Well it only seems like yesterday that Yeovil defeated Brentford to close the 2012-13 League One season - well 63 days to be exact. But already the ball has started rolling for the beginning of the new 2013-14 League One season.
And as part of my build up for a new season where i will be covering as many of the Gillingham games as I physically can, I have recruited fans from all 24 clubs from League One and get their options for their clubs as the new season starts on August the 3rd.
Today we look at two sides who narrowly missed out on a play off spot last season after spending some points during the season 'flirting' in the play off zone and fans of both clubs must be looking to improve on their finishes last season and get into the playoffs. I'm talking about Tranmere Rovers and Leyton Orient.
TRANMERE ROVERS
Name: Paul Harper
Occupation away from supporting your club:
IT Support Analyst
How long have you been a supporter of Tranmere and how did
you start supporting them?
25 years, my dad and grandad took me to my first game at
Prenton Park in 1988 and I was hooked from that moment.
Let’s get this ball
rolling:
What would be your Dream season?
I'd love to see us playing free-flowing attractive football
and obviously winning. Promotion would be the ultimate dream, getting back to
the Championship is where we want to be. We had a fantastic first half of the
season in the last campaign but fell away rather dramatically after the turn of
the year. I think that it had a lot to do with injuries to key players so
hopefully we can keep those big players as injury-free as possible and then we
might have a chance.
And what will make it a Nightmare season for you?
Nobody wants to be struggling at the wrong end of the table
and scrapping at the bottom. We had plenty of experience of that at the start
of this decade and it wasn't nice, so I don't want that again.
Our own fans think our team is…
Pretty good but lacking a bit of depth. We have some very
good players but as last season showed, when we suffer from injuries or
suspensions then we struggle due to lack of finance to have the depth of squad
to cope. Hopefully we won't suffer as badly as we did with major injuries to
key players this time around!
Other teams’ fans think our team is…
You better ask fans of other teams that! I think we're a
respected club by most opposition supporters, there are always exceptions to
that though!
The new season:
How has Pre-Season been for you this time around?
Pre-season seems to have gone incredibly well. At time of
writing, we have played five, won five and scored plenty of goals in the
process. We opened up with a 9-0 victory which is unheard of with Tranmere,
even in pre-season games! The players look sharp, new signings seem to have
bedded into the squad well and the trialists who have been playing for us have
been pretty good. So all in all, it's looking promising with some sterner tests
to come in the form of league sides Accrington Stabley and Burnley.
Have you got the right manager and how popular is he?
Most definitely on both counts. Ronnie Moore has been there,
done it and has a wardrobe of t-shirts with all his managerial experience. He
knows the division and what it takes to get out of the league. In terms of
popularity, Ronnie has been at the club for years in various spells and guises.
He loves the club as it's been a big part of his career and the fans love his
passion, so he's a very popular figure.
Are there any new signings that you are excited about?
Arguably since John Aldridge hung up his boots in the late
90s, we have been looking for a consistent goalscorer and possibly we have
found someone to fill that role in Ryan Lowe. He has scored goals wherever he
has been, and although he's 34, he looks sharp in pre-season and looks like the
clinical finisher we have craved for years at Prenton Park.
Name the player that you would happily drive to his next
club (and pay for the taxi as well)...
I can honestly say that there isn't one. As I said earlier,
we have got a squad of good players, it is just that bit of depth we are
lacking but there's no player who I'd say I'd want to leave.
Name an opposition player you despise...
Lee Hughes.
Name an opposition player you would love to have at your
club?
Iain Hume of Preston North End, I'd love to see him back at
Tranmere.
If I was to visit your club on an away trip this season,
name one thing I must do in your town? (Can be anything, football-related or
otherwise... from visiting a famous sight, to making sure you don’t park your
car somewhere, to find a certain drink in a pub or a nice place to eat)
A
pint in the Mersey Clipper is probably the highlight of a visit to Prenton Park
to be honest. Good atmosphere between home and away supporters in there before
the game.
Onto other
important matters:
Your team started off last season very well and were about
in the playoff zone as the season ended but it didn’t happen, was it still a
successful season for your club?
The first half of the season was a resounding success.
There's no doubt that we seriously over-achieved up until the new year and we
were playing some really good football. The second half of the season though
was very poor which took the tint off a little bit. But overall, you have to
say that after several relegation scares in the years previously, that it was a
much better season, definitely.
Ronnie Moore is a fantastic manager for this division, how
did you think he did in his first full season at the club?
Ronnie Moore has been superb for us. He knows the lower
leagues inside out, and he seems to get the best out of players so we cannot
complain at all. It may have been his first full season since he returned, but
Ronnie has been associated with Tranmere for many years. Last season was good,
and hopefully we'll have learned some lessons from the second half of the
campaign and try and fix those issues so we can seriously mount a challenge for
promotion in the coming months.
Will you be looking to get players back like Jake Cassidy
and Liam Palmer permanently or on loan?
Those two players did really well for us and I'd love to
have them both back. The truth is we can't afford them, but both have gone back
to their parent clubs better players in my opinion, and I'm sure they'll push
on at those clubs and do well for themselves. I wish them both all the best as
they were great for us.
And now onto the really
important stuff:
Who do you think will be the top 6 at the end of the season?
I think Preston will be stronger this time around. They're a
big club and have been under-achieving for the past few seasons but I expect
them to be back among the frame at the top of the table. You have to look at
the likes of Wolves and Sheffield United too who also fall into that bracket.
Two clubs who have recently been in the top-flight and will possibly still be
able to attract the best players to go there. But League One is always a tough
division and I'm sure there will be one or two teams up there who you don't
expect to be. Hopefully Tranmere can be one of those teams again.
Who do you think will go down to League 2?
It's a tough division. There are some huge clubs in there
this time around so it will be difficult for smaller clubs on smaller budgets
to try and compete consistently. I think Stevenage might possibly struggle a
little bit, Port Vale might find it tough after their promotion and
off-the-field issues too. But again, it's very difficult to call, and a lot can
change even before the season starts with new signings etc.
And finally, in all honesty, where do you think you
will finish this season?
I think that if we can keep the key players fit for the
majority of the season, then we have a good chance of achieving a top 10
finish. Too many injuries and we may well struggle a bit but I'll say we'll
definitely be in the top-half come next May.
LEYTON ORIENT
Name: Daniel Boyce
Occupation away from supporting your club:
Student
How long have you been a supporter of Leyton Orient and how did you start supporting them?
Had
season ticket since I was 3, so for 12
years. Orient has run through my family, and My Grandad and my Dad first
started taking me.
Let’s get this ball rolling:
What
would be your Dream season?
Winning
promotion, winning at Wembley
for any major
competition, and beating West Ham away.
And what will make it a Nightmare
season for you?
Getting
relegated and losing to West Ham.
Our own fans think our team is…
Consistently
Inconsistent
Other teams’ fans think our team is…
A dream to play at the
start of the season!
The new season:
How
has Pre-Season been for you this time around?
Started well with a 7-0 win over Chelmsford and a
4-1 win over Welling. The highlight has to be the 2-1 winover NY Cosmos. The
fact that we played such a well known club who used to have players like Pele
playing for them was good. Marcos Senna had nothing on the Orient players.
Have you got the right manager and how popular is he?
Lots
of mixed feelings about Russell Slade over Orient, but I think with the right
squad we can get promotion.
Are
there any new signings that you are excited about?
Yohann Laismant looked very
good in our friendly against Chelmsford but we will just have to wait and see
what he’s like against similar opposition.
Name
the player that you would happily drive to his next club (and pay for the taxi
as well)...
Dean
Cox
Name
an opposition player you despise...
Lee Hughes
Name
an opposition player you would love to have at your
club?
Wouldnt mind Jay-Emmanuel Thomas, also would love
to have Stephen Dawson back.
If
I was to visit your club on an away trip this season, name one thing I must do
in your town? (Can be anything, football-related or otherwise... from visiting
a famous sight, to making sure you don’t park your car somewhere, to find a
certain drink in a pub or a nice place to eat)
N/A
Onto
other important matters:
Most
of the close Season has been dominated by your chairman’s legal challenge over
the Olympic Stadium share with West Ham, should he forget about it and move
on?
Never! He should keep doing what he’s doing and
eventually they will listen. Barry Hearn will never stop defending Orient.
Your club has offered 1500 free season tickets for local students and young fans; do you think it is a good PR move from the club?
Definitely
as there aren’t too many younger fans over Orient, this will help the club in
the years to come with getting more fans. It’s also good for this season to
get bigger
attendances.
You
finished outside the playoffs last season on the last day of the season, do you
think that this time your team has the capability to get that elusive top 6
finish?
Last season was
the same as the season a few years before,
the start let us down. We will make stupid mistakes as every team does, but if
we can get that good start to the season that we never have then who knows
where it can take us. We’ve got a quality team and it should be a good season.
And
now onto the really important stuff:
Who
do you think will be the top 6 at the end of the season?
Sheffield
United, Brentford, Swindon, Orient, Wolves,
Peterborough. (Not in order)
Who do you think will go down to League 2?
Gillingham, Port Vale, Shrewsbury, Oldham.
And finally, in all honesty, where do you think you will finish this season?
4th or 5th
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Over the next few days, more fans from clubs in League One will be given their chance to speak out on the new season which begins soon.
To be continued...
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