Football League and Conference Predictions

League One

Who do you expect to be promoted?

DR: Sheffield United really should be back in the Championship this year, and if they have to settle for the play-offs again I think some Blades fans will have nervous breakdowns. Bristol City, under Sean O’Driscoll’s stewardship, could also challenge. Wolves will expect to be up there as well.DS: Wolves are the obvious side, and Griffiths and Cassidy looks a strong partnership up front, but I’m not sure they’ve got enough of a team to win the league. Giving Peterborough’s form in the second half of last season and Britt Assombalonga, highly rated by Watford, replacing Dwight Gayle, I can see them winning the title. Brentford would be my bet for third promotion spot.LW: Wolves (Champions), Bristol City (Automatic) and Peterborough (Play-offs)

Who do you expect to be relegated?

DR: I don’t so much expect it as pray for it to happen, but Steve “Fatty” Evans’ Rotherham. He’s that bad. Coventry would do well to stay up, given all their off-field problems and the humiliation of having to ground-share with Northampton. Oldham have been in League One so long that some of their fans would probably welcome a relegation just to freshen things up. Port Vale might struggle too.DS: I’d thought Coventry would be an outside bet for relegation before the ten point deduction, thinking that the lower income from only selling 300 season tickets could stop them making signings in January because of the salary cap. After the ten point deduction, I think they’re more likely than not to go down. There’s no-one else that really leaps out as teams I’d expect to struggle – I’d expect all four promoted teams to comfortably stay up. Colchester, Oldham and Shrewsbury are the least unlikely to be relegated, especially if a sense of stagnation sets in.LW: Tranmere, Gillingham, Oldham and Coventry.

Who do you expect to be top scorer?

LW: Bristol City’s Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.DS: More or less going by reputation on this one, but Leigh Griffiths would be a decent bet to be the Luis Suarez of League One, scoring goals and pissing people off every week.DR: Tom Pope was unstoppable for Port Vale last year, but might find the step up hard to handle. I reckon Brentford’s Clayton Donaldson and Preston’s Kevin Davies will be up there, and it’ll be interesting to see how Peterborough’s record signing Britt Assombalonga and Nakhi Wells of Bradford do in League One.

Which team do you expect to exceed people’s expectations?

LW: Leyton Orient – they missed out on the play-offs last campaign and will be hoping to go one better this time round.DS: Preston should challenge for automatic promotion – Grayson’s an experienced manager and Davies and Hume should be a good partnership.DR: Gillingham were too good for League Two last season, and with Martin Allen at the helm, I fancy them to make a decent fist of the third tier.

Which player do you expect to be a surprise success?

LW: Not a surprise as such, but Bristol City have signed Marlon Pack who I rate highly, having seen him at Cheltenham.DS: MK Dons’ Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, looked a talented dribbler during a loan there last year.DR: Oldham’s Jose Baxter looks like he could earn a move back up the footballing ladder if he has a good season this year. Goalscoring midfielder with great technical ability for League One.

Any other predictions that you think will make you look really insightful in nine months time?

LW: Coventry to change their manager by Christmas.DR: David Weir to be sacked immediately if he doesn’t win any of his first five games, and Wolves’ Kenny Jackett to be given similarly short shrift if he can’t win them promotion. Steve Evans to make legions of new friends and admirers, culminating in the likeable Glaswegian winning the UK’s Most Popular Man competition for 2013-14.DS: Leigh Griffiths to miss at least one match because of clashing with a court date for a crime he’s not committed yet.