Gillingham
For Lincoln fans, this will be a great opportunity to lock horns with an old ‘friend’, Steve Evans. Without wanting to reduce their analysis to one man, Evans is a hated figure at Sincil Bank for good reason. He’s bullish, belligerent, arrogant and passionately disliked by almost every set of fans he’s ever faced.
He was disliked at Gillingham in patches, but he’s set about recruitment with gusto, as he usually does, bringing in a raft of new faces. The Gills have been success-starved in recent years and have rarely had a lot to celebrate, but the new players coupled with Evans’ own habit of talking up his teams, have resulted in a largely positive summer. He’s winning Gills fans over and will hope to keep doing so after the first few matches.
He’s replaced the two biggest names in terms of outgoing players relatively well; keeper Tomas Holy left for Ipswich but Jack Bonham came in from Brentford. Bonham was excellent for Bristol Rovers last season and is a really strong signing. Tom Eaves has moved to Hull City, he was the leading scorer at Priestfield last season, but Mikael Mandron has replaced him. Mandron has the potential to be a seriously good player but after a number of failed moves, now is the time to prove it.
The capture of Matty Willock from Manchester United has got pulses racing too. I can’t see him being a success having watched him closely over the last twelve months or so. He flopped at St Mirren and again at Crawley and the Evans PR machine has been in full effect getting fans on board with his capture.
All in all, Evans has brought in 12 new faces. The pick of the others, in my opinion, are Ousse Cisse from MK Dons, a player who didn’t stand out as much as he should have done last season, and Mark Marshall from Charlton. He’s a winger with a nice touch and burst of pace who might well provide width for the Gills.
Given Evans flopping at Peterborough and Mansfield despite decent budgets, this was a risky appointment by Paul Scally but it should give them a much better placing this season than the last two campaigns.
Ipswich
It seems inconceivable that just a couple of years ago we went to Portman Road as the plucky underdogs having a big day out. This year we’re going on an even keel. I wonder if they’ll give us close to 5,000 tickets this time out?
Everyone expects the Tractor Boys to be in the top six, maybe even the top two. They’re a big club for this level, they’ve only ever had a couple of years outside the top two divisions in their history and haven’t ‘sunk’ this low in over fifty years. History doesn’t win football matches though; players do.
One player who made a move to Portman Road is James Norwood and much is going to be expected of him. How he settles will be a real defining aspect of their early form. He bagged a lot of goals in League Two, but he’s never proven his worth outside the fourth tier of the English game. Stifle the delivery into him and you could stifle Ipswich early on.
That said, they’ve got real quality in other areas. If they hang on to Alan Judge and Andre Dozzell, they’ve got two Championship quality players ready to seriously hurt teams. Dozzell is an England Under 20 international who properly broke through last season and he can be effective from midfield, perhaps with Judge a little ahead of him creating chances.
Jon Nolan is competent at this level, like it or not, with Danny Rowe and Kayden Jackson also eager to prove their struggles in the Championship were not reflective of their potential in League One.
They won’t have it all their own way, injuries are piling up and there is a question mark over Paul Lambert who did little to correct last season’s demise. Much of the blame was laid at the feet of Paul Hurst, but Lambert had time to turn things around with little success.
They’ll be one of the opponents most sides have targeted as a potential scalp and that only serves to make their push for the top two harder. They won’t be outside the top ten come May, but there are no guarantees they’ll be inside the top two either.
MK Dons
It wasn’t a surprise Milton Keynes followed us out of League Two, but it wasn’t as comfortable as I felt it might be. The two of us looked to be running away with the division in November, then a complete collapse threatened their promotion credentials.
Paul Tisdale is a canny manager though, if perhaps a little cautious at times. He plays a patient game, waiting for chances to be crafted over time rather than piling forward. That sometimes earns the frustration of home fans, but it ended up an effective method to win promotion. Just.
They’re very good defensively, Jordan Moore-Taylor is a player I’ve admired since his Exeter days and in Regan Poole, they’ve added quality to the back four. Poole was on loan with Newport last season from Manchester United and he’ll step up with ease. Up front, Rhys Healey did damage for them before his January recall by Cardiff, but he’s back at Stadium MK on a permanent deal too. He’s replacing Chuks Aneke, arguably a committed centre forward coming in for an often disinterested one.
I’m also envious of their signing of Hiram Boateng. He’s going to be comfortable making the step up and as long as his spell out injured hasn’t affected his athleticism or direct running, he’s going to add value to the squad as well.
Keeping Kieran Agard looked to be a big plus for them in the summer, but he definitely has a point to prove this time out. He flopped in League One two years ago and will be looking to establish himself as a decent third-tier striker once more.
It pains me to say it, but MK might just be a dark horse for a top ten finish. If they stay compact, but see Healey replicate the form he showed early last season, then it’s worth keeping an eye on them this time around.