalscorer: Harry McKirdy
Player of the season: Angus McDonald
Boo Boy/disappointment: Cian Harries

League Two winners: Stockport County
Promoted automatically: Salford and Orient
Playoff teams: Bradford, Crewe, Mansfield, Crawley
Playoff winners: Crawley
Who's going down?: Hartlepool and Grimsby
Division Top Scorer: Paddy Madden

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 9th
Top goalscorer: Angus MacDonald
Player of the season: Gladwin
Boo Boy/disappointment: Darcy

League Two winners: Bradford City
Promoted automatically: Mansfield, Doncaster
Playoff teams: Northampton, Wimbledon, Orient, Stockport
Playoff winners: Orient
Who's going down?: Barrow & Hartlepool
Division Top Scorer: Paddy Madden

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 8th
Top goalscorer: Unknown yet?
Player of the season: Angus
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

League 2
Winners: Northampton
Promoted: Tranmere, Bradford, Doncaster
Play-Offs: Doncaster, Salford, Orient, Mansfield
Relegated: Rochdale, Harrogate
Top Scorer: Matt Smith - Salford

Swindon Town:
Finish: 11th
Top Scorer: Not yet signed
PoTY: Angus MacDonald
Disappointment: Darcy

League Two
League Two Winners: Bradford
Promoted: Bradford, Northampton
Playoffs: Tranmere, Crawley, Stockport, Salford
Who's going down?: Barrow & Harrogate
Division Top Scorer: Telford (Crawley)

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 13th
Top goalscorer: Wakeling or currently unsigned forward
Player of the season: Baudry
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

Got to say I’m uneasy about the boo boy category. It’s pretty shit to point the finger at a particular player.

I hope Harries has a stormer on Saturday. Is this what our support base has become?? predicting a boo boy on the back of 1 friendly??

agreed - it’s pathetic  :headhurts:

Bit of a surprising reaction to be honest, this doesn't really feel like the controversial edge of online discussion - pre-season predictions have been a thing forever and there are always positive and negative categories. Insisting on nothing but positivity seems... odd. I'm pretty sure everyone in this thread hopes Harries has a stomer on Saturday and every Saturday afterwards and goes on to become a Colin Calderwood type figure at the club - it doesn't mean we have to think it's likely. Every season has a boo boy or two (fairly or otherwise) and people are hardly shy about putting the boot into players who have since left the club. Maybe I've misjudged it, wouldn't be the first or last time.

That said, if anyone wants to ignore that category they're more than welcome. It also doesn't need to be a player - the big disappointment can equally be the new catering supplier or the PA system in the DRS not being fixed. Assuming that isn't unacceptable to point the finger at hard working maintenance/catering staff.

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Bradford, Northampton, Mansfield, Orient (PO)
Playoffs: Orient, Salford, Tranmere, Crawley
Who's going down?: Rochdale, Barrow
Division Top Scorer: Danny Hylton

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 9th
Top goalscorer: Yet to sign
Player of the season: Iandolo
Boo Boy/disappointment: League Two Referees

The Not the Top 20 podcast puts us down in 16th below the likes of Barrow and Stevenage, I'm not the most optimistic of fans but would be surprised if we finished that low. They also kept on saying how we tried really hard to keep hold of Conroy, despite us not even offering him a contact.

Predicting who you think will be the boo boy doesn’t mean you yourself have to boo them

Happy to help

I predict that 90+% of the predictions in this thread will be wrong.

I predict 80% of the posts are bollocks. Long may it continue.

80% is being very generous, these days.

:D

I called him out having watched only 2 mins of highlights from 3.5k miles away.  Now that's commitment to castigation for you.

In fairness, I also thought Reed looked shit in his first game for us last season.  In both cases my caveat was/is a hope that it was purely a fitness issue that would come good.  For Harries, the issue that could be seen in just those 2 mins was a terrible turning circle - no anticipation and bad body position combined with a slow turn for anything played down his shoulder.  That can either be awful technique and a problem, or just because he's not get any gas in the tank at the moment.

on the predictions front I have no idea.  Certainly if we finish any lower than last seasons finish it will be abject failure.  Historical data for this division shows we shouldn't be hanging around it in for too long unless we've really fucked up as a club.

The recruitment has been far more positive and encouraging than for many years. Just got to hope Sandro et al and their data haven’t barked up too many wrong trees.

Has it?

We certainly have increased competition for places, retained some old heads (so far) and recruited players like Shade and MacDonald who have played a season at our level or several seasons above.

We have certainly done it earlier than under Power - which is great too.

We have a lot of prospects that could finance the club after helping the first team.

All that is great.

But I can't see how out actual quality is known. The core should be more than capable, but the peripheries - I can't see how we get to a conclusion one way or the other for a couple of months!

Hence my line of the post you decided not to quote!

yeah, sorry.

but my point is I'm not sure what people are basing predicting doom or promotion on .

League Two
League Two winners: Bradford
Promoted: Stockport, Swindon
Playoffs: Salford, Northampton, Orient, Mansfield
Who's going down?:Barrow, Walsall
Division Top Scorer: Paddy Madden

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?:3rd
Top goalscorer: Mc Kirdy
Player of the season: Saidho Khan
Boo Boy/disappointment: Remeao Hutton (was gonna go with Cian Harries !)

Here's our collective table based on everyone's predictions:

1   Bradford City
2   Mansfield Town
3   Stockport County
---------------------------
4   Northampton Town
5   Crawley Town
6   Leyton Orient
7   Tranmere Rovers
---------------------------
8   Salford City
9   Swindon Town
10   Doncaster Rovers
11   AFC Wimbledon
12   Gillingham
13   Walsall
14   Grimsby Town
15   Crewe Alexandra
16   Carlisle United
17   Newport County
18   Sutton United
19   Stevenage
20   Rochdale
21   Colchester United
22   Hartlepool United
---------------------------
23   Harrogate Town
24   Barrow


Doesn't look that far off to me. Hopefully Swindon will be the overperformer!

From what we know today I think that it pretty fair tbh

I agree thats pretty much my thoughts on each club TBH.

Although I don't think Stockport will get autos I do think they will be top half and not entirely convinved that Creepy will do that well either despite spending huge on wages.

Hmm I'm struggling to grasp where we are as a club and at what point do we begin expecting more?

It seems the majority of people are quite pleased with our transfer business, yet the average poster has us to finish 9th. So which is it? Or are people sitting on the fence until we've bought in a marquee striker?

If a Lee Power side finished 9th he'd be crucified.

Are most of you content with a mid table finish if it means the internal and external debt can be cleared before the beginning of next season? I'm just curious to know when our expectations are supposed to go back to normal.

There's a difference between hope and expectation.

But that's the point. If people are happy with our window and we've got a solid base of continuity from last season then why is the average person expecting us to finish lower down?

I think that most people are relatively happy with our recruitment so far, but the fact is with the current model, not many people really know what the players are really like until we seem them start to play in competetive football. Do we know enough about these players to say they are going to piss the league, no.  Do we know enough about these players to say we are going to struggle, no.  So the sensible bet is to say, top half but maybe not challenging.

To say we are content with a mid table finish is not really fair, we just don't know enough about this group of players to be able to make an informed prediction.  With what I see and know today, this feels like a top half on the verge of play offs type of setup - add a top line striker (for this level) and my feeling raises to the play offs.  Just because that is what my head is saying today, doesn't mean I am content with it, but I am not going to start going all "panic button" about something that none of us know enough about - yet.

I think this is how I see it also. For me it's really hard to judge the 13 players that we've brought in because I don't really know anything too much about them. I'm really relying on our scouting team along with the data analysts and that they know what they are doing. Obviously Chorley has gone but I believe Les Caffery has been integral in bringing players in before and Sandro's data wisdom seemed to work well at Wigan so it seems we have a sound enough base to more forwards with.

For me it's still pretty new what is being put in place, last season was a great start but losing the manager and a handful of the squad and having to bring in 13+ new players means that I think this season is a little bit unknown. I think Sandro said that when the internal debt is paid off our budget boat can really be pushed out more so whilst I haven't yet decided where I think we will finish this season, I am resigned to finishing lower than last season but would be hopeful of a repeat of last season and going one step further and actually getting to Wembley, another cup run would be lovely as well.

I suspect the way I support Swindon is the polar opposite of the poster that posed the question, I'm by no means a happy clapper but I am way past the stage of having a proverbial Benny if we lose some games or finish mid-table. There are lots to like about the way the club is moving currently, it would be great if we could fly up the leagues but I suspect it might not happen like that.

I’ll be more blunt… If we finish 9th in league 2 whichever way people try to spin it it will be an abject failure and changes would be needed both in approach and probably manager. Let’s not sugar coat it, any season that sees us finish mid table in League 2 is pretty depressing, last season the club had a free pass and there was the novelty factor of attending games again after COVID. It won’t be nearly as enjoyable this season if we aren’t challenging.

If we can scramble together a team and finish 6th then we should be looking to better that next season and if we don’t then it’s failure. I’m hoping for the best but until we’ve played a few games we don’t really have much of a clue about the coach or most of the new signings.

Absolutely 100% this...

Same as above. We all want to say we will finish inside the top seven and preferably top 3 but it's hard to say it with confidence when we don't know how the team will gell or how the new signings will perform.

Because default Swindon fan is to to never be happy. Even when we did well last year we had a minority moaning saying we should be pissing the league. The was actually a majority that wanted Garner out at some stages last year.

Ultimately if they want to look longer term and build over seasons then first of all they need to get back into league 1 and that should be the fundamental priority.

It’s perfectly acceptable to be a mid-table league 1 team over a sustained period of time and with the away crowds in league 1 you’ll maintain a decent income even in a poor season. However it’s not acceptable for us to finish mid-table in League 2 and never has been. Also,  with the nature of the other teams currently in this league if we are shit then attendances and therefore income will fall off a cliff as there’s going to be next to no away fans at CG for most games this season to make up for a home fan deficit.

TBF I think thats football fans in general.

Rovers fans wanted rid of Barton after about 15 games yet went on to win promotion.

Shithead fans wanted rid of Lee Johnson despite finishing in 8th place in the Championship.

Arsenal fans wanted rid of Wenger as it got stale and boring.

Man Utd fans wanted rid of Ferguson before the results started picking up.

At least now we have Lindsey who seems to actually want to be at Swindon, something I never felt Garner ever actually wanted.

Who knows what this season will bring, could be good, could be bad, could be great, could be attrocious, only time will tell. if the players bond quickly and show their potential it could be a championship winning season.

FGR, Rovers and Vale never really impressed me much last season and TBH very few teams totally outplayed us so the league is very winnable with a good run of results, all we have to do is be the better side in the majority of games and get some consistancy especially at home.

Also we have to stop teams bullying us, being our team is based more on ability rather than strength several sides bullied us into submission last season.

Hopefully with McDonald, Hutton, Devine, Shade, Brennan, Adeloye, Clayton and Khan maybe they will put themselves about a bit more than we did last season as a team to compliment the passing style and not rely on just lightweight players who opposition teams seem to expose easily such as Barrow, Orient, Crawley and Exeter did.

This topic has come up because of people giving their predictions on what they know and see today.  What I know and see today it feels like 9th is about right, but..  the recruitment is (hopefully) not done yet, all signs are we will sign a striker, and maybe add 2 or 3 loanees..  what do people want?  people to make predictions based on what might happen, or what they see today?

Stating people would be content with a mid-table finish based on feedback on this thread is part of the 80% bollocks, which ever way you spin it, and however blunt you are.  If you want everyone to just state it's HMS Piss the league, just put that in the title and some posters will avoid it.

Listened to Not the Top 20 Podcast predictions for League 2 which had Swindon in 16th. They thought that the new manager, new director of football and largely unproven signings (MacDonald excepted) created a lot of uncertainty. They also said the outgoings: Wollacott, Odimayo, Egbo, Conroy and Payne would be big misses which I would disagree with. I'd only really say that Payne was a key cog in last year's team out of the above departures. George Elek also said that the club would have been keen for Conroy to stay. Personally I think the opposite! Despite this I'm inclined to agree with their overall assessment. Fingers crossed that some of the new signings hit the ground running.

I've no idea on the window being good, bad or indifferent.

On paper it looks like we've recruited a mixed bag, and don't have a proven striker beyond McKirdy. Hence mid table feels right in absence of anything else.

There are also many people in the twitterverse that think we will get promoted too. 

Anything is possible isn't it? Well, I'd be surprised to get relegated to say the least. But otherwise.

On paper promotion looks tough. Bradford, Stockport, Salford and Mansfield have strong squads.

I think it's fair to say the top end of League Two looks a higher standard this year, so it's possible that we've improved our squad but still end up around the same point in the division or a bit lower even. Hopefully we piss the thing, but the four teams mentioned above plus Crawley all look strong, and there's always a surprise package or two.

I wouldn't dismiss Orient, Northampton, Tranmere and Newport who are always in the mix.

If you actually read back I didn't 'state' anything. I actually asked a question and was open to feedback.

Poor little Vale  :)

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/who-will-win-the-202223-league-one-fourfourtwos-season-preview-and-predicted-final-table

Will have a look around and see which teams have signed which players to see how we match up numbers wise and possible percieved quality wise.

Some teams such as Doncaster, Wimbledon, Crawley and Bradford have had a huge change of personnel in the Summer, some teams have had few such as Orient, Newport and Stockport by comparison.

I think we probably sit somewhere in the middle of turnover and quantity, no idea about quality as yet.

Anything other than top 3 is failure for me.

Pretty much the same.

As for predicting where we are then on paper we are probably bang on mid-table. Shade, Devine, Wakeling, Harries (they were bottom half when he played), Hutton, Khan etc played in teams below us in League 2 or non-league. Brynn and Adeloye you would also say have been playing below league 2 level and then we’ve got a few untried PL2 players as well. So when combining our existing players alongside Darcy, Brennan and McDonald with those above on paper they probably cancel each other out and you get a mid-table league 2 team hence the predictions.

Agree with some of that. I think Wollacot and Egbo were both class acts at this level, both will be missed, both would be worth points that we have to find from elsewhere.

Odimayo, not sure but with the presumable back 3, that might have really suited him. I believe the jury is still out on whether it is better for the wide CBs in a 3 to be natural CBs, or Full backs. Going back few years to Conte’s title winning Chelsea side that played a back 3, they got round this by playing one each (Cahill and Azpilicueta). In that position they had more time and space than anyone to start attacks. Not sure yet if we have enough good options here, need to see a few real games to decide. I wonder if Lindsey likes the 3 as a remedy to us struggling to generate chances when teams sat back against the 433 at home last year? In any case will probably take a while to bed in.

Agree on Conroy, not good enough to match the relative wage demand. More money for another forward hopefully.

I'd of been fine with Conroy staying.

But not for the wage he was currently on / demanding.

To the point post. No flim flam. No Bs.

As I see it, it IS the top three or bust. Unless last seasons ‘official L2 survival” was BS. The be all and end all of this season is automatic promotion, end of. Period. Not looked back, etc, etc.

We know we are not top four PL. We are top four L2. No if’s no but’s. The hardcore 4K season ticket fans know this. The other 3-4K walk ups accept this. Anything over this don’t give a toss. They’ll come out whenever we’re doing well regardless.

From game 1/46 to game 46/46 our team HAVE to have a winning mentality.

How much was it?

League Two
League Two winners: Northampton Town
Promoted: Bradford City, Leyton Orient
Playoffs: Stockport, Mansfield (P), Tranmere, Doncaster
Who's going down?: Hartlepool, Colchester
Division Top Scorer: Hylton (Northampton)

Swindon Town
Where will Swindon finish?: 10th
Top goalscorer: McKirdy
Player of the season: Shade
Boo Boy/disappointment: Harries

Interesting from the LSPod Press Conference coverage (can't say I always listen, but it's a new season so thought I'd give it a go) that both Lindsey and MacDonald were very happy to say that promotion is the goal. Certainly none of the playing down expectations we saw from the club last season.