Hitesh Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Feel free to delete/move/merge if unneccesary but I feel that with all the media stuff that will come out this week, it would best to put all the media predcitions/previews/predicitons into one thread and have them all discussed here! Here are the current ones that have been done: From Football Fancast: Leicester City This team will be the dark horse of the Championship. Nigel Pearson is a brilliant young manager that has ambitions to burn. Another goal scorer will see Leicester be amongst the big boys once again. Key Man: Matt Fryatt Prediction: 6th From Times Leicester City Nigel Pearson has a reputation as an excellent coach and the fact that he has outlasted his four predecessors at the Walkers Stadium is testament to the manner in which he imposed his personality on Milan Mandaric’s club this past year. Last season’s promotion triumph was spearheaded by the goals of Matty Fryatt, who led the way with 32, and Steve Howard, who contributed 15, though the former has missed much of the pre-season campaign after a hernia operation. Matt Oakley, even at 32 this month, is an adept performer, and Pearson is looking for the additional fire power that Kevin Phillips or Leroy Lita could offer. Could be a surprise package. Prediction: 6 As mentioned above the Telegraph predictions: LEICESTER CITYPremier class: Matty Fryatt Well OK, maybe not, but Leicester have not had much to shout about recently and Fryatt banged in 32 goals last season as Nigel Pearson's boys romped home in League One. Championship fare:The signing of Richie Wellens – a grizzled midfield warhorse with 350 games for Blackpool, Oldham and Doncaster – says it all. PREDICTION: A stabilising year, mid-table.
TrickyTrev Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Newcastle won't finish 20th! They are a week away from the start of the season and they do not have a manager. If they do not sell half their squad in the next 2 weeks they are almost certain to go into administration. I think they are amongst the favorites for relegation. I think we will be somewhere between 10th and 15th.
Super Arj Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 how did they manage to figure out that swansea (who finished outside the play offs this year) .. would do better WITHOUT Jason Scotland ??
nuttytimmy Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Nottingham ForestChampionship fare: Events at Meadow Lane even threaten their position as the leading club in Nottingham.
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 how did they manage to figure out that swansea (who finished outside the play offs this year) .. would do better WITHOUT Jason Scotland ?? I think Swansea will struggle with goals this year and end up lower mid table. Doubt Necastle will come 20th. Probably mid table too.
Milans Foxes Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 ha, football fancast have brian howard as Barnsley's key player! ffs
Hitesh Posted 5 August 2009 Posted 5 August 2009 Article taken from the Telegraph: Leicester aiming for Championship play-offs, says Nigel PearsonWhen Nigel Pearson was appointed manager of Leicester City last summer, the club were recoiling from six of the most uninspiring years in their history. Leicester aiming for Championship play-offs - Nigel Pearson Driving force: Nigel Pearson has given his team specific performance targets on their return to the Championship Photo: GETTY IMAGES They had slipped into administration, worked their way through a raft of unsuccessful managerial appointments, and had just been relegated from the second tier of English football for the first time ever. Most managers, surely, would sum up the situation as ‘nothing to lose, everything to gain’. Pearson chose “no-win situation”. Pearson’s point was that given the club’s history and resources, he was expected to return the club immediately to the Championship. Well, the 45 year-old obviously works best under pressure, for under his direction, and with the support of his owner Milan Mandaric, the club have turned the corner and returned to the Championship at the first time of asking. If Pearson is not in a winning position now, he never will be. The cynics would say that Pearson’s success has only redressed the balance by bringing the club back to where they belong – but last season was more important than just getting back to the Championship: it was about building a team who are better prepared than they have been in years to cope with life in the second tier, lay the bricks for moving beyond it, and to prove to Mandaric that at last he has found a manager to place his confidence in. “Even though it was a division that nobody wanted to be in,” Pearson says, “it turned out to be a positive experience.” Indeed, after an impressive start, with a formidable home record at the Walkers Stadium, where they lost just one match all season, Leicester cruised ahead of nearest rivals, MK Dons and Peterborough, and won the title with a nine-point cushion. That momentum, as long as it continues into the next season, should prove quite an advantage, although Pearson advises that his side “cannot dwell on it and pat ourselves on the back.” Just as he did on his arrival, Pearson has heaped the pressure on himself, describing a change in circumstances, and a new set of expectations that he and the club must deal with having been promoted so decisively. “There is a weight of expectation to deliver,” Pearson explains. “No manager gets sacked in pre-season. But as soon as the season starts we are all back in the spotlight. It is inevitable that people alter their expectations, although it is difficult to get a feel for that at present if I am honest.” He might feel uncertain about how the supporters anticipate the coming season unfolding, but Pearson is very aware of what the targets should be within the club. At a strategic meeting with the squad and back-room staff last week, he issued his players with their specific objectives for life in the Championship, and while he remains coy when asked to provide a definition of what would be a successful season, he says that Leicester are “not there to make up the numbers, let’s put it like that.” Leicester will no doubt look to emulate Swansea, who won League One in 2007 under Roberto Martinez, an achievement for which the Spaniard was awarded the League Managers’ Association’s manager of the year award for League One. They had a respectable first season in the Championship and finished eighth. “If you are looking at a yardstick,” Pearson said, “then Leicester City will be looking for a play-off place this season.” Setbacks on the transfer market are only a slight concern. Simon Cox was initially targeted, but the Swindon striker opted to go to West Brom. Likewise, Leicester were interested in Leroy Lita, the Reading striker, who ended up at Middlesbrough. On that occasion, Leicester were forced to withdraw from the running because they could not meet his wage demands. Nevertheless, as far as their pre-season has gone, Leicester look to be in fine form, although Pearson would be the first to admit that friendly results offer only a sketchy indicator of what lies ahead. Yet, achieving a play-off place, or higher, should remain a realistic target. As Pearson says: “What is the point of setting your sights low?” NP is a great media man! He lays it out straight, no rubbish and honest! Keeps things calm too IMO.
gazzer Posted 5 August 2009 Posted 5 August 2009 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...and&cc=5739 Soccernet have us 10th LeicesterManager: Nigel Pearson Position last season: 1st (League One) Players in: Robbie Neilson (Hearts, free), Chris Weale (Bristol City, free), Dany N'Guessan (Lincoln, undisclosed), Astrit Ajdarevic (Liverpool, free), Richie Wellens (Doncaster, £1.2 million), Wayne Brown (Hull, undisclosed), Jack Hobbs (Liverpool, undisclosed). Players out: Joe Cobb (Wycombe, free), Barry Hayles (Cheltenham, free). Few would support the theory that relegation has benefits, but Leicester City might. After demotion to League One two seasons ago, they appear to have returned to the Championship a stronger side, perhaps ready to emulate Bristol City and Swansea by competing for a second successive promotion. Nigel Pearson has signed sensibly, bolstering the defence with Wayne Brown's experience and Jack Hobbs' potential and adding Richie Wellens' creativity to a midfield where, with the accomplished Matt Oakley complementing the emerging Andy King, Leicester already have options. Steve Howard and Matty Fryatt formed the archetypal partnership of target man and poacher last season; if the latter can replicate his prolific form in the higher league, then the top half should beckon. Key Man: Matty Fryatt - Which Fryatt will it be? The man who scored 27 league goals last season or the one who only mustered 11 in his previous two-and-a-half years at the Walkers Stadium? One to watch: Andy King - Last season was a breakthrough year for the midfielder, who scored 10 times, established himself in the Leicester side and won his first Wales cap.
Hitesh Posted 5 August 2009 Posted 5 August 2009 http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...and&cc=5739Soccernet have us 10th Def more realistic!
C-man Posted 5 August 2009 Posted 5 August 2009 I would be delighted with 10th. Anything above and I'd be delirious.
Uncle Monty Posted 5 August 2009 Posted 5 August 2009 I would be very happy with a top half finish, but who can see that happening unless we bag ourselves a striker.
step Posted 6 August 2009 Posted 6 August 2009 Genorous of them. Would love to get Forest in the playoffs. That would be awesome. As long as we beat them
Guest Bilo Posted 6 August 2009 Posted 6 August 2009 Teletext reckon 16th, which I think is as pessimistic as the predictions of 6th are optimistic. On the plus side, they have Derby at 17th and Coventry at 19th with Plymouth bottom of the pile.
foxoffderby Posted 6 August 2009 Posted 6 August 2009 Racing Outlook newspaper had us at 10th, Derby 18th Cov 19th Forest 8th this morning. A lot of the media fancy Cov for the drop this season.
Babylon Posted 8 August 2009 Posted 8 August 2009 The Sun say we will finish 15th... when I say The Sun it's actually Chris Kamara, he also says Peterborough will finish 3rd and be in the Premier next year. :w00t:
Uncle Ben Posted 8 August 2009 Posted 8 August 2009 Kris Kamara, he might have a lovely barnet but what does he know? His playstation game was shit.
lookwhaticando Posted 8 August 2009 Posted 8 August 2009 Chris Kamara says Peterborough will finish 3rd and be in the Premier next year. :w00t: He'll probably take the credit for it, too.
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