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EDITORIAL WAnT
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Editor Hitesh Ratna

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@FourFourTwoEd
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FourFourTwo.com September 2016 5

 80 DO TEAM
TALKS MATTER?

36 81 THInGS WE WAnT
FROM THE nEW SEASOn
Michail Antonio’s excited – are you?
FourFourTwo has a 2016-17 wishlist
and so do the stars: they told us

UPFRONT
10
14
16
18
19
One-On-One: Nemanja Vidic
Around the world in 12 stories
Gordon Banks’ biggest games
Brexit explained (to footballers)
Football’s greatest playboys
COVER FEATURE
36

38
46
47
81 things we want from the
new season. Featuring...
Pep leading a tactical revolution
Demarai Gray
Some decent new terrace chants
23 Infographic: the dirtiest clubs 48 Javi Martinez
24 Meet Brazil’s great new hope 51 FIFA getting their house in order
25 Great Goals Retold: Shaun Bartlett 52 Neymar
26 The One-Question Quiz 55 England to find their identity
29 Samuel Umtiti, scouted 56 Roberto Firmino
30 Ask A Silly Question: Paul Ince 58 Ranieri to keep the dream going
31 The best book to read this month 60 Kelechi Iheanacho
32 Our new columnist: Rory Smith 68 A new Pards dance for every goal

p100

JUAN MATA
MASTERCLASS
 P20

SEAN DYCHE
STREET ART

FEATURES ACTION REPLAY

10 NEMANJA VIDIC
ANSWERS YOUR
QUESTIONS

p70

70 Sunday League life 91 The story behind the photo

Mud, sweat and beers: the soul 92 When footballers ran shops
of park football, captured by 94 Balls: a brief history
photographer Chris Baker 95 Cruyff joins Leicester! (Nearly)
76 Footballers’ yes men 98 Football’s worst haircuts
Meet the player liaison officers
who cater to the stars’ whims PERFORMANCE
(and fix their plumbing)
80 Do team talks matter? 100 Juan Mata masterclass
The answer might surprise you 105 Anti-gravity treadmills: tested
86 Wiki geeks 106 Tea vs coffee
All fans use Wikipedia for info 109 Meditate like Big Sam
– these men make it possible 110 If you’re going to do one thing...

p91 p98

WHEN WARHOL
MET PELE
84 THE MEN BEHIND
FOOTBALL WIKI
nOT LOnG nOW...
It’s the day of Grimsby Town’s first
pre-season friendly on home soil,
and groundsman Mike Phillips is
hard at work. The Mariners are
back in the Football League for the
first time since 2010, so there’s an
extra spring in his step as he marks
out the Blundell Park pitch for the
new League Two campaign.
“You get your tape measure out,
make sure the lines are precise
and put your set square down so
everything’s square,” he explains.
“I’ve been working here for 36 years.
It’s a privilege to look after the pitch
at the club I’ve always supported.”
Photography Andy Brown
 UPFROnT
UPFROnT EDDIE STEADY GO Bad news for all football fans: defender

> < Eddie Edward has left Edmonton. It’s the sport’s saddest
moment since boss Wolfgang Wolf departed Wolfsburg

Great Goals Retold with Shaun See Sean Dyche’s face A meerkat in a Nor
Bartlett – it’s a cracker p25 on the side of a pub! p20 dressing gown. Wh

OnE-On-OnE
went to the bomb shelter. We tried to In Belgrade, I knew the safe roads
live a normal life. It wasn’t easy. home from the derby, but it was more
I didn’t feel like I was living in difficult going to Partizan’s stadium.

nEMAnJA VIDIC
a warzone, but my town was bombed
five times. They took out the strategic
targets, but they were in the centre –
the telecommunications centre which
was 200 metres from my home. I heard
the big crash. Nobody died, thankfully.  Manchester United conceded six
I’m not politically orientated anyway,
Interview Andy Mitten Photography Mattia Zoppellaro but bombs are sad to see – not just in
Serbia, but anywhere in the world.
I had to be careful, because if you’re
recognised as a Red Star supporter
there could be trouble. The trouble
now has gone too far.
goals in your first two matches with
the club, including four in a defeat
at Blackburn. Did you wonder what

DID FERGIE STOP HIM FROM JOInInG THE ARMY?

you’d let yourself in for? How difficult
Your uncle and grandfather were were those early weeks?

COULD HE HAVE SIGNED FOR LIVERPOOL?

both referees. Did they ever give you Eliot Greene, via Facebook
any tips for getting away with some It was more than weeks – it was four or

HAS HE EVER ACTUALLY MURDERED SOMEOnE? of the game’s dark arts?

“People ask me what I do these days
and I tell them I’m a full-time driver,”
chuckles Nemanja Vidic as he sits
down with FourFourTwo at his
favourite Japanese restaurant in
Milan’s fashionable bar-lined Via
Carlo Ravizza, close to his home and
barely a mile from the San Siro.
“I drive for my three boys – to school,
to football. It takes a lot of time.”
The European Cup and five-time
Premier League winner retired from
football last December after a difficult
spell with Inter, but he has stayed in
Upfront editor Chris FLanagan
that Billy Bragg sang about having an
uncle who once played for Red Star
Belgrade. But first, your questions…
What were you like at school? It’s
hard to imagine you messing about!
Matt Burgess, via Twitter
I was best at sports! I went to school
because I had to, but I wasn’t really
interested in working at school. I would
not encourage my own children to be
like me when they’re at school.
What is it like when growing up in
Anthony Page, via Facebook
They were good referees and my uncle
refereed five derby games between Red
Star and Partizan. They told me that if
I respected the referee, the referee
would respect me back. I tried that in
the beginning and had some success
with referees, but not all. In general,
I didn’t have problems with referees.  two-week fitness course and they
How does the Eternal Derby compare
to the derbies in Manchester and
Milan? What’s the craziest thing you
saw happen in one of those matches?
Robbie, via Facebook
I stood with Red Star’s hardcore fans
five months. I was training with great
players and struggling to stay on my
feet. They were fast and strong.
[Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Wayne] Rooney
and [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy would run at
me in training – [Louis] Saha, too. They
were too much. I arrived in Manchester
unfit because I came in January, the
Russian season’s break. I did a quick
wanted me to play. I wasn’t ready.
I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be. 
It’s interesting that the reader
mentions Blackburn. I don’t have the
best memory, but I remember this
clearly because the fans still applauded
at the end. I couldn’t understand it – we

Milan to improve his Italian.
He’s enjoying time spent with his
family and playing golf, but the Serbian
ex-defender, 34, would like to become
a coach and manager. He keeps in
touch with several of his former United
team-mates and he’s surprised to hear
a warzone? Is it true your games as
a kid were delayed by bombing raids?
Charlotte, via Twitter
When they started bombing I went
back to my hometown. We didn’t know
how bad it was going to get. When the
bombing started, we heard sirens and
when I was a young player at the club. hadn’t won the game. I was in shock.
I moved to Belgrade at 15 to play for You wouldn’t have got this in Serbia. 
the youth team. I sang with them and
I loved it, because I was a fan of the Is it true that Liverpool wanted you?
club since I was very young. It was Billy, via Twitter
crazy on the terraces – you jump Yes. Rafa Benitez called me and I nearly
around and sing the whole game.  went there. I was interested in going,

10 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
 CLUBS
2000-04 Red Star Belgrade
2000-01 Spartak Subotica (loan)
2004-06 Spartak Moscow
2006-14 Manchester United
2014-16 Inter Milan

“I STRUGGLED FOR FOUR

OR FIVE MONTHS WHEN
I JOINED MANCHESTER
UNITED. I COULDN’T STAY
ON MY FEET IN TRAINING”
UPFROnT

but my English wasn’t good and I was
struggling to communicate. Then
Manchester United came. Fergie
called me at my apartment and said:
‘I watched you play for Serbia against
France – I want you here’. United
were decisive. Everything was done
very quickly, within two days.  have sunshine. I was OK with the food
Who did you hate facing more:
Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres?  knew how to cook, especially Serbian
Inderjit Singh, via Twitter
Drogba was tougher. Torres always
created a chance to score, but Drogba
was on you for the full game. People
say: ‘You had a difficult game against
Torres’, but it was just the one game.
I went to head the ball but changed
my mind and tried to pass to Edwin.
I misjudged the
distance and
How much did you hate the food
and weather in Manchester?
Anthony Murphy, via Facebook
I struggled with the weather in the
beginning. [FFT: Even after living in
Moscow?] Come on. Moscow is cold in
winter but you don’t have rain – you
in England: it was good at the training
ground and I had a wife at home who
dishes. She makes an excellent
punjene paprike – peppers stuffed with
meat, onion and spices. At Carrington,
they asked me if I’d like Serbian food.
They were advanced like that.
Our three boys – they’re now aged
nine, seven and four – were born in
Manchester. I had the best time of my
career there and we
still have a house

HIgHS & LOWS

Torres scored.  there. The only
thing I had
Were you in the a problem with
running to take was the weather.
a penalty in the I really enjoyed
2008 Champions HIGH: 2002 Manchester, the
League Final? Wins the Yugoslav Cup social life and
How prepared with Red Star aged 20 its people.  atmosphere – especially when they contract. I had injuries and felt my
were you to take LOW: 2006 got a 180. People sing and jump. body wasn’t the same as it was
one before Misses the World Cup through You seem quite I stopped playing when I left England, when I was younger. I saw that the
Nicolas Anelka suspension and injury a fearsome chap. but I practised a lot there and I used car was running down and the brake
missed Chelsea’s HIGH: 2008 Was Fergie ever to be good. I can’t remember what wasn’t working properly. 
seventh kick? Wins the Champions League as brave enough my best checkout is, though!
Neil Meehan, Manchester United beat Chelsea to give you Was the tackle on Kyle Walker at
Old Trafford LOW: 2009 the hairdryer? How did you feel when David Moyes White Hart Lane in 2013 your best?
We knew the five. Picks up two of his four career red Matthew Chant, made you and Rio Ferdinand watch He went about six feet up in the air!
After that, it was cards to come against Liverpool Warrington videos of Phil Jagielka defending? Lee Thomas, via Twitter
about who felt HIGH: 2011 I don’t know Was it as big a deal to the pair of you I don’t remember all of my tackles –
confident. I was Named Manchester United club about ‘brave’ – as has since been made out? I was sometimes playing with
going to shoot captain after Gary Neville retires he was the boss. Christopher Barnard, via Twitter concussion – but I remember that one.
seventh or eighth LOW: 2011 He could sack me [Pauses] Players don’t always like Kyle went honestly for the ball and
– me or Giggsy. Sidelined for six months after if he wanted. But what managers say to them. so did I. It’s why I like that challenge:
I said he had twisting his knee against Basel I think it’s good to That’s normal – it even happened it doesn’t matter who won; what
more experience have these strong with Fergie. The sad thing for me mattered is that we both went
and should shoot. conversations wasn’t any specific incident; for the ball. I love that about
He did, and I was next, but between manager it was that with David English football and hope
I wasn’t needed. Giggsy was still sharp and player. They can lift the player. Even as manager and me as it never changes.
when he was 40, you know. He could the hairdryer was used for a purpose. captain, we didn’t do well.
still change direction quickly.  But physically I was stronger than him! As a team we wanted Why did you release
to prove people wrong that photo of you
After the 2008 final, what were your Is it true Ferguson talked you down after Fergie went. We signing for Inter
movements between leaving the from enlisting in the Serbian army?  hoped to be better. when you still played
Luzhniki Stadium and flying home? Joe Thomlinson, via Facebook We were not. We all for Manchester United? 
Calvin Betton, via Twitter Good question. Fergie said this in his lost and must share Doco, Belfast
That was a great night. I’d played for book. He and I walked onto the training the responsibility I had signed for Inter –
Spartak Moscow in Luzhniki and I had pitch and he asked me what was and guilt, David everyone knew that. The
friends who came to see me. Russia happening in Serbia. He could see I was as manager and picture came after that.
was good to me. It was the first time angry and that’s how he interpreted it. me as captain.  I didn’t publish the picture, but
I’d left Serbia and it was hard in Russia But the truth is that I never spoke about   the club wanted to publish it
at first. Over time, I learned about going back to serve in the army. Would you have stayed and I understood. 
Russia and enjoyed it. I was happy to another year if you knew
go back there with Manchester United. Is it true you became a darts fan when Moyes was leaving? Why didn’t it work out
I didn’t sleep that night in Moscow. It you were in England? Do you play? Colm Scott Byrne, via Twitter for you at Inter?
was a long party and I was drinking fast. Hapag Lloyd, Salford The decision was made before Lee Embleton, via Facebook
Maybe that’s why I forgot that Drogba It’s true. I didn’t even know what David left. I felt it was time to The club was going through a lot
wanted to punch me during the game.  darts was. I loved it because of the leave. I didn’t push for a new of changes, in the same way as

12 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
 UPFROnT

“I HAD THE BEST TIME

OF MY CAREER IN
MANCHESTER. THE
ONLY THING I DIDN’T LIKE
WAS THE WEATHER”
best. Drogba would be even better if he
didn’t get so many injuries. They were
the top three I played against. Costa?
I’d deal with him like I did the others.
You are what you are and I played my
own game against everyone. 

Manchester United were – maybe even Would you agree that there’s a real I didn’t like it. Watching football in Should I go to Serbia on holiday?
more. At the same time as I arrived, lack of top-class centre-backs in the England is not dangerous and I liked John Ashton, Middleton
seven or eight players left, and game right now? Who is the best that. What would I do? I would Of course! You can have a really good
important players, too: Javier Zanetti, up-and-coming defender that you probably put my head down.  time. In Belgrade, it’s really nice in the
Esteban Cambiasso, Diego Milito.  have seen recently? summer with the bars by the river.
There were big expectations for me Ash, via Twitter We’ve all heard the chant, but have Serbia has a very interesting history and
and I tried hard, but there was trouble Football is changing, with Barcelona you actually murdered anybody? it’s good value for money, too. People
for me from the start. We played three being the best example of that. Seriously, though: what do you make say the women are beautiful and I have
at the back. I played in the middle and Midfielders play as centre-backs. But of the chant? Does it offend you? to agree. That’s why I married one!
felt like I was there to fix problems, but if you face Barcelona then you are Alan Jones, Hampshire
even if there were no problems you’d playing against a team who will always It doesn’t offend me. It was great to If you could play one Manchester
get them in that position. I didn’t enjoy attack. Even at United, though, Daley hear the fans singing and to respect United game all over again, which
that role – I hadn’t played it for a long Blind and Michael Carrick play as you as a player. I didn’t know it was one would it be?
time. I tried to adapt but it just didn’t defenders. Left-backs can play as me when they first sang it, I was so Chris Breward, via email
happen. Then [Roberto] Mancini arrived. central defenders. That wouldn’t focused on the game. Someone asked The 2007 FA Cup Final. We played
We didn’t start well; I didn’t play for happen before. Is the game changing me if I’d heard the song. I asked them Chelsea and lost 1-0. I’d like to play
two or three months. We didn’t have or are there not enough defenders? what the fans had sung and he replied: that again and win it this time! I was
a great relationship. Then I got injured. I’m not sure. Do we want defenders “Well, it’s a bit tough.” The song was very disappointed. The FA Cup is the
That’s basically the story.   any more? Some managers don’t great. Of course I’m not a murderer, only trophy we didn’t win in my time
know what they want. I know what but I appreciated fans singing for me. there. I don’t want to play a game
Did the Inter squad have the same I like: defenders to defend. Defenders again which I have already won –
winning mentality as the players bring balance to a team and having too You said after retiring from there’s a chance I could lose! Two
at Manchester United did?  many non-defenders can lose that.  international football in 2011 that other games I would replay would be
F Murray Abraham, New York I still believe in Chris Smalling. He did the criticism you got from the Serbian those two finals against Barcelona.
When I arrived at United we had a lot of well last season and he can improve media and supporters was part of the
young players who hadn’t won much. and do better. He has the mentality to reason. Do you regret that now? You Are you considering a coaching
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what defend, and the physical size to do it. could have proved them wrong... career? What sort of manager do
it’s like to win something. The perception He likes to defend. With a good partner Aleksandar, via email you think you’d be?
of winning isn’t the same as the reality.  he can be even better. I don’t regret the decision at all. The Dr. Wei Chun Loh, via Twitter
I became a winner at United; I never decision wasn’t an impulsive one; I would like to be a manager, but only
had the chance to be a winner at Inter. What would you do if the team coach it was made over time. I didn’t have if I had the opportunity first to be
you were travelling on was attacked a great relationship with the media in a coach and learn from someone for
Who was the hardest player you with bottles? What did you make of Serbia. Some of them didn’t have maybe one or two years. I would take
faced in the Premier League? And the reaction of Jesse Lingard & Co. a professional relationship with me the experiences I had of the managers
how would you deal with Diego Costa when it happened at West Ham? and they sometimes wrote stories I’ve worked under – some great ones,
if you were still playing now?  Anthony Wilson, via Twitter that were not true. I was fed up and such as Alex Ferguson. Nemanja the
Jay Pollitt, via Twitter I would hit them! [Laughs] No, I’m realised I could not change what manager won’t be the same Nemanja
Drogba was physically the hardest; [Luis] joking. I did see the bottles and I was they were doing. So the media was that you saw on the pitch. They are
Suarez and [Sergio] Aguero were the surprised it happened in England. one reason, but there were others. two completely different roles.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 13

UPFROnT
UPFROnT
> <
AROUnD
THE WORLD
5
In 12 STORIES
Maradona trading insults with The Simpsons and the
globe’s scariest birthday cake – crazy things don’t
stop happening just because it’s summer, you know
1 3
SENT OFF FOR FARTING
Sweden Sodertalje
Left-back Adam Ljungkvist found
a novel way to earn a red card during
an appearance for Pershagens,
picking up a second booking for farting.
“I was standing a good distance away,
but I heard the fart loud and clear –
it’s the strangest thing I’ve seen on
a pitch,” opponent Kristoffer Linde said.
“I had a bad stomach so I simply let
go,” Ljungkvist protested. “I asked the
referee, ‘What, am I not allowed to
break wind a little?’ I don’t get it. Maybe
he thought I farted in my hand and
threw the fart at him. But I did not.”
2
IS THE BOSS ALWAYS THIS QUIET?
Germany Hamburg
St Pauli boss Ewald Lienen couldn’t
make it to the photocall announcing
the signing of striker Marvin Ducksch,
so the German club had to improvise.
Cue St Pauli publishing pictures of the
new arrival as he posed alongside some
bloke wearing a mask of the manager’s
face. Ducksch, meanwhile, bore the
expression of a man wondering what
the hell he’d got himself into.
SIX OF THE BEST FIXTURES
i i
Leicester vs Man United August 7
The Community Shield at Wembley sees
champions Leicester face Jose Mourinho’s mob
14 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
EURO STAR Will Grigg has been voted Europe’s
25th-best player in a UEFA poll, despite being in
League One last term and not playing at Euro 2016
THANKS FOR THIS, GARY
England Berkshire
We’re not golfing experts, but we’re
pretty sure the normal dress code
isn’t to turn up starkers save for
a less-than-fetching pair of Leicester
City underpants. Blame Gary Lineker.
Berkshire-based Foxes fan John
Guest, 53, was so inspired by Lineker’s
promise to present Match of the Day in
his keks that he made his own bet if
Leicester won the league, resulting in
him turning out for a round of golf in
similar attire. Let’s hope the craze
doesn’t spread to the rest of Leicester.
No one wants to see a half-naked
Engelbert Humperdinck playing
kabaddi or digging up Richard III.
4
IF ONLY RORY DELAP HAD
BEEN BORN A WOMAN...
USA Rochester
A footballing revolution is going on in
the National Women’s Soccer League,
where matches are now being played
on pitches the size of a postage stamp.
OK, it wasn’t quite that small, but
Western New York Flash faced Seattle
Reign on a field only 58 yards wide,
Real Madrid vs Sevilla August 9
The UEFA Super Cup’s random tour of Europe
chuffs into Trondheim (it’s in Norway)
with just seven yards between penalty
area and touchline. The match took
place in a corner of a baseball field,
with the Flash’s usual home unavailable
because of a concert. Both clubs were
unimpressed, but we suspect Rory
9
Delap would have loved it.
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL’S
GONE TO THE DOGS
Scotland Inverness
Ultras were out in force when Inverness
Caledonian Thistle took to the field for
a friendly against Clachnacuddin.
Among those pictured cheering
on Caley Thistle in the front row
was a supporter with four legs and
a suspiciously wet nose. If we didn’t
know any better, we’d suggest it was
a dog – and even worse, it was wearing
last year’s kit. Dogs, eh? Always so
behind the times.
6
DIEGO VS HOMER
Argentina Buenos Aires
Diego Maradona isn’t a big fan of
The Simpsons, and makers of The
Simpsons don’t much like him either.
Maradona used his appearance on
a radio show to bemoan the state of
modern TV, singling out The Simpsons
as a show he hates. Cue a riposte from
the man who provides the voice of
Homer Simpson in the Latin version
of the show, who described Maradona
as a “big-titted fat guy”. And, voicing
Homer, he would know.
7
MIURA SCORES AGED 49
Japan Yokohama
Remember Kazuyoshi Miura, Japan’s
star man in the days before Hidetoshi
Nakata turned up? Nakata retired
a decade ago but Miura, 10 years his
senior, recently beat his own record as
the oldest scorer in J-League history.
The Yokohama FC star is now 49 and
started his career with Brazilian side
Santos, presumably forming a fine
partnership with a teenage Pele.
8
MY BIG FAT GREEK
FOOTBALLING REFUGEE CAMP
Greece Piraeus
In the home city of Greek champions
Olympiacos, migrants have been
practising their own football skills at
a makeshift refugee camp. Around
i
Arsenal vs Liverpool August 14
It’s not a bad fixture for the opening weekend
of the new Premier League season, is it?
1,500 migrants set up home at the port
city of Piraeus, although the Greek
government have been making
attempts to evacuate them to
a more suitable location.
NEW BALLS, PETR!
England Wimbledon
Is it us, or are ballboys at the tennis
getting taller? One of the ballboys at
Wimbledon this year was 6ft 5in and an
absolute dead ringer for Petr Cech.
Oh, hang on – it was Petr Cech. Within
days of his return from Euro 2016, the
Arsenal and Czech Republic goalkeeper
was trying out at the All England Club,
helping out his compatriot, Radek
Stepanek, during practice. He had the
correct gear and everything: presumably
skull caps aren’t allowed at Wimbledon.
10
DON’T HAVE NIGHTMARES, KIDS
England Liverpool
What better way to celebrate Jurgen
Klopp’s birthday than to create the
world’s most terrifying birthday cake?
Cake artist Ben Cullen spent four days
recreating Klopp’s head in edible form,
but the manic grin on the Liverpool
manager’s face is possibly the scariest
thing anyone’s ever seen outside of
a Japanese horror film. Just the sight
of Klopp on the touchline this season
will give us flashbacks.
11
BIELSA ARRIVES! BIELSA QUITS!
Italy Rome
Not content with quitting Marseille just
one game into last season, Marcelo
Bielsa surpassed himself with a two-day
stint as manager of Lazio this summer.
July 6: Announced as Lazio’s new boss.
July 7: Sends letter to club complaining
they haven’t signed any of his transfer
targets (it’s been literally 24 hours, man).
July 8: Bielsa quits. That went well.
12
COME ON, TIM!
USA Orlando
Ever wondered what happened to
Werder Bremen and Germany
goalkeeper Tim Wiese? Two years after
leaving Hoffenheim when he tired of
football and began to train like
a bodybuilder, the 34-year-old has been
invited to join the WWE Performance
Centre in Florida with a view to making
his wrestling debut in November.
 SAY CHEESE Al-Masry boss Hossam Hassan was jailed
for hitting a photographer after a game in Egypt, but
UPFROnT
released after his daughter’s tearful Facebook post

01 02 03 04

05

06 07 08

11

09 10 12

i i i
Sevilla vs Barcelona August 14 & 17 Olympic gold medal match August 20 New York City v LA Galaxy August 20
In the two-legged Supercopa de Espana: Copa The men’s Olympic final is a match that hosts Lamps vs Ashley Cole, Pirlo vs Stevie G and
del Rey finalists Sevilla and double-winners Barça Brazil will be desperate to be in – and win David Villa vs Nigel de Jong: this is MLS

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 15

UPFROnT
UPFROnT
> <

GAMES
THAT 04

CHAnGED
MY LIFE
GORDOn
01

01

BAnkS
Tottenham 2 Leicester 0
May 6, 1961 FA Cup Final

“When I was a teenager, I was lucky to

see a cup final on television, and here
I was, walking out at Wembley to play in
one! We lost, but it was an experience.
03 That was where it all started for me.”
02

02
England 4 West Germany 2
July 30, 1966 World Cup Final

“It doesn’t get any better than winning

the World Cup, shaking hands with the
Queen, with the Wembley crowd going
berserk. I was so happy when Geoff
Hurst banged that goal in at the end.
Was his other one over the line? Of
course! I was in the perfect position!”

03
England 0 Brazil 1
June 7, 1970 World Cup group stage

“Everyone talks about the Pele save. In

training I'd had Bobby Charlton hit shots
into the ground to help me in predicting
the bounce, as the Mexico pitches were
rock-hard. But I honestly thought it
had gone in. I glanced around and said
to myself: ‘Banksy, you lucky tw*t’.”

04
Stoke 2 Chelsea 1
March 4, 1972 League Cup Final

“Tony Waddington had put together

a great squad, and although Chelsea
were the favourites, we won. Half of us
were in tears; Stoke hadn’t won a cup
Interview Andrew Murray

final in 100-odd years. The celebrations

“I HONESTLY THOUGHT PELE’S HEADER HAD GONE IN. I LOOKED back in the Potteries were incredible.”

AROUND AND SAID TO MYSELF: ‘BANKSY, YOU LUCKY TW*T’” Banks supports the new-look Wembley
Tour, connected by EE. To find out more,
visit www.wembleystadium.com/tour

16 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com

 LS TO IT The Premier League’s official football this
on will be the Ordem 4, bedecked in a fetching
UPFROnT
le, yellow and turquoise colour combo. Sexy!

DOWn
ABOUT
GOING UP
TIMBER JOEY
Family entertainment doesn’t come any better
than a big, bearded man wielding a chainsaw
MESSI'S
W
It’s the start of the ith a full brim hard hat and a large “It started in the late ’70s with a man named Timber
new season and
Cinderford Town are
logging chainsaw, it’s hard to miss
Joey Webber at Portland Timbers
Jim bringing a chainsaw to games,” Webber tells FFT.
“In 2008 I saw he was retiring, so I tried to get hold
MOnTH In MUSIC
getting ready for home matches. of the club to apply. I had some interviews, and
life at a higher Affectionately known as ‘Timber Joey’, the club eventually I got the endorsement of Timber Jim.”
level. They must be mascot cuts his way through a 12ft log every time A graduate of logging school in his younger days, International Love
pretty happy, right? the team scores a goal at Providence Park. Joey’s routine involves more than just firing up the Pitbull
Nope, they’re furious, Each slab is then passed around for fans to chainsaw five minutes before kick-off. “I do a lot of
after their romp to touch before it is presented to the goalscorer, safety checks before and during the game,” he says.
the Southern League who presumably spends the rest of the evening “On a few rainy days, saws haven’t wanted to start, The Final
Division One South wondering what the hell he’s going to do with but we’ve got new saws from Germany and they start Countdown
& West title a massive block of wood. pretty smoothly, so I should be OK to keep going!” Europe
mutated into the
stuff of nightmares.
Owing £10,000 to Pumped Up Kicks
the taxman, the
Foster The People
Gloucestershire club
turned down their
elevation to the Hot Spot
Southern Premier
Foxy Brown
League, leading to
the resignation of
a host of senior I Don’t Want to
figures at the club.
Miss A Thing
Evesham had to
switch from the Aerosmith
Cinderford words Richard Edwards; Mascot words Kristan Heneage; Month in music words Si Hawkins

Southern League to
the Northern Premier
So Sorry, It’s Over
League as a result –
but they complained Blink 182
it would cost them
£25,000 in travel and
won an appeal,
I Can’t Win
meaning Cinderford The Strokes
were forced to take
promotion after all.
“We had to Cups
either resign from (When I’m Gone)
the league or take Anna Kendrick
promotion,” new
club chairman
Stuart Tait tells FFT. Never Going
“It’s going to cost Back Again
us £10,000.” Fleetwood Mac
Let’s just hope they

SHALL WE
don’t accidentally NIALL QUINN’S DISCO PANTS
get promoted again SUNDERLAND FANS Carry On
this season.
“NIALL QUINN’S DISCO Wayward Son
Kansas
PANTS ARE THE BEST,
THEY GO UP FROM HIS Taxman
SE TO HIS CHEST, The Beatles
EY ARE BETTER THAN
AM AND THE ANTS, Nah Goa Jail
LL QUINN’S DISCO PANTS!” Peter Tosh

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 17

 UPFROnT
Dear Mr Fox,
A man from UKIP told me that unless
I voted for Brexit, Brussels would make
my goal 100ft high, force all keepers to
wear curly Turkish shoes, and release
psychiatric patients clutching vipers
into the penalty area. Am I now safe?
J. Hart, Manchester
Dear Mr Hart,
It can't be guaranteed, but we will
be negotiating to avert this mooted
uber-goal clown-shoe clusterf*ck.
Sincerely,
Liam Fox MP
Dear Mr Gove,
As a keen advocate of good nutrition,
I’m concerned that fruit, vegetables
and lean proteins might become more
expensive. Can you reassure me?
A. Wenger
Enemy!
My supporters – including John Barnes,
Fearne Cotton and Gandhi – think that
Britain has had enough of ‘nutritionists’
like you. Expect a consignment of
proper bendy ‘Brit bananas’ by 2020.
For now, your players may eat Freddos.
Praise Cthulu,
M. Gove MP
Words Nick Moore
Dear Mr Fallon,
A man doing a comedy high-pitched
lady voice – I could tell it was Lennart
18 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
“DOES BREXIT
MEAn WE
CAn’T PLAY In
THE EUROS?” Jermaine Pennant asked
this very question on Twitter
recently - now FFT has found
letters voicing more concerns
Johansson – just called and said UEFA
had downgraded England’s ‘credit
rating’ from Three Lions to just one.
He described it as: “silly baby lion, in
a leetle nappy”, and hung up laughing.
Surely this merits a military response?
Martin Glenn, FA
Mr Glenn,
I contacted No.10 to see if we can
scramble a couple of fighter jets and
send armed drones to Switzerland, but
the phone rang out. Try me in 2017.
M. Fallon, Ministry of Defence
Hello MP? Is this MP?
Just remembered that I left ANOTHER
Porsche parked up at Zaragoza train
station!!! Is this now owned by the
Spanial Government because Boris
won the Europa League?
Peace – Jermaine
Dear Mr Pennant,
Yes, we must now hand your vehicle
over to the authorities. Mail the keys to
my constituency and I’ll take care of it.
J. Prescott, MP
Dear Mr Farage,
I was wondering whether you had any
use for the bus that persuaded us all to
vote OUT? The toilet on ours is blocked
after what Lee Cattermole did.
S. Allardyce
Mr Allardyce,
I’m afraid to say there was never any
‘bus’. I certainly never saw one. Do
you fancy a pint sometime, though?
N. Farage
Mrs May,
As a Middle Eastern gentleman I’m
concerned that the upsurge in
xenophobia might affect my small
business in east Manchester. Should
I buy a Belgian plaything instead?
S. Mansour
Mr Mansour,
Don’t worry, we’ve voted for you to stay.
Can you loan us £350 million
a week for the NHS?
T. May, Prime Minister
Mr Corbyn,
Fellow North Londoner! Is England the
best country in the world now we have
Got Our Country Back? Wayne said it
might not be, and that made me sad.
H. Kane, Enfield
Comrade Kane,
I’m pleased to inform you that after
the latest round of wrangling, you are
now the leader of the UK Parliamentary
Labour Party, England manager and MP
for Islington. Although you may be
replaced by Marcus Rashford at any
minute. Freedom!
J Corbyn MP
Dear Mr Johnson,
One of the English lads from the
Chelsea youth team told me I have to
get changed on my own in the disabled
toilet because of Brexiting. Is this true?
Yours, Pedro
Mr Pedro,
I’m a bit busy here trying to avert the
greatest crisis since WWII – which
I caused myself for a bit of jolly sport.
There are no toilets for the disabled any
more, so you’ll have to use the skip.
Thanks,
B. Johnson MP
 WEIRD WIKI PICS Gary Neville’s Wikipedia profile
picture, everyone – not playing football, but wearing
UPFROnT
a silly cap and gown to collect an honorary degree

THE FOOTBALL GRID Who’s the greatest playboy the game has ever seen?
FourFourTwo assesses the claims of the contenders

SILEnCE,
LADS!
Yeovil defender
Nathan Smith didn’t
fancy partying the
summer away in
Ibiza – no, he had
something a little GEORGE DWIGHT RONALDINHO FRANK GARRINCHA
Name
quieter in mind. BEST YORKE WORTHINGTON
While his fellow
Glovers headed
to the beach, the
29-year-old went to
India for 10 days of Elvis
Jesus meets Miami Vice via Jar Jar Binks
silent meditation. Look via the Brazilian
The Beatles the Trafford with
“It was all about snooker James Bond
(in flares) Centre a headband
self-discovery, and to hall
irradiate impurities,”
Smith explains to Cutting-edge Big pimpin’,
FFT. Laptops and Taught Fetty The magnetic
stuff befitting spending G’s
phones were banned Fashion Wap everything allure of Clothes? What
the owner of (secretly
- as were reading Sense he knows medallion on are clothes?
a Manchester wearing ladies’
and conversation. about style chest hair
boutique knick knacks)
“The day started at
4am and finished at Lots and
9pm, and you stayed lots
silent the whole Notches On and Too few to
Plenty Oodles Lots and lots
time,” Smith says. Bed Post lots mention
Some elements of
the retreat were less
relaxing, though.
“I slept on a metal Half of Page 3 girls,
bed with no mattress Notable Four Miss World Manchester, Miss January, Fathered 14
Miss Barbados
or pillows,” he says. Squeezes contestants and Katie Price, Miss February, children to
and Mandy
“It was 28 degrees at one Joan Collins Alicia Miss March… numerous ladies
Rice-Davies
night and there was Douvall
no air conditioning.”
Not the greatest
Caught in bed Videoed himself Not happy Lost his virginity
TripAdvisor review, Once left a Rio
with a woman and Mark with seducing to a goat, and
but Smith says: “I’d nightclub at
by a hotel Bosnich playing a Swedish teen later had sex in
be interested in Biggest 11am in the
Words Johnny Dee; Wiki photograph University Of Salford

porter, who ‘hide the model, he the changing

going again.” Blowout boot of a car to
asked: “Where sausage’ with seduced rooms at
avoid the media
did it all go several young her the
Smith is on Twitter
wrong?” ‘waitresses’ mother, too Maracana

Left pre-season Fergie hairdryer PSG boss Luis Huddersfield Unmanageable

agerial training in Spain after returning Fernandez laid boss Ian at Botafogo: he
st-ups to get a haircut late from into his lifestyle Greaves threw returned to his
in Manchester – national team (a lapdancer his Elvis cassette hometown after
the beginning of duty so he could described him out of the games for week-
the end for him keep as ‘human window of the long beer and
at United partying viagra’) team bus bedding benders

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 19

 UPFROnT
UPFROnT ORNITHOPHILIA Mario Balotelli warmed up for the
new season as only Mario Balotelli can – by inviting
> < a load of ducks into his house for some food

GInGER MOURInHO 1 JOSE 0

Burnley’s answer to Banksy
pays tribute to their top
gravelly-voiced gaffer – by
spraying him on a pub wall
"WHILE I WAS DOING IT,
ONLOOKERS BEEPED

J
ose Mourinho and Pep
Guardiola may be the most
high-profile managers in the
HORNS, SUNG SONGS –
Premier League this season, SOME EVEN BROUGHT
but do they have their faces on the
side of a pub? No, they do not. ME TEA AND SNACKS"
It’s advantage to Burnley boss Sean
Dyche then, after the 45-year-old’s
feats at Turf Moor were honoured by
a huge mural of the manager’s noggin.
Dyche has guided the club into the
Premier League for a second time, and
Burnley’s answer to Banksy knew
how to mark it. Influenced by Barack
Obama’s famous 2008 ‘Hope’ campaign
poster, graffiti artist Paul Jones grabbed
his spray paint and took to the streets.
“I’d been looking around town for not
only a large wall, but one where a lot of
people would see it,” Jones tells FFT.
“Luckily I found a derelict pub at the
side of a dual carriageway that is on
a primary route towards Turf Moor.”
Jones runs the Graffia graphic design
firm and, despite the size of the job,
he completed the work alone in under
24 hours – although his trusty mate,
Dan, was present to hold the ladder.
“I started at midnight by priming the
wall in preparation for the next day,”
Jones explains. “Then, early on a fine
Burnley Sunday morning, I drew the
outline, before spraying the wall in one
session. All that, and I was still done in
time for a barbecue at home at 5pm!
“The reaction has been out of this
world. While I was doing it, onlookers
beeped their horns, sang Burnley songs
– some brought me tea and snacks!”
Words Alan Johnson Portrait Ross Parry Photography

Dyche himself is said to be impressed

by the mural, and even the local council
have made an exception to their
zero-tolerance policy on graffiti for this
one. “Luckily they love it and they’re
looking to get more artwork around
the town,” Jones says. “If Burnley
‘do a Leicester’, I’ll be back in action!”
FFT waits to see who will become the
Clarets’ Jamie Vardy. The flowing locks
of George Boyd lend themselves to
a good Che Guevara motif, we reckon.

20 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com







 THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY The FA Cup starts
even earlier than usual this season: the extra
UPFROnT
preliminary round takes place on August 6
430

420
409

405

396

396
391
391

382

375

371

367
350
356

369
338

331

373
320
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

304
300

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

NS
PRESTON NORTH END

N
BLACKBURN ROVERS

DO
FLEETWOOD TOWN

N TOW
MANSFIELD TOWN

WIGAN ATHLETIC

18
NEWCASTLE UTD

KEYNES

2
Y 3
WEST HAM UTD
NOTTS COUNTY

37
1
LEEDS UNITED
SUNDERLAND

31
ASTON VILLA

CIT
AMPT
BRIGHTON
MILLWALL

N
WATFORD

CHELSEA

W
ER
LE

3
MILTON

TO

32
STOKE

EST
T VA
H

0
36
LD
NORT

NCH

IE
POR

SF

TY
S
2

MA

ER

CI
2.05 2.04 2.03 2.02 1.99 1.97 1.97 1.93 1.91 1.9 1.88 1.86 1.83 1.83 1.83 1.82 1.8

UR
Dirty Score 1.8 1.8 1.8 35 2

DD

H
1.79 36

SP

N
IC
1.79 GH

W
HU

RW
1.77 OU

TO
NO
1.77 BR

IL
N
ES

OV
15

11
W
16

16
1.76
16
DL TO 30
17

YE
18
18

19
ID
19

19
N

13
1.76
21

M DO 33
8

23
23

19
IN

22
24

24
M S

24
1.74
25

RO ER

17

13
SW R
1.73 TB DE
ES N
30

30

W WA
1.72 N 307
TO

22
B OL
24 18 11 1.71 361
R
QP N
1.7 OW
MS BY T
RI 345
How we worked out the Dirty Score: 21 1.68 G
22 AG E
13 EVEN
NUMBER OF 1.68 ST 298
= 1 POINT = 2 POINTS ÷ GAMES PLAYED 1.75 = DIRTY SCORE R UTD
21 C HESTE
1.68 MAN
11
338
1.68 BLACKPOOL

WHO’S THE
24
1.68 ACCRINGTON 332
27

20 1.67 WYCOMBE 345

15 1.67 BRENTFORD 355

221 WALSALL 1.09 15

DIRTIEST TEAM
20 1.67 GILLINGHAM 344
238 CREWE 1.13 11
17 1.66 LEYTON ORIENT 348
244 EXETER CITY 1.13 8
26 1.66 NEWPORT COUNTY 329
243 CAMBRIDGE 1.16 12
26 1.65 PETERBOROUGH UTD 327

In THE LAnD?
298 IPSWICH TOWN 1.38 10
26 1.64 SOUTHEND UNITED 325
258 LEICESTER 1.39 20
15 1.62 FULHAM 303
294 BRISTOL CITY 1.39 13
14 1.62 LIVERPOOL 279
282 SHREWSBURY 1.43 23
17 1.61 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 337
1.43 22
286 BURTON ALBION 23 1.61 OLDHAM ATHLETIC 324
24
RD CITY
1.43 FFT investigates the total number of cards 18
ADFO 1.6 BARNSLEY
281 BR
WN
1.43 7 amassed by each club in league matches 13
333
AM TO 17 1.59 EVE
316 CH
ELT E N H
D 1.44 over the past five seasons 15
RTO N
277
U T 11 1.59 BIR
OOL MIN
TLEP 1.46 17 18 GHAM
HAR Y 23
1.59 B
CITY
298 Y C I T RISTO
335
R 13
ENT 1.47 22 L ROV
ERS
COV D ON 15 22 12 1.58 C
RAW 330
L E 1.47
314 I MB A 1.57
LEY
TOW
CW SE 20 N
24

1.48 10 HU
17

AF AN LL 318
24

304 SW ON 1.48
1.57
PO
14

T
MP 1.56 RTS
14

3
25 HA
22

TH LU MO
24

1.5
25

UT OU 1.56 TO UT 313
12

O
21

S H
19
19

M N
13

1.51
RY

3 E SC
18

26 N 1.56 UN T O
BU

UR
12
10

1.51 W
16
RS

O 1.56 TH N 31
RO

B 7
VE

OR
12

1.51
TH
S

1.56
Design Richard Scott Research Alex Lucas
RO

PE
E

1.52
RE

9
ER
LV

30 1.56 U 31
D
ER

1.52
H

TD 5
SH

1.55
WO

IEL

DI

AM
Y

1.52
ST

1.53 1.53 1.54 1.54 1.55 1.55 1.55

NLE

CRY

EFF

NG
A

ERF

UT
BAR

31
2

Y
NC
31

UNT

ARSE

9
LTON

D
I
BUR

STA
UNITED

ROCHD

ELD
DO

EST

CARDIFF CITY
UNITED

COLCHEST
MORECAMBE

NET

31
O

L PA
9

NAL
CH
31

UT
BY C

CHAR

0
D
7

LAC
A
30

OXFORD
DER

LE

32
304 CARLISLE
300

2
ER UTD
317

297
257

332
313
331

312

307
315

312

318

324

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 23

 UPFROnT

INTERVIEW

Meet the teenage st

the brightest young
talent around right

You’re only 19 years old, but y

become one of Brazil’s bigges
How has it happened?
Yes, things have happened very
I’ve been a professional footbal
16 years old, imagine that... I di
many opportunities in the Sant
in my first year, but when the c
I proved myself with good perf
After my first goal for Santos, p
paying more attention to my q
confident and happy to be esta

Are you a fan of your ‘Gabigol

Of course I like it! It’s not bad f
to have ‘gol’ in their name, is it?
from the youth teams, when I
futsal. There were several Gabri
and people needed to identify
I was the one scoring goals, so
I used it straight away on my s

Who’s your biggest idol in foo

I’m a big fan of Cristiano Ronal
up, he’s always trying to help hi
scores a couple of goals every
Interview Felipe Rocha

You’ve been called ‘the new N

English media in England. Is t
I appreciate that – it’s a great c
there are no comparisons between us at all. He’s

3 CAREER
HIGHLIGHTS
Santos debut
Gabigol makes his league debut
for Santos at only 16 years old in
May 2013 – although there’s no
debut goal, as the match with
Flamengo finishes 0-0.
Cup star
Santos fall just short of lifting the
Copa do Brasil in 2015, beaten on
penalties in the final. But Barbosa’s
goal in a 1-0 first-leg victory is his
eighth of the competition.
Copa America call-up
Gabigol gets his first call-up to the
senior team for the Copa America
Centenario. He scores on his debut
for the Selecao in a warm-up
friendly against Panama.

24 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com

 UPFROnT
1,026
GOALS SCORED The Premier League’s 20
clubs combined to hit more than 1,000 goals
last term, up from 975 in the previous season

an established player in Europe – the

best footballer in the world in my
opinion. But I’m trying to write my
own story. Hopefully I can achieve
something near to what Neymar’s
done. That’s my dream, I must say.

You’re in Brazil’s squad for the

Olympics. Are you looking forward
to playing alongside Neymar there?
Yes. I didn’t have the pleasure of
playing with Neymar in Santos.
Actually, I did for about 20 minutes
– my debut for Santos was his
farewell match. It will be a great
honour to play beside him.

What would winning an Olympic

gold medal mean to you?
It’s a huge thing in Brazil, no doubt,
because it’s the only trophy that
Brazilian football is still missing from
our cabinet. People dream of winning
the gold medal in football, especially
because we are playing on home
soil. I couldn’t be happier, being part
of the Selecao squad, and it’s one of
my personal dreams to become
Olympic champion.

Is it true that you rejected a big

offer from China earlier this year?
I did receive a good offer from GREAT
GOALS
Chinese football, but I decided it was
not the time for it. There’s no doubt
the best leagues are in Europe. The
level in Europe is very high and I like
to watch all of the European leagues.
Shaun Bartlett RETOLD
vs Leicester City, Premier League, 2001
What do you think of the

BFDS
Premier League?
It has its own pace and power, which
is beautiful to see. I love the league. Remember that time Thierry Henry flicked the “At that time I was still playing for a contract at

GFNSN
In the past people said that the
English teams didn’t play attractive
ball up and volleyed it into the top corner
against Manchester United? Yes? So that
Charlton,” Bartlett tells FFT. “Scoring two against
Manchester United on my debut and then that

NGFD
football, but it’s not true these days.
I’m sure I would adapt to the Premier
won Goal of the Season, right? Wrong.
No, the 2000-01 BBC Goal of the Season was
goal pretty much secured me that three-year
contract! To be honest, I didn’t think much about

!MIH T
League without a problem. scored by South African striker Shaun Bartlett for the BBC Goal of the Season nomination until
Charlton Athletic against Leicester. It must have I saw the names I was up against. I beat some
What do you think of Brazil’s new been some goal to top Henry, so it’s no surprise big players and that was when it really hit home.
manager, Tite? You made your that Bartlett remembers it well. “Seven times out of 10, that shot would hit
first tournament appearance at “The moment I hit the ball and it stayed somebody in the stand, but the connection
Copa America – are you confident low, I knew that something was going to was great. It’s amazing that 15 years later
of being part of the squad for happen,” he says. “I could tell.” we’re still talking about it.”
the 2018 World Cup, too? After escaping his marker and running His team-mates, however, were not so
Tite has done a brilliant job at club behind the defence, Bartlett allowed convinced by their 28-year-old loanee.
Words Joe Crann; Illustration German Aczel

level and deserves this opportunity. Graham Stuart’s long diagonal ball to “They kept asking for pictures to see
I’m working hard to be part of his drop over his shoulder before if my eyes were actually open
squad. Brazil might not be in our smashing home a beautiful or not,” Bartlett laughs.
best moment – we all know that – left-footed volley from the “Even the manager
but I’m looking forward to being part corner of the penalty area. himself couldn’t believe
of this new stage of the Selecao. The goal persuaded the the strike. I think he was
It’s one of my dreams to help Brazil Addicks to shell out £2m actually more ecstatic
to qualify for the World Cup and and turn his loan move than me! Nobody
then have the chance to go to from FC Zurich into could believe that
Russia and play for my country in a permanent deal. I’d pulled it off.”
the biggest event on Earth.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 25

 UPFROnT
UPFROnT O £4.4m
O £30m
RISING STAR Villarreal bought Eric Bailly
from Espanyol for £4.4m in 2015, and sold him
> < to Manchester United for £30m this summer

OnE QUESTIOn QUIZ Name the European

clubs based on the gongs

WHOSE TROPHY HAUL?

they’ve accumulated
during their long and

X-FACTOR
illustrious histories

FOOTBALL
Ever sat at home
playing Football
Manager and
1 18 5 7 3 3
thought you’ve got League European Cups or Primary UEFA Cups or UEFA
what it takes in real titles Champions Leagues domestic cups Europa Leagues Super Cups
life? Well, thanks to
United London FC,
you finally have
a chance to prove it.

2
As the world’s
first manager-less
football club, the
Essex Alliance side
are looking for
armchair Mourinhos 18 5 7 5 2
to lead them to League Primary European Cups or UEFA UEFA Cup
success by voting on titles domestic cups Champions Leagues Super Cups Winners’ Cups
team selection
online, based on
match highlights
and player stats.

3
“The Eureka
Moment came while
I was watching
X- Factor,” chairman
Mark North tells FFT,
which would no 26 18 5 1 1 1
doubt have Simon League Primary European Cups or UEFA Cups or UEFA UEFA Cup
Cowell bristling with titles domestic cups Champions Leagues Europa Leagues Super Cups Winners’ Cups

Illustrations Alan Eldridge Answers 1) Liverpool; 2) Milan; 3) Bayern Munich; 4) Real Madrid; 5) Ajax
pride. "The plan is to
build a membership
of thousands. We
hope to do what

4
AFC Wimbledon have
done and go through
the leagues."
If things do go
wrong, though, FFT
doesn’t envy the HR 32 19 2 11 2
team having to issue League Primary UEFA Cups or European Cups or UEFA
all those P45s. domestic cups Europa Leagues Super Cups
Words Chris Evans

titles Champions Leagues

To sign up for
membership, visit
unitedlondonfc.com

5 33 18 1 2 1 4
League Primary UEFA Cups or UEFA UEFA Cups or European Cups or
titles domestic cups Europa Leagues Super Cups Winners’ Cups Champions Leagues

26 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTw
FourFourTwo.com
wo.com
 UPFROnT

BIZARRE
TOILET
FIASCO" SCOUTING REPORT

Samuel Umtiti
It’s become the CLUB Barcelona
most controversial
lavatory in football
since Robbie Savage VALUE
dropped an
unwelcome gift
into Graham Poll’s
TECHNICAL MENTAL PHYSICAL
private Filbert £21m
Street boudoir.
When Rochdale
Town were relegated
this summer due to A ball-playing centre back A calming influence at At under 6ft he’s pretty
a “bizarre toilet FOOT who reads the game well. the back. A quiet and small for a centre-back.
fiasco”, it looked like Confident and assured in understated leader but Has a decent leap and
a headline writer’s possession. Over the past naturally commands times his jumps well, but
dream. But one man three seasons with Lyon, respect from those around can struggle in the air
not laughing is L he has broadened his him. Often captained Lyon against taller opponents.
Angels chairman distribution skills and now in the youth ranks and has Powerfully built, he is quick
Mark Canning, angry boasts an excellent range skippered the side in over short distances and
that the club failed of passing. Plays good Ligue 1 as well. He rarely a sharp, clean tackler. He
an FA grading HEIGHT crossfield balls and clever loses temper with officials. relies on good positioning
because there were balls through the lines, Focus and concentration and smart anticipation
no toilets in the and also chooses the have improved skills to shut out attackers
dressing room. right moments to carry considerably in past two rather than using raw
“The toilet is two 1.81m the ball into midfield. Has seasons, meaning he now strength. His general
feet away from the scored only five goals makes fewer unforced athleticism allowed him to
dressing room,” during his club career so errors in defensive play at left-back for a spell
Canning fumes. far, but one of them was positions. Showed no signs at the start of his career
“It’s never been a technically excellent of being fazed by the step with Lyon, although he
any trouble. NATION half-volley against Spurs up to the senior soon established himself
It's ridiculous. in the Europa League at international stage at Euro as a central defender and
"There have been White Hart Lane. Much 2016, making his France will be expected to play
some issues between more confident on his left debut in the quarter-final in that position for
myself and two FRA foot than right foot, and keeping his place for Barcelona, who bought
members of the which is a weakness. the semi-final and final. him last month.
North West Counties
Committee, and the
club has been hit on AGE MANAGER’S NOTES:
a technicality.”
Rochdale Town aim
to fare well on the
field this season and
apply for promotion.
22
Guys, just make sure
you’re well stocked
Words Nick Moore; Scouting Report words James Eastham

up on Toilet Duck
when the inspectors
turn up.

WOULD nOR W I C H M E E R K A T I n A D R E S S I n G G O W n
There’s nothing that says Norwich City FC quite like a meerkat

YOU BUY
in a dressing gown. The native animal of Norwich, meerkats
have been surveying the deserts of Norfolk for centuries but
do need a dressing gown when it gets a bit nippy at night.

THIS?
Luckily, this one has the Norwich logo on it, although the meerkat
does look like it has just been told about last season’s relegation.
Available for ‘just’ £13

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 29

UPFROnT
ASK A SILLY QUESTIOn
PAUL ‘InCY WInCY’ InCE
He may be the self-styled Guv’nor, but the former England enforcer is scared of arachnids
Hi Paul. You share a name with the
planet’s most famous spider, Incy
Wincy. Are you an admirer of the
plucky arachnid?
Hi mate. I’m absolutely terrified of
spiders! Recently I was lying in bed, it
was about one in the morning, and
I saw a spider out of the corner of my
eye go up the bed. My wife was asleep,
and I just leapt up. Could I find the
bloody thing? Could I hell. I ended up
lifting up the mattress in a panic looking
for it, and my wife rolled out the other
side onto the floor.
That’s not very Guv’nor-like
behaviour, Paul.
I couldn’t help it. I had to explain to her
that I couldn’t sleep with a spider at
large in the room.
Do you not admire Incy Wincy’s
spirit, though? Climbing back up
that water spout, even though he’d
already been washed out of it once?
Fair play to Incy Wincy, but I’d be the
one washing him down the spout again.
You can’t get rid of the Incys.
Would you get into a bath full of
tarantulas for a free Range Rover?
Absolutely not. No amount of money
could get me into that bath.
No deal, then. You have one of the
shortest names in football. Does it
give you satisfaction when you’re
filling in forms, knowing you’re not
wasting any time?
I suppose it does. Paul Ince – it’s nice
and easy. Imagine being Andrei
Kanchelskis – you’d be fuming. It’s
handy for autographs, because there
are far fewer letters to write. You can
get a lot done quickly, and people can
understand your signature.
Paul Ince is an anagram of “I clean
up”. Are you a tidy man?
My wife would beg to differ, but yes. I’m
pretty neat, clean and tidy. If there are
things to be cleaned up I’ll do it.
“I’M PRETTY NEAT AND TIDY.
IF THERE ARE THINGS TO BE
CLEANED UP, I’LL DO IT”
30 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com
Interview Nick Moore Illustration Bill McConkey
What’s your favourite cleaning
utensil? The pan scrub?
My golf clubs… because when I play,
I always clean up.
You share a birthday with Geoffrey
Boycott and Benjamin Netanyahu, the
Prime Minister of Israel. Which of
them would you rather have a joint
birthday party with at TFI Fridays?
Let’s rephrase that. They share
a birthday with me! I’m not a big cricket
fan, though. When Boycott was playing
those Test matches seemed to go on
forever. Let’s go for Benjamin and have
a bit of a political chat.
Promo time: you’re doing some
frankly remarkable acting as The
Godfather in a new Carling advert
with Jimmy Bullard. How was that?
I was a bit nervous with 40-odd people
watching me, it has to be said. I’m not
an actor, I was out of my comfort zone.
It’s not going to win any Oscars, but the
script was fun, and Jimmy’s one of
those guys who’s funny without
actually being funny. It took us nine
hours to film, and it turned out OK.
Would you have made a decent mafia
enforcer in real life?
I’d have done all right. For those nine
hours, I immersed myself, and thought:
“I could do this job”.
Finally, when we interviewed Bullard
for this, he told us that he’d love to
command a “massive bear army.”
What animal battalion would you
most like to rule?
Ants. They work together as a team,
and can take out anything in the jungle.
Good logic. Thanks for chatting, Guv!
Paul Ince has teamed up with Carling
to celebrate Carling’s Pay Per Inch
promotion, giving you the chance to win
a brand new TV for the price of its screen
size. Visit www.payperinchTV.com or
check out #GameOfInches.
 BULLOCKS Confusing times at Red Bull Salzburg,
where a player accidentally took to the field during
UPFROnT
a match wearing the kit of sister club Red Bull Leipzig

IF YOU’RE
FAn GOInG TO
VS
READ OnE
PLAYER THInG...
PLYMOUTH
ARGYLE

Andy Chapman
Service delivery
manager, 42 And The Sun
Gary Sawyer Shines Now
Club captain, 31 Adrian Tempany
Faber & Faber, £14.99
Q: Which former OOOOO
Plymouth player
appeared at the 2010 Twenty minutes
World Cup? before the start of
AC: Rory Fallon  the FA Cup semi final
GS: Rory Fallon.  between Liverpool
and Nottingham
1-1 Forest on April 15,

RAnDOM CLUB PROFILE

1989, Adrian
Q: Who is Plymouth’s Tempany took his
all-time record place in Pen Three at
appearance maker? the Leppings Lane

NAC BREDA
AC: It’s Kevin Hodges.  End, and watched as
GS: Kevin Hodges.  the unimaginable
horror of the
2-2 Hillsborough disaster
unfolded. His
Q: In what year did
Meet the Dutch club with one of the weirdest names in football, description of events
Plymouth reach the which may or may not include something about headbutting a door is harrowing.
semi-finals of the Tempany also turns

A
FA Cup? cronyms are for wimps. Think you know all
AC: Can’t believe Watford about Dutch football? Go on then, what
beat us! It was 1984.  does the NAC actually stand for in NAC
GS: It was 1984, Breda? What’s that? You don’t know? Let
100 per cent.  FourFourTwo explain, and listen very carefully.
The second division side were formed in 1912
for its entertainment and useful for its relaxation’. How his attention to how,
quaint. When the two clubs merged, they became NAC, in the wake of the
or ‘Nooit opgeven altijd doorzetten, Aangenaam door Taylor Report that
vermaak en nuttig door ontspanning, Combinatie’, to followed the
give them their full name. All very well, until they Hillsborough disaster,
realised in 2003 that none of the 12 words in their the era of the
Fan vs Player words Richard Edwards Review words Jon Spurling

3-3 as part of a merger between NOAD and ADVENDO. name actually explained where they were from, so all-seater stadium
NOAD stood for Nooit Opgeven, Altijd Doorzetten they stuck Breda on the end – taking their name to an TV money caused
Q: Since 1992, how (‘never give up, always persevere’), while ADVENDO impressive 86 characters. And if all that wasn’t enough, a growing disconnect
many former England was an abbreviation of Aangenaam Door Vermaak En their stadium is named after a Rat (former NAC star Rat between clubs and
players have managed Nutti Door Ontspanning. Verlegh) and they used to be managed by Ben Affleck. their increasingly
the club? Sadly that’s not something about OK, it was an Englishman, not the Hollywood actor, disenfranchised
AC: Peter Shilton, Paul nutting a door – it means ‘pleasant but that’s still pretty box-office. fan bases.
Mariner and Peter Reid. The post-1989
If you count caretakers football landscape
it’s four as we had was shaped by that
Russell Osman. 
“THEIR STADIUM IS NAMED AFTER
fateful afternoon at
GS: Two? Paul Mariner Hillsborough – it
and Peter Reid? 
A RAT AND THEY USED TO BE
was the ultimate
game-changer.
4-3
Fan wins MANAGED BY BEN AFFLECK” It’s a powerful and
poignant book.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 31

 UPFROnT
UPFROnT
> <
THE
MOnEY In FOOTBALL
TALKInG
POInT
Rory Smith is the Football
Supporters’ Federation writer
of the year. In his first column
for FourFourTwo, he talks cash
taking over the Premier League
O
n the day Iceland condemned England to the greatest humiliation in
their footballing history, Sadio Mane was on his way to Merseyside.
Liverpool and Southampton had shaken hands on a £34 million fee.
The Premier League had received the reams upon reams of paperwork
that are required for a transfer. His wages had been agreed. All that
remained now was for the player himself to sign on the dotted line and
become the most expensive African footballer in history.
Even by the eye-watering standards of English football, this has been an
extravagant summer. The Premier League has been locked in an inflationary
Illustrations David Mahoney, Nate Kitch
spending spiral for 20 years, but the new television deal, and its windfall worth
£5.134 billion over three years, has had a nitroglycerin effect on prices.
All of us – fans, journalists, players, managers, agents, executives – have had
to readjust what we think of as ‘value’ almost overnight. Mane might have cost
a lot, but the Senegalese attacking midfielder isn’t the most expensive player to
move over the past few weeks. Nor is he the most overpriced – not by any means.
The transfer window hadn’t even opened when Manchester United agreed to
pay Villarreal £30m for Eric Bailly, a 22-year-old with just 52 senior club games
to his name. A few days after Mane’s arrival at Anfield, Crystal Palace opened
the bidding for Christian Benteke, his new Anfield team-mate, at £25m.
32 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
CROWD SCENE In total, 16 of the Bundesliga’s 18
clubs had an average gate of more than 27,000 last
season, compared to 14 of 20 in the Premier League
LAST SEASON THE PREMIER
LEAGUE GLIMPSED A MORE
COMPELLING FUTURE – AND
CHOSE TO TURN ITS BACK
The bi-annual horse-trading of the transfer
market is one of football’s great pleasures.
By some metrics, it may well be more popular
now than the actual business of kicking a ball
around a pitch. It is speculation over the latest
moves which sells newspapers, drives traffic
to websites, fuels radio phone-ins and attracts
followers on Twitter. It has meant that transfer
deadline day, with its yellow tickers and novelty
ties, has become a more significant occasion on
the calendar than the FA Cup final.
It is very easy to sneer at the fixation, this
fetishisation of acquisition, but at its root is
something almost romantic. Transfers are the
fan experience distilled into its purest essence.
They represent hope. Hope that one move could
transform your team from useless also-rans
into title contenders; hope that the exotic new
signing of whom you know absolutely nothing
could be the one player that actually makes all
the difference; hope that you might even, as
you do with your heroes, fall in love.
And yet, as the Premier League has spent the
past two months gorging itself on its new-found
wealth, there has been a creeping sense of
unease. Not at the amounts of money spent,
though perhaps there should be. No, for all
that we are told this is English football’s age
of excess, when the game is now so infused with cash that nothing can go wrong
again, it would be foolish to forget where that money comes from: you and me.
All of those millions that your club is spending can be traced back to you: the
tickets you buy, the shirt you own and, most of all, the television subscription
you pay for. It is your data that is shared with sponsors to sell you the products
that you own. It is your spending money, steered towards advertisers.
The sums are more staggering and the method much more complex than in the
days when a team’s finances amounted to little more than its gate receipts, but the
principle is the same. With only a handful of exceptions, a club exists on the money
it extracts from you, in countless different ways. It has a duty to spend it sensibly.
More worrying still, though, is the feeling that the lessons of last season simply
have not been learned; that the Premier League glimpsed a different, more
compelling future and chose to turn its back.
What did last season teach us? In Leicester City’s remarkable title triumph, in
Tottenham’s pulse-quickening challenge, it taught us that football is more than just
a weighing of chequebooks; that lavish spending is not a pre-requisite for success;
that there are certain things that money cannot buy; that a smart gameplan,
a committed set of players and an indomitable spirit can conquer worlds.
In case we missed the hint, Euro 2016 offered plenty of supporting evidence.
Iceland may have a population lower than that of Croydon and their team may
be drawn largely from some of Europe’s less appreciated leagues, but still they
held eventual winners Portugal, still they beat Austria, still they overcame England.
They made the quarter-finals; Wales, no less astonishingly, made the semi-finals.
Might, these teams showed us, does not always make right.
The day that Mane signed for Liverpool, England was still nursing its headache
having been embarrassed by Iceland, the smallest nation ever to qualify for
a major international tournament. It should have been a thunderclap to the game
– a reminder that, as Leicester showed us last term, the wallet is not the only way.
Amid the rustle of notes and the clatter of coins, though, the lesson was lost.
 WIN Star letter & Spine
Line prizes courtesy of
UPFROnT

@FOURFOURTWO
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TWEETS
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LETTER to the Queen. I was tasered

as I scaled the gates. Rude.
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After England's poor Nice experience today in
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Introducing my friend Chago!
made the point that big
clubs aren’t doing enough HURRICANE IN GIBRALTAR play until the very last second to avoid
Your article on the Gibraltar Premier relegation. There’s a need for a second
to produce young players, Division [FFT 265] brought back good tier in the US. Relegation and promotion
meaning many of the memories for me. I lived in Gibraltar in would make MLS much more than just
the late ’80s and early ’90s and enjoyed a retirement league for David Beckham,
squad are from academies playing in the Gib League. Before the Stevie G [above] and Frank Lampard.
outside of the elite teams. astroturf was laid at the Victoria Brandon Hofman, Danville, California
Stadium we played on a hard-baked
Introducing Under-21 gravel surface, and I still have the scars. REPLACE SHOOTOUTS
teams to lower divisions Lots of visiting teams were invited to WITH SHOT COUNTS
Gibraltar. A highlight was Brazil Veterans With regards to the recent letter @alexiwobi
might aid Premier League against GB Veterans. As a Manchester [FFT 264] from ‘Pele-Lucio’ about Great shoot & interview with
youngsters and help City supporter it was great to get so penalty shootouts before knockout @FourFourTwo today!
close to Colin Bell, Peter Barnes and games, in case the match finishes in
England, but it would kill Dennis Tueart, plus Frank Worthington a draw: I think that’s one of the worst @JackHdixon
the Football League. and Martin Peters. Brazil had 1970 ideas I’ve ever heard. The shootout Just as I finish the article
World Cup winner Jairzinho, too. winner will simply shut up shop. in @FourFourTwo about
As a Sheffield United Geoff Jasinski, Hastings Why not make the team who had Gibraltar, Lincoln Red Imps
fan, I’m happy to suffer the most shots during normal time beat Celtic #FunnyOldGame

misery with England if MLS NEEDS RELEGATION
Towards the end of every MLS season,
it means the Football the bottom teams seem not to care
about their results because they know
League is still flourishing. they can’t make the play-offs. In the
Sam Rodgers, Whitby Premier League, by contrast, teams
the winners? If that’s also tied, then
the team with the most efforts on
target goes through. It’d encourage
attacking football and a lot more
shooting from outside the box.
Robert Bartrum, Suffolk
@Yokhin
Jhonnattann – that’s the
name of Valletta’s striker.
Must be best in the wworrlldd.

WHAT’S
On YOUR
MInD THIS
MOnTH PUNDITS
Ex-pros-turned-pundits
do my head in. Why
EXTRA OFFICIALS
Can we get rid of the
assistant referees behind
RUSSELL BRAND
Instead of yet another
cliché manager, England
UNFAIR CRITICISM
England’s players will
get abuse this season,
COMMENTATORS
‘Only say something if
it needs to be said,’ was
are people like Robbie the goal? Why not just should hire a celeb with but don’t give them too Richie Benaud’s policy.
Savage on my screen employ four linesmen, inspirational qualities. much of a hard time, as Football commentators
talking utter nonsense? with two in each half? Russell Brand, maybe? they can win something. should take note of that.
Patrick Moore Alex Lewis Dave Hampson Daniel Eddies-Davies Jonathan Earle

LAST MONTH’S SPINE LINE: ‘London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Sunderland’ refers to the English cities that hosted matches
4 at the 1966 World Cup. Congratulations to @siggymcfc: you win a pair of performance-enhancing Trusox. Entering via Twitter this month? Include #FFTSpineLine
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81 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn
 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn 81

THInGS Bring it o

WE WAnT
n,
Jose!

FROM THE
nEW SEASOn
Twelve months ago, all we asked for was a season better than the turgid campaign before it.
Our prayer came true – and how. So, after an unforgettable 2015-16, we’ll be more ambitious.
From Pep and Jose to young stars and mad mascots, here’s the FourFourTwo 2016-17 wish list
81 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn
01 A TACT
There has never before been such a gathe
of managerial talent in English football –
perhaps never before in any country. An
extraordinary sequence of events means
that managerial giants Pep Guardola,
Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte are new
appointments at top clubs, just as Liverpo
Jurgen Klopp is set to start his first full
campaign in the country. That quartet bo
a combined 19 top-flight league titles.
That figure swells to 23 once you chuck
Everton’s Ronald Koeman and Southamp
Claude Puel, and includes Premier League
Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1,
Eredivisie and Primeira Liga titles. Europe
greatest managers are gathering togethe
the Premier League – and this doesn’t inc
those in their current jobs at the start of l
season: Mauricio Pochettino, Arsene Wen
oh, and the reigning Premier League
champion, Claudio Ranieri.
It’s such a fascinating situation, not me
because of their tremendous reputations,
but because of the huge differences in their
tactical approaches. Guardiola preaches
possession football with plenty of cohesive
movement in the final third. Wenger and Puel,
also footballing romantics, share that
philosophy and will be determined for their
sides to dominate whenever possible.
Then there are managers primarily
concerned with pressing. Pochettino’s
Tottenham side rightly received plaudits
for how quickly they recovered possession
last season, an approach that his successor
at Southampton, Ronald Koeman, will take
to the Everton job. Klopp is concerned
with pressing in a different manner:
counter-pressing, winning the ball
immediately after it’s been lost, rather than
closing down relentlessly, high up the pitch.
Some coaches, though, want to play on the
break. Mourinho will have to play relatively
attacking football at Manchester United, but
he doesn’t care about his team dominating
possession for the sake of it. Expect quick
transitions from defence to attack.
Ranieri, meanwhile, has re-written the
counter-attacking rulebook.
Antonio Conte remains arguably the biggest
mystery. He preaches the importance of
attacking football and his Juventus side
recorded extremely high pass completion
rates, but he’s also determined to protect
his defence keenly, and at Euro 2016 his
Italy side played primarily on the break.
The fun doesn’t stop in the top half, with
fellow heavyweights Walter Mazzarri at
Watford and Francesco Guidolin at Swansea.
With so many talented coaches from
across Europe, the Premier League will
become more tactical and more varied
stylistically than ever before.
38 February
September2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
05 ALEX IWOBI TO MAKE
An IMPACT FOR ARSEnAL
"The first shirt I ever owned? A Bolton
Wanderers shirt with my uncle's name
on the back. I wanted my hair like
Ivan Campo’s at one point, but my
mum told me to calm down!"
Arsenal ace Alex Iwobi knows he has
plenty to live up to as he follows in the
footsteps of his legendary uncle Jay-Jay
Okocha, but he's made a pretty good
start. He beams as he talks to FFT; you can
sense his genuine sense of joy at breaking
into the Gunners’ first team last term. Born
in Nigeria, Iwobi moved to London at eight
months old and spent his childhood trying
to emulate Okocha’s tricks in his garden.
“One flick he taught me took a month
to learn,” the 20-year-old laughs. “But
when I did it in a junior match I thought:
'Wow, I can do it!' I’ve always looked at
him as a role model, and he’s always told
me to express myself. I signed for Arsenal
when I was nine, and I remember smiling
so much that day. It’s always been an
02 REFS nOT BEInG
honour to represent Arsenal.”
That honour was almost short-lived,
though, as confidence issues threatened
CEnTRE OF ATTEnTIOn
Iwobi’s time at the club.
“It hasn’t always been a smooth ride,”
he admits. “I was always the one in the
shadows. Sometimes I didn’t really stand up
Incredible as it may sound, football fans for myself, and there were times when I was
told I wasn’t good enough. At 13 or 14 there
attend matches to watch 22 men kick were question marks about whether I was
a ball around for 90 minutes. Seldom do going to stay on, and that was very scary.
they do so with the intention of watching I made sure it never happened again.”
Iwobi’s development in recent times has
the bloke charged with maintaining order.
taken even him by surprise. Expecting to
Not that you’d notice, with the amount of go out on loan last season, he was
chest-out peacock strutting that a handful fast-tracked into the first team instead,
of officials bring to the party, along with and after fleeting appearances, was
summoned to start in the Champions
schoolmaster looks. Mark Clattenburg and League against Barcelona at the Camp Nou
Mike Dean, we’re looking primarily at you. in March. A run in the team followed, his
first two league starts
each marked by a goal.
04
“When I found out
03 RAVEL a TIGHTEnInG OF THE FIT I was playing against
Barcelona I had to keep
MORRISOn TO AnD PROPER PERSOn TEST it secret and I don’t
know how I did –
GET A GAME
Just ask any Blackpool or Leeds fan: questionable I wanted to tell
owners still find it rather easy to own football clubs. everyone!” Iwobi says.
Leeds supremo Massimo Cellino – who has gone “The feelings were
FFT were surprised when through six managers in two years – had two prior crazy. When I’m
Ravel Morrison’s first year in criminal convictions before arriving in Yorkshire. playing I can't hear all
Italy didn’t net him Serie A A subsequent ban on owning the club was only the noise, but before
Player of the Year: a troubled lifted when he won an appeal against tax evasion the game everyone was
British talent joining Lazio in Italy because the felony was effectively singing: ‘Messi, Messi’,
usually goes brilliantly. He decriminalised. The Oyston family at Blackpool, ‘Neymar, Neymar’.
has played three games. It meanwhile, have never been popular among the Playing against Dani
seems Fergie may have been Seasiders’ support. The Football League’s fit and Alves was a lesson
right all along. Who knew?! proper person test is only leaving fans defenceless. for me: he’s such

a great right-back. At the end I was on
the bench, and I tried to rush on and swap
shirts but they’d all been grabbed!
“I thought I did OK in the game, so my
confidence was high after that. Getting two
goals in the next two games made me so
happy. When I scored the first one at Everton,
everything from the past flashed through
my mind – everything that had happened
to get to where I was.”
Iwobi remains down to Earth – his former
youth coach, Thierry Henry, recently said the
THInGS WE
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Nigerian international’s attitude is the
perfect example for any youngster – but
he admits life has started to change a little.
“I’ve started to get recognised in the last
three months,” admits a player who has 21
appearances to his name. “It’s a bit mad if
I go to the shop for a Ribena and people are
saying: ‘Oh, it’s Iwobi!’ But it's nice.”
The task now? To play regularly.
“I’m trying to keep my spot in the team,”
he says. “There will be more expectations
now, so I have to exceed them.”
"SOMETIMES I DIDN'T
STAND UP FOR MYSELF.
THERE WERE TIMES
WHEN I WAS TOLD
I WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH"
Portrait Richard Cannon
81 THInGS WE
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06 THE GREATEST EVER 09 BATSHUAYI TO BE MORE

DROGBA AND LESS REMY

CHAMPIOnSHIP SEASOn
You’ll probably know the statistics by now.
The Championship gets the fourth-highest
attendances of any league in Europe, ahead
of Serie A (although having 172 more games
helps). It’s official: Burton vs Rotherham is
bigger than Juventus vs Milan.
But there are many good reasons for the
popularity of England’s second tier, and
the coming season provides a few more.
First there’s Newcastle, with Rafa Benitez
‘Mr Ostrich’ Pearson could be the man to get
the best out of what is already a fine squad.
Beyond that, who knows? Will Brighton and
Sheffield Wednesday build on surprise runs
to the play-offs? Will Mick McCarthy stitch
together another promotion-hunting Ipswich
side from buttons and lint? And what can we
expect from Roberto Di Matteo at Aston Villa:
an immediate return to the big time, or mere
consolidation? Or – God forbid – worse?
A fee of £33 million no longer guarantees you
a starting spot in a Premier League side, but
Michy Batshuayi’s reputation as a super-sub
means that doesn’t really matter.
Chelsea’s summer signing, snatched from
the grasps of London rivals Spurs and Crystal
Palace, has shone off the bench and that will
make him an asset in his first English season.
Batshuayi will challenge for a first-team place
but new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte can
rotate the Belgian striker in and out, knowing
he’s capable of making an impact at any time.

10 EnGL
and their weighty resources attracting some The stakes seem to be even higher in
very decent players. In theory, they’re the the Championship this time around; the
clearest favourites to win the title since desperation for promotion intensified.

WOMEn
the last time they were at this level, but it’s You’ll get your money’s worth off the field,
perilous to have theories in the Championship, too: owners such as Massimo Cellino at Leeds
and it will be compelling to observe how they and Fawaz Al-Hasawi at Nottingham Forest

adapt to a new environment. Their pulling
power means another calibre of player will be
in the division this season: Matt Ritchie and
Dwight Gayle could have stayed in the Premier
League, but chose to slum it at St James’ Park.
Norwich also look capable of bouncing
straight back, while big-spending Derby have
OUTDO T
are usually only a week away from a wig out.
And if that’s not enough intrigue for you,
elsewhere in the division there’s a clutch of
up-and-coming English coaches and a pair
of Dutch playing greats at different stages
of their managerial careers, in QPR’s Jimmy As the similarly
Floyd Hasselbaink and Reading’s Jaap Stam.
world of politics

07
finally appointed a manager with a convincing All in all, this could be the Championship’s
record of success in the Football League. Nigel most entertaining season yet. us all over the p
months, while m
stabbing themse
ETICO TO BREAK THE SPAnISH DUOPOLY back, it’s the ide
t Diego Simeone has done, not just for Los Colchoneros but for Spanish
for a steely-eyed
all, cannot be underestimated. When the former Atletico midfielder to stride into th
d at the Vicente Calderon two days before Christmas in 2011, the club
ust lost to third-tier Albacete in the Copa del Rey and La Liga was in Step forward, t
er of descending into the Old Firm duopoly that has frequently ruled women’s footba
ish football. Atleti have since won five trophies (including La Liga
14) and reached two of the previous three Champions League finals. who go into Eur
hey maintain it? In Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Koke,
have the players to go along with a manager who lives for the fight.
safe in the know
they’re already w
popular than th

08 STEVE BRUCE TO FInALLY

GET SOME CREDIT
Steve Bruce isn’t the most fashionable boss,
but few English managers get the job done
Having united t
with their third-
at last year’s W
Canada, they he
so effectively. A second promotion with Hull
means that his past four seasons in the July’s event in H
Championship have all ended in promotion, a fighting chan
as he also went up twice with Birmingham.
At his other clubs, he has left them in either Of course, Engl
the same position as when he started or in an
even better one (Huddersfield excepted).
expects, and an
If Bruce can keep the infighting Tigers in the of a semi-final
Premier League – which doesn’t look easy –
it could be time he got a bit of recognition. a massive disap

40 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com

 THInGS WE
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Batshuayi gained his reputation
during his first season at Marseille,
when he initially provided cover for
France goal-getter Andre-Pierre Gignac.
He scored six times as a substitute, and
often turned matches with his energy
and mobility in the final third.
He has shown the same prowess at
international level, too. All three of
his goals in seven Belgium caps
have come from the bench,
including a debut strike against
Cyprus in March 2015 and
a goal against Hungary with
his first touch at Euro 2016.
The 22-year-old arrives
at Stamford Bridge with an
enviable goals-per-minute
record. During his two
seasons at Marseille he
scored 26 times in 62 Ligue 1
appearances, netting once
every 148 minutes.
At 5ft 11in he isn’t exactly
tall for a centre-forward,
but his power and dynamic
movement in the penalty
area make him very
difficult to mark.
He has an excellent set of
all-round skills and showed
good tactical ability during his
time at the Stade Velodrome.
Batshuayi looked comfortable as
a lone striker and also linked up well with
on-loan Sunderland forward Steven Fletcher
when asked to perform in an attacking duo
for the south-coast side last season.
So, in theory, Chelsea are getting several
players for the price of one: a good starter,
an effective substitute, and a striker who can
play on his own or with an offensive partner.
Given his age and potential to improve,
that £33 million fee may end up
looking like a bargain one day.
 81 THInGS WE
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SHEYI OJO TO BE KLOPP’S WInGMAn
Right from the very start, people knew that
Sheyi Ojo was special. Signed by MK Dons
at the age of 10, it wasn’t long before he was
training with the first team. “I was 13 and
I got day release from school,” Ojo laughs
as he sits down to chat with FFT. “It was
better than doing Maths or English!”
Ojo’s first senior appearances for Liverpool
came last season – five starts, six of them as
a substitute – but the 19-year-old has been
in the spotlight for some time. When he was
just 14 years old, Chelsea were linked with
an astonishing £2 million bid for him. His
destination, though, would be Anfield.
“It was quite a lot of pressure,” the winger
says of the £2m valuation at such a tender
age. “But when I was on the football pitch,
"LIVERPOOL ARE ONE OF
THE BEST CLUBS IN THE
WORLD, AND ANY TIME
YOU PUT ON THAT SHIRT
IS A GREAT HONOUR"
Portrait Jon Shard. Sheyi Ojo was shot at campandfurnace.com
all that pressure went away – I never really
thought about it. I coped with it quite well.
Having that pressure at that age has helped
me, for now and for the future.
“It’s been my dream to play football ever
since I was very young and I think that when
I was eight or nine, I thought this could be
my plan for the future. It was a gut feeling.
I’ve always thought that I am meant for
something special. I remember watching
football with my family and thinking that
could be me if I worked really hard.”
And work hard he has, even if moving
170 miles north from Milton Keynes to
Merseyside involved some adjustment.
“The first two months were one of the
hardest parts of my four or five years here,”
he admits. “I was living in digs, away from
my family, and it was just a different sort
of life, which I wasn’t really used to. But
after a while my family moved up to
Liverpool as well and I settled in.”
He progressed through the youth ranks, and
loan spells at Wigan and Wolves prepared him
for his Liverpool debut at Exeter in the FA Cup
in January. His second appearance, a 3-0 win
in the replay, was marked by his first goal.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had,” he says
with a smile. “Every time I think about that,
it motivates me to want to do it more, this
season and in the future. Liverpool are one of
the biggest and best clubs in the world – any
time you put on that shirt is a great honour.
I just want to do the best I can for them.
“Last season was a memorable season
for me. It went really well and I learned
a lot as a player and a person. I’m looking
to use that this season. I’m not where
I want to be yet. There are a lot of things
that I need to do and a lot of hard work
needs to be put in for me to get there. My
main aim is to break into the first team on
a full-time basis, and keep progressing.”
Ojo is eligible to represent Nigeria, but has
already played for England up to under-19
level and wants to follow his pal, Dele Alli, into
the senior squad one day. Ojo and Alli played
together in the youth ranks at MK Dons,
although the Liverpool man confesses he
never took it for granted that they’d both
be playing in the Premier League by now.
“We always spoke about the future, but the
way things have panned out is remarkable,”
admits Ojo, who says he’d be at university
studying business law now if he hadn’t
become a professional footballer.
“Dele’s with the England squad and
doing well for Tottenham, and back
then he had the same swagger he has
now. The step up he’s made to
the Premier League and
the international stage
is an inspiration for
all young players.
I’d like to follow in
those footsteps.”

12 RED BULL
LEIPZIG TO
FInISH BOTTOM
You know how the Bundesliga is
widely regarded as pretty much
perfect? A footballing utopia that
the evil, corporate Premier League
13 A nEW nAME On
THE AFCOn TROPHY
The Africa Cup of Nations has
been held 30 times and has
had 14 different winners,
including Sudan and Zambia,
who clinched the trophy for
the first time in 2012.
Zambia’s maiden triumph
was a feel-good story for
African football, and it’s time
another nation got their first
AFCON victory when the
tournament takes place
in Gabon early in 2017.
Gabon themselves are
yet to be crowned African
champions, as are Senegal,
THInGS WE
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Mali and Zimbabwe, all of
whom have qualified for this
edition. Alternatively, you
could throw your weight
behind Guinea-Bissau –
birthplace of Euro 2016 final
hero Eder – who’ll be making
their tournament debut.

14
could never match? Well, it’s all
changing. A lower-division outfit

ZIZOU GETTInG
from the former East Germany
rising up to the top tier would

THE BEST OUT

generally be good news, but this
is Red Bull Leipzig, formerly SSV
Markranstadt, who have been

given wings (i.e. millions) by the
world-famous energy drink
company. Opposition fans aren’t
keen – protests, riots, etc – and
there are fears that Leipzig’s
success will encourage other
corporate takeovers. Proper
football folk are hoping their
wings get clipped sharpish.
OF HIS PLAYERS
Real Madrid may have won the Champions League and their final 12 La Liga
matches of last season under Zinedine Zidane, but doubts still remain over the
Frenchman’s tactical plan. Los Blancos were second best for much of the final
with Atletico Madrid in Milan, winning only after a penalty shootout.
True, he often deployed Casemiro as a dedicated defensive midfielder, but broadly
speaking he has selected the best 11 players available and they have performed,
whereas his predecessor, Rafael Benitez, struggled for dressing-room support.
Zidane has had his half a season of acclimatisation – now is the time to prove
he has the acumen to truly belong in the managerial big leagues.

15 ITALIAn MAnAGERS
TO TAKE OVER
It’s safe to say Italian
managers have enjoyed
something of a mixed time
in the Premier League.
For every Carlo Ancelotti
(champion in 2010) there
has been a Paolo Di Canio
(sacked after six months
at Sunderland). And for
every Roberto Mancini
(champion in 2012) there’s
been an Attilio Lombardo
(relegated with Crystal
Palace). And for every
Claudio Ranieri (champion
in 2016), there’s been
a Claudio Ranieri (booted
out of Chelsea in 2004).
However, with the
newly-crowned King
Claudio being joined in
his royal realm by Walter
Mazzarri, Antonio Conte,
and Swansea’s continuing
Francesco Guidolin (left),
FourFourTwo is ready and
willing to bow down to our
Mediterranean overlords.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 43

81 THInGS WE

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17 ZLATAn 19 VInCEnT JAnSSEn

TO MAKE
nEW EnEMIES
Pep vs Jose is the Manchester derby headline,
but Pep vs Zlatan will be just as intriguing.
The pair fell out at Barcelona and haven’t
faced each other since the Swede called his
former boss a “spineless coward” in his 2013
autobiography and “not a man” in a FFT
interview. Maybe Guardiola’s a cyborg.
Zlatan isn’t afraid to say what he thinks,
TO UnBURDEn KAnE
To say Vincent Janssen’s rise has been
rapid would be an understatement. Only
12 months ago, Spurs’ new £18 million
striker moved from Almere City to AZ as
a virtual unknown for a mere £500,000. Very
few players make consecutive steps from
the Dutch second division to the Premier
League in little more than a season. Even
fewer do so having already become a Dutch
international, and probably the spearhead
of the Oranje attack for years to come.
Janssen is a welcome addition to the
Spurs frontline. He has already drawn

ARSEnAL VS
and on the rare occasions he isn’t thinking comparisons to Ruud van Nistelrooy and
how great he is, he’s making enemies. even Luis Suarez, and not just because they
Among them have been Egyptian forward both arrived in England from the Eredivisie.

MAn UnITED TO Mido, who once threw a pair of scissors at his

head, Swedish team-mates Kim Kallstrom
Janssen developed ambidexterity over the
last year, can hold up the ball with his back

BLOW UP AGAIn
and Freddie Ljungberg, and his former
Ajax technical director Louis van Gaal (he
called the Dutchman “a pompous arse”).

“No other word springs to mind when
I was going into battle with Arsenal,”
Roy Keane once recalled. “Hatred.”
20 MESSI TO
Thankfully, Ibra’s arrival in the Premier
League gives him an opportunity to fall out
with a whole new set of people. Even at 34,
you’re never too old to attract fresh foes.

Un-RETIRE FOR
Martin Keown jumping on Ruud van Possible candidates among his United
Nistelrooy, pizza being thrown at Alex colleagues include boy wonder Marcus
Ferguson, Keano himself spitting: “I’ll see Rashford (“No one scores more goals than

you out there” at arch-nemesis Patrick
Vieira in the Highbury tunnel – it’s easy to
see what he means. And after a decade’s
truce, Jose Mourinho’s Old Trafford arrival
will reignite past wars with Arsene Wenger
and, with it, the clubs’ mutual animosity.
“There are some managers,” Mourinho
said in his first Manchester United press
conference, “who last won a title 10 years
ago. The last time I won was a year ago.
If I have something to prove, imagine the
others. To finish fourth is not the aim.”
The gloves are off. At last, Arsenal vs
Manchester United has its intensity back.
ARGEnTInA
Zlatan”) and former boy wonder Phil Jones
(“This guy keeps pulling weird faces at me”).
But Ibrahimovic’s biggest problem could
be when he faces Stoke City and renowned
Zlatan uber-fan, Marko Arnautovic. Not
content with copying Zlatan’s hairstyle, True, his Copa America final
tattoos and staunch refusal to pass to
miss was the worst penalty
team-mates, there are concerns that
Arnautovic is secretly planning to spend the US has seen since Diana
the entire 90 minutes man-marking the
Manchester United striker – not based on
Ross, but come on now, Leo:
any tactical instruction, but just so he can there’s no need to take your
repeatedly ask if he can be Ibrahimovic’s
friend. Result: restraining order requested. ball home in a huff. If anyone
should be announcing their
international retirement over

18 EVA CARnEIRO TO GET A JOB a penalty miss, it should be

AT A PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB Simone Zaza (or make him

take a penalty at the end of
Now, this could be telling. For employees in any line of work,
every game – that’d be fun).
there’s a concern that a nasty industrial dispute will scare
future employers off, particularly if it’s a high-profile one. Messi has so much more to
You’d hope that sense will prevail in Carneiro’s case, given
how highly regarded she was at Chelsea and how badly it’ll
give. There’s still time for him
reflect on the Premier League if we’re saying this again next to think about it and reverse
year. Of course, the tabloids and TV men would be stoked if
she returned: imagine the mega-buzz they could whip up his decision to quit Argentina.
ahead of her new club facing Jose Mourinho’s Manchester
The 2018 World Cup would
United. Never would so many cameras be trained on a physio
since that time Gary Lewin turned up dressed as Dr Strange. be poorer without him.
 THInGS WE
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to goal and is able to create as well as finish.
In fact, Janssen often delivers the ‘pre-assist’
to the goals he himself scores, by linking up
with wingers and attacking midfielders.
Yet the 22-year-old's biggest strength is his
relentless work ethic on and off the pitch –
something that is sure to have impressed
Mauricio Pochettino. The Dutchman is a year
younger than Harry Kane and a striker very
much in the Englishman’s mould. This means
that in Janssen, Spurs have a player who can
fill the homegrown hero’s boots without the IN JANSSEN, SPURS HAVE
A PLAYER WHO CAN FILL
team having to tweak their system or style.
Pochettino also has the luxury now of
having two out-and-out strikers, giving him
the option of fielding a team in a 3-5-2 or
KANE’S BOOTS WITHOUT
4-4-2 formation, rather than being tied to the THE TEAM HAVING TO
4-2-3-1 he employed for most of last season.
Also, Janssen scored 20 of his 27 league
CHANGE ITS SYSTEM O
goals last season in the second half of the
campaign – the kind of form that would have
spared Spurs from painful end-of-season
slumps in each of the last two campaigns.
If he can find a regular space in the team,
expect his speedy ascent to continue.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 45

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21 DEMARAI GRAY TO
EMULATE MAHREZ
“I had to be professional and play my part
when I came on,” rookie Leicester City
winger Demarai Gray tells FFT. “I was seeing
out games mainly, instead of trying to get
the ball and beat three or four players.”
When a 19-year-old Gray signed from
second-tier Birmingham City in January,
he had to be patient. He’d joined a team
riding the crest of a wave with a settled
Portrait Leon Csernohlavek

"WORKING WITH RANIERI,

I'VE IMPROVED ALREADY
– HE HAS GOT ME PLAYING
TO A STYLE THAT REALLY
SUITS MY STRENGTHS"
 THInGS WE
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22 LESS OF CR7
26 WEST HAM TO
starting XI, and found starting opportunities
limited; indeed, the only one of his 12 Premier

COnQUER EUROPE
League appearances not to come from the
bench was on the season’s final day, with the
title in the bag. But Claudio Ranieri had seen
enough of Gray to be impressed by him.
In HIS PAnTS
Look, Cristiano, we know you’ve got a range of West Ham had precious few low moments
The youngster was one of the Italian’s go-to
underwear to promote, but do we need to see during Slaven Bilic’s hugely impressive debut
players to see out crucial victories in a crunch
your smalls at every opportunity? By the pool season in charge of the Hammers, but
period for the Foxes, and the teenager stuck
is acceptable on Instagram, but being the only an early Europa League exit to Romanian
manfully to his tasks, even if they sometimes
one in the Real Madrid dressing room sporting outfit Astra Giurgiu was one of them.
went against his attacking instincts.
tighty whities after a 2-1 win over Barcelona, They’d scraped past Maltese minnows
“Last year my role was to carry the ball
when everyone else is in their kit, is just weird. Birkirkara on penalties in the previous round,
and work for the team, but I was happy
although there was a feeling around the
to do that because we were getting three

23 LIGUE 1 TO BE
Boelyn that Europe was not the priority.
points,” he says. “Now we’ve all got Premier
West Ham’s European adventure was
League winner’s medals for it. This year
all over only a day after the FourFourTwo

MORE COMPETITIVE
is a fresh start, and this pre-season is my
season preview hit the shops last year,
chance to prove I should be starting games.
and it could be again if the third qualifying
“The Championship and Premier League
round tie doesn’t go to plan. Bilic’s aim,
are very different, obviously, but I think it
PSG won last season’s Ligue 1 title with eight however, should be to keep the club in
suits me here. Working with Ranieri, I’ve
games to spare and finished 31 points above Europe beyond Christmas for the first
improved already – I feel he has me playing
second-placed Lyon. They’ve turned France time since the 1980-81 campaign.
to a style that suits my strengths. When he’s
into a one-horse race. There are reasons to
with the players, he’s exactly what you
believe things may be closer this time, though.
see in the media: a happy, bubbly guy.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has bid farewell and new
Gray’s diligence is likely to pay dividends
manager Unai Emery may need some time to
in 2016-17, with Champions League football
bed in. Lyon have Nabil Fekir back from injury,
on the horizon. With his young wideman
while Radamel Falcao has returned to Monaco
having already proved his willingness to learn
and, in pre-season, started scoring goals.
and be professional, Ranieri will feel even
more comfortable trusting him – excellent
news when you’re trying to follow in Riyad
Mahrez’s defence-cracking footsteps. 24 TO SEE UnDER
PAUL TISDALE'S HAT
“Obviously, what he did last year is what
every winger wants to achieve: goals and
assists all the time,” says Gray, who turned 20
in June. “If I can add that to my hunger then
A beacon of sartorial light in a tracksuited
that would be great. I love scoring goals,
world, Paul Tisdale bestrides Exeter’s technical
I love assisting and I love helping the team.
area like Helmut Lang surveying his winter
“Riyad’s a crazy player. He does mad stuff
collection. He’s a prince among men in League
every day in training. His style is different to
Two, but one question rears its head, about
mine, as I’m more about short, sharp bursts.
his head: what is he hiding under that varied
He’s a weird player, in a way – everything is
collection of hats? FFT suspects a tattoo as
unexpected. He’s the sort of player who can
a tribute to a former club. Probably Yeovil.
have a bad game, then the next thing you
know, he’s scored to make it 1-0.
“But I can learn from him. Sometimes in

25 nO MORE ACHY BREAKY HEARTS

training, when I get into certain positions
the manager will encourage me to shoot as
soon as I cut inside. He might use Riyad as
an example, and say: ‘Look how many goals
he has scored doing that.’ When you shoot
earlier, the goalkeeper isn’t set.”
We assumed Billy Ray Cyrus’ desecration of popular culture was
Mahrez needed a full season to get his eye
in, although Gray has certainly got time on his complete when he unleashed Miley upon the world, but no. Like
side. In the meantime, the England Under-21
international has plenty to look forward to
a re-emergent virus, his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart has become an
as the new campaign nears. ubiquitous football chant (alongside near-unrecognisable versions
“A year ago I was watching Champions
League football on television and thinking, of Sloop John B). We need new sounds at our grounds. But what?
‘One day I’d love to play in this’ – and now
If it has to be catchy chart pop, you might as well go modern
we’ve qualified for it!” he laughs. “It’s
absolutely crazy. I just hope I’m involved. and try to get the new generation interested. Something like
“I’d love to play against Real Madrid at
the Bernabeu. That wouldn’t be too bad.”
Hotline Bling by Daniel Sturridge’s mate, Drake, perhaps.
Indeed, with that tune reverberating around Anfield, the
Demarai Gray wears the new Adidas Purechaos England striker might even pitch up for a few more matches.
X 16+ boots, available at adidas.com/football

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 47

81 THInGS WE
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JAVI MARTInEZ
AnD BAYERn
TO PROSPER
AFTER PEP
Pre-season’s early days are glorious for
footballers. As they chew the fat on
perfectly-manicured training pitches
after a summer’s rest and relaxation,
they can look ahead with the same
enthusiasm as fans do. It’s the first day of
school, only without being made to stand
at the front of the class and recount what
you did on your summer holidays.
As soon as Bayern Munich midfielder Javi
Martinez sits down for a chat at the club’s
Sabener Strasse training ground, you notice
the excitable tone to his voice.
“It’s great to be back – I’ve really recharged
my batteries,” the smiling Spaniard tells FFT
during an afternoon break between double
training sessions. “We’re a team of winners.
We have reached the semi-finals of the
Champions League in the last three seasons
and won it the year before that. We have
won four successive Bundesligas, which
is a club record, plus two German Cups.
We’ve now got to continue this run.
“I love the Bundesliga, because it’s
a reflection of the work you put in over
a whole year, but the Champions League
does carry that extra excitement on
a worldwide level. We’ve fallen to the
tournament winners, Real Madrid and
Barcelona, in 2014 and 2015, and Atletico
Madrid last season, who were in their second
final in three years. These defeats have hurt
us, but we’re using those feelings as extra
motivation to reach the final once again.”
48 February
September2016
2016
FourF
FourFourTwo.com
Hip headmaster Pep Guardiola
may have left, but Carlo Ancelotti
guarantees business as usual.
“Each day was a lesson
with Pep, like university,” says
Martinez. “There’s no doubt
about it: he’ll be a huge success
at Man City. But from the first
training session, Ancelotti has
been a real communicator.
Xabi Alonso’s been talking
all summer about what
a great guy he is. You could
see how well prepared he is
from just a couple of sessions.
He leaves nothing to chance.
“Ancelotti is all about the
possession. We never want
to lose the ball – not in
training, not ever.”
Just as important for
Martinez is that he stays fit.
“Among my biggest goals
for this year is to have an
injury-free season, which
I’ve not been able to do for
a while now,” confesses the
27-year-old, who ruptured
his cruciate knee ligament
in August 2014. “I hope
the knee cuts me a bit of
slack. If I can do that, then
I hope to get back into
the national team.”
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28
HAZARD TO LOOK InTERESTED
FOR THE WHOLE SEASOn
Spurs fans knew it was going to happen. “The fans, the
club and the players – we don’t want Tottenham to win
the Premier League,” said Eden Hazard before delivering
a virtuoso second-half display from the Chelsea bench to
finish the north Londoners’ title challenge in early May.
Hazard’s fine curling strike came during a purple patch
at the end of a seriously underwhelming season in which
2014-15’s PFA Player of the Year barely broke into a shrug.
Two goals the previous week against Bournemouth were
his first in the league for nearly a year. Over to you, Conte.
31 BIG CLUBS
BOUnCInG BACK
Everyone loves a good fairytale, unless you’re
a parent and you’ve been reading the same
one to your kid every night for six months, but
sport also needs its mighty giants. You don’t
want football to become like golf, where so
many randoms started winning majors that
it doesn’t seem all that difficult anymore.
Tiger Woods’ fall was fascinating – someone
being attacked with a golf club often is – but,
lordy, how they would love him back now.

29 An EnD TO BOARDROOM
It’s the same with football: while we revel in
their downfall, the game misses its giants, and
there are more of them scattered around now
than at the arse-end of a Transformers movie.

CHAOS AT CHARLTOn
Silvio Berlusconi recently sold Milan to
Chinese investors, which sparked a wave of
nostalgia for that fabulous late-’80s team
of his. However, the Rossoneri finished seventh
last term, failing for a fifth successive season
to qualify for the Champions League, and look
What did Charlton fans ever do to deserve this, apart likely to lose their top scorer, Carlos Bacca, to
a bigger fish. Bigger than Milan! Vice-president
from miraculously rescuing their club from the brink of
Adriano Galliani needs to find some more of
extinction a few decades ago? One of football’s best-loved that early noughties’ transfer stardust.
Milan’s city rivals Inter, meanwhile, finished
comeback stories has turned into a horrific drama since fourth, have also been bought out by Chinese
the Belgian businessman Roland Duchatelet took over investors and are similarly struggling to keep
pace with Juventus, Napoli and Roma.
in 2014 and hooked the managerial merry-go-round up Marseille, also on the verge of a takeover,
to the Hadron Collider, hiring all sorts of random people, won the Champions League in 1993 (albeit
shadily, amid the domestic match-fixing of
sometimes more than once. The chaotic policy culminated president Bernard Tapie) but finished 13th
in 2015-16 with Steven Fletcher up top. To
in relegation to League One in April, and Addicks supporters make matters worse, l’OM have lost Michy
are yearning for Duchatelet to do one before Charlton Batshuayi and his 23 goals to Chelsea. Still,
their renovated stadium brings some hope.
Athletic disappear up a black hole of their own creation. In Germany, Werder Bremen were part of
the European furniture until five years ago, but
they were so tactically inept last year that their

30
technical director Thomas Eichin asked the

SAInT CLAUDE TO
players if they wanted coach Viktor Skrypnyk
sacked. In the end, they kept Skrypnyk and
sacked Eichin, which was good of them.

BREAK LYOn HEX

Claude Puel fended off
some serious competition
to bag the manager’s job
at Southampton, but he
will need to break the
Lyon curse if he is to
succeed at St Mary’s.
Puel is one of six men
to have taken charge of
the French club between
2000 and 2014, and all
of them have also worked
in the UK. Gerard Houllier
did pretty well – the others,
less so. Jacques Santini at
Tottenham, Paul Le Guen
at Rangers, Alain Perrin at
Portsmouth, Remi Garde
at Aston Villa: not one of
them lasted a year.
Puel was most recently
manager of Nice, finishing
fourth, 17th, 11th and
then fourth again – highly
impressive, yet highly
erratic. Saints fans will be
hoping for more evidence
of the former trait.
Over by the Bosphorus, Galatasaray won the
Turkish Cup but finished sixth in the league,
which maths tells us is pretty embarrassing
for one of The Big Three. They’ve been linked
with Aston Villa forward Jordan Ayew though,
which should make all the difference.
La Liga, meanwhile, could do with Valencia
bouncing back from their financial woes, with
a semi-built derelict stadium looking quite the
monetary hangover. Their two league titles in
the early 2000s seem awfully distant now.
All these clubs, however, can take heart
from South American football royalty:
Argentina’s River Plate. Four years after
relegation from the top flight in 2011,
Los Millonarios won the Copa Libertadores
last year – proof, if it were ever needed, that
big clubs can always rescale the heights.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 49

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32
BREnDAn GALLOWAY: STAR CEnTRE-BACK
“Yes, Zimbabwe have tried to call me up, And he didn't like it if you were boring on the interest. Everton’s development of youth was
but playing for England is the dream.” ball in training. There was a stage where you the clincher. Galloway sees his best position as
For Brendan Galloway, it’s a dream that had to do something exciting with the ball centre-back; could he be the next John Stones?
looks distinctly possible. The 20-year-old’s when you got it – a skill, a flick, a through-ball “I don’t know,” he chuckles, shrugging off
first sustained spell in the Everton first team – or he’d sin-bin you for one minute. It was the comparison. “John has loads of good
last season had the Toffees moving swiftly to about taking risks. If we failed, we did it until qualities, and I want to have those qualities,
ward off potential suitors and tie him down we succeeded and it became natural, so we too, but I want to be my own player.
to a new five-year contract. They know just weren’t just looking for the ball over the top.” “Late last season, I was frustrated I wasn’t
how good the boy from Harare could be. MK Dons’ youth team flourished. Galloway playing, so I learned to get my head down
“The first half of last season was special,” recalls: “We were beating Arsenal, Chelsea, because things don’t always go your way. This
says Galloway, who broke through at the end Tottenham... our midfield was me, Dele Alli season, I want to cement a place in the team.
of the 2014-15 campaign, then held down the and Sheyi Ojo. We won a lot of games. “We’ve got a fantastic new manager. His
left-back spot during Leighton Baines’ absence “I knew Dele before MK Dons. My local team sessions are really good. With all the things
from August to December. “It was unlucky for would play his, and we’d battle to be league Ronald Koeman has done in his career –
Leighton that he got an injury but I seized it top scorer. In one tournament he joined my winning the European Cup with Barcelona,
as my chance to really push on. They were the team and everyone complained it wasn’t fair!” for one – I think he’s going to give us some
best moments of my life so far, walking out in Named League One Apprentice of the Year really good advice and his tactics will be
front of big crowds week in, week out.” in 2013-14, Galloway was attracting plenty of spot on. Hopefully we’ll do well.”
Galloway moved to England aged six, settling
in Milton Keynes, where he soon came to the
attention of MK Dons. He was a midfielder in
his early days, making his first-team debut at
just 15, but quickly learned the skills required
to become a defender.
“Our youth coach,
Dan Micciche,
who’s with
England now,
made me play at
centre-back and
left-back so I could
get a feel for different
positions and learn the
game from a different
point of view,” the
England Under-19
international tells FFT.
“That’s helped me a lot.

“IT WAS SPECIAL TO PLAY

IN FRONT OF BIG CROWDS
AT GOODISON EACH WEEK.
NOW I WANT TO CEMENT
A PLACE IN THE TEAM”
Portrait Jon Shard
 THInGS WE
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34
33 FEGHOULI TO nAIL
IT FOR THE HAMMERS
FIFA FInALLY
After a few false starts, Sofiane Feghouli is ready to
GETTInG THEIR
HOUSE In ORDER
go. West Ham beat a host of interested clubs to bring
the 26-year-old to the Premier League on a free
transfer, but it was a bumpy old road to East London.
A young Feghouli didn’t make the grade at PSG and
despite being dubbed the ‘little Zidane’ at Grenoble,
there was a sense that the Alpine club didn’t quite
know what to do with his considerable poise and Even though it’s been over a year since Sepp their ludicrously ostentatious bazillion-dollar
imagination on the ball. When he moved to Valencia Blatter fell on his own (plastic, retractable) Swiss HQ to, ooh, a refugee charity? Let’s face
at the age of 20, he was so raw and skinny that one sword, there’s still a weird smell around FIFA. it: the only way that FIFA are going to get their
half-expected him to fall through the cracks in Spain. You know, a bit like that time your housemate house in order is to give it to somebody else.
It’s a testament to his mental fortitude and industry was sick on the carpet, and however much Failing that, they could be just a little more
that Feghouli has made himself into what he is today. you cleaned it, you’d still get a regular whiff transparent about the process that saw the
Coached intensively by Unai Emery, who quickly of something not being quite right. 2018 World Cup awarded to Russia (which
identified his potential, he allowed himself to be New president Lex Luth… Gianni Infantino definitely promises to be a whole load of
moulded into a right-winger of stamina as well as really needs to make a grand gesture to fun after this summer’s shenanigans in
guile. A year on loan at Almeria did him good, as did change the mood. How about moving to Marseille) and the 2022 tournament
integrating into international football with Algeria, a much more humble base and donating to Qatar. It would be a start, at least.
having initially represented France at Under-21 level.
Although he could do with scoring more regularly
– 31 goals in 202 Valencia appearances isn’t a great

35 SEVILLA TO LET SOMEOnE

return – there is considerable hand-wringing in some
sections of Los Che’s support that Feghouli, a tactically
disciplined workaholic, has been replaced by Nani. The

ELSE WIn THE EUROPA LEAGUE

Portuguese Euro 2016 winner is a talented player but
generally less reliable, and showed in France that his
future may actually lie in the centre. Plus, of course,
he’s three years older than Feghouli.
Not that West Ham need to worry about that. Many
will compare Feghouli to his new team-mate Dimitri It’s hard to believe that 11 years ago, Sevilla had never
Payet but they have, in fact, flourished in opposite
conditions. While Payet has been the beneficiary of won a single European trophy. Now they have won the
freedom on the pitch, first granted him by Marcelo UEFA Cup or Europa League on five occasions, lifting
Bielsa at Marseille, Feghouli has stepped up a level
by being harnessed. With that in mind, you’d back the cup in each of the past three seasons. It’s time,
Slaven Bilic to get them dovetailing successfully. The
Hammers have a bargain, and will have a formidable
then, to see if they can apply their trophy-winning
midfield for their entry to the Olympic Stadium. powers in Europe to the Champions League as well.

36 PROMOTED TEAMS
TO SHInE AGAIn
Watford and Bournemouth
impressed with the way
they took to the top flight
last season and avoided
the drop with comfort.
In fact, Watford’s Quique
Sanchez Flores impressed
so much, he lost his job.
This time it’s Burnley,
Middlesbrough and Hull
City who are attempting to
bridge the gap between
the Championship to the
Premier League following
promotion, meaning Sean
Dyche, Aitor Karanka and
Steve Bruce have three of
the hardest jobs in English
football this season.
But all three managers
have gained huge respect
for the jobs they have done
at their respective outfits,
and FFT hopes to see all of
the Premier League’s new
boys punching above their
weight and upsetting the
odds again in 2016-17.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 51

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37 GRAnIT XHAKA TO MSn TO

BE ARSEnAL’S KEY MAn
His boasts about being trusted with the family
house keys ahead of older brother Taulant –
and therefore being a leader, apparently –
might have been a source of much mirth on
Twitter, but Granit Xhaka should dispel any
titters fairly quickly upon his Premier League
arrival. At just 23, the Switzerland midfielder
shows every sign of filling a long-nurtured
hole in the centre of Arsene Wenger’s team.
If new overseas signings are generally pored
a local charity last December as an apology
for getting himself sent off at home to
Darmstadt, as he aims to show that he’s
more than just fire and brimstone.
There is no doubt that Xhaka’s tackling is
tough, and he’s a physically imposing figure.
He’s also, however, very cultured on the ball,
and his range of passing lifts him above most
of the previous players linked with Arsenal’s
midfield anchor role. That quality is a legacy
SCORE
150 GOALS
“It’s difficult for us to assess, because we’re
actually living it,” says Neymar, having just
been asked by FourFourTwo whether he
and his fellow members of Barcelona’s
star-studded strikeforce (Lionel Messi and
Luis Suarez) are ‘making history’ together.
“We’re too close to it all to be fully aware
of what we represent and the impact of

41 A HEAVYWEIGHT
over via YouTube compilations, a few Arsenal of his upbringing, graduating through the
supporters would be forgiven for rubbing their respected academy at Basel – where Taulant
hands with glee at Xhaka’s disciplinary record. still plays – and he was nurtured by Ottmar

BATTLE FOR THE

He was sent off three times in the Bundesliga Hitzfeld at international level, the former
for Borussia Monchengladbach last season, Bayern Munich coach entrusting him with

PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE

bringing to mind the level of robustness that
Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit brought
to the middle of the park for the Gunners
from the mid-’90s onwards.
They’ll hope he stays on the pitch a bit more,
a Switzerland debut as an 18-year-old
against England at Wembley in June 2011.
Xhaka can deliver dead balls well enough to
be entrusted with set-pieces and he could
chip in with the odd vital goal as well, such as

38
of course, while still providing that bullishness. the towering header he planted home late on
Last season was the year
So does Xhaka himself: he gave €20,000 to against Cologne in a 2015 derby. of the underdog. Yet as fun
as Leicester City’s inexorable
march to their first Premier
LEEDS STICKING WITH OnE MAnAGER League trophy was, the title
One of the fun new ways to add spice to pre-season in recent years is
race was less an all-action
the how-many-managers-will-Leeds-employ-this-year sweepstake. It Grand Prix race and more
was, what, 20 in 2015-16? Something like that. The one positive thing
that owner Massimo Cellino has achieved during his infamous Elland a combined stalling on the
Road tenure is to make the wider football world feel a tad sympathetic
starting grid, as various bits
towards Leeds fans – that definitely never happened in the 1970s – and
for their sakes you’d hope they gaffer-tape themselves to a gaffer this of faulty car simply fell off
season. Still, knowing Cellino, his next appointment after Garry Monk
would just go so badly that fans would be desperate for a change, only
the perceived pace-setters
for the chairman to issue votes of confidence all the way to relegation. at the slightest sign of any
tension. This season should

39 COnTE TO ACT
be different. Manchester
City, Manchester United
LIKE A MADMAn and Chelsea have all got
With Jose Mourinho’s grumbling, Alan incoming, trophy-hungry
Pardew’s dancing and Jurgen Klopp’s
Jurgen Klopping, Premier League touchlines managers in the form
won’t be dull places in the 2016-17 season.
of Pep Guardiola, Jose
Yet nobody will show more emotion in the
technical area than new Chelsea manager Mourinho and Antonio
Antonio Conte. The former Juventus boss
was in fine arm-waving form at Euro 2016.
Conte, while Jurgen Klopp
The Italian’s highlights included being and Mauricio Pochettino
left with a bloodied nose by a thump in the
face during the celebrations that followed will want more from Spurs
Emanuele Giaccherini’s goal against Belgium,
and Liverpool. Claudio,
and excitedly scaling the dugout after
Graziano Pelle’s clincher against Spain. you’ve been warned.

52 September 2016 FourFourTwo.co

 THInGS WE
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what we do,” he says, before pausing
for a moment’s quiet reflection.
“But yes, we know we’re making history,”
he adds. Then he bursts into laughter.
Between the three of them, ‘MSN’ (Messi,
Suarez, Neymar) scored 131 goals in all
competitions last season. That’s just 10
fewer than Real Madrid’s entire squad could
muster, and more than any Premier League
squad was able to net during 2015-16.
“I think we’re successful as a trio because
of our friendship off the field,” he explains.
“That’s the main reason MSN works so well,
as we’re all really good friends away from
football and we all love playing the game
together and fighting for each other.”
And at times they’ve had to fight. Luis
Enrique’s side didn’t secure last season’s title
until a tense final day. A Luis Suarez hat-trick
secured a 3-0 win and, finally, top spot.
“I definitely hope it’s not any tighter than
last season, because that was a very difficult
season for us, particularly towards the end,”
Neymar says. “We were doing very well and
had a good lead, but in the last few rounds we
ended up making some mistakes. Fortunately,
we still won the title – but it was a challenge.
“Our aim for the next season is to win all
the championships once again. It’s simple.
That is the aim we always carry.”
Naturally, then, when FFT asks the Brazil
captain who he believes are favourites for
the coming campaign’s Champions League
crown, “Barcelona” is the rapid-fire response,
accompanied by a gleeful giggle.
Of course, after last year’s heartache –
Barcelona were beaten at the quarter-final
stage by La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid,
despite having won the first leg at the Camp
Nou – Neymar knows winning the big one is
never quite that straightforward.
There may be no Milan, Manchester United
or Chelsea, but there are still banana skins,
including two less familiar English sides.
“They’re both very good teams,” he says
of Tottenham and Premier League champions
Leicester. “The Champions League is always
very difficult. But we’ll give it our maximum.”

Neymar was talking at the World Final of his

global five-a-side tournament. To get signed
up for 2017, visit www.neymarjrsfive.com
81 THInGS WE
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GLEnn
MURRAY
TO EnD
BRIGHTOn’S
PLAY-OFF
HOODOO
Ever get that sinking feeling? Brighton fans certainly
do. Frequently. The latest began on the last day of the
Championship season, when Cristhian Stuani scored
an early goal for Middlesbrough to deny the Seagulls
automatic promotion on goal difference, and ended
nine days later with play-off semi-final defeat to
Sheffield Wednesday. It was the third time in four
years they’d fallen at that stage.
A new campaign, however, brings new hope. It also
brings the return of a prodigal son, who guarantees
goals in the second tier. It brings Glenn Murray.
“I want to score as many goals as possible,” the
32-year-old striker tells FFT, having arrived at the
Amex on a season-long loan from Bournemouth
five years after leaving Sussex. “I’m here to help
the guys get over that last hurdle.
54 February
September2016 FourFourTwo.com
2016 FourFourTwo.com
“We know it will be tough, the Championship is
littered with top sides this season. Newcastle and
Aston Villa have come down, Sheffield Wednesday
are a big club, as are Nottingham Forest with their
European Cups. I don’t think anything can quite
prepare you for Championship football, and we
have lots of experience in that regard. We know
what it’s about, now it’s about performing.
“We want automatic promotion. The mood is really
positive and the boys aren’t dwelling on last year. I’ve
never played under him before, but Chris Hughton is
a great manager. I’ve always had really tough games
against his teams and his record, especially in the
Championship with Newcastle a few years ago,
speaks for itself. We’re ready to go again.”
So is Murray’s Brighton career. After scoring 22 goals
in 42 league appearances to fire the Seagulls into the
Championship in 2011, he left for bitter rivals Crystal
Palace, for whom he netted 30 goals in 43 games in
2012-13 to help them reach the Premier League. Was
he worried about the reaction at going back?
“Of course, you’re always aware of the rivalry, but the
majority of the fans have been positive. It always helps
if you start scoring goals, so if I do that then hopefully
everyone will be on board. I have always had great
respect for the club, you could see that when I didn’t
celebrate in scoring against Brighton for Palace.”
Ah, yes, that goal. Notching the third in a 3-1
Palace win in September 2011, his first appearance
against Brighton after the move, resulted in the
"WE KNOW IT WILL
BE TOUGH, AS THE
CHAMPIONSHIP IS
LITTERED WITH TOP
SIDES THIS SEASON"
#FFSMurray hashtag after a Seagulls supporter
posted a YouTube video of the strike, spitting
“for f**k’s sake, Murray!” at the finish.
“I think it was pretty funny for both sets of fans.
I saw the #FFS Murray hashtag, then it was going on
T-shirts and finally someone showed me the video.
That’s the sort of thing you like to see.” Both sets of
supporters have come to embrace #FFSMurray
“My career has always been about getting into
the box and getting on the end of crosses with
a one-touch finish, often with my head,” says
Portrait Leon Csernohlavek
Murray just before facing the FFT cameraman.
“We’ve got great delivery from wide areas in
Anthony Knockaert and Jiri Skalak, Solly March
will come back stronger from his injury and
Kazenga LuaLua has quality, too. I’m really
looking forward to a fruitful season.”
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43 46
THE nEW EnGLAnD MAnAGER
TO KnOW HIS BEST XI BY 2017 PREM CLUBS
Roy Hodgson spent two years with something TO RECRUIT
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
approaching a plan – a well-drilled 4-3-3 formation
that made best use of pacy widemen and athletic
midfielders – then ditched it before Euro 2016 in the

PLAYERS AnD
hope a 4-4-2 diamond could prosper by crowbarring his
best players into the same team. Yes, form comes into it,
but sometimes you have to leave a big name out – be

MAnAGERS
it Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy or anyone –
for the sake of the team dynamic. Whoever succeeds
Roy should find what works and then stick with it.

There aren’t too many long-term lessons that

44 STILIYAn PETROV TO
can be taken from Leicester’s title-winning
season: it was, after all, a glorious anomaly,
unlikely to be repeated. But one thing we can
learn is that, as many of last season’s star

GET VILLA PROMOTED

performers came up with them from the
Football League, we shouldn’t be dismissive
about the impact those plying their trade in
the lower divisions can have at the top. So who
should we keep an eye on? Who could Premier
League clubs take a chance on in January?
The Bulgarian midfielder is one of football’s nice guys, The managerial star of the Championship
which only made his May 2013 retirement from football for the last couple of seasons has been Gary
Rowett. Given the circumstances Birmingham
to fight leukaemia all the sadder. Told that he'd never have found themselves in, with their ownership
uncertain and for long spells barely any money
play again despite beating the disease, the 37-year-old available, in other hands City might have
former captain spent pre-season training back at his old suffered a similar fate to Bolton or Wigan.
Rowett has not only stabilised the Midland
club – coming off the bench in a 5-1 friendly win against outfit but gave them an outside chance of
Worcester City – in the hope of earning himself a deal snatching promotion last term.
Another boss worth keeping an eye on is
having beaten the illness. If the former Celtic man can Shaun Derry. Sacked, in the view of many
rather harshly, by Notts County in 2015, he
inspire the Midlanders back to the Premier League, it was recruited by Cambridge when they were
would be one football’s greatest ever feel-good stories, languishing in the lower reaches of League
Two, and by the end of the campaign they
and Villa Park is definitely in need of those right now. were just two places away from the play-offs.
The 38-year-old is well thought of by many.
One man a little closer to the big time is Will

45
Hughes. The Derby midfielder missed much of

STOKE CITY TO
last season after suffering a knee injury on the
first day, but when he returned to fitness his
influence was immediate. Hughes is an expert

STEP UP A LEVEL and subtle manipulator of possession.

You certainly can’t fault
Mark Hughes' consistency
since taking over at Stoke
City in May 2013. Season
2013/14: ninth. Season
2014/15: ninth. Season
2015/16: ninth again.
A club of Stoke’s size
finishing in the top half is
an achievement in itself,
but the Potters have been
ploughing serious levels
of investment into their
team. When a mid-table
side spend £18.3 million
on a box-to-box midfielder
with no senior caps to his
name, as Stoke did with
Giannelli Imbula, you know
they’re really going for it.
Xherdan Shaqiri was
bought for £12m too, so
there’s an argument to
say that more should be
expected from Hughes’
men this time around.
This should be the
season when they step
it up a level and make
a genuine push for Europe.
The second tier is full of skilled midfielders
like Hughes, such as Alex Mowatt at Leeds
and Alan Judge at Brentford, but one of the
more intriguing names is Conor Hourihane,
new to the division after winning promotion
with Barnsley last season. The Irishman plays
with a poise and composure that suggests
he could easily cope with a higher level.
The lower levels are generally a good place
to pick up a defender, too. Rico Henry, the
19-year-old Walsall left-back, has been
mentioned in connection with a move to
Arsenal for some time, while if Dominic Iorfa
continues his progress at Wolves, and moves
from right-back to the centre of defence as
his stature suggests, big things may well be
on the horizon for the 21-year-old, too.
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FIRMInO TO
“Liverpool never enter a competition without
the intention of winning it,” Anfield star
Roberto Firmino tells FFT. “We’ve got history
on our side, a great squad and the most
passionate supporters. I hope this season
is better than the last one. The fact that
[Jurgen] Klopp will be with us since the
beginning can make a difference.”
It’s no surprise the Brazilian believes his
German manager is the key to Liverpool
potentially pushing for honours this season.
The former Hoffenheim forward didn’t win
a game, let alone score a goal, under Brendan
Rodgers, but steadily improved after Klopp’s
arrival on Merseyside in mid-October.
“Klopp is a very intelligent coach, very
intense,” Firmino enthuses. “He lives and
breathes the game. The way he puts his heart
into it is impressive – there’s no excuse for
a footballer not to be motivated by that. But
the most important thing is his tactical
knowledge. He helped me a lot when he
first arrived at Liverpool. I had already
played against him a few times in
Germany, so he knew about my style,
and he gets the best out of me.
“Of course communication plays
a big part in the adaptation process,
especially at work. I’m sure the fact
that both of us can speak German
helped me, but I wouldn’t say it was
fundamental to me understanding the
English game. We chat in German, so
I understand exactly what he wants
me to do on the field while I’m still
improving my English.”
Adapting to a new league is never an
easy process, of course, but Firmino has
been fortunate to be able to call on not
only his manager, but also one of his
compatriots. And one with whom he has
linked up to spectacular effect on the pitch.
“[Philippe] Coutinho is a very nice guy, we
get along very well,” Firmino says. “He’s been
living here for longer than me but we try to
help each other out. Also, it’s such a pleasure
to play alongside him – just look how smart
he is out there on the pitch!”
With the Brazilian duo starting to click
into form, Liverpool climbed to a still rather
disappointing eighth place in last season’s
Premier League standings, but also blasted
their way to the final of the Europa League.
They may have lost out to Sevilla in Basel,
but their ambitions for the new season are
nevertheless lofty, at least in Firmino’s eyes.
“We’re strong and we should always aim
higher than just qualifying for the Champions
League. We’ve learned the hard way that
being consistent is what it takes for a team to
stay up towards the top of the table and fight
for titles. Last season, there was the change
of coach and the arrival of new players; we
were a work in progress. Winning the Premier
League title would be incredible, because it’s
the best league in the world.”
With Firmino settled and on form, and after
last season’s title race, you can’t rule it out.
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48
MORE MAD SPOnSORS 51 AnOTHER
In THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DRAMATIC
DUTCH
It’s been a difficult summer for the Football League.
Both clubs sponsored by Flamingo Land have now sadly
departed the division, after Hull City and Middlesbrough
selfishly decided to go up to the Premier League.

TITLE RACE
The stadium formerly known as the KitKat Crescent
has gone too after York City decided to have a break from
the Football League and play in the National League.
Thankfully Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium is still
around; rumours of its demise were a careless whisper.

Last season’s Eredivisie was quite a ride.

49 EMERY TO FInALLY MAKE

Going into the final weekend, Ajax had
enjoyed their best season under Frank de Boer
in terms of points accrued, and led the table
for 28 matchdays. Then, on the last day of

PSG A FORCE In EUROPE

the campaign, a draw at De Graafschap cost
them the title, with Phillip Cocu’s PSV pipping
them at the post in dramatic fashion.
The season ahead may not go down to the
wire in quite the same fashion, but it certainly
promises similar levels of excitement. While
Paris Saint-Germain are a club unto themselves. Where else both PSV legend Cocu and Feyenoord legend
could a manager win a league-and-cup double (securing Giovanni van Bronckhorst remain in charge of
their respective clubs, Ajax icon Frank de Boer
the title by 31 points) and still be sacked four months after opted to resign over the summer, and the
Amsterdam club has replaced him with
signing a new contract because you only reached the former Vitesse Arnhem boss Peter Bosz.
Champions League quarter-finals? Though Laurent Blanc Bosz has inherited a talented and young
squad, which has been further boosted by
can probably count himself unlucky, his successor Unai the news that Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik
Emery arrives as one of Europe’s most sought-after bosses will reportedly stay with the club. Bosz is
renowned for his free-flowing attacking
after winning a hat-trick of Europa Leagues with Sevilla. The style of football and follows a Cruyffian
philosophy. Inheriting the tightest defence
tactically astute Spaniard’s signing of Grzegorz Krychowiak in the league last season should help him
indicates PSG’s move away from big names in favour of achieve a good balance in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, the PSV machine is drilled
a team that can challenge in the Champions League. so well that the loss of key players to other
leagues over the close-season is hardly felt.
Last summer saw them rake in a big profit
but also bring in some able and experienced

50 PULIS TO DO PRESS
replacements like Davy Propper and Hector
Moreno. Coach Cocu will be aiming to achieve

COnFERENCE SAT DOWn

a hat-trick of Eredivisie titles this term, and
if PSV can manage to keep the vultures at
bay, they could be favourites outright.
Feyenoord have strengthened their attack
Tony Pulis in contrast to pretty much and, like always, their supporters will give
uch like every other manager in their all in the hope of encouraging a title
penchant English football. Given that tilt. Whether they have the mettle to do
ps, the no one fancies asking one so this time will be the key test for Van
ssian of football’s most fearsome Bronckhorst and his players.
insistence bosses: ‘Er Tony, what’s Then come the outsiders. AZ Alkmaar,
at all times with the standing up?’, the who finished fourth last term, may have lost
andscape. reasons behind it remain top scorer Vincent Janssen to Spurs, but they
t behaviour. one of football’s biggest have swiftly replaced him with two young
m boss has mysteries. Will the mystery strikers in Wout Weghorst and Fred Friday.
y a journalist be solved this season? Or The wildcards this season are definitely
onducting will Pulis finally sit down? FC Utrecht, who have a vibrant young side,
conferences We’ll start tuning into old as well as a potential Pep Guardiola v2.0 in
d towering episodes of Meerkat Manor the highly-regarded manager Erik ten Hag,
mbled media, in the hunt for more clues. formerly of Bayern Munich II.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 57

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52 OLD FIRM FIREWORKS

On the off-chance you’ve
been living on the dark side
of the moon, we’ll remind
you that Rangers have spent
the past four years climbing
We shouldn’t really call
them the Old Firm, either.
That opens a can of worms,
as many Celtic fans don’t like
being grouped together with
as possible, without any
repeat of the boardroom
recklessness that led to their
downfall in the first place.
The club appears to be

from the bottom tier after
the indignity of liquidation.
They’re now back in the
top flight, which should
‘the other lot’ and say that
this Rangers are a ‘new’ club,
so the current incarnation
are of no relevance anyway.
55 COVEnTRY
in safer hands now, so it
just remains to be seen
whether this is a transitional
season or one that will see

make matters at the top
far more interesting.
Supporters of Celtic –
who haven’t won the title
On the other side, there are
plenty who are relishing the
return of Scottish football’s
headline fixture. They’ll point
TO FInISH In
them challenge for honours
straight away. Absence has
certainly not made the heart
grow fonder, and we’re off to

THE TOP SIX

by fewer than 15 points
since their neighbours
were sanctioned – are
divided on the subject.
Some insist they simply
haven’t missed the intensity
of the rivalry, and claim that
the dwindling attendances
at Celtic Park had more to
do with the stagnated
progress of their own side.
to the £10 million per year
that Celtic supposedly lost
in a Premiership without
Rangers, and the need for
genuine competition if they
are to be the best they can
be. Anyhow, you can bet
each showdown will sell out.
Rangers? They just want to
make up for lost time and
establish themselves as soon
a combative start with Scott
Brown (who else?) and Joey
Barton (oh) taking pot-shots
at each other in the media.
The respective managers,
Brendan Rodgers and Mark
Warburton, are friends from A lot of things happened
time spent together while
at Watford. But how long
in 1970. The Beatles split
can that really last in the up, Jimi Hendrix died and
Glasgow goldfish bowl?

53
Bill Oddie was one of the
UK’s foremost comedians.

A MAnAGERIAL WInDOW
From inflated fees to legal challenges against freedom of
It was also the last time
Coventry City finished in
the top six of any division.
movement, debate has long since raged about the merits of the
transfer window. Yet for all the criticisms, it does allow clubs to Some 46 seasons on, the
plan. In effect, you have to work with what you’ve got and not look Sky Blues’ 1987 FA Cup Final
for the quick fix. To ensure a level playing field, then, isn’t it time
the same applied to the managerial merry-go-round? It might stop triumph against Tottenham
clubs ditching their coach during the first poor run. It might even
encourage disgruntled players, knowing they’re stuck with the boss
remains their sole high point
for a bit longer, to actually try, instead of playing to get him sacked. (admittedly not a bad one).
So, life as a Coventry fan –

54
particularly one under the

LEICESTER TO KEEP THE age of 29 – hasn’t always

been filled with happiness.
FAIRYTALE GOInG An eighth-place finish last
It’s Saturday, June 3, 2017 at Cardiff’s season was encouraging
Millennium Stadium, and Wes Morgan is (they haven’t finished higher
about to be handed the Champions League
trophy by whoever happens to be president of since ending up seventh in
UEFA by then – quite plausibly, Nigel Farage.
Craziness? Well, it’s going to be a lot tougher
the old First Division back in
for Leicester to compete in two top-level 1988-89). The return of top
competitions next season, so you could
forgive them phoning in a few Premier League scorer Adam Armstrong to
performances to concentrate on Europe’s elite his parent club, Newcastle,
tournament. After all, they might never make
it back, and they’ve won the league already. was less encouraging. Still, it’s
And if they get into the knockout stages,
then who knows? People said plucky little
time for Tony Mowbray’s men
Portugal couldn’t win Euro 2016. to step up and bring some joy.

“I HAD NO EXPERIENCE OF
BRITISH FOOTBALL. I WAS
LIKE A VIRGIN. BUT THAT
MEANT I COULD MAKE THE
TEAM PLAY WITHOUT FEAR”
DAVID WAGnER BEInG
A HOUSEHOLD nAME
“To be honest, I think it was an advantage
that I didn’t have any experience of British
football,” Huddersfield Town manager David
Wagner tells FFT while sat in his office at the
Yorkshire club’s Canalside training ground.
“I was like a virgin: I didn’t know the teams;
I didn’t know the players; I didn’t know the
history of each club. I could just tell my
players to go and play without fear.”
Wagner may not have been familiar with
English football, and English football may not
have been familiar with him, but there was at
least one familiar face when he arrived on
these shores last November – Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp had been at Liverpool a month when
Wagner, coach of Borussia Dortmund’s
THInGS WE
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second team during Klopp’s tenure at the
Westfalenstadion, arrived at Huddersfield.
In fact, many had expected Wagner to join
his former boss at Anfield. Instead, he opted
to branch out alone – but the pair are still
close, and in regular contact.
“We both benefit from the relationship,
as do our clubs,” Wagner explains. “He will
get all the information he needs about the
Championship because he is my friend, and
I will get help from him because I am his
friend. I think that’s totally normal. At the end
of the day, he works for Liverpool and I work
for Huddersfield, and we both like to have as
much success as possible, so it’s probably
good that we’re not in the same competition!”
The aim, of course, is for that not to be the
case forever. With a highly-rated coach on
board, talk of eventual promotion to the top
flight has naturally followed, but Wagner is
in no rush, despite a positive summer.
“We brought in a lot of new signings early,”
says the Huddersfield boss, “so we had the
chance to work with more or less the whole
squad. We’ve kept our best players from last
season and those with the highest potential.
“I’ve always said we can’t be a club that
buys success; we have to be the club that
works for our success. We started that work
a few months ago, and this transfer window
is where we can try to make the next step.
“This gives me a feeling of excitement,
rather than pressure. We have to be confident
in our methods. If you’re unsure or don’t know
what you’re doing, then you feel pressure. The
owners asked me to sign a new contract after
only a few months, and, for me, that’s a very
good sign because they didn’t have to do
that after such a short amount of time.
“It’s very important that we’re humble,
patient, realistic and give ourselves no limits.
Portrait Jon Shard
The chairman, Dean Hoyle, agrees with me
on that. We all have to know, together, that
what we started last November wasn’t
a 100-metre sprint – it was a marathon.”
FourFourTwo.com September 2016 59
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57 A STARTInG SPOT FOR

KELECHI IHEAnACHO
The middle name says it all. No Premier
League player posted a better goals per
minute ratio last season than Manchester
City striker Kelechi Promise Iheanacho.
Not since 1994-95 has anyone scored as
many Premier League goals in the same
season as their professional debut.
Eight goals in just 753 minutes of
league action – a goal every 94 minutes –
undoubtedly announced Iheanacho as

"PEP GUARDIOLA IS
A GREAT MANAGER -
EVERYONE IS WORKING
VERY WELL WITH HIM;
HE BRINGS STRENGTH"
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58 ARSEnAL TO
one of the most promising young talents
around. He scored six more in the cup
competitions for good measure.

SIGn VARDY’S
So what now for the Nigerian forward?
Does the 19-year-old aim to be one of
football’s leading strikers one day?

LOOKALIKE
“Of course, everyone wants to be great,”
Iheanacho tells FFT. “Everyone wants to be
a great player and if I’m a great player one
day, I will thank God for that.
“But I will just keep working hard until
I reach that because it’s not easy to get to It was always destined to end
that level. The people who are there, it wasn’t
easy for them, they worked hard to get there.
in tears, but then true love
So I need to work hard to get there, too.” often is. Threatened with
Iheanacho needed just five minutes of
senior football to register his first goal, a late legal sanctions “if you do
winner 60 seconds after coming on away at anything that affects Jamie’s
Crystal Palace last September, in his second
substitute appearance. It must have been image directly” and labelled
an incredible moment for him.
“Oh, I can’t really tell you what the
“a stalker” by the real deal’s
feeling was like, I can’t express it!” he says, wife Rebekah, Jamie Vardy’s
breaking into a smile. “It was my first goal
in the Premier League and I didn’t expect doppelganger Lee Chapman’s
I would come on for one minute and score. unceremonious disowning

It was a great feeling, but that has passed,
I need to move on now with the future.
“Last season was great, I was happy with
my achievements. Scoring against Tottenham
was a really good moment for me, too. My
confidence started from when I joined the
team to go to Australia for pre-season,
playing alongside Sergio [Aguero], Yaya
[Toure] and the whole team, then coming
back and starting the season with them.
“I’ve been with them a long time now so
it’s not a new thing for me to be playing
with them – that’s why I have got a lot of
confidence from starting to play in the team.”
60
after joining the Leicester
KOEMAn TO DO FOR
squad’s title celebrations
EVERTOn WHAT HE
was pretty brutal. With
DID FOR SAInTS
Arsene Wenger similarly
spurned by the 29-year-old
Improving Southampton’s league position
this summer, why not sign following the exit of the successful Mauricio
Pochettino didn’t look a particularly easy
lookalike Chapman instead? task, but Ronald Koeman did it. Eighth
in Pochettino’s final season on the South
Coast, Saints climbed up to seventh in

Iheanacho was reportedly watched closely
by Arsenal as he starred in Nigeria’s Under-17
World Cup triumph three years ago but, on
his father’s advice, joined Man City ahead
of Porto, who also courted his signature.
A fan of WWE wrestling and Mr Bean away
from the football field, he has a fun side
but you also sense a laser-like focus – on
progression as a player, on scoring goals
and on winning trophies. His hero, Lionel
Messi, flourished under Pep Guardiola at
Barcelona: now he will be eager to do the
59 GOAL CELEBRATIOn
BOOKInGS BAnnED
Football features a whole world of sin – the swearing,
the spitting, the abysmal emoji use in social media
posts. But one thing that surely offends nobody is
a footballer taking his shirt off for a bit after scoring.
Let players lose themselves in celebration, dammit!
2014-15 and then sixth in 2015-16.
Koeman firmly established the St Mary's
side as one of the Premier League’s leading
outfits, and now he will be determined to
restore Everton to a similarly lofty status.
The Dutchman’s decision to swap Saints
for the Toffees could be seen as a risk, but
with money at his disposal, he could soon
have Everton back competing for European
football and cup success on a regular basis.

61
same after the Catalan coach’s arrival at
the Etihad Stadium from Bayern Munich.

ALAn CURBISHLEY
“We’ve been training hard in pre-season
and the coach has been amazing,” says
Iheanacho. “He is a great manager and
everyone is working very well with him.

TO FInALLY GET A JOB

He’s bringing a lot of strength to the team
and he has been encouraging all the players,
including me, but we also know that we have
to work hard and do everything possible.
“We can’t wait for the season to start
because I think we’re in good shape. If we You wonder what goes through Curbs’ head every time he is wheeled onto our screens as the managerial
work hard enough, we are going to achieve axe claims another victim. “Am I forever to be the bridesmaid, never the bride?” the younger brother of
Portrait Jill Jennings

a lot of great things this season.” legendary rock promoter Bill Curbishley, whose clients include The Who, might ponder. “Would this job
make me happy? Is anyone really happy?” Stable employment has the added benefit of providing more
Kelechi Iheanacho trains fast in Nike Football work for Gerry Francis’ magnificent mullet on Sky Sport News. Early odds have Curbishley as 500/1 to
Training apparel. Visit nike.com for details replace Chris Evans as the next host of Top Gear. As a Twitter parody is fond of telling us, Alan’s Available.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 61

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62 DORTMUnD
TO PUSH BAYERn
ALL THE WAY
How? With new signings, of course! There
are some real bargains among them, too.
Having played in fewer than 30 per cent
of Barcelona’s matches last season, Marc
Bartra’s release clause fell in increments
from an initial €40 million all the way
down to €8m. Borussia Dortmund, who
had been showing their nous even before
the transfer window opened this summer,
didn’t hesitate. Brought in explicitly as
a replacement for Mats Hummels at
centre-back, Bartra will certainly pick up
the slack in terms of culture and composure
on the ball. Aged 25 but blessed with years
of experience, he will also be expected to
take a leadership role in a young side.
Sebastian Rode has taken a less obvious
route to the top. He was almost 20 when
63 HOWE TO
STICK TO HIS
PRInCIPLES
With every Tom, Dick and Hull City in the
Premier League getting a massive wad of TV
cash this season, remaining in the World’s
Richest Division will be all the more difficult.
Bournemouth’s big-time bow was thoroughly
entertaining, but second season syndrome
can do funny things to a team. With a sparsity
of top young English managers, we don’t
want Eddie Howe’s reputation to nosedive,
and if the Cherries are to go down – hardly
a guarantee anyway – it’s better to go down
passing than panic hoofing. Howe’s style
attracts players, too: Jordon Ibe joined to play
a ‘Brendan Rodgers style of football', which
is presumably supposed to be a good thing.
65 BALE TO BE MAIn
MAn AT MADRID
One way or another, Cristiano Ronaldo
always finds a way to steal the limelight.
Euro 2016 looked as if it was going to be
the tournament when Gareth Bale finally
stepped out of the shadow of his Real
Madrid team-mate, as Ronaldo started the
group stage by picking on poor Icelanders
to excuse his own inadequate performance,
before somehow failing to kick the ball into
a net from 12 yards out against Austria.
While most of Europe was laughing at
CR7, Bale was busy scoring three goals in
three games to help Wales impressively top
Group B. But then Ronaldo finally turned up,
bagging a brace against Hungary and then
somehow guiding a bang-average Portugal
side to the final, including victory over Bale’s
very own Wales team in the semis.

66 LUKE SHAW
he turned pro with Eintracht Frankfurt, and
four years later, his versatility at midfield
and full-back made him a surprise signing

PICKInG UP WHERE
for Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. Now,
25-year-old Rode has the chance to show
he can be a headliner at Signal Iduna Park,

HE LEFT OFF
where coach Thomas Tuchel will love his
intelligence and adaptability.
Raphael Guerreiro, only 22, was born and
brought up in France, yet he was one of the
stars of Portugal’s European Championship Manchester United’s 2-0
win. Dortmund did well to seal a deal with
Lorient before Euro 2016 was too far down friendly win against Wigan
the line, completing his signing the day in July was important for
after their opening match against Iceland.
Another Dortmund new boy to show two reasons. First, it was
flashes of promise at Euro 2016 was
Emre Mor, who shone so brightly in his
Jose Mourinho’s first game
handful of appearances for Nordsjaelland in charge. Second, Luke
that Turkey moved quickly to secure his
Shaw made his first Red

64
international future ahead of birth nation

CLUBS TO COVER THE

Denmark. The 18-year-old was fast-tracked
into their Euro 2016 squad, where his daring
cameos were rare crumbs of comfort for the
Turkish public. He’s ready for the next level.
Yet 19-year-old Ousmane Dembele may
just be the pick of Die Schwarzgelben’s
newly-recruited bunch. Having broken
through at Rennes last term and wowed
fans with his mesmerising dribbles and
change of pace, he almost single-handedly
transformed Rennes from also-rans into
European chasers, piquing the interest of
Barcelona among a host of others.
Fellow Francophone Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang has taken the teenager
under his wing – a wise move, given the
Gabonese forward stands to be one of
the major beneficiaries if Dembele can
showcase his creative gifts at Dortmund.
Devils outing in 10 months
since suffering a double leg
COST OF THEIR FAnS’ fracture playing against PSV
EPIC AWAYDAY TREKS Eindhoven in last season’s
Champions League group
The team that finishes bottom of the Premier League in stage. The Portuguese said
May will earn at least £99 million in prize money, primarily
generated from selling the top flight’s domestic broadcast after the game: “He did
rights. Once you factor in an equal share of the foreign
broadcast revenue, the windfall is astronomical.
fantastic in the summer,
Now provincial clubs have access to hitherto impossible sacrificing his holiday
finance, they should put extra transport on for fans who
travel cross-country for an evening fixture. Hats off to Virgin and training every day.”
for scheduling a late train so Newcastle fans can get back The 21-year-old left-back’s
to the North East after kicking off the Football League
season in Fulham at 7.45pm on a Friday. Your turn, clubs. verve has not diminished.

62 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com

 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn 81
Even the final managed to be all about
Ronaldo, despite the fact that he played
only 25 minutes and his most notable
moment was when he reinvented himself
as some sort of Pied Piper to moths.
Bale has largely impressed since moving to
Real Madrid three years ago, helping the club
to two Champions League triumphs as well
as scoring a superb solo winner in the Copa
del Rey final against Barcelona, but his own
contributions have still been generally
overshadowed by the feats of Ronaldo.
The Portuguese ace has surpassed 50
goals in each of the past six seasons, while
Bale’s three campaigns at the Bernabeu
have seen him find the net 22, 17 and 19
times. It’s not bad, but it’s not Ronaldo. BALE HAS IMPRESSED
AT REAL MADRID, BUT
Even when Ronaldo was poor in both
Champions League finals, he rounded off
each game by scoring from the penalty spot.
But the former Manchester United star
HE HAS STILL BEEN
is 31 now and there will, at some point, OVERSHADOWED BY
inevitably come a time when his form will dip,
potentially allowing Bale, four and a half years
RONALDO’S FEATS
his junior, to become Real Madrid’s top dog.
Who knows: maybe it could happen this
season? Ronaldo is busy battling his way
back from the knee injury that forced him off
during the Euro 2016 final, and Bale showed
once again with Wales that he was perfectly
capable of taking on the mantle of being the
main man, even on the biggest stage.
To do that at Real Madrid he will need to
score more goals – his record haul to date
came in his final campaign at Tottenham,
when he netted 26 times in 44 matches.
But Bale undoubtedly has the talent to do
just that. This could be the season when he
kicks on and finds his best form yet.
81 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn
MICHAIL AnTOnIO PLAYInG FOR EnGLAnD
When the final whistle blew in Nice on
June 27 and a humiliated England were sent
packing by Euro 2016 underdogs Iceland,
many players would have sunk back into their
comfy sofas and thought: “Thank God that’s
not me.” Not West Ham’s Michail Antonio.
He sat there stewing with frustration.
“I honestly feel that I would have made
a difference in France,” he says, looking FFT
dead in the eye. “I turned down a call-up to
Jamaica because I believe I have the ability
to play for England, but Roy Hodgson wasn’t
willing to take a risk on me.” Bold words from
a player who made his Premier League debut
only last season at the age of 25.
“I TURNED DOWN JAMAICA
BECAUSE I KNOW I CAN MAKE
A DIFFERENCE FOR ENGLAND,
BUT ROY HODGSON DIDN’T
WANT TO TAKE A RISK ON ME”
Rejected by the system as a teenager and
forced to work his way up the English football
pyramid from non-league, the wideman has
developed a desire that many of England’s
academy-bred graduates don’t seem to have.
“England need players who are hungry –
not guys who think they should be there
because of who they are and what they
have done previously,” he explains. “Players
should be picked on form, not reputation.”
And, boy, was Antonio in form heading
into the summer. After a slow start to his
West Ham career following a £7 million
deadline-day move from Nottingham Forest
in September last year, he broke into the
Hammers’ first team around Christmas
and cemented his place with a string of
eye-catching displays, albeit making some
of them out of position at right-back. From
mid-December, the only match he didn’t start
was in the FA Cup (he came off the bench).
“I always believed I was a Premier League
player, but in the first few months when
I wasn’t getting a game I started to doubt
whether I was good enough,” Antonio admits.
“Everyone kept on telling me: ‘Wait for your
opportunity and make sure that you take it’ –
and that’s what I did. I went from struggling
to get into the first team to being one of the
first names on the team-sheet.”
He finished the campaign with nine goals
in 32 games, including the winner against
arch rivals Spurs. Antonio was happy with his
stats, but not entirely satisfied. Had he played
further up the pitch in his natural position, we
would’ve seen even more defence-shredding
play, the versatile attacker insists.
“Playing at right-back has helped me
understand how a defender thinks,” he
muses, “but I’m a winger and my style of play
is different to the way a lot of people play.
“Academy wingers always pick up the ball
and then cut inside or lay it off. No one runs
at players like I do, or gets to the back stick
and overpowers a defender.”
Last season was just the beginning for
Antonio. “We’re moving into a 60,000-seater
stadium and I’m absolutely buzzing,” he says.
“I’ve played at Wembley, and there’s nothing
like playing in front of a huge crowd.”
Portrait Richard Cannon
But will he play at Wembley for the Three
Lions? “You’ve got to have the self-belief
that you can do it, no matter what.
“Now I’m here, no one’s telling me
I’m not good enough.”

68 FAnS TO
BE HEARD
Football suits have long been
accused of prizing profit margins
above keeping fans onboard, but
the times they are a-changin’.
Premier League away tickets are
now capped at £30 after the
Football Supporters’ Federation’s
successful campaign (albeit not
in the Football League, where
some away fixtures are now
69 KOSOVO AnD
GIBRALTAR TO GET THEIR
FIRST COMPETITIVE WInS
If Euro 2016 taught us
anything – apart from the
positives of big, bearded men
chanting in unison – it’s that
there’s nothing quite like
an international football
underdog story. After two
goals for, 56 against and
zero points taken, Gibraltar
can now be inspired by their
domestic champions, Lincoln
Red Imps, beating Celtic in
the Champions League, and
may fancy their chances
against Estonia and Cyprus
in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn 81
Kosovo’s group, featuring
Croatia and Iceland, looks
tougher, but if they can get
Xherdan Shaqiri and both
Xhaka brothers to represent
the country of their birth,
victories may follow. First up:
a winnable trip to Finland.

70
pricier than top-flight ones), and
Liverpool fan group the Spirit of
KLOPP TO ACTUALLY
WIn A CUP FInAL
Shankly persuaded Fenway
Sports to reverse their decision
to increase the most expensive When Borussia Dortmund won the 2011-12 German
Cup, to go with their Bundesliga title, Jurgen Klopp’s
2016-17 home ticket from £59 reputation as Europe’s brightest coach was assured.
to £77. The key message that Since then, the 49-year-old has taken teams to five
cup finals – three with Dortmund plus the League
‘football without fans is nothing’ Cup and Europa League last season with Liverpool –
seems to be finally hitting home, and lost every one. In an era of bland soundbites,
Kloppo’s deranged-uncle-meets-crazy-neighbour
regardless of the top division’s persona should be celebrated, but unless he suddenly
wins the title, ending that cup final hex is essential if
£5 billion television rights deal. silverware is going to accompany the fun. The ‘loser’
A return to footballing altruism

71
tag is a tough one to shift, and the Reds’ second-half
capitulation to Sevilla was particularly worrying.
would be most welcome.

MORE UPDATES
FROM KEYSY
Qatari life for Richard Keys is pretty sweet.
We know this because he tells us so on
Twitter. Constantly. “If you’ve been worrying
about us – please don’t! We’re having fun
out here. Another great ‘Sun’Gray’ behind
us,” he tweeted last September, with an
accompanying video chez Keys showing
all the stars having a rare old time, including
Ruud Gullit, Jason McAteer and, um, Andy
Goldstein. Since then, he’s met Sepp Blatter
(“not such a bad guy!”) and his replacement
as FIFA president, Gianni Infantino. And he
plays a lot of golf. In no way at all does he
miss being on Sky Sports with Andy Gray,
who was sacked – with Keys subsequently
resigning – over the pair’s sexist comments
about assistant referee Sian Massey. No sir.
Needless to say, he’s had the last laugh.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 65

81 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn
MKHITARYAn
TO MAKE
MAn UnITED
GOOD AGAIn
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is one of life’s great
adaptors. Fluent in six languages, the
27-year-old Armenian is about to play in his
fourth different nation, having plied his trade
in his native country, Ukraine and Germany.
Now that he’s in the form of his life, few
would bet against him making a success
of his first stab at the Premier League
as a Manchester United player.
Last season was a defining one
for Mkhitaryan. Having arrived
at Borussia Dortmund in 2013
for a club record €27.5 million
(£22m) fee from Shakhtar
Donetsk, his opening two
seasons in Westphalia were
seriously underwhelming.
It was a mystery.
Mkhitaryan had been
a deadly finisher from
midfield for the serial
Ukrainian champions,
but just didn’t click
for Jurgen Klopp.
Mkhitaryan
had all of the
attributes to
be perfect
for the
incisive,
rapier thrust of that BVB side, which had
made an art form of the counter-attack: he
was decisive, lightning-quick (an attribute of
his that’s frequently overlooked), with great
acceleration and a confident touch that rarely
let him down in the pressure situations.
Yet here he was, a bag of nerves in front
of goal, missing chance after chance while
onlookers scratched their heads. He scored
three times in the Bundesliga in 2014-15,
in 28 appearances. When Dortmund explored
the possibility of cutting their losses last
summer and cashing in on their No.10,
there was little concrete interest in him.
But everything changed for the Armenia
captain when he started working with Klopp's
replacement, Thomas Tuchel – despite the
midfielder later admitting he had first been
sceptical about the new man’s appointment.
Whether drifting in from the flank or playing
behind the defenders’ worst nightmare that is
striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the goals
started to flow for Mkhitaryan. He hit 23 in 51
games in all competitions last season – seven
coming in the Europa League – but even more
impressively, he laid on another 26. His ability
to make opportunities as well as take them is
a big part of what drew Jose Mourinho to him.
The new Manchester United manager likes his
players flexible, with a few strings to their bow,
as it allows him to toy with tactical changes.
If United start to click in transitions, the
Stretford End might be reminded of prime
Wayne Rooney in terms of his explosive bursts
of pace. Despite coming across as measured,
Mkhitaryan can show a similar bullishness
to the England captain, too. He had to dig in
to get this move, just as he did to complete
a protracted transfer to Dortmund three years
back, when Liverpool were also keen to sign
him. If he starts this season as he finished
the last one, United will be extremely thankful
that he didn’t end up further west on the M62.
 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn 81

73
RODGERS TO HAVE A nICKnAME
FOR EVERY CELTIC PLAYER 76 THE
Brendan prefers the inspirational coaching carrot to the
stick. An arm around the shoulder, a pat on the back,
REVIVAL
OF SERIE A
trying to claim that “there is no embarrassment” in
losing a Champions League qualifier to Gibraltarian
part-timers Lincoln Red Imps. The standard ‘-sy’ suffix
for a player is not for Rodgers. The Ulsterman will select
his troops’ nicknames at a pre-season meeting while
waving three ‘failure’ envelopes at his charges. Efe ‘the
Nigerian Beckenbauer’ Ambrose, maybe? Not if you saw It has been some time since Italian football
him stumble around a plastic pitch in Gibraltar, Brendan. was the envy of Europe, but there are signs
that 2016-17 will have enough drama and
controversy to cater for five major leagues.

74 SUnDERLAnD TO STOP
There’s no escaping the fact Juventus are big
favourites to win what would be a record sixth
straight Scudetto. Last season felt like Napoli
and Roma’s chance, after Juve made their

FLIRTInG WITH RELEGATIOn

worst start in 103 years and found themselves
11 points adrift at the beginning of November.
To come back and win the league was not only
a great show of character; it signalled the
beginning and end of Juventus’ transition.
They now look stronger than ever and have
Friends lasted for nine years, 10 series and 236 episodes. a real chance of winning the Champions
Quite how many it would’ve survived without Ross and League, ending Italian football’s longest wait
for a European trophy since the early ’80s.
Rachel’s ‘will they, won’t they, oh please just get on with it’ If Napoli or Roma are to overhaul the
champions, they must be greater than the
relationship is anyone’s guess. Sunderland’s interminable sum of their parts. Maurizio Sarri and Luciano
kiss-chase with the drop is no less tiresome. The Black Cats Spalletti are two of the smartest tacticians
around, and each have some great players,
haven’t gone a full season without a managerial change but the odds are still stacked against them.
since 2010-11, and have nearly been relegated in each The Milan clubs are closing the gap. Inter’s
takeover by the Suning group and the injection
subsequent campaign. Lads: either push on for mid-table of €184m (£151m) has got fans dreaming of
the good old days. Milan also have Chinese
respectability or submit to the inevitable and let someone investors and, after a long courtship, finally
else have a go. And, given the Sam Allardyce situation, the got their man in Vincenzo Montella. It will
be hard for Montella’s two previous clubs,
Sunderland sitcom may extend to a sixth season. Hooray! Sampdoria and Fiorentina, to reach the
Europa League again as they did in 2014-15
and 2015-16 respectively, but it will also be
intriguing to see how the always-improving

75 SPURS SEEInG OFF

Sassuolo manage to balance domestic duties
with their first-ever adventure in Europe.
Meanwhile, Lazio are in total disarray after

THE LAnE In STYLE
Last season it was West
Ham saying goodbye to
their famous old stadium,
and this year it’s the turn
of Tottenham Hotspur.
In fact, the demolition
of White Hart Lane is
already underway. The
north-east corner of the
ground has been flattened
to make way for a pillar
integral to the building
of Spurs’ new stadium,
the boundary of which
overlaps the current site.
That means White Hart
Lane’s capacity has been
reduced by 4,000 seats
for its final campaign.
Frustratingly for Spurs,
this means that, thanks
to UEFA’s regulations,
their Champions League
matches must be moved
to Wembley instead.
Their final two home
games – against Arsenal
and Manchester United –
still leave plenty of scope
for fireworks, mind you.
Marcelo Bielsa jilted them at the altar, Torino
are aspiring to return to Europe under Sinisa
Mihajlovic and both Chievo Verona and Roberto
Donadoni’s Bologna will fancy their chances.
Genoa could be the real surprise: Ivan Juric,
while raw, is a promising coach. His decision
to leave Crotone after leading them to a first
ever Serie A campaign makes the minnows’
survival that bit tougher. In turn, Gian Piero
Gasperini has swapped Genoa for Atalanta.
Udinese start life without Antonio Di Natale,
who has retired (he’ll be back), while promoted
Pescara have lost 30-goal forward Gianluca
Lapadula to Milan. Cagliari should stay up, but
fellow new boys Palermo love to self-combust.
Empoli could join them in the bottom three,
after the break-up of their fine top-half team.
With so many subplots, Serie A won’t be dull.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 67

81 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn

77 80 FA CUP
BURTOn
It may be a bit bigger than it was in 1998,
when Clough first joined the Brewers in the
seventh tier as a 32-year-old player-coach,

TO DO A
SEMIS nOT
but Burton’s budget last season was still
a fraction of that held by other League One

LEICESTER
sides, and no player cost more than £20,000.
This season, the motivation comes in the
form of facing Gary Rowett’s Birmingham and

Fish, chips and champagne on the team bus.
That was how Burton Albion’s players, wives
and staff celebrated their second successive
PLAYED AT
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s QPR, Clough’s two
Burton predecessors in the dugout, while the
talent comes from goal-hungry Lucas Akins.
What price a third promotion in as many

WEMBLEY
promotion, soaring from League One to the years? At the moment it’s 25/1, which means
Championship, on the final day. Nigel Clough it’s 200 times more likely than Leicester lifting
has clearly taken a leaf out of his dad’s book. the Premier League trophy last season. Easy!

78 A BETTER STAnDARD OF PUnDIT

Whether climbing on top of studio tables, drooling over Dimitri Payet or wooing Ian Wright,
We know the FA had to
remortgage the family
Slaven Bilic proved during Euro 2016 exactly what you need to be a good pundit. silver in order to rebuild
For a British public fed a weekly diet of sighs and “very much sos”, it made you want to
embrace the television and scream: “I want to play for you, Slaven. Teach me your ways!”
it, but surely Wembley
Thierry Henry spends far too long wincing. Alan Shearer only inspires himself out of entropy can be reserved for just
when berating his beloved Newcastle. Robbie Savage is... well, he’s Robbie Savage. What we
all want is Monday Night Football-style analysis for everything, but even Gary Neville needs to the final of the FA Cup?
up his game this season, post-omnishambles with Valencia and then England. For the competition to
retain any of its fast-fading

79 A PARDS DAnCE
allure, its showpiece must
stand apart. Taking the last
four on tour opens up the
tournament to the whole

AFTER EVERY GOAL

Pay no heed to Alan Pardew’s apology after
his antics infuriated Juan Mata during this
year’s FA Cup final. The Crystal Palace gaffer
celebrated Jason Puncheon’s opener with
a sweet disco move, and if one good thing
came from that defeat, it was finding
out that dancing annoys people.
And since Pards loves to annoy
people even more than he
country, as well.
Dragging Everton and
Manchester United, for
example, some 200 miles
In October, Palace host Liverpool, who Alan down to London from the
will welcome by street dancing to a megamix
from 1990, the year he single-handedly north-west is absurd. It’s
defeated them in the FA Cup semi-final.
In December, things get tetchy at Arsenal,
not as if English football is
but Pards comes well prepared, with short of stadiums, after all.
the acrobatic martial arts/dance
fusion, capoeira! Arsene just
won’t see that foot coming.

81 AnD KInGSLEY TO
loves hair products, he spent The Eagles head to West
the summer being drilled by Ham’s new digs in the new

KEEP CAUSInG HAVOC

pros. He enters 2016-17 with year, so expect a cockney
an arsenal of intimidating knees-up whenever ‘Mr
steps and styles. West Ham’ Mark Noble
A few key dates to goes near the ball.
point out, then. Palace’s His greatest moment, “I don’t like to brag, but I’m a pretty big deal
first high-profile fixture though, is set for May, these days,” Kingsley tells FFT, in between
is at Tottenham in and Palace’s inevitable the clicks and whirs of our photographer’s
week two, where return to Wembley, with camera. “I’ve had media attention from
Al will attempt to a 90-minute reimagining across the globe. I spent some time with
incapacitate his Argentine of Swan Lake, in which Alan Rachel Riley and even got to chill out with
counterpart, Pochettino, with will boldly perform the famous David Hasselhoff when he was in town doing
a homesickness-inducing dose of romantic bit. Solo. Oh yes, it’s some panto last year. He still Snapchats me.”
the old country: the mighty tango. a Pards de deux. Encore, Alan!
 THInGS WE
WAnT FROM
THE nEW SEASOn 81

Last summer, Partick Thistle's mascot

became an overnight sensation - unusual,
given that he’s an angry star. But how does
Kingsley respond to those who have been
comparing him variously to ‘Lisa Simpson
on meth’ and ‘a demented Sun God’?
“I don’t have time for those body-shamers,”
the Jags’ mascot beams. “I’m very happy
with how I look and you all should be, too.”
Portrait Garrod Kirkwood

What of his plans for the future, once he

has conquered Scottish football, of course?
“I’d love to be the Scotland team’s mascot,”
he blazes. “I’d put the fear right up the English
when they meet at Wembley.” No doubt.

Illustrations Stan Chow; Words & Interviews Andrew Murray, Chris Flanagan, Si Hawkins, Andy Brassell, Nick Miller, James Eastham,
Matt Jones, Priya Ramesh, Marcus Alves, Kenny Millar, Raj Bains, James Horncastle, Joe Brewin, Ben Welch, James Maw
Mud, sweat and beers the night before
a game – the themes of Sunday League
football are near-universal. Photographer
Chris Baker tells FFT how he captured
them for his new book, Sunday Football
Interview James Maw

Ë “I played amateur football for

years and at 15, 16, I had trials
at professional clubs that didn’t work
out. That ruined football for me for a few
years. It had stopped being just a laugh.
I fell back in love with the game when
I started playing Sunday League football
at 18 or 19. That level is about spending
time with friends, more than anything.
You don’t have to take it too seriously.
Some things happen up and down the
country every Sunday, and this photo
captures one of the classics. If you have
played Sunday League for long enough,
you have taken a piss before a game.”
Ì “I wanted to capture everything
that was classic Sunday League.
Just look at all that tape on the posts!
These guys look like schoolkids, the
way they’re trying to hang the net from
the crossbar. Usually schoolkids would
use a plastic orange chair to reach, but
sadly this pitch was too far away from
the changing rooms for there to be one
to hand, so this lot had to swing from
the crossbar in order to put the net up.
I guess this sums up the dedication of
players at this level. Professionals would
just turn up and everything would be
ready, but these guys have to muck in
themselves to get the game underway.”
Ì “This photograph’s a bit more
indicative of football in general.
It’s something you’ll see in the Premier
League, not just Sunday League. There’s
a guy sat injured on the floor, but rather
than worrying about his well-being, all
his team-mates seem to care about is
whether they’re going to get a free-kick.
During this project I had expected to
witness a bit of violence along the way,
but really the worst thing I ever saw
ParK LIFE
was the harassment of the referees.
This poor, beleaguered official won’t be
getting paid and he probably has a hard
time controlling his own dog, let alone
22 angry players on a football pitch.”
Å “I love this dog. Every week the
guy in the grey tracksuit would
be there to watch the team in red, and
every week that dog would be there
with him, too. During half-time he’d
be let off the leash and run wild, but
during the match he’d sit perfectly still
and watch intently on the sidelines.
“In the early ’50s you’d get hundreds
of people watching these games. There
is some incredible Pathé footage online.
Now, sometimes it’s almost literally one
man and his dog. It seems very British.”
 É “I can’t remember what this guy
had done – it was nothing major.
Every week at Hackney Marshes there
are two ambulances and this St John’s
Ambulance golf cart. With hundreds of
people playing, there will be injuries.
One of the St John’s Ambulance guys
told me they used to deal with a lot of
fractures, because pitches were in such
a bad state – potholes and so on. Now
it’s dislocations and painful collisions.
This buggy sits next to the changing
rooms, and every so often it’s beckoned
over by a player whose team-mate has
been left in a heap seven pitches over.
In this photo, I just love the way the
injured player’s team-mate is staring at
him. He doesn’t seem too concerned.”

Æ “This is 10 minutes into

a match and the guy was so
hungover, he was just wandering
around the pitch and had to be
substituted. This is seconds after he
came off – he managed to get his shirt
off and cap on pretty quickly! He was
just so out of it and desperate to come
off, even that early in the game.
Again, this is classic Sunday League.
He won’t have been the only guy out
there that morning who was nursing
a hangover, but I doubt any of the
others only lasted the first 10 minutes.”

Ì “These guys have just won the
league. If you put this picture
next to one of the Leicester players
celebrating winning the Premier
League, the facial expressions on the
two groups would be exactly the same.
In the moment, it didn’t mean any
less to these guys than the title did to
Sunday Football, by Chris Baker, is
published by Hoxton Mini Press at
£14.95. Visit hoxtonminipress.com
ParK LIFE
Leicester. It’s pure joy – you’ve played
all season and had a great time, and
then to top it all off, you win the league.
The funny thing about this level is that
you can finish the league season and
still be left playing in about four cups for
the next month, so they might not have
partied quite as hard as Vardy & Co.”
 PLAYER LIAISOnS

THE SECRET
LIVES OF
FOOTBALL'S

76 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com


The popular perception of professional footballers as pampered prima donnas is over-simplistic
and wrong... except when it isn’t. Meet the player liaisons who must cater to their every whim
T
he judgement that rained down
upon them was Old Testament
Biblical in its fury. England had
been eliminated from Euro 2016
by Iceland, and the nation’s pundits – expert
or otherwise – sharpened their tongues
against all of the players involved.
Radio rager Danny Baker went bananas
about “useless, over-indulged, mollycoddled
sh*ts”. Rent-a-gob Julia Hartley-Brewer,
who should perhaps invest in a dictionary,
fumed about them being “overpaid nonces”.
(She later confirmed she meant ‘ponces’.)
Of the ex-pros, Chris Waddle bizarrely said
the players were “all just headphones”, while
Ryan Giggs called them “robots” and Paul
Scholes claimed they were “treated like world
champions before being successful”. Jamie
Carragher then dubbed today’s players “the
academy generation”, adding that they are
“soft physically and soft mentally”. The former
Liverpool defender explained: “With personal
assistants, Player Liaison Officers, nannies
and agents organising every detail, players
AC E
F I N D M E A PL E R?
U T
C A N YO K M Y H E L I C O P
TO P A R
Words Nick Moore Illustrations Jason Pickersgill
don’t even know how to book a holiday or
a dentist’s appointment.” Our brave Lions, it
seemed, were hapless, helpless man-babies.
Several notorious stories have been told
over the years to reinforce such sentiments.
Patrice Evra – who, it should be noted, made it
to the final of Euro 2016 despite being what
some might dub mollycoddled – once praised
Manchester United fixer Barry Moorhouse by
saying: “Whether you have a problem with
your car, jacuzzi or the light, he is there.”
And, suggesting it isn’t a new phenomenon,
Bolton’s Player Liaison Officer (PLO) was once
tasked with helping new recruit Les Ferdinand
find somewhere to plonk his helicopter so
that the striker could commute from London.
PLAYER LIAISOnS
PLOs themselves have produced some fine
yarns of player idiocy, too. Manchester City’s
Layachi Bouskouchi recalls being phoned by
one who had been stopped by the police for
driving at 130mph, asking whether he should
give a false name, and another instructing
him to walk his Golden Retriever, adding that
the dog “only spoke French”. Perhaps, most
famously, Alain Goma once called Fulham
PLO Mark Maunders because his goldfish
was “swimming round the wrong way”.
But is it fair to blame a new generation of
helpful employees for footballers being able
to score a worldie but not plug in the telly,
or are they performing a vital function? Are
we getting ourselves close to the diva-hell
realm of a cocaine-era Elton John, who once
ordered his manager to stop the wind blowing
outside his hotel window? And what’s it like
to be the person who the footballers keep
on speed dial? Taking a rare break from their
round-the-clock pampering, a few of them
sat down with FourFourTwo to explain.
FourFourTwo.com September 2016 77
 PLAYER LIAISOnS
“Even on my day off, I get
a thousand calls. It’s endless”
Bournemouth’s PLO, Peter Barry, suggests
things have been blown a little out of
proportion. “I’ve got a smashing group
of boys,” he says. “There’s no doubt that
footballers do live in a bit of a bubble. It’s
not a bubble of their own creation, but it’s
there nonetheless. There are times that they
just can’t do things that you or I can. But they
get a bad rap. A large percentage of them are
normal guys trying to do a high-pressure job.
“You have to remember that they live on the
edge. Right now, there are players who think
they’re certainties to stay at this club. But then
suddenly, overnight, they’re gone. That’s hard.
It can be a crazy lifestyle. Their family have
to move to a new city. They need schools,
accommodation, doctors – all that normal
stuff. Their welfare is paramount. If they
aren’t happy at home and their family is
stressed, they certainly aren’t going to play
well. Getting things right as a PLO helps the
whole team. It’s an area that is only slowly
becoming valued for its importance.”
Asked for a snapshot of his typical day,
Barry laughs. “I’ll send you a chart,” he says.
Opening the email attachment about his
‘roles and responsibilities’ is enough to bring
on an immediate tension headache. Barry
must co-ordinate travel for away games,
tours, visiting officials, trialists and guests.
He’s the guardian of visas and passports.
He books hotels. He’s the first
point of contact for squad
members with the media, CAN
commercial teams, recruitment, D O G F O YO U TA K E M
R Y
community projects, finance,
T E AC H A WA L K A N
the PFA, Premier League
and FA. He liaises with the
chairman and chief executive.
He sorts out rentals, mortgages,
relocation expenses
and repairs. He
arranges language
lessons, career
development
and personal
issues. On
matchday, he
arranges ticket
78 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com
allocation, appearances, interviews,
mascot visits and even car parking.
“You have to be a juggler, a plate-spinner,
and ready for anything,” Barry admits. “You
can prepare for a day, but then something
completely different comes up. A plane breaks
down. A dishwasher doesn’t work. It happens
at all times, day and night. I don’t advertise
myself as being available 24/7, but I am.”
Patience is a key asset, too. “You can do
a thousand things right, but one thing goes
wrong and you get criticised,” says West
Ham’s PLO, Tim De’Ath. “You need a thick
skin, and you have to learn that you can’t
please everyone at once. You’re dealing with
28 squad members. They’ll have a puncture,
or a player will call who doesn’t understand
the Congestion Charge, or cannot get car
insurance because companies won’t touch
young footballers, or they’re on holiday and
want to move hotels. Even on my day off,
I get a thousand calls. It’s endless.”
Sorting out housing issues happens at the
start and the end of the season but travel,
communication and welfare issues occur all
year round, adds Barry. “I even help out with
weddings,” he says. “We have had four this
summer, so I’ve been dealing with suits, cars,
organists, making sure the church is booked...”
Life is unpredictable. Nothing, for example,
could have prepared him for the bereavement
that Harry Arter and his partner went through
in 2015 after losing their baby daughter.
I T E NG D phoned me once and said –
LISH?
“It completely blindsides you,” says Barry.
“It was tragic and it needed to be handled
very sensitively. But we all pulled together
– the players, wives, manager and staff. We
pointed Harry to someone who had expertise
in the field of bereavement, and our club
chaplain did a great job. There was a general
feeling of ‘right, Harry and his girlfriend really
need us now’. Family came first and football
second in that situation. It affected everyone.
It still makes me emotional now, but we
protected him, and the group stayed tight.
I’m sure it helped them get through it.”
“I’ll get players calling to say:
‘The lights won’t come on’. And
of course, the bulb has gone”
PLOs are a relatively new breed – many clubs
still don’t have them – and if some think
they’re a scourge, we can blame another
favourite English whipping boy: Graham
Taylor. In 2002, the then-Aston Villa boss
created the position to help look after
Juan Pablo Angel’s wife and son, who both
became ill after the player moved over from
River Plate to the Midlands. Lorna McClelland
got the gig. “Graham was influential,” she
said at the time. “He understands the layers
that make up a footballer, and he knew that
good support can prevent homesickness and
anxiety, thus a player can perform well.”
McClelland went on to face the full gamut
of PLO challenges, including an individual who
called petrified from his hotel, convinced that
it was haunted because the bed had been
made while he was out.
It’s a typical example of
player naivety. “A young lad
and these were his exact
words – ‘There’s a rat in my
kitchen; what am I going to
do?’” Wolves PLO Paul Richards
tells FourFourTwo. “I collapsed
laughing. Of course, he’d never
heard the [UB40] song, although
everyone sings it at him now. It
wasn’t even a rat; it was a tiny
field mouse. He had a rural
property, and we explained
that this would happen if
he left his doors open.

“I’ll also get things like: ‘The lights won’t
come on’. And, of course, the bulb has gone.
Or the kettle isn’t plugged in. But you need to
remember that these are often young kids
who have been in the football system since
they were nine. The club want to keep them,
so that they are guided through life, and they
don’t need to learn about regular things. They
get better with time, though. With most of
them, you only have to show them once.”
Nadia McAulay is entering her 10th year as
a PLO at Sunderland, and says that the arrival
of a new manager usually causes the biggest
upheaval. “They have different ways of
working, and like to recruit from different
areas of the world, so you’ll end up with
individuals from new cultures,” she says.
“The key thing is to get to know them. I sit
down and find out whether they’re married,
if they have kids, what’s important to them.
They may want a city apartment, or a village
and private education for their children, or
they may want to locate a mosque. I tend
to accompany them to look at places.
“You learn not to assume anything. I had
a foreign player who spoke great English,
but couldn’t write it, which was an issue
when he made out a cheque or filled in
forms. As you learn these little things, it
makes dealing with welfare easier.”
McAulay’s even become a plumbing expert.
“‘I’ve got no hot water’ is such a common
complaint,” she says. “They probably don’t
know what a boiler is, let alone where it is.
It’s got to the point that I will know their
apartment in my head, so I can guide them
to the boiler and get it fixed over the phone.”
Such is the mundanity of many situations,
says McAulay, that she often forgets she’s
dealing with a celebrity: “I’m
around them all day, so I end
up thinking about them as I 'M I N A H E R .. .
work colleagues. It’s only OF B OT H E L P?
U
C A N YO
when I see a starstruck child who wants
a photo that it hits home that they're idols.”
The position is, in many ways, the modern
equivalent of the old-school ‘fixer’ – who
was often the club manager themselves, or
one of their close staff. “We’re just taking
issues out of the manager’s hands, really,”
says De’Ath. “It’s about making their life
easier so they can focus on football.”
For Richards, a former policeman, it’s social
media that has changed his job the most.
“Footballers are under a microscope,” he says.
“They’ll retweet something innocently, but
if you look behind the tweet, there might
be a group of people they shouldn’t be
associated with. We need to be on top of
what they’re doing on Twitter, Snapchat,
Periscope – and who they’re following.
“You’ve also got them being put up on the
internet by fans. What looks bad in a picture
might not be the reality. And it’s especially
difficult after the team lose. Suddenly you’ve
got a photo of a player in a nightclub. They
might just want to go out and forget about
the game, but fans are passionate and ask
why they’re socialising when they should be
at home re-running the game in their heads!
“We’ve all had pictures where you don’t
look your best – and a photo might be
months old, anyway. But they have lives,
and the right to some downtime.”
“The players say I’m
like a dad to them”
Amid such 24/7 madness,
why be a PLO, whose salaries
are rarely above £50,000
per year? “It’s the buzz of
S POT
PLAYER LIAISOnS
being in football, of looking after people,
and seeing those people that you have
helped doing well,” says De’Ath.
“Take someone like Dimitri Payet, who
has been such a pleasure to deal with.
It’s excellent when someone comes to
West Ham, maybe unable to speak English,
but they learn the language slowly and in
a few months’ time they thank you for
everything that you’ve done. It’s very
rewarding. And the players are great.
I have never met one that I didn’t like.”
McAulay agrees. “When you get a parent
coming over, saying: ‘Thanks for looking
after our son so well’, it really means a lot.
They’re generally all lovely guys. In 10 years
doing the job, there’s only been one player
that I would never work with again.”
For Barry at Bournemouth – a father
of three – being a PLO is very similar to
being a parent. “Some of the lads do say
I’m like a dad, and that’s a real compliment,”
he says. “PLOs tend to be above 40, with
some life experience. The rise of this club’s
been ridiculously quick, and we’ve all been
through a lot together. So I appreciate it.”
And McAulay insists that the en-masse
slamming of English players as unintelligent
is a cliché, too: “It’s unfair,” she says. “We
have got a lad with an honours degree in
our squad. They are all different.”
Perhaps, then, if the people who bear the
brunt of the problems footballers face, and
who work with them day in, day
out, have nothing but praise and
affection for their employers, we
should be slower to condemn all
footballers as spoilt brats? After
all, that Goma goldfish story was,
in fact, no more than a prank.
“Alain thought it would be funny
to ring up and say that,” explains
Fulham’s Mark Maunders. “I replied
that he’d have to wait, because
I was out walking the terrapins.
The press jumped straight on
the story, using the angle
that footballers are all
mollycoddled, but it
had all been a joke.”
Just don’t tell Danny Baker
and Chris Waddle.
FourFourTwo.com September 2016 79
 TEAM TALKS

DO TEAM TALKS MATTER?

FFT asks whether they make any difference – or if players just tune them out
 hristmas Day, 2008 is a day Ian Ashbee struggles
to remember. Like squinting through a windshield
smeared with Utterly Butterly, the eight years in
between have rendered his memory a bit misty.
“I guess it was like everybody else’s,” Ashbee tells
FourFourTwo. “Presents. Go for a walk. Dinner.
Queen’s Speech. Only Fools and Horses.”
Back in ’08, Ashbee was captain of Hull City and,
while he fails to recollect what Santa left under
the tree (“I dunno – a road bike, maybe?”), the
then-midfield maestro can fondly recall having the day off. It was
a timely festive treat from the Tigers’ manager, Phil Brown.
With 20 points from their first nine games, Hull had bucked the trend
of newly-promoted clubs propping up the league table, confounding
the bookies who had pegged them as 1/3 favourites for relegation.
In Brown, Hull had a fresh-faced (if suspiciously tanned-faced),
coach who’d studied at the Sam Allardyce School of Science.
Following stints as Big Sam’s assistant at Blackpool and Bolton,
where the duo spliced stats and eminent tech with football at a time
when Opta Joe was barely on solids, Brown ended Hull’s 104-year
wait for top-flight football after just 18 months in the dugout.
That September, he was Premier League Manager of the Month.
For Ashbee, while Christmas Day recollections are pretty hazy, his
memory of the following afternoon is in glorious Technicolor. As the
overachieving Tigers (sixth) clashed with Manchester City’s ailing
superstars (18th) at the Etihad, the Premier League’s scriptwriters
threw up a dramatic plot twist: Hull were trailing by four at the
break. Crestfallen, Ashbee & Co. headed for the tunnel. From the
touchline, however, Phil Brown’s voice thundered back at them,
calling the players back to the pitch. He had other ideas.
If you ever find yourself questioning whether romance in football
is truly dead, then spare a thought for the team talk. While he admits that “done well, they can a more collaborative affair, combining the
Encased in tradition, steeped in folklore and blanketed by secrecy change a game”, Hughes is quick to draw knowledge of the club’s analysis department
so watertight that footballers take a vow of silence that’s still active a chunky line between real world speeches with a bit of Hollywood glitter. Once just
decades later, this 15-minute respite between halves is not about and those from our DVD collection. “We can a schmaltzy staple of end-of-season dinners,
players catching their breath, chewing orange segments or taking overestimate the importance of them, and montages of a team’s successes, strong
on some fluids. Oh no. Half-time is a symbol for hope. Hollywood perpetuates it,” adds Hughes. “We tackles and barnstorming finishes are now
In a mystical no-man’s-land that exists in the sweet spot between watch films like Any Given Sunday, where you routinely cut together and broadcast to
first-half action and the final result, the dressing room is like a toddler’s have Al Pacino talking about ‘one inch at inspire players and boost togetherness.
playroom – a place where anything could happen. Men become gods. a time’. It’s nonsense. In the environments Some coaches don’t stop there. Prior to
Zero points are upgraded to three. Every victory is worthy of its own I’ve been in, if a coach started talking like the 2009 Champions League Final, Pep
commemorative Blu-ray. Of these wonders, each is unlocked via that, players would laugh at them. Guardiola mixed clips from Barcelona games
the stirring rallying cry of a manager’s vocal cords – as they magic “The best team talks are about delivering with scenes from Gladiator, screening it to the
and wow and will their team to success in the second period. clear, succinct information, getting it over in team the night before the match. “Players
Or at least that’s what it’s like in our heads. In reality, though, the simplest terms and doing it in a calm way. came out of the room crying, in a heightened
how much difference do team talks really make? Is barking platitudes This is football, not Dead Poets Society.” state of emotion,” says Hughes. Barça then
to gee up players overblown in its importance? Or are these snapshot Any manager studying a UEFA Pro Licence claimed a 2-0 win at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico
orations what truly separates teams from death or glory? will sit through an entire module dedicated over Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
“One hundred per cent, one hundred per cent,” says Brad Burton. to communication, deemed as important to And yet tugging at a squad’s heartstrings or
A 43-year-old bald ball of energy, and former pizza deliveryman, a coach’s craft as tactical understanding and brain fibres can represent a high-stakes game
Burton traded in a career in deep dish and dole cheques for a job commanding a club’s finances. It figures, of Chicken. Indeed, for every Fergie placing
as a motivational speaker. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, he swears given that each domestic season will see names in an envelope of the title-winning
that words have the power to affect everything. coaches blather on in the dressing room Manchester United players that he thought
“I think a motivational speaker is someone that gets beyond all for nine and a half hours – and that’s just would grow complacent, goading his side to
the bulls**t and talks directly to someone’s psyche. It’s their job at half-time. Arsene Wenger, who notched another league crown (only there weren’t
to give people belief. Take boxing. If you came in after a bad round his 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal, any names after all, were there?), there’s
and your corner man said: ‘F**k me, you got a good hiding there, against Chelsea, in 2014, has now spent more a Brendan Rodgers scribbling names of the
it’s not looking good for you…’ DING! DING! You wouldn’t be instilled than 10 days talking tactics in the interval. three Liverpool pros “that will let us down this
with much confidence. But whether it’s temporary or sustainable, The things Gunnersaurus must have seen... year” – despite having just met them – before
you can absolutely bring the best out of someone.” But unlike many footballing relics, such as the Reds spluttered to a seventh-place finish.
Words Sam Rowe

Not everyone agrees. “I think the first thing to do is to shatter pre-match drams of whiskey or a Marlboro According to Prof Hughes, Louis van Gaal
the illusion,” offers Professor Damian Hughes, a psychologist whose habit, team talks have not just remained once estimated that elite team talks can
2014 book How to Think Like Sir Alex Ferguson drilled into the psyche a facet of the sport – they have evolved add an additional 10 per cent to a team’s
of one of football’s most revered, and feared, conversationalists. alongside it. Today, team talks are becoming performance. But in any system there’s

82 September
February 2016
2016
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FourFourTwo.com

always an outlier, and it’s fitting that the man
transcending the facts to cement himself
as a verbal vigilante (even if he’s known as
a dour Scotsman who would freely launch
a size 10 at a player’s skull, or wet their brow
with the hot spittle of his ‘hairdryer’) is the
same one whose shadow Van Gaal couldn’t
quite shake. Ferguson’s team talks weren’t
just reserved for puce-faced fury. He was
also a master of the spoken word.
At half-time during the 1999 Champions
League Final, when Manchester United were
1-0 down to Bayern Munich, Fergie opted
against an abusive tirade, instead retelling
a story he had heard from a fellow Scot,
Steve Archibald. The former Barcelona striker
had expressed his anguish at walking past the
European Cup as a runner-up in 1986 and
not being permitted to touch it. Ferguson
passed this on to his team, in turn creating
“cognitive dissonance”, according to Hughes.
While Hughes says Ferguson is “a great
storyteller”, it would appear he’s also an
expert in the art of saying very little. When
asked how many words a great coach should
speak to his players, if the average coach said
100, Ferguson replied: “Ten words. Even fewer
if possible.” A classic example of this is a team
talk that prefaced a match against Spurs,
retold by Roy Keane in his autobiography. It
went: “Lads, it’s Tottenham.” United won 3-0.
Conversely, while tales of the eccentric icon
Brian Clough will never be forgotten (punching
a young striker in the gut for showboating,
blowing tobacco smoke in a player’s face as
he knew they’d perform better if irritated...),
modern psychology and practice suggest
that the iron fist approach is fading.
“Fear just doesn’t work,” asserts Hughes.
“We like the illusion of it, because that’s what
sells newspapers, but the reality is that people
switch off. If somebody’s shouting at you,
then you go into a fight-or-flight response,
meaning you either keep your head down and
hope the fury abates, or you go on the front
“ THE BEST TEAM TALKS
foot and start blaming others. So, screaming,
shouting and throwing tea cups around? No.”
But are sweary, antagonistic rants on their
ARE ABOUT DELIVERING
way out, or is it in fact just kicking off behind
closed doors? On the very rare occasions TV
cameras have breached the closed-door
CLEAR AND SUCCINCT
policy, the results have been explosive.
In 1995, Neil Warnock invited an audience
to breathe the Huddersfield dressing room’s
INFORMATION SIMPLY
musky air. This air turned blue, as Warnock
spontaneously combusted before his players’
eyes. The foul-mouthed onslaught included
AND CALMLY. THIS ISN’T the zinger, “You? You’re in f**king Latvia!”
Yet Warnock’s bollocking doesn’t come
DEAD POETS SOCIETY "
close to the one launched by John Sitton, who
starred in Channel 4’s Leyton Orient: Yours for
a Fiver documentary that same year. Earning
his place in the pantheon of irate (teetering
on sociopathic) managers, Sitton decided the
TEAM TALKS
best way to remedy a 1-0 deficit at home to
Blackpool was to sack defender Terry Howard
at half-time, empty the dictionary of expletives
and present two more players with the offer of
a scrap. Sitton finished with the now-immortal
words: “And you can pair up if you like... and
you can bring your f**king dinner. By the time
I’ve finished with you, you’ll f**king need it.”
He now drives a black cab.
On Boxing Day, 2008, the Hull City players
sat down sheepishly in the penalty box next
to the Etihad’s away end. Phil Brown clapped
the Tigers’ travelling support – his way of
apologising for what he thought had been
a scandalous first-half performance – before
squatting to commit the cardinal sin of
team talks: he let the whole world watch.
“Was it a bad team talk?” Brown wonders
aloud to FFT, shortly after a pre-season
training session in Southend, where he is
now manager. “I don’t know. It was an
infamous one, shall we say. Could it have
turned into a 4-4 draw? Well, that is what
I was trying for.” Brown claims to remember
every single word he said that day – they are
crystallised in his mind – yet stops short of
repeating them. “There were a few swear
words in there,” he says. “I couldn’t repeat it.”
Offering his analytical eye, Hughes pinpoints
Brown’s most famous moment as a classic
example of how not to perform a team talk,
before FFT even mentions it. Brown isolated
his team, Hughes says. Exposed them. Left
them feeling humiliated. The psychological
toll on their emotions meant that they
couldn’t perform even if they wanted to.
As it happened, Hull lost 5-1 that day. While
they technically drew the second half of the
match 1-1, the Tigers then registered just
one victory in the second half of the league
campaign (and that was won in stoppage
time), and barely survived on the final day. The
following season, Phil Brown was relieved of
his duties in March. Hull were relegated in May.
“I didn’t think it was right that he sat us
down on the pitch,” says Ian Ashbee of that
fateful day. “We’re grown men. Yes, we’d had
a bad day at the office, but let’s be realistic:
we were sixth in the Premier League after half
a season. Did we warrant being sat down on
the pitch and ridiculed? I don’t think so.”
For his part, while Brown feels he is still
judged by those fateful minutes at the
Etihad, he insists that he has no regrets.
“No, no,” he says, with a smile. “I would
never ever change anything that I’ve done,
and I mean that sincerely. I was in control of
the changing room, and I exposed it. I think
that’s the only regret I have – that I chose to
expose the changing room. But I don’t have
any regrets about doing it. Not at all.”
‘The Five STEPS to a Winning Mindset’, by
Damian Hughes, is out now (Macmillan, £12.99)
FourFourTwo.com September 2016 83
 WIKIPEDIA

If your club is linked with a non-league striker dubbed ‘the new Vardy’, Wikipedia is likely to be your
first port of call. But who the heck is updating that goal tally? And, more importantly, why?

84 February
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 WIKIPEDIA

“OVER A FEW WEEKS,

TOM PARRY-JONES
TV production co-ordinator/researcher SOME FELLOW FANS AND
Supports Manchester United I CREATED ARTICLES FOR
EVERY MANCHESTER
“My first edit was on the Manchester United
UNITED PLAYER EVER”
article, to correct Adam Eckersley’s position
from just ‘defender’ to ‘left-back’! I am
a United fan through and through, so when
I found there was a way I could make the
club’s Wikipedia page a little better through
my own knowledge, I jumped at the chance.
I think I do OK at maintaining impartiality
when it comes to my editing. Obviously my
focus is primarily Man United, but I think the
key is remembering to stick to the facts.
A few years ago, I banded together with
a few fellow United fans, and over the course
of what was actually only a couple of weeks,
we managed to create articles for every single
known player who’s ever played a professional
game for the club, as well as an article for
every season in the club’s history, starting with
our first entry in the Lancashire Cup in 1883!
The amount of time I spend editing has
dropped over the last few years, but back
when I was in uni, it was practically my life.
I have stacks upon stacks of football books at
home to use as sources to back up my edits.
One of the articles I’m most proud of is
the one for Old Trafford, which appeared
on Wikipedia’s front page on the stadium’s
100th anniversary. Maybe there’s a little bit
of self-satisfaction involved in my reason for
editing, but it is primarily about keeping an
accurate archive of football history.
Sometimes the ‘anyone can edit’ policy can
open the door to vandals and trolls who have
nothing better to do than to put ridiculous
‘facts’ on articles about well-known players.
Sometimes you will see some stuff updated
on Wikipedia before the major news outlets
have even had a chance to investigate the
story. Some people are so desperate to report
a new signing for their club that they’ll update
the articles on the player and the two clubs
before a contract has even been discussed.
I’d like to think that fans appreciate the
work that goes into maintaining Wikipedia’s
football pages. The amount of traffic we get
on articles about the big clubs and players
is certainly a testament to the value people
place on the work we do, especially during big
tournaments like the Euros. For example, after
the group stage finished we had more than
a million views on the Euro 2016 article in one
single day, which I put down to people wanting
to know what all of the last 16 match-ups
would be, because of the convoluted nature
of the tournament this year.
I work for a TV production company, and our
producers and researchers use Wikipedia’s
articles as a resource. I think that we provide
a valuable service to football fans everywhere.”

WIKIPEDIA TAUGHT US... that at Liverpool, striker Paul Walsh received months of treatment from an ultrasound machine that had been broken the entire time
 WIKIPEDIA

JAMES WILSON
Project manager
Supports AFC Sudbury

“I think my first edit was made back in

2005, adding some information to the
article for Southport FC. Later the same
day I created an article for Nelson FC, and
it’s just gone on from there. At the moment
I probably spend around half an hour to an
hour every day editing football articles.
When I first started editing, my main
motivation was to fill the gaps in Wikipedia’s
coverage of non-league football, as there
wasn’t really anywhere on the web that
brought together all the information about
non-league clubs in one place. Now it’s more
about trying to improve existing articles.
There’s a huge variation in quality. Some
articles on clubs say little more than which
town they’re from and which league they
play in, while others are huge walls of text,
obviously written by keen supporters, that
go into every minor detail of some glorious
midweek floodlit cup victory from 2011.
I’ve collaborated on football articles with
editors from all over the world, including
Austria, Tanzania and even the Faroe Islands.
Any information added to Wikipedia must
be verifiable, which means someone must be
able to confirm that information from another
source, and that source has to be reliable.
A reliable source is one that has some form
of editorial oversight, so FourFourTwo or BBC
Sport would be considered a reliable source,
while someone’s blog generally wouldn’t be.
Vandalism is one of Wikipedia’s biggest
problems, and I think it’s more of a problem
for low-profile clubs and players. Articles on
big clubs and their well-known players will
be watched by dozens of editors, so any
vandalism will be spotted quickly. But articles
on non-league clubs or obscure players might
have no one watching them, and vandalism
can go unnoticed for years in some cases.
One of the strangest things that I’ve come
across on Wikipedia was the case of Azeem
Azam. I stumbled across his article in 2013
when I was checking out the edits of a guy
who’d been identified as being paid to write
articles for third parties, and it just didn’t add
up. The article claimed Azam was an English
footballer who’d played for Monaco and Real
Betis, but when I checked out the sources,
that wasn’t true. I decided to investigate
further and contacted Nottingham Forest, as
he had supposedly played for their academy
team, but I was told they had no recollection
of this guy ever being there. The Wikipedia
article ended up being deleted after it was
concluded that it was a hoax. The weirdest
thing was that several media organisations,
including Fox Sports, ran quite detailed stories
about this football player who didn’t exist.”

WIKIPEDIA TAUGHT US... that Port Vale goalkeeper Sam Johnson saved three penalties and then scored the winning penalty on his debut in professional football

86 September
February 2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
 WIKIPEDIA

CRAIG HARRIS
Clothing company owner
Supports Port Vale

“I spend on average one or two hours

per day editing Wikipedia, although it
can vary from a couple of minutes at
a time to a whole weekend, depending on
what needs doing. I mostly edit Port Vale
articles. Vale have never exactly had a team
of superstars, so the quality and length
of articles on players was minimal to
non-existent before I came along.
My first edit was on the article of former
Port Vale midfielder Danny Sonner. He was
a favourite of mine – I still have a Vale shirt
with his name on somewhere. And I recently
had a message from a friend of the late John
Green, who played for Vale in the 1960s.
The friend said John had been touched
that someone who didn’t know him had
taken the trouble to put his career stats
on Wikipedia. That was nice to hear.
Of all the football articles I’ve worked on,
the ones for Paul Gascoigne and Stanley
Matthews were the most challenging, as
how do you summarise men like that?
I’m a member of the Football WikiProject ‘I’VE SEEN SOME
community, which essentially aims to improve
the standard of the 280,000 (and counting) SUSPICIOUS EDITS
football-related articles on Wikipedia. It’s WHERE PHANTOM
somewhere editors can ask for help or advice,
but most importantly it’s there to establish GOALS ARE ADDED TO
‘conventions’ or rules. It’s important for any
website to be consistent, and readers should
THE STATS TALLY”
find that articles for different footballers are
all written in the same kind of way and all
presented in the same kind of format.
Wikipedia has a notability requirement
that all subjects must meet before they
can have an article. For footballers, the
convention the WikiProject came up with
is simple. If a player has played a first-team
game in a fully professional competition,
then they are considered ‘notable’. However,
that doesn't stop non-notable players from
trying to add themselves to the database.
For example, the Scottish Highland League
goalkeeper Fraser Hobday made the papers
on a slow news day for his dedication to
updating his own article, which was so
detailed that it was longer than Neymar’s!
According to Wikipedia guidelines, you
shouldn’t edit an article about yourself,
but I’ve seen some suspicious edits where
phantom goals are added to the stats tally
or criminal convictions disappear. There is one
particular footballer I can think of who likes to
trumpet his own rather modest achievements,
but I’d better not mention his name here!
For any footballers reading this: if you want
to improve your article, the best thing you
can do is submit a few photographs, as they
can be difficult for editors to get hold of.”

WIKIPEDIA TAUGHT US... that Ralph Milne worked as a casual labourer in the same season that he played for Dundee United in the semi-final of the European Cup
 WIKIPEDIA

CHRIS MATTERFACE
Business intelligence manager
Supports Gillingham

“I don’t mean this in an ‘I am so hip, I was

there before it was famous’ way, but I first
stumbled upon Wikipedia before it was
particularly widely known. I think I was just
Googling something and it came up in the
results. I hadn’t heard of it before. I didn’t
immediately start editing football articles.
I thought there were probably already plenty
of football experts on the site so one more
wasn’t needed. But I started to do a few bits
and bobs here and there and pretty soon
I was editing almost exclusively on football.
I’ve been an editor for more than 10 years,
and an admin – with the ability to block
malicious users and delete unsuitable articles
– for eight. In total, I have now made more
than 60,000 edits. My first football-related
edit was a very minor format fix on the
article for my own team, Gillingham.
The amount of football content now on
Wikipedia is pretty staggering. In fact, those
of us who edit the football topics have had
disputes in the past with other editors who
think there is too much football content and it
should be cut back. As it stands, we must be “NEEDLESS TO SAY,
getting close to having an article on every
player who has ever played in the Premier THE ARTICLE ON HIS
League or English Football League. FIVE-A-SIDE TEAM WAS
There are also articles, of varying size, on
every club to have ever competed in the FA DELETED AND THE
Cup. It would be nice to have that level of
coverage for every country, but that isn’t the
ONE ON GOD WASN’T” O
case yet, simply because people tend to edit
what they know and we have more editors
who know more about English football. But
I hope that one day we’ll get there.
Football invokes some strong passions in
people, and in the modern age, one way
that manifests itself is in people thinking it
is funny to put fake or downright offensive
content on articles about teams or players
they don’t like. I guess it’s the hi-tech
equivalent of scrawling graffiti on walls.
Luckily, vandalism generally gets spotted
by the editors and fixed pretty quickly.
One of my favourite complaints came from
a guy who had created an article on his own
team that played five-a-side down the local
leisure centre, and the article got nominated
for deletion. During the discussion, he was
told that one of the main reasons the article
was up for deletion was that there were no
reliable sources to prove that the team ever
existed. He replied that in that case, we had
to immediately delete the article on God,
because it couldn’t be proved that God
exists. It made me chuckle, but needless to
say, the article on his five-a-side team got
deleted and the one on God didn’t.”

WIKIPEDIA TAUGHT US... that, when growing up in Ireland, future Stoke forward Terry Conroy was arrested by a plain-clothed policeman for playing football in the street

88 September
February 2016
2016
FourFourTwo.com
FourFourTwo.com
   
  
 
  


  
 
 

  
  
  
 ’s
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THE STORY
BEHIND
THE SHOT

WA RHOL M EETS P EL E
When Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol was commissioned in 1977
to make a series of prints of the world’s 10 biggest sports stars,
including Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus and OJ Simpson, there
was only one option for ‘soccer’. Pele was lost, however, when the
pair discussed the shoot. “I didn’t know Andy Warhol was that
famous,” said the New York Cosmos striker. “But it’s one of the best
things I did. He gave continuity to my life and my message in art.”
 From boutiques to
sports stores, the late
’60s saw a flowering
of footballers opening
their own shops. It all
began with Bestie in a
Deansgate backstreet…

D
own the back of Deansgate,
where Manchester stares at
Salford, Crazy Pedro’s Part-Time
Pizza Parlour serves late-night
cuisine to the overserved of
both cities. It’s here you will come if,
at around 3am, you feel the need to
eat nachos off the lid of a rubbish bin
or try a Dirty Northerner – cheese,
chips and gravy on a pizza base. It’s
a bit hard to believe, then, that nearly
five decades ago its site on Bridge
Street was the epicentre of cool.
It was here in 1967 that Manchester
United’s George Best, in partnership
with City rival Mike Summerbee,
opened a boutique. Short on
lifespan but long on influence,
Edwardia gave a start in the fashion
world to a young window dresser from
Nottingham named Paul Smith and
suggested that in Swinging Sixties
Britain, footballers – so recently, burly
Brylcreemed figures in long shorts –

REMEMBER
might be just as fashionable as The
Beatles, Mary Quant, Sean Connery
and the other faces painting the
country in flower-power Paisley.
With the launch of Edwardia,
Best became a trendsetter. Malcolm

WHEN BEST AND

Macdonald and Frank Worthington, in
partnership with Kenny Dalglish (right),
financed their own boutiques. Some of
the older guard, including the great
John Charles and Aston Villa legend
Harry Parkes, launched sports shops.
Others, such as Terry Venables and Ron

SUMMERBEE
‘Chopper’ Harris, opened up tailoring
showrooms. And World Cup-winning
captain Bobby Moore, always looking
for a business opportunity, did all three.
The motivation for most was obvious.
Although the £20 minimum wage had

OWNED A SHOP?
been abolished in 1961, football was
far from today’s set-for-life profession.
A thriving boutique could offer a reliable
post-football wage packet without its
owner ever having to set foot behind
a bar or pull on a camel coat and sit in
a freezing dugout, shouting instructions
at players nowhere near as good as
their impoverished manager once was.
 Money wasn’t central to Best’s
interests, however. In March 1966, he
had lent his name to a men’s clothes
shop in the unfashionable Manchester
suburb of Sale, discovering to his delight
that not all the customers were male.
“It was just another way of pulling
birds,” he later conceded. “You would
finish training and hang about the
shop in the afternoon, waiting for the
girls to come home from college.”
Once Best had himself a base in
Manchester city centre, things started
to take on a more Bacchanalian feel.
“George had a prolific sex drive and
our offices became useful to him for
his casual encounters,” said his friend,
Frank Evans. “He’d take good-looking
girls upstairs to our first floor. It wasn’t
that uncommon for George to take girls
into the dressing room and have sex
with them. They got up to all kinds of
things. He was unbelievable.”
Not surprisingly, Edwardia soon
had its own women’s department,
Regina. Best launched another store
on nearby New Brown Street, as his
contemporaries continued to throw
open the doors of their own shops.
These were good times, and though
the 1960s were coming to an end, it
seemed like the party never would.
“If you looked like George Best you
didn’t have to open a clothes shop to
pick up women – he could do it while
“JOHN CHARLES DIDN'T HAVE ANY
BUSINESS ACUMEN. HE WOULD LET
PEOPLE HAVE THINGS WITHOUT PAYING”
putting petrol in the car,” Summerbee
tells FFT. “We had all the latest stuff.
I spent a lot of time on my appearance
– George would just throw anything on
and instantly look better than me.
“We supported each other’s shops,
too. We went down to London for one
Manchester City game and all bought
these long coats from Bobby Moore.
Mine was long, cream and in pigskin.
We really looked the business.”
One remarkable success was future
England forward Malcolm Macdonald,
a man who had an eye for business
opportunities to match his eye for goal.
“When I signed for Newcastle in
1971, I spotted a gap in the market
because the fashionable shops were all
selling slimline suits,” he tells FFT. “The
Newcastle people were like me: broad
shoulders, couldn’t get into a slimline
suit. There were a few beer guts, too.
“So my friend Alan Owen, who went
on to work for Benetton, and I opened
up Macdonald & Owen in the Newgate
shopping precinct – quality clothes at
reasonable prices. Even today, I’ll be
walking along the beach at home with
my dog and someone will suddenly say:
‘I bought my wedding suit at your shop.’
“We had a room downstairs for the
very best customers – players from
Newcastle and other teams. We
sold them exclusive stuff that had
been used in fashion shows and
exhibitions, all one-of-a-kind.”
So successful was Macdonald & Owen
that Supermac opened up a second
store. Bravely, it was in Sunderland.
“I had to be invisible to that one,”
Macdonald laughs. “No face, no name,
nothing. I didn’t dare go over to the
shop until it was well after dark.”
A third shop opened and thrived,
with the striker exiting the North East
clothing trade with a healthy profit
when he moved to Arsenal in 1976.
But others were less successful, and
Macdonald thinks he knows why.
“I’d sold bananas on Luton market
as a teenager. A lot of footballers who
opened boutiques didn’t have that
kind of experience. If you don’t have
anything to do with your business, you
have to hire people in who do know the
trade, and that is asking for trouble
because you tend to get ripped off.”
Some failures were more to do with
bad luck than bad partners. Horrified by
the damage done by the government’s
imposition of a three-day working week
to conserve electricity stocks, Bobby
Moore moved production of his leather
goods from the UK to Northern Cyprus.
The area was promptly annexed by
Turkey, and Moore lost his shirt.
Meanwhile, Venables and Harris’
tailoring shop on Soho’s Old Compton
Street was tarnished in part by the
patronage of pratfalling actor Norman
Wisdom. “When I told some people
that we made Wisdom’s suits they said:
‘Well, that’s not much of an advert for
a tailoring business’ and walked out
of the shop,” said Venables. “I only
realised after they left that they thought
I meant the crumpled ones, two sizes
too small, that he wore on stage.”
Some failures were more predictable.
“John didn’t have business acumen,”
recalled Charles’ business partner – and
Welsh rugby international – Alan Priday.
“He would let people have some things
without paying. He couldn’t see it was
business. He was very generous and
a lot of people took advantage.”
“Clothing is a difficult industry,” says
Macdonald. “You can’t be the landlord
who drinks his own profits, going into
the shop and saying: ‘I like that suit
and I own this place, so I’m taking it’.
Plus, dealing in cash, as we did then,
is all too tempting for some people.
“Mostly, footballers don’t make good
businessmen. You can’t take a day off.
Even if the door’s closed, the business
should be going on in your head.”
By the early 1970s, as he feuded
with Manchester United and several
girlfriends, the clothing business was
no longer going on in George Best’s
head. He and Summerbee eventually
sold out to Lincroft Kilgour, a tailor in
London’s Savile Row, for a small return
on their initial £1,000 investment.
“We’d had a lovely time,” says
Summerbee, who put his money into
a tailored shirt business that he still
runs. “I don’t think George ever wanted
to be a businessman. Having a shop was
just a by-product of being George Best.”
Best, now on a retainer, continued
to be the public face of the shops. Yet,
after his behaviour became increasingly
erratic and his dependence on alcohol
began to take hold – not helped by
his ownership of two nightclubs in
Manchester – his name was painted
out of the store signs in 1973.
Perhaps that’s not quite the end of
the story, though. When Best opened
Edwardia, the area around Bridge Street
was known as The Village. Nowadays,
in reference to the large paved area
outside Crazy Pedro’s, it’s known as
The Square With No Name. But some
Mancunians now want it to have one,
Words Steve Anglesey
and among the recent suggestions
put forward is George Best Square.
“That would be a great idea,” smiles
Summerbee. “George is much-missed
and he really would have loved it.”
FourFourTwo.com September 2016 93
 Denis Law relegated Manchester United in 1974
Nope. United would’ve gone down even if their former
player hadn’t backheeled in a late derby winner for City

Bury 6-0 Derby, FA Cup Final | 1903 Uruguay 4-2 Argentina, World Cup Final (first half) | 1930 Slazenger ‘Victory’ World Cup ball | 1966

THE ARCHIVE

BALLS
Out of shape, excessively stitched
and in funny colours, old footballs
can’t compare to modern marvels
12-panel ‘Super Fine’ ball, widely used | 1925-1960 Wales 0-2 England | 1912

Greban T-Ball, by William Thomlinson | 1950s Duke and Son ball, widely used | 1870s Painted ball from the Orkneys’ Kirkwall Ba Game | 1800s

Eight-panel ball, by HJ Rofe of Manchester | 1912 Victorian children’s ball | 1900 England 4-2 West Germany, World Cup Final | 1966

Items supplied by the National Football Museum

Images courtesy of the National Football Museum,
the Football Association and the Priory Collection
94 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com
 WHAT
HAPPENED
TO

Thomas
Brolin
Who?
Sweden’s very own
‘baby-faced assassin’,

THE DELL
whose star-studded
post-Euro 92 career
plunged into freefall
after he joined Leeds
in 1995. His excuses
included: he was
often played out of SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND
position; he hit an
elk on his way to

T
the airport; it was here’s only one clue that a set of Webb wasn’t the only one to have been triumphant 1966 World Cup squad and
his dad’s birthday. nondescript apartments, just off humiliated by the locals. Manchester Saints’ record appearance holder.
He later washed up Southampton’s Milton Road, used to United were famously humbled 6-3 in “You could see a lot of opposition players
at Crystal Palace, house one of English football’s most October 1996, six months after Saints, just didn’t fancy it,” says Southampton
where the director atmospheric grounds. Le Tissier, Benali inspired by Le Tissier, forced a half-time fan Bryn Thomas, who scored the last ever
thought that he was and Channon Courts do Matt, Francis shirt change from the infamous grey kit. hat-trick there in a charity match in 2001.
Attilio Lombardo’s and Mick – plus Danny Wallace and Alan Shearer also used The Dell as the “I’m not sure any other club benefited
official translator. Ted Bates – proud in bricks and mortar. backdrop to announce his arrival, netting so much from their home ground. When

Words Richard Edwards

Opening in 1898, The Dell was a classic a hat-trick in a 4-2 win against Arsenal in The Dell was demolished, I bought myself
Oh dear. What did of its kind; a ground where the fans were April 1988. The ground also played host to a patch of earth with one of the penalty
he do after retiring? so close to the pitch that Neil Webb, once the likes of Kevin Keegan and Terry Paine, spots on and planted it in my garden.”
He later became of hated rivals Portsmouth, had his shorts owner of football’s most magnificent They’re a green-fingered bunch down
an entrepreneur pulled down while taking a throw-in. sideburns, member of England’s there on the South Coast.
with his own line of
shoes, opened up an
Italian restaurant
that was fined for
serving booze to B I Z A R R E H I S T O R Y O F. . . A R S E N A L
minors, and then
invested a huge
LIKE PIGS IN… BIG IN ICELAND DOING TIME BIN TO HIGHBURY “OI, WRIGHTY!”
wad of savings into
a miracle vacuum Some of Arsenal’s During the Second The Gunners’ most Osama bin Laden Lee Dixon’s 1999
cleaner nozzle – early pitches weren’t World War, Arsenal infamous ex-player? regularly attended testimonial against
Twinner – that is ideal. Their first ever signed Iceland’s Sixties’ hatchet man Highbury during Real Madrid was
yet to revolutionise game was reportedly first professional Peter Storey, who the 1993-94 Cup delayed due to kit
the suction world. played on an Isle of footballer. Albert was jailed in 1980 for Winners’ Cup run. vanishing from the
Dogs wasteland that Gudmundsson later counterfeiting coins. dressing room. New
What’s he included “an open joined Racing He also ran a brothel shirts were acquired
doing now? sewer”, before they Paris, Milan, while on bail and was while police probed.
Words Si Hawkins

Going by Instagram, moved to Plumstead and ran for caught smuggling In fact, Ian Wright
he’s dividing his time and an old pig farm. Icelandic porn videos past had thrown them
between the hot tub Pity the poor kitman. president. customs in a car tyre. out of the window.
and the kitchen.

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 95

 THIS YEAR IN
T R A C TOR B OYS, OOH A R R
Bobby Robson turns Ipswich Town into one of English
football’s finest sides – a unique blend of Dutch flair,
with Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren, and British steel, Kidnappings, prison breaks and one hell of
thanks to John Wark and Terry Butcher – as the Tractor a beating – it was all kicking off, 35 years ago
Boys defeat AZ 5-4 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup final.
Seldom has Portman Road rocked as it does in the 3-0
first-leg victory and seldom has anyone rocked a glass
of fizz better than a topless Wark after the second leg.

ESCAPE TO VICTORY
Saccharine-sweet, as Sylvester Stallone makes
the most uncomfortable-looking penalty save
in history, Escape to Victory is as good as
football gets in Hollywood, with a group of
allied POWs attempting to escape from a Nazi
prison in the middle of a match. And it allows
John Wark (again), Kevin Beattie and Russell
Osman to complete the most unlikely double
of being UEFA Cup winners and Second World
War escapees in a matter of months. Not bad.
Words Andrew Murray; Quini picture Segui, FC Barcelona

Q U INI: K IDNA PPED

Fresh from scoring twice in a 6-0 drubbing of Hercules on March 1, Barcelona
striker Quini is kidnapped by a debt-ridden mechanic and electrician, who
together demand 350 million pesetas (€2.1m) for his release. After missing
two defeats and a draw as Los Cules’ title hopes fade in his 25-day absence,
the No.9 is eventually found in a Zaragoza car park, sporting a fetching beard,
next to his relieved wife. He still ends as La Liga’s top scorer that season. “They
weren’t bad people,” a too-nice-for-his-own-good Quini says upon his release.

96 Septe ber 2016 F urF u o.com

 B ILL SH A N KLY D I E S
One of the game’s greatest ever
WHAT ELSE
HAPPENED
bosses passes away from a heart
attack in September, seven years
after retiring as Liverpool gaffer.

IN '81?
C RU Y FF… T O L EIC EST ER?! Margaret
Foxes boss Jock Wallace announces that
Thatcher
Europe’s best player will arrive in the East Ian Botham
Midlands for a career swansong. Almost
immediately, Cruyff rocks up at Levante.
THE
P O WE R
C IR CLE
Indiana
Unemployment
“ O N E HE LL OF A B EATING ”
Jones

Postman Pat
“Lord Nelson! Lord Beaverbrook! Sir Winston Churchill! Sir
Detachable
Anthony Eden! Clement Attlee! Henry Cooper! Lady Diana!
Bucks Fizz skirts
Maggie Thatcher – can you hear me, Maggie Thatcher? Your
boys took one hell of a beating!” Bjorge Lillelien’s commentary
as Norway come from behind to defeat England in a World Cup
qualifier shows there’s nothing quite like beating the English.

Half of the UK’s 56.3 million

population tune in as Prince
Charles marries Lady Diana
Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral

R EA L B EAT REAL 5
Stand and Deliver
Adam and the Ants
Jesus Maria Zamora scores
WEE KS AT NO.1

with just 12 seconds of the

season left, away at Gijon,
Imagine
to seal the one point Real 4
John Lennon
Sociedad need to win La
*1981’s best-selling single

Liga ahead of Real Madrid.

Tainted Love
2
Soft Cell*

R O BBO T H E RED
With Ron Atkinson swapping West Bromwich Albion
for Manchester United in June, the Baggies’ young
star soon follows him to Old Trafford. After rejecting Brideshead
Revisited
a £1,000-a-week contract – some £995 more than
the apprentice forms he’d signed nine years earlier
TOP 3 Danger
– Robson’s £1.5m transfer fee sets a British record. TV SHOWS Mouse
Manchester’s pubs will never be the same again.
Dynasty

FourFourTwo.com September 2016 97

 ?
? ?
DID YOU KNOW? Legendary Lazio striker
Giorgio Chinaglia used to carry a .45 revolver
with him wherever he went in 1970s Rome.

MATCH
THE REPORT
CLASSICS
Peru ’78 kit Dog on
1
Crystal Palace fans
may disagree, but
pitch!
nobody has worn
a diagonal stripe Leicester
better than Peru Chronicle
in their run to the March 10, 1888
second round of
the World Cup. “During the match at

BAD HAIRCUTS
Aston Lower Grounds
between Aston Villa
and West Bromwich
Albion, playing for
2 the Birmingham Cup,
a tiny white terrier
appeared on the field.
He was evidently an
enthusiastic devotee
of the game. Where
the ball went, the
Puma little terrier followed
Kings helter-skelter, biting
In 1968 football boot its smooth sides,
royalty is born, with while the thousands
this effortlessly cool of spectators roared
design released to 3 4 with merriment.
mark the goalscoring At last Burton
feats of the equally captured it and
legendary Eusebio. rushed towards the
dressing rooms. He
had not gone many
yards when he met
Woodhall coming
down the right wing
with the ball. Burton
bravely tried to tackle
the Albion player,
Football 5 6 7 and was obliged
Against to drop the dog.

1 4
The Enemy CHRIS WADDLE MARSEILLE, ’90 PHIL THOMPSON LIVERPOOL, ’78 One of the Albion
Simon Kuper’s ode Kids today will think it’s the work of a Photoshop Terry McDermott just about pulled it off while Phil backs, meeting it on
to the beautiful prankster, but no. The Waddler had football’s most Neal resembled a deranged granny, but Thommo, the way to the ball,
game’s ugliest memorable mullet, including a dyed lower section that inspired by Kevin Keegan’s bubble cut, instigated the gave it a brutal kick,
rivalries defines billowed majestically as he scampered down the wing. Liverpool perm craze. He has a lot to answer for. and poor little doggie
modern sports turned up his legs

2 5
writing (and it JASON LEE NOTTINGHAM FOREST, ’96 JOHN DEMPSEY CHELSEA, ’75 and lay still on the
includes Frank The journeyman striker achieved instant and Dempsey had the worst haircut of the ’70s – and damp turf. Everybody
Rijkaard spitting). lasting celebrity for hoisting his dreadlocks into an boy, was there competition. His attempt at a Bay thought it was killed,
early topknot, being accused of having “a pineapple City Rollers ’do was a terrifyingly bouffant mushroom. and roars of laughter
on his head”. Hurt, he soon shaved it off. Oh well. changed into groans

6
TARIBO WEST NIGERIA, ’98 of horror, then hisses.

3
RENE HIGUITA COLOMBIA, ’90 The ever-bonkers West’s sublime masterpiece was There was a cheer all
El Loco gave precisely zero figs about most things – the Keith-from-the-Prodigy-meets-six-year-old-girl round the ground
he took cocaine and hung out with Pablo Escobar, bunches, sprouting from his dome like runner beans. when at last he
after all – but plenty of care and attention went into wagged his tail.”

7
those tight, lavish curls, reminiscent of Diana Ross in BOBBY CHARLTON MANCHESTER UNITED, ’70
her pomp. Twinned with a seriously shady moustache, On a windy day, history’s greatest combover would A genuine match
Higuita’s look has lost none of its power to astonish. ascend alarmingly like a peacock in heat. Atrocious. report. Yes, really.

98 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com

%*****
 






&!'#&")&

!   & ( & !  (

     


   
  

FITNESS / NUTRITION / SKILLS / PSYCHOLOGY / GEAR / TACTICS

MASTERCLASS
JUAN MATA
The playmaker reveals how
to give big defenders the slip
Hola, Juan. How does a small player
such as yourself survive in a division
as physical as the Premier League?
It’s a good question! In England there
are many big and strong players, which
means that I have to think a bit more,
because of the big difference in size
between myself and a lot of players.
If you’re not tall or strong you have to
move earlier and try to find the spaces
before your rival. The mental side of
the game is really important for the
smaller players – if you try to stand
toe-to-toe with a bigger man, it’s
very difficult to come out on top.
Do you adapt your game against
fast or strong defenders?
It depends on whether you have the
ball or the defender has the ball. If he
has possession, I make sure I’m smart
tactically and pick up good positions to
stop him from running into space or
making a key pass. If I have the ball,
I make sure my first touch is good –
that’s really important. I also like to
play one-twos with my team-mates,
trying to draw him out of position.
It’s all about tricking him, and you
have to think really quickly.
You’re very good at finding little
pockets of space in a match – is
that something you work on?
When I’m looking to find some space
in which to receive the ball, some of
that is instinctive. I have a natural feel
now for where the ball is going to go,
because I have played the game for
so many years. However, this is still
something that you can practise in
training. I know it sounds like really
obvious advice, but you need to think:
where can I position my body to receive
the ball best? Where is there likely to
be more space? It’s important to have
a good sense of orientation, as this will
enable you to make the right decisions
in different areas of the pitch and be
decisive when the time comes.
What’s the secret to keeping
possession in tight spaces?
You need to look around – 360 degrees
– all the time before you receive the
ball. You need to know where you are,
where your team-mates are and where
the opposition players are. When you
watch Spanish players, you’ll see they
always do this. Xavi is probably the very
best in the world at it. He is not that
quick physically, but he’s extremely
quick in his mind and that’s one of the
key qualities that great players possess.
Do you work on strength in the gym?
I use the gym three times per week, but
it always depends on how many games
“I have to think
more, playing
in England: if
you aren’t tall or
strong, you must
move earlier and
try to find spaces”
we have. If we have two or three games
in quick succession, we can’t do too
much, as we need to focus on recovery.
We do sessions that work both the legs
and the upper body. Even though I’m
physically tiny I still make sure I do my
physical work as well, so that I avoid
injuries and have a good base level of
strength with which to shield the ball.
Are there any exercises you think
are important for playmakers?
There are many areas of fitness that
you need to work on. I do a lot of core
and co-ordination work – I think it’s
good to work on the link between the
brain and your legs and feet. I also
PERFORMANCE
THE
DETAILS
A Mata of
fact: here are
10 things you
didn’t know
about him
focus on reaction work for the feet and
jumping exercises to improve power.
I believe in fitness that is specific for
the pitch. I always want to do things
that I am going to be repeating during
a match. You must train physically,
but orientated towards the game.
What do you do to help your body
recover after training or a match?
When I lived in Spain I enjoyed an
afternoon siesta, but it’s something
I’ve stopped doing since I moved to
England because the culture is very Dream coffee date
different. I recover by doing lots of Eric Cantona
stretching and pool work, transferring
between hot and cold water. I also Studying
eat lots of quality food to make sure Sports science and
I recover from training and games as marketing degrees
quickly as possible. You can’t get away
with eating and drinking whatever you Favourite film
want – if you want a long career at the Midnight in Paris
top level, you have to be disciplined.
Childhood idol
What types of food do you eat in Diego Maradona
order to fuel your performance?
I eat breakfast at the training ground Best friend
and normally I’ll have some toast and Granada’s
a banana so that I have plenty of David Lomban
carbohydrates in my system before
training. I also like a glass of orange Foible
juice, and a coffee to wake me up. We Can’t fall asleep if he
have a great chef, Mike, who makes doesn’t set an alarm
fish dishes at lunchtime. I often eat
salmon and pasta, particularly before Superstition
matches. It’s a meal that has always He always puts on
made me feel really energetic before his left boot first
I play. Drinking lots of water is also
Interview Alec Fenn; Performance editor Ben Welch
key as it helps to keep me hydrated. Dream signing for
At home, I like to cook something Manchester United
myself for dinner. A dish I eat a lot is Andres Iniesta
fabada, which is a rich Spanish bean
stew. It’s probably my biggest meal of Second sport
the day and keeps me full before bed. Table tennis
Juan Mata is the first global ambassador If he wasn’t
for streetfootballworld, a non-profit a footballer...
organisation which works with over 100 He'd work in
companies across 67 countries to help advertising
1.2 million young people through football
FourFourTwo.com/Performance September 2016 101
 PERFORMANCE

LIKE A
1 2

PRO 3 4

We stalked your favourite

players on Instagram so
that you can use their tips
on training and nutrition

1
Cristiano Ronaldo @cristiano
“Battle ropes are a great training tool
if you have got a lower body injury,”
explains Under Armour strength and
conditioning coach Mike Watts. “Use
them as part of an upper body circuit.”

2
Theo Walcott @theowalcott
“A suspended TRX lunge mimics
the type of movement that you will
do on the pitch. The cables provide the
resistance to build hamstring strength.”

3
Wilfred Bony @w.bony
“Single leg hops over hurdles can
be used as an endurance exercise.
Try doing 20 continuously on one leg
and then repeat it on the other leg.”

4
Steven Gerrard @stevengerrard
“Cold water immersion will ease
muscle soreness after a match –
but don’t use it after a weights session,
as it halts post-exercise muscle growth.”

5
Thomas Muller @esmuellert
“A rotational lunge stretch is a good
stability exercise – it will help your
balance when twisting during a game.”
5 6

6
Luke Shaw @lukeshaw23 7 8
“Players should eat one portion of
fruit and at least two portions of veg
– preferably organic – with every meal.”

7
Lionel Messi @leomessi
“Eighty per cent of your diet should
be made of good nutrition, but allow
20 per cent for treats such as this one.”

8
Andrea Pirlo @andreapirlo21
“If you can grow it or kill it, then eat
it. Processed burgers don’t fall into
that category, sadly, so avoid them.”

102
0 FFebruary
r ar 2016
2 16 F
FourFourTwo.com
rF u Tw m
102 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com
 PREPARE.
TRAIN. WIN.
GET MATCH-FIT WITH OUR FREE 6-WEEK
PRE-SEASON PROGRAMME, DEVISED BY EXPERTS

THE PLAN

Download the timetable

Master the technical drills

Follow the strength and

conditioning programme

Fuel up with our nutrition plan

TWEET @FFTPERFORMANCE AND UPDATE US

WITH YOUR PROGRESS USING #LIKEAPRO SCAN
FOR PLAN
 PERFORMANCE

T R I E D AND T E S T E D

ANTI-GRAVITY TREADMILL
FFT fancied being an astronaut before we discovered football, and we got the
VSlaven Bilic chance to fulfill our childhood dream (well, nearly) by testing out this little beauty
Is there anything
he can’t do? Good
manager, top TV What is it?
pundit. We’ll forgive A rehab machine developed using
the council haircut. NASA technology to help athletes
recover from lower body injuries, train
VTreadmills at a lower intensity, and reduce the
A US study’s shown risk of recurring stress-related knocks.
that treadmill work
boosts memory and How does it work?
increases levels of The user dons some rubber shorts
protein in the blood. that zip into an airtight enclosure
on the treadmill. Pushing a button
VAthleisure changes the air pressure so you can
At last it’s fashionable either walk or run using between 20
to don sportswear at and 100 per cent of your bodyweight.
work, down the pub
and on the bus. Yes! Who uses it?
Who doesn’t use it, more like. The
England team, most Premier League
clubs, half of the Championship, Team

HERO GB athletes and several rugby union

sides all own this hi-tech machine.
TO
ZERO Why are they using it?
It allows injured footballers to begin
their recoveries sooner, slowly increase
the training intensity to reduce the

Words Alec Fenn; Photography Daniel Lynch

chances of any setbacks, and recover
WAltitude from their problems much faster.
training masks
They’re expensive, How much does it cost?
look ridiculous and At £27.50 for a single session – which
don’t work, especially normally lasts for up to 45 minutes –
when you are only it is affordable even for non-athletes.
using the bench There are 45 AlterG anti-gravity
press. Put ’em away. treadmills across the UK; find your
nearest one at www.alterg.com.
WSports drinks
Research has shown
that 89 per cent of
12-14 year-old Welsh
children are currently
THE PERFORMANCE MATRIX
guzzling them, but Which of these fast foods is the tastiest and best for you?
they’re full of sugar.
AMAZING

WRipe and ready

avocados
Yes, they’re healthy.
But when they are
ready, we’re not, KFC
TASTE

and by the time we Zinger burger

are, it’s too late. 450 calories NANDOS
PIZZA HUT
Half chicken
18in pepperoni pizza
BURGER KING 644 calories
SUBWAY 3,180 calories
AVERAGE

6in chicken breast Whopper sandwich McDONALDS

304 calories 630 calories Big Tasty burger
814 calories

PORTUGUESE RONALDOMETER BRAZILIAN

FourFourTwo.com/Performance September 2016 105

 PERFORMANCE

Tea called polyphenols that are found in

Health kick
You can’t beat a good old-fashioned
cuppa ahead of a game. But tea does
more than warm your insides as you
take to a muddy pitch in the Sunday
morning cold; it helps to keep you in
tip-top shape. A Harvard School of
Health study revealed the substances
tea can contribute to lowering your
risk of developing cardiovascular
disease and diabetes. However, if you
value your CR7-esque gleaming white
smile, drink plenty of water with your
Earl Grey. Pigments from dark drinks
can become embedded in your tooth
enamel, causing discolouration – not
what you want when you’re smiling
with the man-of-the-match trophy.

1 “White and green tea

have health benefits
as their anti-oxidants
2  “The lower caffeine
content found in
tea means there's less
3 “Tea will give you
a boost but there
is far more research
prevent cell damage,” chance of disrupted showing how coffee
explains elite sports sleep which could delay boosts mental and
nutritionist Liam Holmes. recovery after a match.” athletic performance.”

VS
If there’s one thing footballers love
nearly as much as a cheeky Nandos,
it’s pre-match caffeine. But which of
these hot drinks will give you an edge?

Coffee success and failure. Dr Rob James,

Caffeine hit
Sports drinks, protein shakes, energy
bars – footballers are spoilt for choice
if they want a performance-boosting
supplement. And yet, a cup of coffee
remains the most widely-used legal
stimulant among players. It is even
claimed that a pre-match caffeine
binge could be the difference between
lead researcher at Coventry University,
conducted a study which revealed
that a very high dose of caffeine
improved muscle power and
endurance by six per cent. How many
times will you need to boil the kettle?
The research says 6mg of caffeine per
2.2lbs of body weight – the equivalent
of two cups of coffee for an 11-stone
male – just before exercise will do the
trick. Get yourself down to Starbucks.

1 “Just one cup of

coffee [at a size
of 8oz/220ml] contains
70-140mg of caffeine –
twice as much as a cup
of tea,” says Holmes.
2 “Coffee increases
the levels of the
hormone dopamine,
3 “Drinking coffee
will also help
you to increase your
which is the key to you metabolic rate, which
improving reaction times will mean burning far
and decision-making.” more calories at rest.”

AND OUR WINNER IS... COFFEE

FOURFOURTWO PROMOTION

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A G-Form shin pad fits like a sock, never moves, provides arm WHY YOU
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guards will soon be
Clunky, uncomfortable shin pads are no They’re not lightweight in the tackle, Football is a fast game and just as you a thing of the past.
more, thanks to G-Form’s cutting-edge either. When you go in for a crunching need to think quickly on the pitch, so
Reaction Protection Technology (RPT). 50-50 challenge, the guard’s molecules does your gear. After winning your SLIMLINE FIT
Theirs are the first soft, fully flexible absorb the impact and redistribute the tackle and sprinting further up the At only .27in thick
shin guards to pass European safety energy by huddling together like you pitch, the molecules in the shin pads and weighing just
standards. The molecules in the pad and your team-mates in a defensive repel each other again and return 50g per pad, the low
repel each other for a malleable fit – wall. The opposition’s hatchet man to their original flexible fit, ready for profile fit lets your
you’ll barely notice you’ve got them on. will have to look for another victim. you to win the next battle. Job done! feet do the talking.
That means there’ll
Key coverage be no more shinning
Articulated design Maximum comfort the ball straight into
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Low profile Durable construction planning to spank
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NO MORE TAPE
Traditional shin pads
require straps or tape
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moving around and
slipping down your
shins. G-Form’s pads,
however, slip on like
a sock to provide
a natural fit and
reduce distractions
so you can focus
on your game.

G-FORM.COM/SOCCER @GFORMSOCCEROFFICIAL GFORMSOCCER @GFORMSOCCER GFORMLLC

 PERFORMANCE

YOU ASK
How do I improve
my leg strength?
MEDITATE LIKE BIG SAM
Sam Thompson Throwing tea cups is so 1995. Relieve the pressures of management with relaxation techniques
via Twitter
If you thought football managers are
just an angry bunch of middle-aged
men taking their mid-life crises out
on referees, you’re mistaken. It turns
HE out the men who stalk touchlines
ANSWERS and kick water bottles for a living
have hidden depths. Well, Sam
Allardyce certainly does, anyway.
Big Sam has revealed he is a big
fan of Transcendental Meditation –
an ancient technique used to reduce
stress and promote inner peace.
Before you write it off as a load of
new-age hippie nonsense, remember
he isn’t one to be fooled by fitness fads.
The 61-year-old is a long-time advocate
Ben Davies of sports science and psychology and
Tottenham and has now been meditating for 12 years
Wales defender (although he has probably taken the
occasional break in that time).
“At Spurs we do “It helps you cope with the pressure
a lot of single leg of management,” he said. “We brought
squats and single it in for the players at Bolton during the
leg lunges, which 2003-04 season and I then tried it for
are probably the myself. It keeps you calm and reduces
most important your blood pressure, too.
exercises you can “It’s pretty easy to
do for football. In do. You don’t
my career I’ve often need a quiet
had different levels room with
of strength in each music on.
leg, so it’s something You can be
I’ve always had to anywhere, at any
work on. Aside from time, as long as you
building strength, can find a relatively quiet place to do it
the purpose of the for 15, 20, 25 minutes. It refreshes you.”
single leg exercises After Allardyce’s sterling effort to help
is to make sure your save Sunderland from relegation to the
Interview James Maw

sprint technique is Championship last season, perhaps

Words Alec Fenn

as good as possible, a few more Premier League
which will help you managers will follow
run faster and also suit and attempt to
avoid any injuries.” find their inner zen.

THE
ESSENTIALS
WEARABLE
TECH
Build muscle, run further
and sleep better, with
these fitness trackers
ATLAS WRISTBAND FITBIT SURGE JAWBONE UP3
This band recognises exercises such as Run further and faster with a built-in Sensors monitor your quality of sleep by
squats and bench presses, counting GPS system that records pace set, measuring your heart rate, respiration
reps and monitoring muscle exertion. distance covered and elevation climbed. rate and body temperature at night.
Cost £180 Buy atlaswearables.com Cost £199.99 Buy fitbit.com/uk Cost £129.99 Buy jawbone.com/up

FourFourTwo.com/Performance September 2016 109

 PERFORMANCE

IF YOU'RE
GOING TO
DO ONE
THING…

Get your
kettle on
Bored of the bench press and sick of
the squat rack? Give kettlebells a go
to kick-start your training regime,
torch fat and build muscle fast.
The American Council on Exercise
have found that a 15-minute workout
with those odd-looking metal objects
sat in the corner of your local gym
can burn as many as 300 calories.
That’s all well and good if you want
to be Slimmer of the Year, but how will
it help you to be a better footballer?
“Kettlebells provide uneven weight
distribution, which will challenge and
strengthen your core,” says strength
and conditioning coach Karl Halabi.
“Try some exercises like kettlebell
deadlifts and swings. These will use
multiple muscle groups, which boosts
your testosterone levels and builds
Illustration Alex Williamson

muscle, and therefore make you

stronger when you're on the pitch.”
Don’t have any kettlebells lying
around at your gym? Well, fear not,
because you can even buy them at
the supermarket. A 12kg kettlebell
costs just £26.99 at tesco.com.

110 September 2016 FourFourTwo.com/Performance

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 JERZY DUDEK
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid keeper shares tales about
his greatest team-mates, including a superstitious Mikey Owen
IKER CASILLAS
“I could not get past him
at Real Madrid, which was
understandable because
he was the very best goalkeeper in the
world at the time, and busy winning
the European Championship and World
Cup! Even so, Fabio Cannavaro still liked
to wind him up and tell him Gianluigi
Buffon, his Italy team-mate, was better.
He once said loudly in the dressing
room: “Iker is a fantastic goalkeeper,
but Buffon is from a different galaxy.”

CRISTIANO RONALDO
“I faced him when he was
at Manchester United, so
I was delighted when he
arrived at Madrid in 2009. I used to love
watching him in training and in games.
He was the model professional, always
trying to get better. Cristiano loved
being the main man, the star of the
team, and he lived to score goals.
I have said in my book that I think he
sees team-mates as assistants who
are working towards his greatness.”

MICHAEL OWEN
“He had the best intuition
of any striker I played with.
He was so quick and knew
how to find space on the pitch and the
best areas to run into. He was also very
superstitious. At Liverpool, the quickest
way for him to drive back home from
the training ground was through the
Wallasey Tunnel, but just before he
started a long goalscoring run he’d
lger

driven through the Birkenhead Tunnel,

so he believed that route was lucky.
He drove that way every day until he
stopped scoring, even though it took
him a lot longer to get home!”
Jerzy Dudek’s autobiography, A Big Pole In Our Goal, is out now

THE GAFFER THE SUBS

GERARD HOULLIER
“He gave me my chance, and was a great
manager, coach and father figure to me. He
knew how to get the best out of his players.”
01 FABIO
CANNAVARO
02 ARJEN
ROBBEN
03 ROBERT
LEWANDOWSKI

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L E S W I N D ON TOWN • SCUNTHORPE UNI
•
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•
I E L D U N I T E
FF AT
FIELD • SHE • WALSALL • OLDHAM UNITED • NOTTS COUNT UNITED • MORECA
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ND UNITED ETERBOROUGH UNITED LETIC • HARTLEPOOL ORIENT • COLCHESTER SLE UNITED • YEOVI
•
R S O U T H E
QP E S D O N S • P R C I T Y • C H A R LT O N A T H O N S T A N L E Y • L E Y T O N S F I E L D T O W N • C A R L I V E N A G E • D U N D E E
•
L T O N K E Y N
MI V
N
E R S • E X E T E A N D E R E R S • A C C R I N G TM B R I D G E U N I T E D • M A L E • P O R T S M O U T H • S T EA L E D O N I A N T H I S T L
BR I S T O L R O
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UT O
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S T L E I G H • FOREST RRIBY UNIT
BARNET •
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W O O D • E A N O R T H F E
WN • NEW MICAL • • BOREHAM OLN CITY •
O V E R AT H
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PA R T I C K T H I O F M I D L O T H I A N WN • BARRO
W • AL
RIDGE • WRE
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RS • YORK C
ITY • G LD T
 CONTENTS
4 P R EM IER L EA GU E
If one of the widest top-flight title races in
recent history wasn’t enough to whet your
appetite, there’s Jose vs Pep in September

4 8 C H A M P IO N S H IP
Two Champions League-winning managers
and more than a dozen teams striving for
promotion: 2016-17 is going to be a cracker

6 3 L EA GU E O N E
Much managerial movement makes the
third tier especially fascinating this season –
then there’s MK Dons vs AFC Wimbledon...

7 7 L EA G U E T WO
The Football League’s goaliest division seeks
to excite supporters again, from Carlisle to
Plymouth and everywhere in between

9 0 N AT IO N A L L EA GU E
Brush up on Eastleigh and Forest Green
Rovers before they become league teams

9 1 S C O T T IS H P R EM IER S HI P
The Old Firm derby returns – but Aberdeen
and Hearts both fancy upsetting the odds

“DILLY DING, DILLY DONG..

So: you want to know what’s going to happen this season. Well, over the next 1
pages we’ll give you our best guess, based on detailed consultation with expert
bookmakers, pundits and fans up and down the UK. But then that’s what we did
last season and, like pretty much everyone else, we got it horribly wrong. What’s
going to happen? We’re not quite sure. But we do know it’s going to be good.
Free with the September 2016 edition of
Hitesh Ratna FourFourTwo © Haymarket Media Group
Editor Get involved. Tweet
us using the hashtag #FFTPREVIEW Email 442letters@haymarket.com
Tel 020 8267 5848

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FourFourTwo.com Stats Zone Twitter.com/ Facebook.com/
FourFourTwo FourFourTwo

Editor Hitesh Ratna Managing editor Huw Davies Art editor Anthony Moore Deputy art editor Tom Chase Designers Lloyd Smith, Mike Wescombe
Sub-editors Tim Barnett, Gregg Davies, Ben Walsh Writers Joe Brewin, Mark Carruthers, Richard Edwards, Alec Fenn, Chris Flanagan, Mike Holden,
Gregor MacGregor, Louis Massarella, James Maw, Kenny Millar, Nick Miller, Nick Moore, Andrew Murray, Ben Welch Picture editors Louise Connelly,
Chris Dean Pictures PA Photos, Getty, Rex, Action Images, Twitter Repro Haymarket Pre-Press Deputy production manager Suzanne Wiseman
Editor-in-chief David Hall Research Ben Clark, Michael Stavrou Thanks to Richard Holt, Stephen Kirby, Charlie Ghagan and all the fans who took part

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 3

2016-17
PREMIER LEAGUE
Galactico gaffers go head-to-head as the elite look to reassert their authority at the summit
“L
eicester City enter a period of
uncertainty following their great
escape.” Every so-called ‘expert’
was forced to eat their words
after the Foxes stunned the
football world last season, and these were
FourFourTwo’s exactly a year ago. And thank
goodness. Who wants to be right, when you
can be thrilled, shocked and rocked to your
very core by the way that Claudio Ranieri’s
miracle men won the Premier League title?
But even if the Italian is still jigging with
delight when the new campaign begins, he
won’t be the headline act this time around.
Not even close. Because no matter who
follows Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Premier
League this summer, there can be little
doubt that it’s all about the managers.
At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola plans
to “improve” the club and “prove” himself
in English football – or, as we like to put it,
win them back the Premier League title and
claim a maiden Champions League crown.
It won’t be easy, though, especially as his
bête noire has just moved in next door. When
this year’s worst-kept secret was finally let out
of the bag on FA Cup final day, those of us who
enjoy a heavyweight tear-up were smacking
our chops at the thought of Guardiola and
Jose Mourinho resuming hostilities.
Leicester celebrate modern
football’s most incredible
achievement – so what next?
4 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
On the face of it, the Special One has the
bigger job, having to improve and renew
a lop-sided squad, but he also has lower
expectations – for now. Getting back in the
Champions League and getting bums off seats
would be a start. But will he have more faith in
the club’s youngsters – one Marcus Rashford,
in particular – than he did at Chelsea?
As for the west Londoners, if Blues fans
weren’t sure they had the right long-term
replacement for Mourinho then they are
now, after Antonio Conte had Italy
thrillingly overachieving at Euro 2016.
Elsehwere in London, Mauricio Poche
first job after going so close last season
make sure that Spurs’ England conting
have a point to prove rather than a han
to nurse following their part in the Euro
fiasco. A few reinforcements, though, a
there’s no reason why they can’t comp
on two fronts. Fellow high-presser Jurg
Klopp, meanwhile, will also have Pep, h
former foe, in his sights. Two ultimately
unsuccessful cup final appearances
papered over, and then exposed, the
weaknesses in a Liverpool squad that
the gregarious German has now had
a full pre-season to make his own.
A top-four finish might be his minimu
aim but it looks the most he can hope
Looking to join the A-list are Mark Hughes
and Ronald Koeman. The latter has taken
a risk in leaving Southampton in the hope that
new investment can help make Everton great
again, while former Manchester City gaffer
Hughes has added guile to grit at Stoke but
will need to improve on finishing 15 points off
the top four if he wants another big job.
In London, Slaven Bilic will do his darnedest
to make sure the first season in West Ham’s
new Stratford home is a success, Arsene
Wenger will want a Hollywood ending to what
uld well be his last season at Arsenal, and
an Pardew will hope his new signings have
m dancing all the way back to Wembley.
Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce will aim to
t more from their seasons than merely
attling against relegation once again, while
ddie Howe could further develop his
urgeoning reputation by consolidating
ournemouth’s Premier League status.
Everybody knows how Swansea and West
rom play, but Francesco Guidolin and Tony
Pulis might need to take a leaf out of each
other’s books in order to climb the table.
Also hoping to look up rather than down
are 4-4-2 advocate Sean Dyche and 3-5-2
disciple Walter Mazzarri. Their tactics are
ack on-trend – but will both be binned if
urnley and Watford start to struggle?
Mourinho and
Klopp will both
have Guardiola
in their sights
Mourinho has at last
landed the job he’s
always wanted
 1.WHO WILL FINISH TOP SCORER? 3.WHERE
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2016-17PREDICTION
1. Man City

Is Wenger on the
16/1 20/1 20/1 40/1 2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
way out as Bilic is 4. Man United
5. Tottenham
2.WHO WILL WIN MANAGER OF THE YEAR?
on the way in?
6. Liverpool
Flying under the radar but already under 7. Everton
pressure are Southampton and Middlesbrough. 8. Leicester
Former Lyon head coach Claude Puel looks the 9. West Ham
perfect fit for Saints on paper (if only the game 10. Stoke
weren’t played on grass), while Aitor Karanka 11. Southampton
will find it harder to survive a mid-season 12. Crystal Palace
revolt on the Premier League battlefield. 13. Bournemouth
14. West Brom
5/2 5/1 8/1 33/1
So, to Leicester. Champions Leicester. It still
sounds strange, doesn’t it? Thanks to the freak 15. Swansea
16. Middlesbrough
Foxes, we couldn’t possibly say that this will be PEP GUARDIOLA JOSE MOURINHO ANTONIO CONTE ALAN PARDEW
the most unpredictable season yet – that will 17. Sunderland
Manchester City’s boss He has never won LMA The Italian was one of Stranger things have
always be 2015-16. As for Ranieri, he would 18. Watford
is the overwhelming Manager of the Year – the best managers at happened. Remember:
probably settle for survival and a decent run in 19. Hull
favourite to win the but if he takes United Euro 2016 and Chelsea Pards had Palace fifth
the Champions League. But what do we know? 20. Burnley
gong, and why not? from fifth to first, well... have a strong core. when 2016 began.

Get involved. Tweet us using the hashtag #FFTPREVIEW

2016-17 FIXTURES
Be prepared for managerial fireworks early on, as the Manchester rivals clash in September

West Bromwich Albion

Manchester United
Manchester City

Middlesbrough
Crystal Palace
Bournemouth

Southampton

Sunderland

Tottenham

West Ham
Liverpool
Leicester

Swansea

Watford
Everton
Arsenal

Chelsea
Burnley

Stoke
Hull

Arsenal – 26/11 21/01 24/09 31/12 21/05 11/02 11/03 14/08 01/04 06/05 22/10 10/09 10/12 22/04 15/10 05/11 31/01 26/12 04/04
Bournemouth 02/01 – 13/05 08/04 31/01 24/09 15/10 13/12 03/12 11/02 14/08 22/04 17/12 06/05 05/11 18/03 22/10 21/01 10/09 11/03
Burnley 01/10 10/12 – 11/02 05/11 22/10 10/09 31/01 20/08 26/11 22/04 26/12 14/01 04/04 31/12 13/08 01/04 26/09 06/05 21/05
Chelsea 04/02 26/12 27/08 – 01/04 05/11 21/01 15/10 16/09 05/04 22/10 06/05 22/04 31/12 21/05 25/02 26/11 11/03 10/12 15/08
Crystal Palace 08/04 27/08 29/04 17/12 21/01 13/05 15/04 29/10 19/11 13/12 25/02 03/12 18/09 04/02 02/01 11/03 18/03 13/08 15/10
Everton 14/12 04/02 15/04 29/04 01/10 – 18/03 08/04 17/12 14/01 03/12 17/09 02/01 27/08 25/02 19/11 13/08 13/05 11/03 29/10
Hull 17/09 14/01 25/02 01/10 10/12 31/12 – 13/08 04/02 26/12 27/08 04/04 05/11 22/10 06/05 11/03 21/05 22/04 26/11 01/04
Leicester 20/08 21/05 17/09 14/01 22/10 26/12 04/03 – 25/02 10/12 04/02 26/11 01/10 01/04 04/04 27/08 22/04 06/05 05/11 31/12
Liverpool 04/03 05/04 12/03 01/02 22/04 01/04 24/09 10/09 – 31/12 15/10 21/05 06/05 26/12 26/11 21/01 11/02 05/11 22/10 10/12
Manchester City 17/12 17/09 02/01 03/12 06/05 15/10 08/04 13/05 18/03 – 25/02 05/11 22/10 11/03 13/08 04/02 21/01 14/12 22/04 28/08
Manchester United 19/11 04/03 29/10 15/04 21/05 04/04 01/02 24/09 14/01 10/09 – 31/12 19/08 01/10 26/12 29/04 10/12 11/02 01/04 26/11
Middlesbrough 15/04 29/10 08/04 19/10 10/09 11/02 03/12 02/01 13/12 29/04 18/03 – 13/05 13/08 11/03 17/12 24/09 15/10 31/01 21/01
Southampton 25/02 01/04 15/10 29/10 15/04 26/11 29/04 21/01 19/11 15/04 11/03 10/12 – 21/05 27/08 18/09 26/12 13/08 31/12 04/02
Stoke 13/05 19/11 03/12 18/03 11/02 01/02 15/04 17/12 08/04 20/08 21/01 04/03 14/12 – 15/10 29/10 10/09 02/01 24/09 29/04
Sunderland 29/10 29/04 18/03 13/12 24/09 12/09 19/11 03/12 02/01 04/03 08/04 21/08 11/02 14/01 – 13/05 31/01 17/12 01/10 15/04
Swansea 14/01 31/12 04/03 11/09 26/11 06/05 20/08 11/02 01/10 24/09 05/11 01/04 31/01 22/04 10/12 04/04 22/10 21/05 26/12
Tottenham 29/04 15/04 17/12 02/01 20/08 04/03 14/12 29/10 27/08 01/10 13/05 04/02 18/03 25/02 18/09 03/12 – 08/04 14/01 19/11
Watford 27/08 01/10 04/02 20/08 26/12 10/12 29/10 19/11 29/04 21/05 18/09 14/01 04/03 26/11 01/04 15/04 31/12 – 04/04 25/02
West Bromwich Albion 18/03 25/02 19/11 13/05 04/03 20/08 02/01 29/04 16/04 29/10 17/12 28/08 08/04 04/02 21/01 13/12 15/10 03/12 – 17/09
West Ham 03/12 21/08 13/12 04/03 14/01 22/04 17/12 18/03 13/05 31/01 02/01 01/10 25/09 05/11 22/10 08/04 06/05 10/09 11/02 –

Above figures represent day/month – all fixtures are subject to change FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 5
PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
ARSENAL
Last season: Premier League 2nd FA Cup Sixth Round League Cup Fourth Round Champions League Last 16 Top scorer (all comps) Olivier Giroud (24)
IS GRANIT XHAKA THE
FINAL PIECE OF THE
ARSENAL JIGSAW?
In short: no. The Swiss midfielder is one part
of a puzzle missing multiple pieces. But do
not panic, Arsenal fans: that ‘WENGER OUT’
banner can go back under your seat for now
because there’s plenty to like about Xhaka.
Firstly, he loves close-quarter combat –
perhaps a bit too much, judging by his
disciplinary record. The 23-year-old has
been sent off eight times in his brief career
and averages a booking every four games.
At least he can look forward to more lenient
refereeing in the muck and nettles of the
Premier League, and the sight of Xhaka
scrapping ferociously for the cause could
cajole his mild-mannered team-mates into
taking up arms. This Arsenal team is top-heavy
with diminutive playmakers; a 6ft 1in firebrand
with a nasty streak is just what they need.
There’s more to his game than just flying
studs, though. The former Basel man can
start attacks from the base of midfield with
his laser-guided left foot, as well as policing
the back four with ruthless proficiency.
While it’s unlikely Arsene Wenger will
hand Xhaka the captain’s armband, he
will play the game as if he’s wearing it.
Xhaka’s leadership skills convinced
Borussia Monchengladbach manager
Andre Schubert to entrust him with the
captaincy at a young age, and former
Bayern Munich and Switzerland boss
Ottmar Hitzfeld hailed him as a “young
Arsenal promised so much
but imploded yet again, and
they have to work out why
Bastian Schweinsteiger”, adding: “He is
a leader, responsible and self-confident.”
Importantly, Xhaka’s mere presence will
free up the attacking forces Wenger has been
crowbarring into holding midfield roles. Instead
of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey
– who shone at Euro 2016 playing in more
attacking areas for Wales – having to muddle
along, Xhaka will slot in beside Francis Coquelin
or Mohamed Elneny and do the job with relish.
But for all his qualities as a midfield sentry,
Xhaka can’t also be a commanding centre-back
and a world-class striker – and those are both
holes Arsenal need to fill. If they aren’t, the
Gunners can expect to come up short again.
And therein lies the real problem: the man
putting the puzzle together. Wenger’s blind
faith in players that haven’t quite kicked on
has a detrimental effect on the team. Rather
than address the pressing issues, he regularly
indulges himself with another lightweight pass
master. Maybe it is time to unfurl that banner…
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Get the fans back onside 14 Liverpool (H)
It doesn’t take much to trigger a cacophony of 20 Leicester (A)
boos around the Emirates, and seeing Leicester 27 Watford (A)
win the Premier League last time out almost September

RECORD RECORD MOST

caused a meltdown in north London. Their 10 Southampton (H)
second-place finish flattered to deceive, and 17 Hull (A)

GOALS

HOME
supporters’ group REDaction held up banners W8 24 Chelsea (H)

AWAY
D4
saying ‘Time For Change’. The board can’t let D7 October
a toxic atmosphere seep into the new season. L3 OLIVER GIROUD 1 Burnley (A)
Endearing themselves to a disenchanted 15 Swansea H)
fanbase can begin with majority shareholder
OT
W12
OT
4
16 22 Middlesbrough (H)

T
T
Stan Kroenke showing up for a few matches. AL AL 29 Sunderland (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19

MOST
November
2 Make an early decision, Arsene 5 Tottenham (H)

ASSISTS
The Frenchman has already said he will not 19 Man United (A)
consider his future until his contract is almost 26 Bournemouth (H)
up next summer. Having this question mark December
MESUT OZIL
GOALS SCORED 61
hang over the club will unsettle the fans and 3 West Ham (A)
the players. Whether Wenger decides it’s time 10 Stoke (H)
19
to make a change or that he’ll continue on
with the fight, he needs make a call before INSIDE THE BOX 14 Everton (A)
17 Man City (A)
contract talks sidetrack the team’s focus. 26 West Brom (H)
31 Crystal Palace (H)
3 Overhaul the squad GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 4 January
It’s time to cut loose players who haven’t 2 Bournemouth (A)
fulfilled their potential. Selling Kieran Gibbs, 14 Swansea (A)
Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl 21 21 Burnley (H)
Jenkinson and maybe even an injury-prone
GOALS FROM 31 Watford (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

Jack Wilshere would open the door for new, February
hungry players looking to prove themselves –
40 4 4 Chelsea (A)
not to mention that much-needed elite striker.
WOODWORK 11 Hull (H)

4 Recruit a leader 13 25 Southampton (A)

March
Wenger doesn’t like confrontation. He frowns 4 Liverpool (A)
upon dressing-room hollering when things
aren’t going to plan. This policy isn’t working.
DISCIPLINE 11 Leicester (H)
18 West Brom (A)
The Gunners urgently need a tough-talking April
chest-thumper prepared to bang some heads
together when complacency creeps in, and
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Man City (H)
4 West Ham (H)
he has to be a big character that commands MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Crystal Palace (A)
respect with a proven track record of winning. 15 Middlesbrough (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

22 Sunderland (H)
5 Get to the bottom of their fragility
Last season turned out much the same as the
rest: Arsenal promised so much, but stuck to
10 10 15 7 12 11 29 Tottenham (A)
May
6 Man United (H)
their annual implosion like clockwork. The club 15 Stoke (A)
can’t keep on letting this happen. They need 21 Everton (H)
to work out why they consistently lose their
nerve when it matters most and then find
a solution. Just qualifying for the Champions
League can no longer be deemed good enough. VIEW FROM THESTANDS
Simon Jones, missed only one home game last season
FFT VERDICT: 3RD
Challenge, falter, settle for top four: Wenger will This season will be different to last because... One player I secretly admire is Dele Alli – the
do what Wenger does, maybe for the last time. well, it won’t be. As long as the less-than-dynamic duo way he has burst onto the scene is remarkable, and he
fS Kroenke and Arsene Wenger as all the makings of a top-class player.
club, nothing will change. hope he follows in the footsteps of

KEY PLAYER st underrated player

ampbell, one of our
certain Sol Campbell (left) and makes
he short trip across north London...
ALEXIS SANCHEZ d-working players and This year we’ll finish fourth.
When he’s fully charged, ousted by Theo Walcott here’s not been sufficient transfer
the pint-sized Oxlade-Chamberlain. activity to suggest we will finish
Chilean is yer I’d happily drive lsewhere, and the arrivals of Antonio
a livewire that nother club is Theo Conte, Pep Guardiola and Jose
few defenders can handle. ott. We celebrated his 10th Mourinho don’t leave much room for us
But, after a third consecutive at the club – apparently that s now a rational when we can t even beat Leicester to the league title.
summer of leading the line e for celebration – by handing him the captain’s FFT asks: Would it have been nice to see
for La Roja, he urgently band, and we subsequently lost 1-0 at home. a new manager in the dugout? Yes. I hope Wenger
needs Wenger to manage Keep an eye out for Alex Iwobi. We all bows out with some dignity before the fans’ criticism gets
his workload more carefully, saw what he is capable of last season. poisonous, as it started to at the tail end of last season.
and then accept it if he does.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 7

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
BOURNEMOUTH
Last season: Premier League 16th FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup Fourth Round Top scorer (all comps) Josh King (7)
SECOND SEASON
“I think it’s going to be much tougher next
season,” said manager Eddie Howe (although
he would say that, wouldn’t he?). “You only
SYNDROME OR THIS
have to look at the calibre of managers coming
into the Premier League. We’ll have to improve
and get the squad balance right. But I see no
YEAR’S LEICESTER?
reason why we can’t be very competitive.
“There are several challenges we will face,”
continued the 38-year-old (left). “There is
second season syndrome and all the things
that go with that. But there’ll be advantages
as well. The players have experienced the
“We want to be part of an amazing era,” Premier League and will feel like Premier
said Matt Ritchie after Bournemouth League players. There will be pros and cons.”
came 16th in their first ever top-flight Complacency shouldn’t be one of the cons.
season. The winger then set sail for It’s not as if Bournemouth finished eighth,
Newcastle, but it remains a salient point. as Reading, the last team to thrive playing
The Cherries have no intention of being eye-pleasing football in their first season up,
a flash in the plan, nor even a yo-yo club. did in 2006-07 before being relegated a year
But establishing yourselves in the Premier later. And there’s little chance of megabucks
League isn’t easy, particularly given the signings upsetting the equilibrium. Despite
freakish, transitional nature of last season. their modest ground restricting revenue, not
Instead of going defensive,
Howe stuck to his guns and
the Cherries climbed the table
to mention a £7.6 million Financial Fair Play
fine in May, Bournemouth are still spending
heavily – Jordon Ibe cost a club record £15m –
but the big fees aren’t matched by big egos.
True, Leicester achieved success on a budget
in 2015-16, but they had three things Howe’s
team don’t: a reliable goalscorer; amazing luck
with injuries; and a gameplan that didn’t rely
on bossing possession. Howe will hope to
rectify the first two of those issues, which were
embodied by Callum Wilson’s six-month ACL
layoff, but definitely not the third – if it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it. Still, consolidation looks
likelier than them hunting down the Foxes.
As for the “amazing era” described by
Ritchie, Bournemouth are, thanks to their
manager, already in the middle of it. The
prospect of Howe pitting his wits against Pep
and Jose, Klopp and Conte, less than six years
after he led them out of the basement division,
make this a campaign that the club’s fans will
really relish – whatever happens next.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Hold on to Howe 14 Man United (H)
It’s simple, it’s obvious, but it’s vital. The 21 West Ham (A)
undisputed star of Bournemouth’s march up 27 Crystal Palace (A)
the leagues and last season’s survival, Howe September

RECORD RECORD MOST

was linked with vacancies at boyhood club 10 West Brom (H)
Everton, nearby Southampton and, yes, 17 Man City (A)

GOALS

HOME
England this summer. Fortunately, it would 24 Everton (H)

AWAY
W5 D5 D4
take something extraordinary to lure Howe W6 October
away from the place that he has called home JOSH KING 1 Watford (A)
for 22 years (bar an 18-month spell at Burnley). 15 Hull (H)

OT
L9
OT
L9
6 22 Tottenham (H)

T
T
2 Stick to your guns AL AL 29 Middlesbrough (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
“No one can sway me on my football beliefs,” November
Howe has said. “If they could sway me on those 5 Sunderland (H)
beliefs by words alone, I wouldn’t be much of 19 Stoke (A)
a man.” Indeed, when the Cherries went into 26 Arsenal (A)
December having won just two of their first 14 December

GOALS SCORED 40 MOST

matches, despite scoring a healthy 17 goals 3 Liverpool (H)
(and conceding 30), Howe could easily have 10 Burnley (A)
gone on the defensive and looked to grind out
results as many recommended. He was having INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
13 Leicester (H)
17 Southampton (H)
none of it, and Bournemouth climbed the table. 26 Chelsea (A)
MATT RITCHIE 31 Swansea (A)
3 Pray for better luck with injuries GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 5
6 January
Wilson scored five goals in just seven Premier 2 Arsenal (H)
League games before injury ruled him out until 14 Hull (A)
April, and fellow key attackers Max Gradel and 8 21 Watford (H)
Benik Afobe – both expensive purchases – also
GOALS FROM 31 Crystal Palace (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

spent long spells on the sidelines. They weren’t February
the only ones. Howe refused to use this as an
53 1 4 Everton (A)
excuse when Bournemouth’s form dipped,
WOODWORK 11 Man City (H)
but he must have been cursing his bad fortune.
12 25 West Brom (A)
March
4 Learn from the Sylvain Distin mistake 4 Man United (A)
Experience is a good thing, but it’s not the only
thing. Once an underrated centre-back but past
DISCIPLINE 11 West Ham (H)
18 Swansea (H)
his best at 37, Sylvain Distin didn’t fit the profile April
of a Howe signing and couldn’t take the place
of Tommy Elphick or Steve Cook (left). Signings
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Southampton (A)
5 Liverpool (A)
still need to be made, though – only Aston Villa MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Chelsea (H)
let in more goals last season and Tyrone Mings 15 Tottenham (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

is yet to fully recover from his ruinous injury – so 22 Middlesbrough (H)

this time Howe should stick to what he knows.

5 Make Dean Court a fortress somehow

With a capacity under 12,000 and plans for
expansion on hold, Bournemouth’s snug little
ground is hardly a cauldron of hate for away
players, which probably explains why the
Cherries won fewer games there than on the
road last season. Solutions on a postcard…
FFT VERDICT: 13TH
Experience, depth, fit-again stars – this year
will be easier than last, whatever Howe says.
9 7 5 6 4 14 29 Sunderland (A)
May
6 Stoke (H)
13 Burnley (H)
21 Leicester (A)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Dave Jennings, afcb.vitalfootball.co.uk
This season will be different to last because The best away grounds are the older ones that
it is our second season in the Premier League: we now provide some soul and atmosphere, such as Stamford
know what to expect, but so do the opposition and that Bridge and, to an extent, Selhurst Park – although the
can often bring second season syndrome. view at Crystal Palace was terrible!

KEY PLAYER The player I’d happily drive to

another club is Tokelo Rantie. He came
Our most underrated player
is Andrew Surman. He often tops
ANDREW SURMAN with all the raw ingredients to be a success, statistical leagues for distance
One of only four men to but due to injury and the club’s rapid rise covered and passes completed, but
play every minute of the he never fulfilled his potential. Now he just because he does the simple things
2015-16 Premier League, sits on the fringes, unable to impress for and gets on with his job without
the midfielder is key to the move he needs to kick-start his career. fuss, the spotlight bypasses him.
Howe’s possession game. One change I’d make at our club is to This season we ll finish in the bottom third. We’ll
He reads the play, covers make the ground bigger. We could easily sell out a much always be punching above our weight in the top flight.
more distance than anyon larger stadium in the Premier League. Even raising the FFT asks: Eddie Howe for England? Probably not.
else in the league and find capacity by just a few thousand to 16,000-18,000 would The FA – and, for that matter, the Premier League’s big
a team-mate with more th be a noticeable improvement. Many fans (above) are clubs – are unlikely to have the foresight to offer him a job,
85 per cent of his passes. being shut out of seeing their side at home. and it would take a top role to tempt him into leaving.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 9

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

BURNLEY
Last season: Championship Winners FA Cup Fourth Round League Cup First Round Top scorer (all comps) Andre Gray (23)

CAN ANDRE GRAY

If anyone is going to end up with that tag, in two legs against Middlesbrough, before
though, Burnley’s Andre Gray is at the front of Burnley made them an offer they couldn’t
the queue. The similarities are hard to ignore. refuse – reported to be around £6 million.

BE THE NEXT
Unable to make it in the Football League as Gray’s arrival transformed a side who had
a youngster with Shrewsbury, having already been labouring following relegation from the
been released by Wolves at 13, Gray dropped Premier League. By the end of the campaign,

JAMIE VARDY?
There was a time when any tricky winger
was described as the new George Best;
every rangy midfielder, the new Patrick
Vieira. If you’re skilful and/or Argentine,
you’re the new Leo Messi. If you like to
chuck microphones in lakes, you’re the
new Ronaldo. So, after 2015-16, English
football is on the lookout for the new
Jamie Vardy in any striker who has
played even one game in non-league.
down into non-league with Hinckley United.
For a spell, he was sitting on the subs’ bench
for the Conference North side. Off the field
he was left scarred, literally, after being
stabbed in the face during a night out.
But then things changed. Gray rediscovered
his focus following that incident and the goals
quickly followed, earning him a move to Luton,
whom he then helped to win the Conference
title in 2013-14 with a division-high 30 strikes.
Second-tier Brentford swiftly shelled out
around £500,000 for a player who had never
started a match in the Football League, and
their faith was rewarded. Gray netted 16 goals
to catapult his new side into the Championship
play-offs, where he scored the Bees’ only goal
Burnley had won the Championship, Gray had
topped the scoring charts with 23 goals, and
he’d been named the Football League’s best
player by FourFourTwo, picking up the Football
League’s official award for good measure.
Now, the 25-year-old embarks on his maiden
Premier League campaign, in only his third
season of league football. Can he adapt as
impressively as Vardy did? He’s probably not
going to win the title yet, but then even the
Leicester man needed a season under his belt.
Vardy proved that searing pace and pure
finishing ability can be just as effective in the
Premier League as it is in the Football League,
and indeed non-league. Andre Gray looks
more than capable of reinforcing that point.

Sean Dyche will need

more options on the
bench than last time
 CHAMPIONSHIP 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Try scoring some goals 13 Swansea (H)
Burnley gave a decent account of themselves 20 Liverpool (H)
in their previous top-flight campaign two years 27 Chelsea (A)
ago, but just as in the Clarets’ 2009-10 Premier September

RECORD RECORD MOST

League debut, they were relegated. In 2014-15 10 Hull (H)
attack was the main issue: even with Danny 17 Leicester (A)

GOALS

HOME
Ings, Sean Dyche’s side scored only 28 goals. W 11 26 Watford (H)

AWAY
W15
D6
That record has to improve greatly if they’re D9 October
to make it third time lucky. Gray will help.
L2 ANDRE GRAY 1 Arsenal (H)
15 Southampton (A)
2 Prioritise the winnable home games
OT OT
L3
23 22 Everton (H)

T
T
Burnley beat reigning champions Manchester AL AL 29 Man United (A)
GAMES 23 GAMES 23
City at Turf Moor last time out, but won only November
three more home games all season, struggling 5 Crystal Palace (H)
to beat sides in the bottom half. In late April 19 West Brom (A)
when they faced Leicester, two points and two 26 Man City (H)
places above them in 18th, Matt Taylor missed December

GOALS SCORED 60 MOST

a penalty for the hosts and Jamie Vardy scored 3 Stoke (A)
the game’s only goal 59 seconds later. How 10 Bournemouth (H)
different the two clubs’ fortunes could have
been had Taylor not hit the post. This time, INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
13 West Ham (A)
17 Tottenham (A)
Burnley must beat the teams around them. 26 Middlesbrough (H)
ANDRE GRAY 31 Sunderland (H)
3 Recruit Premier League quality GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 12
8 January
The Clarets spent a sizeable proportion of 2 Man City (A)
their previous Premier League windfall on 14 Southampton (H)
transforming their training ground, and on 10 21 Arsenal (A)
a tiny transfer budget they struggled to attract
GOALS FROM 31 Leicester (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

players. This year they should have more funds February
to bring in the extra quality needed to survive.
56 1 4 Watford (A)

4 Learn to live without Joey Barton WOODWORK 11 Chelsea (H)

While Andre Gray won Football League Player 20 25 Hull (A)

March
of the Year, Burnley’s club award went to Joey 4 Swansea (A)
Barton. Alas, the 33-year-old opted to join
Rangers instead of extending his contract at
DISCIPLINE 12 Liverpool (A)
18 Sunderland (A)
Turf Moor, leaving Burnley without the midfield April
driving force of the team that won promotion.
Barton will need to be adequately replaced.
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Tottenham (H)
4 Stoke (H)
MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Middlesbrough (A)
5 Develop a Plan B 15 Everton (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

Burnley played a fairly rigid 4-4-2 in their 22 Man United (H)

previous Premier League outing and often
laboured in their attempts to break down
teams. Their squad was small and, perhaps
knowing he didn’t have the necessary quality
in reserve, Dyche usually went with the same
starting line-up, with his substitutes usually
coming only late in games. This season they
will need more options on the bench, and
a Plan B if things aren’t going their way.
FFT VERDICT: 20TH
A reluctance to pay top dollar for established
talent could well lead to a repeat of 2014-15.
11 8 12 11 12 18 29 Crystal Palace (A)
May
6 West Brom (H)
13 Bournemouth (A)
21 West Ham (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Jake Edwards, attended his first match aged four
This season will be different to last because The best away ground is Old Trafford (below left).
we are in the Premier League! Last season teams saw us It’s traditionally a great stadium to visit, and I would
calp, having just come down; now it’s all about us love us to give Jose Mourinho another ‘episode’ like
g upsets for Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola & Co. the one at Stamford Bridge from two years ago.

KEY PLAY ets fans should follow fan page

ayNeverNet or the club’s media
eep an eye out for Michael
eane, if we can hold on to him. He
SAM VOKES ger, Darren Bentley (@IdleandWild). ould push for an England place.
The Welshman got of them are always insightful. This season we’ll finish 17th
out of Andre Gray most underrated player is r higher. We will stay up this year.
went up, and did t bly Ben Mee – he hasn’t had much FT asks: Why do you say
with Danny Ings in nition from anywhere outside Burnley have a much
However, he’s yet t ey. He defended exceptionally well better chance of avoiding
Premier League ap eason. There are cases, too, for Tom relegation now, compared
first with Wolves, t n, Stephen Ward and Sam Vokes. to in 2014-15? We’ve kept the
injury-hit season a pantomime villain is Diego Costa. majority of that squad together and added quality, giving
He’ll be lifted by hi me wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t have us more strength in depth. Plus, the players and manager
Euros header again ack of winding up defenders every week. alike are stronger with the experience of that season.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 11

PREMIER LEAGUE
CHELSEA
Last season: Premier League 10th FA Cup Sixth Round League Cup Fourth Round Champions League Last 16 Top scorer (all comps) Diego Costa (16)
IS IT GOOD OR
THAT JOHN TER
STILL AT CHELS
In a word, John Terry staying is g
although from a purely footballi
of view, nobody knows quite wha
are going to get any more from t
decorated player in the Blues’ hi
Terry began last season with a d
and a red card, and ended it with
Sunderland and another early bath
– like most of his team-mates – he
covered himself in glory. So perha
Conte isn’t averse to
putting his faith in an
ageing defender; look
at Andrea Barzagli
2016-17
club’s hierarchy dragged their
their captain a new contract.
-old called their bluff, however.
to be a fairytale ending,” he
ry, after his wish to have his
clarified by January wasn’t
not going to retire at Chelsea.”
he’d signed a one-year contract,
been offered a “different role”.
Terry even took a pay cut, with
nce-based add-ons. “I’m sure
ll understand that he can’t
ery game next season and
hat would be a major problem
Jamie Redknapp.
e and Sky pundit Carragher
n’t playing like he did 10 years
will be able to do, though, is
talian head coach settle in.”
io Conte averse to putting his
ing defender, as we’ve seen this
the 35-year-old Andrea Barzagli.
And even if the incoming coach does bring
Leonardo Bonucci with him – another of
Italy’s vaunted back three, who Conte first
brought together at Juventus – neither Kurt
Zouma nor Gary Cahill have put forward an
overwhelming case to be first choice, while
the ball-playing Michael Hector, who spent
2015-16 on loan at Reading after signing for
Chelsea, is an unknown quantity at this level.
Besides, Zouma will miss the start of this
season with the knee injury he sustained in
February and Cahill may understandably be
suffering from a Euro 2016 hangover.
In short, Chelsea and Conte need Terry’s
stability; somebody who knows the club.
And even if his playing time is limited – and
all evidence points to the view that he’s no
longer the player he once was – he could
well be the guiding hand that the Blues’
next defensive duo, or trio, needs.
“To let him go would not have been a wise
move,” said Redknapp. It’s hard to disagree.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Don’t derail your season in August 15 West Ham (H)
Not only did an opening-day draw at home 20 Watford (A)
to Swansea usher in Chelsea’s worst start to 27 Burnley (H)
a campaign since 1961-62, when they were September

RECORD RECORD MOST

relegated, the departure of team doctor 11 Swansea (A)
Eva Carneiro following that game, and the 16 Liverpool (H)

GOALS

HOME
subsequent lawsuit against the club and 24 Arsenal (A)

AWAY
W5 D5
manager, overshadowed the whole season. W7 October
D9
It arguably played a major role in the sacking 1 Hull (A)
of Jose Mourinho in December. The whole DIEGO COSTA 15 Leicester (H)
L5 L7
sorry mess summed up Chelsea’s season. 22 Man United (H)
OT OT 12

T
AL AL 29 Southampton (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
2 Rediscover home comforts November
From no defeats and nine goals conceded to 5 Everton (H)
five losses and 30 against, the Londoners took 19 Middlesbrough (A)
just one season to turn Stamford Bridge from 26 Tottenham (H)
a fortress into a Toby Carvery, visitors gorging December

GOALS SCORED 48 MOST

themselves on mediocre defending. Only the 3 Man City (A)
teams with the most disgruntled fans (Aston 10 West Brom (H)
Villa) and the smallest capacity (Bournemouth)
shipped more goals on home soil last term. INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
13 Sunderland (A)
17 Crystal Palace (A)
The signings of both N’Golo Kante and Michy 26 Bournemouth (H)
CESC FABREGAS
Batshuayi should give the place a lift, at least. 31 Stoke (H)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 11
7 January
3 Give youth a chance 2 Tottenham (A)
Nothing gets the crowd onside quite like 14 Leicester (A)
a talented youngster doing well, and in the 4 21 Hull (H)
likes of left-back Baba Rahman (22), midfielder
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and wideman Kenedy 1 Liverpool (A)
(both 20), Chelsea had a few who received
58 5 4 Arsenal (H)
decent game time last term. That’s promising.
WOODWORK 11 Burnley (A)

4 Bring the flair 11 25 Swansea (H)

March
Chelsea were far and away the most fouled 4 West Ham (A)
team in the league last season, primarily
because they embarked on more dribbles than
DISCIPLINE 11 Watford (H)
18 Stoke (A)
anyone else except Arsenal. Conte’s teams April
aren’t generally known for their ball skills, but
it’s not something he should look to stamp out.
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Crystal Palace (H)
5 Man City (H)
MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Bournemouth (A)
5 Bash Eden and Diego’s heads together 15 Man United (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

So many Blues players were shadows of their 22 Southampton (H)

normal selves last season, but Eden Hazard
(who went from contributing 14 league goals
and nine assists in 2014-15 to four and three
in 2015-16) and Diego Costa (from scoring
20 goals to 12) seemed to lose their moral
compasses as well as their form, substituting
themselves in different games and generally
acting like surly teenagers. Talented they may
be, but they need to shape up or ship out.
FFT VERDICT: 2ND
Conte’s meticulous planning will be aided by
a talented squad and no Europe in midweek.
9 9 11 9 9 12 29 Everton (A)
May
6 Middlesbrough (H)
13 West Brom (A)
21 Sunderland (H)
VIEW FROM THESTANDS
Rory Jennings, Chelsea Fans Channel
This season will be different to last because Keep an eye out for Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He’s the
We have Antonio Conte. He is a proven leader with an great hope from our academy and was able to get a few
unrivalled will to win and a proven track record. starts under his belt last season. I’m looking forward to
Our most underrated player is Kurt Zouma. seeing him kick on and show his true potential.

KEY PLAYER He’s up there with the best centre-backs in

the league and was hugely unfortunate to
This season we’ll finish first.
m confident. Last season was an
CESC FABREGAS get injured. He’s out for a while longer, but nomaly; 12 months earlier, we’d
Willian won the club’s will definitely be one to watch under Conte. walked the league. With a new
player of the season The best away fans are manager, a few good signings
award, and was one Manchester United’s (right) – they and our confidence returning, we
of the few to show always travel everywhere in great should be challenging for the title.
industry last season, numbers and are consistently vocal. FFT asks: Can Eden Hazard
but it’s the Spaniard The opposition player I secretly recapture his form of
who makes Chelsea tick. admire is Juan Mata, although it’s not the biggest 2014 15 after the disappointing season
He’ll be itching to make up secret! Sergio Aguero is unbelievably good as well. he’s just had? Of course he can. On his day he’s the
for a poor campaign and The best away ground is Goodison Park. It’s one best player in the league by far, and under Conte I don’t
Spain’s early Euro 2016 exit. of the few grounds with a great home atmosphere. see any reason why he can’t rediscover his form.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 13

PREMIER LEAGUE
CRYSTAL PALACE
Last season: Premier League 15th FA Cup Runners-up League Cup Fourth Round Top scorers (all comps) Dwight Gayle (7)
CAN PARDS ARREST
Alan Pardew, December 2015: “We
the fringes of contesting a Champ
League place. Our dream isn’t 10t
again as we are good enough to
finish in the top six.” Alan Pardew,
February 2016: “Of course we are
[in a relegation battle]. We keep
losing. There is no talk of Europe
at this football club. We are fully
focused on what Crystal Palace n
to deliver over the next 10 games.
It’s rather a lot to ask of one of the
Premier League’s gobbiest gaffers, b
2016-17
sometimes ‘Pardiola’ just needs to keep his
mouth shut. In truth, Palace last season
were neither Champions League material
or relegation fodder, so why talk up either?
Still, had the Eagles not surrendered a lead
o lose the FA Cup final against Manchester
nited, we might not be talking about the
xtraordinary collapse that made them the
ast team in all four divisions to win a league
ame in 2016 (on April 9, to be precise, with
a 1-0 triumph at home to Norwich). Given that
their early season form had effectively made
them safe – on Christmas Day they were level
with fourth place – it was understandable
that Palace took their eye off the ball once
they had some silverware in their sights.
More distractions loomed when Pardew,
the Premier League’s highest-ranking English
gaffer (albeit in 15th place), was linked with
he England job, which he said he’d like “one
day”. It was just talk: Pardew revealed days
ned a new deal at Selhurst Park.
Andros Townsend arrives
to address clear problems
that exist in the squad
Chairman Steve Parish and the club’s new
investors, American billionaires Josh Harris and
David Blitzer, clearly think Pardew can hit the
ground running this term, allowing him to move
quickly and decisively in the transfer market as
soon as the ink was dry on his own contract.
After he was gazumped by Chelsea in an
audacious bid to bring Belgian striker Michy
Batshuayi to the capital for £31 million –
remember that only Aston Villa and West
Bromwich Albion scored fewer goals than
Palace in the top flight last season – Pards
snapped up Andros Townsend, James Tomkins
and French international goalkeeper Steve
Mandanda, addressing the clear need for more
options on the flanks and in central defence,
as well as a reliable first-choice goalkeeper.
It suggests Palace can put their second-half
slide behind them and look up the table rather
than over their shoulders. But please, Al, no
more talk of the Champions League. Next you
will be telling us that Leicester can win the title.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Hit the January sales if necessary 13 West Brom (H)
Form had begun to drift and injuries were 20 Tottenham (A)
already mounting by the time last winter’s 27 Bournemouth (H)
transfer window arrived, yet Emmanuel September

RECORD RECORD MOST

Adebayor was the sum result of Crystal 10 Middlesbrough (A)
Palace’s January dealings. Perhaps the new 18 Stoke (H)

GOALS

HOME
investors, who were on board by Christmas, 24 Sunderland (A)

AWAY
D3
W6 W5 D6
needed time to decide whether Alan Pardew October
was their man. Thankfully the team were all BOLASIE, CABAYE, 1 Everton (A)
DANN, WICKHAM
but safe by then, or they could have ended 15 West Ham (H)
up investing in a Championship outfit.
OT
L10
OT
L8
5 22 Leicester (A)

T
AL AL 29 Liverpool (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
2 Get Yohan Cabaye looking forward November
Making the seventh-most tackles per game 5 Burnley (A)
and the fourth-most interceptions, Cabaye was 19 Man City (H)
one of the most effective defensive midfielders 26 Swansea (A)
in the Premier League last season, but just the December

GOALS SCORED 33 MOST

one assist simply isn’t good enough for a man 3 Southampton (H)
of his vision, passing and dead-ball prowess, 10 Hull (A)
notwithstanding Palace’s lack of top-quality
finishers. He started out as a playmaker with INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
14 Man United (H)
17 Chelsea (H)
Lille and followed suit at Newcastle. Isn’t it BOLASIE, DELANEY, 26 Watford (A)
about time he returned to that position? PUNCHEON, WICKHAM 31 Arsenal (A)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 6
5 January
3 Don’t make excuses 2 Swansea (H)
“We’ve had a run of injuries I’ve not come 14 West Ham (A)
across too often in my career, particularly 12 21 Everton (H)
in one area,” said Pardew in February as the
GOALS FROM 31 Bournemouth (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

Eagles’ treatment room became overrun with February
attacking players. Losing the pace of Yannick
60 2 4 Sunderland (H)
Bolasie for a two-month period up to that
WOODWORK 11 Stoke (A)
point certainly changed Palace’s dynamics
going forward, but that’s what squad players 15 25 Middlesbrough (H)
March
are there for. Which brings us nicely onto… 4 West Brom (A)

4 Go for quality, not quantity, upfront

DISCIPLINE 11 Tottenham (H)
18 Watford (H)
Injuries or not, the fact that central defender April
Scott Dann was Palace’s joint top scorer in the
league with five speaks volumes for the quality
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Chelsea (A)
5 Southampton (A)
of their finishing. Deadwood such as Adebayor MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Arsenal (H)
and Marouane Chamakh have now been cut 15 Leicester (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

adrift, but a proven goalscorer is a must. 22 Liverpool (A)

5 Give the opposition a break

Palace should hit teams more effectively on
2 6 5 6 10 10 29 Burnley (H)
May
6 Man City (A)
the break. Despite having Wilfried Zaha – who 13 Hull (H)
completed an average of 3.7 dribbles per game 21 Man United (A)
last season – and Bolasie on either flank, the
Eagles rarely turn their counter-attacks into
goals. Like most of their problems, this would
be improved by the presence of a goalscorer. VIEW FROM THESTANDS
Kevin Gunner, season ticket holder since 2000
FFT VERDICT: 12TH
They’ve been ambitious in the transfer market, This season will be different to last he best away ground
but turning around their 2016 will be tough. because Pardew has to prove he can get grub is the Welsh cakes
results consistently over an entire season. hey serve at Swansea.
Our most underrated player is James he best away fans

KEY PLAYER McArthur – it was no coincidence that things

went pear-shaped when he got injured.
are Leicester City’s, who
were partying for hours.
SCOTT DANN One change I’d make at our club is Can you blame them?
Defence was Palace’s to put stripes back on the home kit! Save the date for our
strength and Dann The best away ground is White Hart Lane: final three away games:
their most consistent that ‘on top of the pitch’ feeling that’s hard to fin . L l, y d Manchester United. Gulp!
performer, even being The player I’d happily drive to another This season we’ll finish 14th. We lack the quality
touted for an England club is Zeki Fryers, and I had to check our retained list beyond the first XI to keep up a top-half challenge.
call-up ahead of Euro to see if he’s still here. What a pointless signing he was. FFT asks: Was Pardew’s touchline dancing
2016. Just think: they Our pantomime villain is Jose Mourinho, now at Wembley really embarrassing or just the
could have thrown him he’s back. Let’s see what he has got up his sleeve. subject of an overreaction on social media?
forward against Iceland. The opposition player I secretly admire is I think I was probably doing the same in the stands!
If it works for Palace... Kevin De Bruyne. He makes things look effortless. It was a bit of an overreaction, if you ask me.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 15

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

EVERTON
Last season: Premier League 11th FA Cup Semi-final League Cup Semi-final Top scorer (all comps) Romelu Lukaku (25)

CAN RONALD KOEMAN

At Everton, Koeman quickly set his sights Distin already out of the door, the other three
on a goalkeeper to replace the MLS-bound all missed long stretches of the season through
Tim Howard and opted for Fulham’s Maarten injury. No wonder the club’s would-be saviour

FIX THE DEFENCE?

Stekelenburg, who played on loan at Saints John Stones looked all at sea as the campaign
last season (and coincidentally has the rumbled on. He may well be leaving anyway,
same agent). With the 33-year-old and an while Jagielka and Baines are showing signs
s his only current of age and Ramiro Funes Mori is unconvincing.
dn’t be a shock if So, even if Koeman can shore up the league’s
an undisputed No.1. joint sixth-worst defence, it won’t be a quick fix.
Ronald Koeman’s Southam man made his name Arriving from Southampton, he will at least
suggest he is capable of b ttacking qualities), be accustomed to working with young players,
Everton back door that wa complicated. While and Everton have several in their rearguard
generously open under R ez received heavy ranks. The pick is arguably Brendan Galloway,
The season before Koem sm for Everton’s lack who came through MK Dons’ youth system
St Mary’s, Saints let in 46 go fensive organisation, with Dele Alli. Although he filled in well at
Mauricio Pochettino at the me ways he was left-back in the first half of last season,
the Dutchman’s first camp ucky. In 2013 he 20-year-old Galloway is more at home as
they shipped just 33. Conce erited a settled back a central defender, where his ball-playing
41 last season was also no of Seamus Coleman, elegance is reminiscent of a certain someone.
feat following the loss of N gielka, Sylvain Distin Could the Toffees already have a ready-made
Clyne to Liverpool and Fras ton Baines, but in replacement for Stones? It would make a tricky
long-term injury – only four ith a 37-year-old job a whole lot easier for their new manager.

Ross Barkley has a point

to prove after getting
zero time at Euro 2016
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Splash the cash 13 Tottenham (H)
Despite Leicester achieving great success on 20 West Brom (A)
a comparatively modest budget, ‘spend big’ 27 Stoke (H)
remains the No.1 wish of most fans these September

RECORD RECORD MOST

days, and at Everton that may just be granted 12 Sunderland (A)
after the billionaire Farhad Moshiri purchased 17 Middlesbrough (H)

GOALS

HOME
a 49.9 per cent stake in the club in February. 24 Bournemouth (A)

AWAY
W6 D5 W5
Such assurances apparently helped to tempt October
D9
Koeman away from the south coast, although ROMELU LUKAKU 1 Crystal Palace (H)
hopefully it won’t detract too much from his L5 15 Man City (A)
ability to unearth several cut-price gems.
OT
L8
OT
18 22 Burnley (A)

T
T
AL AL 29 West Ham (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
2 Learn to shut up shop better November
Only two clubs dropped more points from 5 Chelsea (A)
winning positions last season, which goes 19 Swansea (H)
some way to explaining Everton’s league-high 26 Southampton (A)
14 draws and lends support to the theory that December
what Martinez lacked more than anything was
pragmatism. Koeman has forged a reputation GOALS SCORED 52 MOST 3 Man United (H)
10 Watford (A)
for being well-organised defensively, but still
expressive going forward, which was a balance
that his predecessor was never able to strike.
INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
GERARD DEULOFEU,
14 Arsenal (H)
17 Liverpool (H)
26 Leicester (A)
ROSS BARKLEY 31 Hull (A)
3 Make Goodison good again GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 7
8 January
It may be on its last legs, with the club forever 2 Southampton (H)
looking for alternatives, but a full and rocking 14 Man City (H)
Goodison Park – one of the Premier League’s 18 21 Crystal Palace (A)
last remaining ‘proper football stadiums’™ –
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

creates an atmosphere that exists at few other 1 Stoke (A)
grounds. There’s no excuse, then, for Everton
43 5 4 Bournemouth (H)
winning fewer points at home than on the road
WOODWORK 11 Middlesbrough (A)
last season. Koeman’s Saints won 11 home
games to Everton’s six. That’ll do for starters. 8 25 Sunderland (H)
March
4 Tottenham (A)
4 Build your team around Barkley
“I am looking forward to working with Ross
DISCIPLINE 11 West Brom (H)
18 Hull (H)
Barkley and making him a better player,” April
said Koeman upon signing on the dotted line.
The 22-year-old is already a pretty good one,
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Liverpool (A)
4 Man United (A)
with eight goals and eight assists to his name MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Leicester (H)
in 2015-16. He also has a point to prove after 15 Burnley (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

getting zero game time at Euro 2016. Harness 22 West Ham (A)
that anger, Ron: the force is strong in this one.

5 Spread the goals around

Only Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Jamie
Vardy scored a higher percentage of their
respective team’s goals than Romelu Lukaku
(32 per cent) last season. Thing is, Tottenham,
Manchester City and Leicester all scored a lot
more goals than Everton. Give your striker help.
FFT VERDICT: 7TH
With funds available, Koeman can fix Everton’s
defence as he fixed a pillaged Saints team.
5 14 11 9 6 14 29 Chelsea (H)
May
6 Swansea (A)
13 Watford (H)
21 Arsenal (A)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Rob Fisher, Shropshire Blues Supporters Club
This season will be different to last because Our most underrated player is Leighton Baines –
for the first time in the Premier League we have he was badly missed last season in the dressing room
nvestment. It’s been long overdue. and on the pitch, although sadly Martinez didn’t think so.
Keep an eye out for Kieran Dowell: he opposition player I secretly

KEY PLAYE e has great technique and scored

some cracking goals for the under-21s.
dmire is Kasper Schmeichel,
ecause unlike our goalkeepers,
GARETH BARRY The player I’d happily drive to e is consistent and dependable.
The club’s player of the another club is Oumar Niasse, who This season we’ll finish sixth,
year award continued akes Arouna Kone look like a top-level r at least that’s what I hope for,
his Indian summer. At striker. What was Martinez thinking?! rovided we make some shrewd
35 he may start less oft The best away fans are signings. It’s very hard to predict,
(though it’s testament ournemouth’s. They give great support with more money being available
fitness that he’s played and encouragement to their players. g man’s first season in charge.
Premier League games The best away ground is the Emirates (above). We FFT asks: Can Koeman take you where
season since 2002) but ever get a result, but it’s the best stadium and a top trip. Martinez promised to take you? Yes, if he can
experience, positional One change I’d make at our club is to get our sign the right blend of players. This could be the most
and ball retention will b own ground move sorted now the investment is in place. important pre-season since I’ve been an Evertonian.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 17

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
HULL CITY
Last season: Championship 4th FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup Fifth Round Top scorer (all comps) Abell Hernand
H rnandez ((22))
CAN THE TIGERS PUT
The Tigers’ 27,000 travelling supporters were
outnumbered and outsung by a 39,000-strong
Wednesday faithful that day. True, Hull had
INTERNAL STRIFE
bley twice two years earlier for
mi-final and final, but the vacant
ymptomatic of an ever-increasing
BEHIND THEM?
tween Hull City and Hull City fans.
he hugely controversial plan
he football club’s name to Hull
nstigated by owner Assem Allam
ventually defeated after fierce
sition from a groundswell of
As far as celebrations go, Hull City’s ort. Then, towards the end of last
promotion party was a strange one. on, came the announcement that
When Mo Diame fired home a stunning lub were to scrap season tickets,
winner in May’s play-off final at Wembley ducing a membership scheme in
it was in front of swathes of empty seats place. The hierarchy insisted that
the Hull end. Minutes after the final whis would work out cheaper for the
gaffer Steve Bruce was hinting he might r jority, but fans were angered by
Everything went to plan against Sheffie fact that there were no longer
Wednesday, Hull going straight back up, e same concessions for children
was clear that off the field, all was not w d senior citizens. Protests took
Uncertainty over Hull’s
ownership has led Bruce
to consider quitting
place in the final weeks of the league season
– protests that Bruce pleaded for supporters
to curtail, with owner Allam seriously ill.
Allam himself, frustrated at being unable to
force through the name change, had put the
club up for sale some time earlier. And it was
that uncertainty that had prompted Bruce to
intimate after promotion that he was thinking
about quitting, keen for assurances over the
Tigers’ future – aware of the budget required
for Hull to survive in the top tier – and his own.
Bruce has since confirmed he has received
those assurances and that he’ll stay for another
crack at the Premier League (assuming he isn’t
snapped up by England). But this isn’t a club
that has had a carefree build-up to their return
to the big time; a club buoyed by the unbridled
enthusiasm promotion usually brings.
Battling 19 other teams in a bid to ensure
survival is difficult enough. If they are to stay
up this season, they surely cannot afford to
be battling amongst themselves as well.
 CHAMPIONSHIP 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Discover the secret of consistency 13 Leicester (H)
That Hull had to go through the play-offs was 20 Swansea (A)
down to their inability to put a sequence of 27 Man United (H)
results together, Bruce constantly griping that September

RECORD RECORD MOST

they could be brilliant one week, hopeless the 10 Burnley (A)
next. The 3-0 wins over Derby and the top two, 17 Arsenal (H)

GOALS

HOME
Burnley and Middlesbrough, showed what they 24 Liverpool (A)

AWAY
W 15 D4
D7
can do, but Hull will be punished in the Premier W9
October
League if they can’t perform on a regular basis. ABEL HERNANDEZ 1 Chelsea (H)
L1 15 Bournemouth (A)
2 Improve on the road
OT OT
L10 21 22 Stoke (H)

T
Hull lost only once at the KC in 2015-16 and AL AL 29 Watford (A)
GAMES 23 GAMES 23
conceded just 12 goals in 23 matches there. November
They had the fourth-best defensive record 5 Southampton (H)
away from home, too – but that didn’t stop 19 Sunderland (A)
them losing 10 times on their travels, including 26 West Brom (H)
a baffling 1-0 defeat at bottom club Bolton. December

GOALS SCORED 56 MOST

3 Middlesbrough (A)
3 Trust in Bruce 10 Crystal Palace (H)
That Steve Bruce even considered offering his
resignation after promotion must have been INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
14 Tottenham (A)
17 West Ham (A)
a major cause for concern. It showed Bruce’s 26 Man City (H)
unease in recent times, with the prospect of
SAM CLUCAS 31 Everton (H)
a takeover leaving him worried that potential GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 13
8 January
new owners might bring in their own man. But 2 West Brom (A)
Bruce is an experienced and capable manager, 14 Bournemouth (H)
and the Tigers will surely have a much better 16 21 Chelsea (A)
chance of survival with him than without him.
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

1 Man United (A)
4 Get Jake Livermore back to his best
66 1 4 Liverpool (H)
Few players have had a more turbulent couple
WOODWORK 11 Arsenal (A)
of years than Jake Livermore. The 26-year-old
midfielder’s baby son died during birth just 11 25 Burnley (H)
March
days after the FA Cup final two years ago, 4 Leicester (A)
and the resulting slide into depression saw
Livermore turn to cocaine, leading to an FA
DISCIPLINE 11 Swansea (H)
18 Everton (A)
suspension. But he returned to help Hull to April
promotion, and will be eager to get back to
the form that saw him capped by England.
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 West Ham (H)
4 Middlesbrough (H)
MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Man City (A)
5 Aim high 15 Stoke (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

Hull’s Premier League history has a familiar 22 Watford (H)

pattern thus far: win promotion, narrowly
survive in the first season, but then go back
down in the second. They have done that
on two occasions now, never finishing above
16th in four top-flight seasons. So it will be
a big ask to improve on that this time around
– mere survival will be an achievement – but
they will have one eye on what would be the
highest-ever finish in the club’s long history.
FFT VERDICT: 19TH
Uncertainty over the club’s short- and
long-term future could ll di t
4 7 20 10 11 17 29 Southampton (A)
May
6 Sunderland (H)
13 Crystal Palace (A)
21 Tottenham (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Greg Whitaker, hullcitysupporterstrust.com
This season will be different to last because The opposition player I secretly admire is
St ve Bruce has guided us back into the Premier League. N’Golo Kante. He’s an unbelievable player, and the main
o knows what we could achieve if we sorted out the reason Leicester won the title. That now-famous joke
mbles that is our ownership situation? sums it up: “Water covers 71 per cent of the Earth. The

KEY PLAY ll fans should follow

avidMeyler7. Oh, and ’80s
her 29 per cent is covered by N’Golo Kante.”
he best away ground is Anfield, though
TOM HUDDLEST star and Hull City fan m looking forward to our Olympic Stadium trip.
Signed from Spurs i nittaofficial, obviously... his season we’ll finish relegated, if
for £5 million, Hudd r most underrated he current ownership stays. If a takeover is
looked to be headin yer is Sam Clucas. The mpleted quickly, the atmosphere around the
the exit after being ger signed for us last year ub would improve – then the sky’s the limit.
midway through las m Chesterfield after stints ut right now, 17th place would suit me.
But he regained his on-league football, and he FFT asks: Are you worried off-pitch
and has now signed n’t look a bit out of place in ssues will affect the team? I’m very
contract. When on f Championship, despite so g g , are most supporters. The past few years have
he brings real qualit pe that he can make the step up once again this been a successful period in the club’s history, yet fans
to Hull’s midfield. son and perform well for us in the Premier League. have become more disenchanted with the club itself.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 19

PREMIER LEAGUE
LEICESTER CITY
Last season: Premier League Winners FA Cup Third Round League Cup Fourth Round Top scorer (all comps) Jamie Vardy (24)
CAN KING CLAUDIO
BALANCE THE LEAGUE
AND EUROPE?
The downside to being able to pull
off one of football’s greatest ever
surprise achievements is that it
is a pretty tough act to follow.
But if Leicester’s jaw-dropping title
win wasn’t surreal enough, they now
have to hold their own amid a big-club
backlash and wised-up opponents,
all while those Champions League
strings hum in the background.
2016-17
As rewards go, it’s rather special for a club
who this time eight years ago were preparing
for their first ever season in the third tier. Those
days are long gone, however, and Claudio
Ranieri’s side have only the biggest fish to fry.
Leicester achieved their magnificent success
in 2015-16 with a combination of quality,
organisation and an infectious spirit – but,
whether by luck or design, their relatively
clean injury slate was also a big factor. They’ll
need that again to fight on two fronts, despite
Ranieri bolstering a small squad with astute
additions, if not famous ones. Still, it wasn’t
big names who took them to the title, either.
The new faces include German goalkeeper
Ron-Robert Zieler (signed from Hannover),
centre-back Luis Hernandez (Sporting Gijon),
central midfielder Nampalys Mendy (Nice)
and forward Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow),
all sanctioned by Leicester’s prized scouting
team who have unearthed the likes of Riyad
Mahrez and N’Golo Kante in recent years.
Fearlessness will make up
for the starting XI’s lack of
Champions League nous
In truth, expectations feel null and void after
last season’s exploits. It’s not really clear what
a ‘good’ season might be. So, simply enjoying
their European experience this term will be
essential – and not just for the supporters.
Granted, there’s a distinct lack of Champions
League know-how in Leicester’s starting XI
(although new boy Musa has played in the
competition on a couple of dozen occasions),
but they will feel that isn’t a problem. The
fearlessness of their 2015-16 was refreshing,
and the result of having an ego-less group.
The Premier League’s elite sides have all
strengthened significantly this summer, some
from top to bottom, and all of them keen and
ready to make sure a club of Leicester’s ilk
never ‘does a Leicester’ again. There might not
be room for much romance in 2016-17, then.
Still, Ranieri’s men look well placed to pick up
where they left off, with a stronger squad of
players equipped for an increased workload.
Europe’s big boys have had their warning.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Be careful not to upset the balance 13 Hull (A)
What to do, what to do, when Champions 20 Arsenal (H)
League football awaits, a new television deal is 27 Swansea (H)
in the bag and you need to beef up the squad? September

RECORD RECORD MOST

It’d be extremely tempting to spend big on 10 Liverpool (A)
household names with European experience, 17 Burnley (H)

GOALS

HOME
but when choosing where to heavily invest – 24 Man United (A)

AWAY
D6 D6
Mendy was a club record signing, surpassed October
days later by Musa – Leicester have, so far, JAMIE VARDY 1 Southampton (H)
sensibly chucked their cash at players who will L1 L2 15 Chelsea (A)
fit in off the pitch, as well as suiting Ranieri’s
OT
W12
OT
W11 24 22 Crystal Palace (H)

T
plans on it. The Foxes can’t lose that spirit. AL AL 29 Tottenham (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19

MOST
November
2 Keep that defence well-drilled 5 West Brom (H)

ASSISTS
Despite being made up of cast-offs from Stoke, 19 Watford (A)
QPR and Schalke, plus Wes Morgan, Leicester’s 26 Middlesbrough (H)
back four was magnificent last season, offering December
RIYAD MAHREZ
GOALS SCORED 65
them a reliable foundation. It meant that they 3 Sunderland (A)
scored first in 26 of their 38 games and went 10 Man City (H)
11
on to win 21 of those. It didn’t take much –
they won 14 matches by a one-goal margin. INSIDE THE BOX 13 Bournemouth (A)
17 Stoke (A)
26 Everton (H)
3 Remember: competition is healthy 31 West Ham (H)
A bigger squad means there are more players GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 3 January
to keep happy – but Ranieri can use that to his 2 Middlesbrough (A)
advantage. The Italian will need to rotate at 14 Chelsea (H)
times to keep his best players fresh and fringe 11 21 Southampton (A)
men sweet, unlike last season when he could
GOALS FROM 31 Burnley (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

afford to regularly name an unchanged side. February
Kasper Schmeichel, for one, might benefit from
49 2 4 Man United (H)
being kept on his toes by Zieler, a full Germany
WOODWORK 11 Swansea (A)
international who hasn’t missed one single
minute of a league game since April 2011. 11 25 Liverpool (H)
March
4 Hull (H)
4 Don’t rely on Riyad
Leicester had the men for most occasions
DISCIPLINE 11 Arsenal (A)
18 West Ham (A)
throughout 2015-16, but Mahrez was often April
their creative spark who cracked open games
that could’ve gone either way. Ranieri doesn’t
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Stoke (H)
5 Sunderland (H)
boast many technically excellent players in his MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Everton (A)
team, and could do with relieving the burden 15 Crystal Palace (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

on his Algerian star. Towards the end of the 22 Tottenham (H)

season, opposition sides began to snuff out
his threat, so a viable Plan B is required.
5 Don’t panic
City won’t eke out slender wins on a fortnightly
basis this year – not when other sides are even
more wary of them, there are new players to
bed in and… well, reality. So if things aren’t
going to plan, just crack on: results will come.
FFT VERDICT: 8TH
Who’d try to predict Leicester? Still, with rivals
stronger they
6 13 9 11 14 15 29 West Brom (A)
May
6 Watford (H)
13 Man City (A)
21 Bournemouth (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Ed Mackey, saw 34 games last season
This season will be different to last because The opposition player I secretly admire is
ending the Premier League title and playing Dimitri Payet – he was a class act last season.
League football for the first time (below). Our pantomime villain is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
ye out for Demarai Gray, 20. He appeared There’s always fireworks wherever he goes!

KEY P last season and looks

piece of business.
One change I’d make at our club is
o introduce some safe-standing sections in
JAMIE VA away fans are he stadium, which would help to bring back
After a thre r United’s – they made the terrace-like feel on matchdays.
dalliance w oise at the King Power. This season we’ll finish about sixth,
Gunners, ost underrated hopefully with one or two cup runs. Nobody
decided to r is Christian Fuchs. would’ve predicted us to finish where we did
coup for th es under the radar, last season, but I can’t see us doing it again
league goa gives 100 per cent. e so-called ‘big teams’ have strengthened.
his six assis er I’d happily drive to another club FFT asks: Can Leicester make an impression
but on a wi hlupp. His technique is outrageously poor. in the Champions League? Based on last season’s
29-year-old date for September 13 or 14, when the efforts, I wouldn’t put it past us to win it! Honestly, I don’t
to how the their Champions League debut. think we will get out of the group, even if we are in Pot 1.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 21

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

LIVERPOOL
Last season: Premier League 8th FA Cup Fourth Round League Cup Runners-up Europa League Runners-up
e Run up
pTTop scorer

IS KLOPP READY
front – frequently starting with a surging Emre turning victories into draws against West
flowing through Philippe Coutinho, Bromwich Albion, Norwich, Sunderland and
ana and Roberto Firmino – is at Newcastle. Karius, 23, is an ominous presence

A TITLE CHALLEN
ayable. Do it over a season and there
on why they can’t go one better than
nder Brendan Rodgers in 2013-14.
able doesn’t lie. Liverpool finished
t term, a full 21 points behind
s Leicester, despite being one of
It’s difficult to know what to make ams to beat the Foxes. Not since
Klopp’s Liverpool. At its best, their ave they finished lower in the top
assault on an opposition’s persona that campaign ended in relegation.
a thrilling representation of high-in a League final offered a distraction,
pressing. Three-goal home and awa ting a number of first-teamers in the
against Manchester City, plus a 4-0 but improvement is essential if they
marmalising of Everton and two cu rn to the Premier League’s top table.
served notice of a side that is incre a that will inspire constant debate in
taking to their German coach’s met s between the sticks. Loris Karius, the
Particularly in those 4-1 and 3-0 wi n signing from Mainz, will probably
over City, the scale of Liverpool’s swe ckup keeper, but for how long? Last
counter-attacking bordered on breat mon Mignolet made a league-high
The two-touch passing to get from b that directly contributing to goals,
for Mignolet – as is the emerging Danny Ward,
also 23, who played for Wales at Euro 2016 and
signed a new five-year deal at Anfield prior to
leaving for Huddersfield on loan (don’t forget
that Klopp has recalled him once already).
In attack, there’s more to come from Firmino,
ending his first campaign as the Reds’ leading
scorer in the league with 10 goals; however, if
Liverpool are to maintain a title tilt, Coutinho
must be consistent across a season. Sadio
Mane, meanwhile, may have scored eight goals
in his final eight games for Southampton, but
a £34m attacker can’t go five months without
a league goal as he did for Saints last time out.
Whisper it, but Liverpool missing out on the
Champions League with that Europa League
final defeat to Sevilla could actually be a good
thing. As Leicester showed, focusing solely on
the Premier League isn’t without its benefits.

At £34m, Sadio Mane

can’t have a five-month
goal drought as he did
for Saints last season
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Learn how to protect a lead 14 Arsenal (A)
Last season, Liverpool scored first in 23 games 20 Burnley (A)
– only Leicester beat their opponents to the 27 Tottenham (A)
punch more often – and lost only one of those September

RECORD RECORD MOST

fixtures, but no team drew more games (eight) 10 Leicester (H)
after going a goal up. Indeed, the 19 points 16 Chelsea (A)

GOALS

HOME
they dropped from winning positions was 24 Hull (H)

AWAY
W8 W8 D4
topped only by Spurs and their end-of-season October
D8
collapse. A fitness-based pre-season focused ROBERTO FIRMINO 1 Swansea (A)
on Klopp’s high-press should help, but solving L7
15 Man United (H)
the mental hangover is just as important.
OT
L3
OT
10 22 West Brom (H)

T
T
AL AL 29 Crystal Palace (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
2 Keep focus and find some consistency

MOST
November
Unsurprisingly for a side that gives away a lead 5 Watford (H)

ASSISTS
so frequently, Liverpool did not once string 19 Southampton (A)
together more than three consecutive wins in 26 Sunderland (H)
2015-16. The peaks are high, but the troughs December
JAMES MILNER
GOALS SCORED 48
are low: on the two occasions Klopp’s men did 3 Bournemouth (A)
win three on the bounce, they took a two-goal 10 West Ham (H)
11
lead in the following fixture only to blow it, first
at Southampton (2-3), then against Newcastle INSIDE THE BOX 14 Middlesbrough (A)
17 Everton (A)
(2-2). Don’t ease up, thinking the game is won. 26 Stoke (H)
31 Man City (H)
3 Add steel to the defence GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 15 January
Defences win leagues. Joel Matip, who matured 2 Sunderland (A)
at Schalke from being a promising youngster 14 Man United (A)
to a leader of men, is a sound addition for no 16 21 Swansea (H)
fee, and Dejan Lovren’s form picked up under
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

Klopp, but while Nathaniel Clyne had a good 1 Chelsea (H)
first season at right-back, problems persist
61 3 4 Hull (A)
on the left. Alberto Moreno’s form swings
WOODWORK 11 Tottenham (H)
violently from attacking verve to defensive
incompetence with little in between. Above all, 15 25 Leicester (A)
March
Klopp needs his unit to gel – whoever is in it. 4 Arsenal (H)

4 Solve the striking issues

DISCIPLINE 12 Burnley (H)
18 Man City (A)
There’s no shortage of forward options at April
Anfield, but while Firmino gradually improved,
none of Christian Benteke, Divock Origi or an
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Everton (H)
5 Bournemouth (H)
increasingly frustrated Daniel Sturridge have MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Stoke (A)
convinced. One of them – or Danny Ings, if 16 West Brom (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

he can recover from an injury-ravaged first 22 Crystal Palace (H)

season – needs to seize the opportunity.

5 Don’t forget: the kids are all right

Klopp gave youth a chance when rotating late
in the season. Sheyi Ojo impressed out wide,
especially in the 4-1 victory over Stoke, and
there are high hopes for midfielder Cameron
Brannagan. New boy Marko Grujic from Red
Star Belgrade could also come into the picture.
FFT VERDICT: 6TH
Klopp could inspire a resurgence but only if he
fixes their inconsist
5 11 12 9 14 12 29 Watford (A)
May
6 Southampton (H)
13 West Ham (A)
21 Middlesbrough (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Tom Nuttall-Jones, RedAndWhiteKop.com
This season will be different to last because Save the date for Manchester United at home on
as had a full pre-season and now has a chance to October 15. Louis van Gaal won four from four against
he squad in his own image, plus a lighter schedule us in the league – it’s time for that to change.
see us improve in the league. e player I’d happily drive

KEY PLA pool fans should follow

AnfieldWrap, always first on
o another club is regrettably
bi Moreno. He has been unreliable
EMRE CAN ene. Their coverage of the n the big occasions too often.
The German coul orough verdict was superb. his season we’ll finish in the
more vital to the opposition player op four, I hope, although I’d settle
of Klopp’s philoso retly admire is David de or any improvement as this season
his all-action style nd myself chuckling in disbelief here are more contenders than ever.
much-needed dy e of his saves against us. Still, not being in Europe may work in
a midfield that dri antomime villain is our favour, as it did in 2013-14. Klopp
being one-paced. ourinho. Chelsea were quite likeable pre Mourinho; was dismayed at our busy schedule when he arrived.
must keep the 22 ose, he’ll be even worse at Manchester United. FFT asks: Does Danny Ings have a future at
fit so he can be th st away ground is Bournemouth’s (above). the club? A player of his work rate is surely made for
furnace for a title p day out all round, and worth the journey. Klopp’s system. I’m certain they’ll like working together.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 23

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

MANCHESTER CITY
Last season: Premier League 4th FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup Winners Champions League Semi-final Top scorer (all comps) Sergio Aguero (29)

FORGET PEP: IS
First off, the bare statistics. Seven goals is approaching his peak. His ability to play
and nine assists from 25 Premier League anywhere in attacking midfield will be highly
outings is a solid return after a £58 million prized by City’s new manager, who is expected

DE BRUYNE THE
transfer from Wolfsburg last season, though to veer away from the 4-2-3-1 formation
some commentators have suggested more is favoured by Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini
expected following such a substantial outlay. before him – Guardiola feels that it’s too rigid

KEY MAN FOR CITY?

The hyperbole surrounding Pep Guardiola’s
arrival is understandable. The Catalan is box
office globally, and an elite manager who’ll
bring tactical nuance to a nation that still
primarily prizes physical attributes over
intellectual ones. The ex-Barcelona and
Bayern boss may be the most important
man in this year’s Premier League. He isn’t
the most important man at Manchester City,
however. Step forward, Kevin De Bruyne.
Another set of statistics, however, is far more
illustrative. Of the 12 games in all competitions
that the Belgian missed after injuring his knee
against Everton in late January, City won only
four. This period included season-defining
defeats against Leicester, Tottenham and
Man United. Some would argue February’s
announcement that Guardiola would replace
Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign
was equally responsible, yet City won four of
their five games following De Bruyne’s April
return and secured Champions League
football for Guardiola’s first season.
There’s no coincidence here.
De Bruyne turns 25 halfway
through August, which means he
a system – and towards a more fluid 4-3-3,
or possibly a back three. The feeling persists,
however, that De Bruyne very much prefers
a central role; indeed, part of his fallout with
Jose Mourinho at Chelsea lay in the Special
One’s refusal to move the young talent inside
from the right wing. The contrast in his level of
performance when playing in each position for
Belgium at Euro 2016 only underlined the idea.
For his part, Guardiola is a De Bruyne admirer,
once calling it “madness” that a player of his
quality was at Wolfsburg for 18 months. He’ll
make allowances for his creator-in-chief, be
sure of that. He did with Lionel Messi, after all.
In short, you can expect Pep to be talking
about Kevin during 2016-17. A lot.

Guardiola will surely

make allowances for
De Bruyne, as he did
with a young Messi
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Find some consistency 13 Sunderland (H)
You never knew which Manchester City was 20 Stoke (A)
going to turn up last season. On six occasions 28 West Ham (H)
they won by four goals or more – October’s September

RECORD RECORD MOST

back-to-back shellackings of Newcastle (6-1) 10 Man United (A)
and Bournemouth (5-1) spring to mind – yet 17 Bournemouth (H)

GOALS
D2

HOME
they also lost six matches by two goals or 24 Swansea (A)

AWAY
W7
more, including 4-1 to Spurs the week before October
L5
those aforementioned heavy victories. That’s
D7
SERGIO AGUERO 1 Tottenham (A)
the same number as West Bromwich Albion. 15 Everton (H)
For a team with title ambitions, it’s a record
OT
W12
OT
L5
24 22 Southampton (H)

T
T
that inspires neither pride nor confidence. AL AL 29 West Brom (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
November
2 Plan for life without Kompany 5 Middlesbrough (H)
Early rumours have Vincent Kompany down 19 Crystal Palace (A)
as an early Guardiola casualty. Whether or 26 Burnley (A)
not talk of a transfer is premature, the Belgian December

GOALS SCORED 57 MOST

central defender’s persistent injury problems 3 Chelsea (H)
mean Pep must find a way for the defence 10 Leicester (A)
to function without him. Last season alone,
the City captain missed 29 matches in all INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
14 Watford (H)
17 Arsenal (H)
competitions. Defensive reinforcements and 26 Hull (A)
DAVID SILVA
improvement from Nicolas Otamendi are vital. 31 Liverpool (A)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 14
11 January
3 Keep developing Iheanacho 2 Burnley (H)
In 2015-16 Kelechi Iheanacho averaged a goal 14 Everton (A)
or assist every 84 minutes. No Premier League 15 21 Tottenham (H)
player’s strike rate was better. The 19-year-old
GOALS FROM 31 West Ham (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

could really kick on this season – but he’ll need February
game time. Fortunately Pep’s a fan, reportedly
61 0 4 Swansea (H)
banning the Nigeria striker from playing at the
WOODWORK 11 Bournemouth (A)
Olympics so he can establish himself at the
Etihad Stadium. Iheanacho knows that he will 14 25 Man United (H)
March
have to work hard, but if he does, the sky’s the 4 Sunderland (A)
limit. His middle name is Promise, after all... DISCIPLINE 11 Stoke (H)
18 Liverpool (H)
4 Make better use of the interval April
They sing when they’re winning, securing
11 victories from the 11 games they led at
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Arsenal (A)
5 Chelsea (A)
half-time, but City lost eight from eight when MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Hull (H)
trailing at the break – easily the league’s worst 15 Southampton (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

record and especially poor for title contenders. 22 West Brom (H)

5 Shake the post-Euros blues

Raheem Sterling’s Euro 2016 travails will have
11 11 10 14 9 16 29 Middlesbrough (A)
May
6 Crystal Palace (H)
come as no surprise to seasoned City watchers 13 Leicester (H)
– his confidence dropped after a mid-campaign 21 Watford (A)
injury. Guardiola must reignite the 21-year-old’s
love of the game following a monstering in the
press, and lift Joe Hart and perhaps even new
man Nolito after their own disappointments. VIEW FROM THESTANDS
Dan Burke, typicalcity.org
FFT VERDICT: 1ST
Guardiola has addressed squad deficiencies This season will be different to last because The best away ground
and doesn’t have a habit of starting slowly. we finally have a top-class manager capable of is Turf Moor – lots of City
realising our wildest ambitions and making our fans are looking forward to
squad more than just the sum of its parts. going back there again.

KEY PLAYER Our most underrated player is

Fernandinho. He was our player of the season
ILKAY GUNDOGAN and is genuinely world-class. Few outside the
De Bruyne aside, Gundogan Etihad seem to have cottoned on to it, though.
is most vital to Guardiola’s The opposition player I secretly admire
system. The German’s is Anthony Martial, who might actually be the new
out for a month but Thierry Henry. But don’t tell anyone I said that.
should provide The best away fans are anyone who doesn’t
a mid-season boo Raheem Sterling for having the audacity to make
boost; his range a positive career move. It’s a very short list.
of passing is just Keep an eye out for Brahim Diaz (above, right), who
what City’s midfield has just turned 17. He has the potential to be a huge
lacked last term. star, although this season might be too soon for him.
The player I’d happily
drive to another club
is Wilfried Bony. I feel sorry
for him, but his spell at the
club has been disastrous.
I suspect there would be
a convoy of City fans ready to escort him to another club.
This season we’ll finish first. Pep Guardiola knows
how to win a title. However, it’ll be extremely competitive.
FFT asks: is the Premier League Guardiola’s
biggest challenge yet? Absolutely, and dragging
City out of the slumber of the Pellegrini era will be no
mean feat, either. But if he can’t do it, no one can.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 25

PREMIER LEAGUE
MANCHESTER UNITED
Last season: Premier League 5th FA Cup Winners League Cup Fourth Round Champions League Group stage Europa League Last 16 Top scorer (all comps) Anthony Martial (17)
ARE THE CLUB’S
YOUNGSTERS G
ENOUGH FOR J
Much like the man himself, the
answer is complex. Straightaway
though, Mourinho’s tradition of
building sides around a core of
players with vast European
experience looks all set to
continue, with the signing of
34-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Talent alone isn’t enough to ear
the new manager’s trust, which sp
Rashford’s pace and
goal threat makes it
likely that Mourinho
will give him a chance
2016-17
danger for at least two of Manchester United’s
youngsters. At Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku and
e were billed as two of Europe’s
ts, but both were sold before
to make an impact, Mourinho
duo’s character after their exits.
ir weren’t able to convince him
hy of first-team football, then
tolerate Jesse Lingard finding
hoardings behind the opposition
the same sort of regularity as
. Lingard’s FA Cup final winner
uy him only so much credit.
dnan Januzaj also faces an
ertain future. The 21-year-old
s frozen out by Louis van Gaal
d is unlikely to suit Mourinho,
ho favours both dynamism and
efensive discipline in his wide
players. The No.10 role Januzaj
equires will likely be taken by
signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mourinho isn’t totally immune to youthful
promise, however. Carlos Alberto, barely 19,
featured in his Champions League-winning
Porto side, and Arjen Robben starred in his first
Premier League success aged 20 (even if he
looked 40). Mario Balotelli played 70 times for
Inter Milan under Mourinho, and a teenage
Raphael Varane got game time at Real Madrid.
Those players were afforded opportunities
because of their star quality but also their
ability to play in more than one position in the
Portuguese manager’s preferred 4-2-3-1, which
could be good news for two of United’s starlets.
Marcus Rashford impressed as a striker and
as a winger in his debut season for club and
country, and his pace and goal threat is in short
supply elsewhere at Old Trafford. Paddy McNair
could also appeal to Mourinho’s pragmatism
having operated in defence and midfield.
United fans dreaming of watching Mourinho
field a young side may be disappointed, but
the brightest stars will be given their chance.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Be more positive 14 Bournemouth (A)
Manchester United fans are a patient bunch, 19 Southampton (H)
most of them, but seven 0-0 draws in a season 27 Hull (A)
is enough to make a grown man cry. Passing September

RECORD RECORD MOST

forwards and attacking the opposition goal 10 Man City (H)
in the opening 45 minutes would be a start – 18 Watford (A)

GOALS

HOME
on 24 occasions in 2015-16, United went into W12 24 Leicester (H)

AWAY
D4
D5
half-time with the match goalless. Twenty-four. October

L2 W7 ANTHONY MARTIAL 1 Stoke (H)

2 Buy pace – and lots of it 15 Liverpool (A)
United’s problems mostly stem from a lack of
OT OT
L8
11 22 Chelsea (A)

T
T
pace throughout the side. Daley Blind’s snail AL AL 29 Burnley (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
tribute in defence will surely come to an end November
with the signing of Eric Bailly from Villarreal, 5 Swansea (A)
but there remains a lack of mobility in midfield 19 Arsenal (H)
and attack. A midfielder with legs should be 26 West Ham (H)
top of Mourinho’s wish list, along with at least December

GOALS SCORED 44 MOST

one forward capable of stretching defenders. 3 Everton (A)
11 Tottenham (H)
3 Clear out the deadwood
There’s enough to fuel a bonfire. Phil Jones INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
14 Crystal Palace (A)
17 West Brom (A)
and Marcos Rojo look vulnerable, few would 26 Sunderland (H)
WAYNE ROONEY
miss Bastian Schweinsteiger, and even fewer 31 Middlesbrough (H)
would mourn the loss of Marouane Fellaini. GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 5
6 January
Morgan Schneiderlin has to prove he isn’t just 2 West Ham (A)
Carrick-lite. Then there’s Antonio Valencia, 14 Liverpool (H)
Sergio Romero, Ashley Young... and Memphis 9 21 Stoke (A)
Depay deserves a second season to show his
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

worth but his inconsistency could frustrate Jose. 1 Hull (H)

65 1 4 Leicester (A)
4 Put Mata out of his misery
WOODWORK 11 Watford (H)
Juan Mata is a lovely man and a mighty fine
footballer, but if he doesn’t play as a No.10 his 7 25 Man City (A)
March
effectiveness is vastly diminished. Van Gaal 4 Bournemouth (H)
exposed the Spaniard’s limitations by playing
him predominantly on the right wing, and it’s
DISCIPLINE 11 Southampton (A)
18 Middlesbrough (A)
unlikely Mourinho will field him centrally after April
spending £27m on Mkhitaryan. If that’s the
case, Jose should cash in, just as he did in
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 West Brom (H)
4 Everton (H)
selling Mata to United in January 2014. MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Sunderland (A)
15 Chelsea (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

5 Give Herrera a chance 22 Burnley (A)

Standing at 5ft 10in and weighing 11 stone
wet through, Ander Herrera doesn’t possess
the athletic qualities Mourinho typically prefers
in his central midfielders – but he could still
be an asset alongside a more robust midfield
partner. Herrera was often overlooked by Van
Gaal, despite offering United much-needed
mobility and purpose in his rare starts. Give
him a chance, Jose. He might surprise you.
FFT VERDICT: 4TH
Mourinho can make United a force again, but
neither he nor they are ready for a title tilt yet.
5 8 8 10 9 9 29 Swansea (H)
May
6 Arsenal (A)
13 Tottenham (A)
21 Crystal Palace (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Bryan Waters, season ticket holder since 1997
This season will be different to last because The player I’d happily drive to another club is
the injury list won’t be as long again and the young Marcos Rojo. Is he a left-back or is he a centre-back?
players have more experience. Oh, and we’ve got Zlatan. Our pantomime villain is Daniel Sturridge (left),
ost underrated player is Michael Carrick, the half-fit, one-footed prima donna. Change that dance!

KEY PLAY onductor. We look far worse when he’s no h

an eye out for Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Save the date for September
0: our second home match
DAVID DE GEA ong, quick and loves a tackle – he’s f the season is the derby,
The keeper is the ourinho powerhouse of a player. nd Mourinho vs Guardiola.
only man in the hange I’d make at our club is to his season we’ll finish
club’s history to ger in the transfer market. Some great rst. Mourinho and Zlatan
win their player of who could have improved us have gone rriving is encouraging, so is our
the year prize three other clubs during this window. pine, and Anthony Martial will
seasons in a row. The opposition player I secretly mprove. Good times are calling.
He’s also their only admire is Kevin De Bruyne. City’s r for the club’s young
world-class player season dropped when he got injured. stars now Jose Mourinho has arrived?
who’s currently in h st away fans are Everton’s: they always Slightly, but the club’s history and heritage will make
prime (sorry, Zlatan g numbers and provide an atmosphere. sure that he still gives youth enough of a chance.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 27

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
MIDDLESBROUGH
Last season: Championship 2nd FA Cup Third Round League Cup Quarter-final Top scorer (all comps) Cristhian Stuani (11)
CAN KARANKA G
in a Friday afternoon huff, having argued with
his players about their 1-0 loss to Rotherham
week. He yelled that he didn’t want to
EVERYONE PULL
e them again; they responded that he
maging a still-healthy team morale. The
orning, before a coach trip to Charlton,
IN THE SAME
a was sent home by Boro executives
ng disruptive, and assistant boss Steve
new took charge against the Addicks.
DIRECTION?
Surely an unprecedented manager
walkout would lead to the axe? Nope.
nd slowly, the side reunited behind
se Mourinho’s former No.2 went
n a promotion-winning rampage.
However, doubts linger about Karanka’s
Aitor Karanka is an emotional guy emperament. Tales of spats are too
When Boro went up in May, the bo requent to be dismissed as tittle-tattle.
said he’d like to “go to bed and cr Assistant Craig Hignett walked out in
for 24 hours”. After the year he’d 014 after a disagreement. Karanka was
the Spaniard could be forgiven a l harged with misconduct after shoving a
Just two months earlier, the 42-ye official. Albert Adomah handed in
stormed out of Rockcliffe Park Traini fer request after one particularly brutal
Changing too much,
too soon could disrupt
what makes Boro tick
bollocking. Stewart Downing has also crossed
swords with, and been benched by, Karanka.
When asked to explain the falling-out, the
boss said: “I can explain, but I don’t want to.”
He’s the kind of gaffer who inspires in his
players either fierce loyalty or a fiery rage
– but if Boro get off to a sluggish start, might
Karanka’s Krakatoa erupt and threaten their
entire season? His mentor, Mourinho, has
always been admired as a master of whipping
up passionate dedication, but last season’s
Chelsea horror show has shown that incendiary
methods can sometimes blow up in your face.
Tellingly, Boro owner Steve Gibson praised his
gaffer effusively and forgave him their “bump”
after promotion was secured. Karanka’s a savvy
tactician, committed to good football, and his
upward projection (14th in his first half-season
with the Teessiders, then fourth, then second)
implies he can become one of the Premier
League’s most-admired young managers. But
self-control will be vital if he’s going to prove it.
 CHAMPIONSHIP 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Keep the foundations firm 13 Stoke (H)
They call it ‘Karankanaccio’. The Spanish boss 21 Sunderland (A)
believes “you build a house from the floor”, and 28 West Brom (A)
Boro’s defensive platform is certainly robust. September

RECORD RECORD MOST

Last season they broke a club record with nine 10 Crystal Palace (H)
consecutive clean sheets in the league and 17 Everton (A)

GOALS

HOME
shipped 31 goals in total, a Championship 24 Tottenham (H)

AWAY
D5 W 10
D6
low. Ben Gibson and Daniel Ayala resemble October
a Premier League centre-half pairing already, L2
DAVID NUGENT 1 West Ham (A)
right-back Antonio Barragan has been signed 15 Watford (H)
L7
after making more than 100 La Liga outings for
OT
W16
OT
8 22 Arsenal (A)

T
T
Valencia, and Victor Valdes isn’t bad on a free. AL AL 29 Bournemouth (H)
GAMES 23 GAMES 23
November
2 Address the need for speed 5 Man City (A)
Boro’s tactic of shutting down games once they 19 Chelsea (H)
had scored worked wonders in the second tier, 26 Leicester (A)
but it won’t be easy this year. They need extra December

GOALS SCORED MOST

pace in midfield – the direct Viktor Fischer is 3 Hull (H)

INSIDE THE BOX 57

a start – and to move the ball forward quicker. 11 Southampton (A)

ASSISTS
14 Liverpool (H)
3 Respect the side’s local heartbeat  17 Swansea (H)
Gibson and Downing have helped to foster 26 Burnley (A)
DAVID NUGENT
a strong connection between players and fans 31 Man United (A)
at the Riverside – vital in a region that has GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 6
7 January
been hammered economically. Captain Grant 2 Leicester (H)
Leadbitter says the tales the Boro lads bring of 14 Watford (A)
struggling families and unemployment, and 13 21 West Ham (H)
how the side’s success has boosted the city’s
GOALS FROM 31 West Brom (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

mood, has further bonded them together. February

60 3 4 Tottenham (A)
4 Generate competition going forward
WOODWORK 11 Everton (H)
As Carlos de Pena and Kike Sola laboured,
Albert Adomah, Gaston Ramirez and Downing 15 25 Crystal Palace (A)
March
became virtually undroppable last season as 4 Stoke (A)
Middlesbrough’s creative threesome behind
a lone striker. A settled system is no bad thing,
DISCIPLINE 11 Sunderland (H)
18 Man United (H)
but cover is urgently required or Boro could April
become toothless. Plans B and C are also
needed for when Karanka’s cagey style falters.
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Swansea (A)
4 Hull (A)
MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Burnley (H)
5 Remember that less is more 15 Arsenal (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

As much as Middlesbrough need to add 22 Bournemouth (A)

depth to their squad, the example set by
their promoted predecessors, Watford and
Bournemouth, show that Premier League
experience isn’t everything. Both the Hornets
and Cherries preserved their team’s character
and closeness – assets that took them up and
kept them there. This is a chance for the likes
of Jordan Rhodes, but changing too much,
too soon could disrupt what makes Boro tick.
FFT VERDICT: 16TH
Boro have the foundations to stay in this
division, as long as Karanka keeps his cool.
8 8 10 8 10 19 29 Man City (H)
May
6 Chelsea (A)
13 Southampton (H)
21 Liverpool (A)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Rob Archer, season ticket holder for nine years
This season will be different to last because The opposition player I secretly admire is
we are in our rightful place: back in the big time! Olivier Giroud. He’s a good all-round striker and his goal
ost underrated player is Emilio Nsue, who record is almost one in two, yet he gets a lot of stick.
rlooked in the 2015 play-off final with Dean Middlesbrough fans should follow Adam

KEY PLAYER ad playing at right-back instead, but g

ce last season and has been superb.
layton (@Clayts15), if not for his
ntics on a pub roof during the
DANIEL AYALA an eye out for Ben Gibson. romotion celebrations!
The Boro Beckenbauer mier League fans may not be too This season we’ll finish
starts attacks with forwar amiliar with him, but with England mid-table. We had the joint-best
surges and pinpoint passi acking good left-footed centre-backs, defence in all four divisions last
but he also excels at all th he’ll get a call-up soon enough. season, and kept a clean sheet
gritty stuff that epitomise Our pantomime villain is Lee at Old Trafford. If we can continue
last term’s solid rearguard Cattermole: ex-Boro, now playing for in that vein then we’ll be fine.
The Spaniard, still only 25 Sunderland, and he kicks lumps out of y miss playing Newcastle in
can win physical battles, people to make up for a lack of ability. a Premier League derby (left)? To be honest, yes
is great in the air and also e best away ground is the Stadium of – I’d have preferred them to have stayed up. It didn’t stop
reads the game superbly. or West Ham’s new Olympic Stadium. me laughing when they did get relegated, though!

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 29

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
SOUTHAMPTON
Last season: Premier League 6th FA Cup Third Round League Cup Fifth Round Europa League Play-off Round Top scorer (all comps) Sadio Mane (15)
CAN PUEL MANAGE
A THIRD SAINTS
REGENERATION?
Amid the fanfare surrounding Leicester,
it is easy to overlook the smaller but still
deeply unlikely feat that’s been performed
on the South Coast over the past two years.
In the summer of 2014 Southampton were
something of a laughing stock after being
mercilessly asset-stripped by bullying bigger
boys. Even new gaffer Ronald Koeman joined
the gallows humour, tweeting a photo of an
empty pitch, captioned: “Ready for training!”
But despite losing Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana,
Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers, Dejan Lovren
and Mauricio Pochettino, Saints confounded
gloomy expectations to finish up in seventh,
a one-place improvement on what they had
achieved under Poch, while serving up helpings
of delicious humble pie to the likes of Brendan
Rodgers, who had publicly scorned the club’s
ambition while buying three of their players.
Then in 2015-16 they did it again. Key players
were lured away in Morgan Schneiderlin
and Nathaniel Clyne, but Koeman’s
fearless unit bettered themselves once
more, finishing in sixth and only three
points behind Manchester City in fourth.
It would be unwise, then, to write off
Saints for a third time following another wave
of departures. Yet they do look like body blows
this time. Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane
leaving is one thing; losing Koeman – a brilliant
recruiter, tactician and man-manager who
had led those regenerations – is quite another.
It’s hard to see them coming
sixth again, but Saints love
to prove everyone wrong
New boss Claude Puel has his work cut out,
and the Frenchman’s CV is solid enough but
doesn’t inspire too much confidence. His main
achievement across a career spent entirely in
his home country was winning Ligue 1 with
Monaco 16 years ago, in his first full season as
a manager. Since then, he has led Lille and Nice
up and down the table, either side of inheriting
a Lyon outfit that had won the title for seven
years in a row, and taking them to third place.
Optimistic Saints fans can point to Puel’s
plentiful European experience – useful as they
venture into the Europa League – and belief in
youth, which dovetails neatly with the club’s
academy. Nathan Redmond and Pierre-Emile
Hojbjerg represent shrewd signings, also.
Overall, though, it’s hard to see Southampton
matching last term’s highest-ever Premier
League placing, let alone going beyond that
into the Champions League positions, which is
the challenge that Puel has been set. Still, this
is a club that loves to prove everyone wrong...
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Find the right balance in Europe 13 Watford (H)
Last season’s Europa League play-off exit was 19 Man United (A)
disappointing, but it did at least de-congest 27 Sunderland (H)
Southampton’s schedule, keeping legs fresh September

RECORD RECORD MOST

for a charge up the table. Prioritising Premier 10 Arsenal (A)
League health over Euro awaydays or cup runs 18 Swansea (H)

GOALS

HOME
is unromantic, but ultimately it may well keep D3 W7 25 West Ham (A)

AWAY
D6
Puel in employment. It will take skilful squad October
juggling to wage war on several fronts. L5 GRAZIANO PELLE, 1 Leicester (A)
SADIO MANE 15 Burnley (H)
2 Develop young players W11 L6
OT OT 11 22 Man City (A)

T
The club’s main hope lies with youth, and AL AL 29 Chelsea (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19

MOST
they’ve cannily twinned one of the country’s November
best academies with a boss who has a track 5 Hull (A)

ASSISTS
record of bringing through some of the finest 19 Liverpool (H)
footballers around, including Thierry Henry, 26 Everton (H)
David Trezeguet, Eden Hazard and Hugo Lloris. December
DUSAN TADIC
GOALS SCORED 54
“I like to improve young players,” Puel has said. 3 Crystal Palace (A)
“It’s important to [keep] the club at a high 11 Middlesbrough (H)
12
level.” Expect more new names to emerge.
INSIDE THE BOX 14 Stoke (A)
17 Bournemouth (A)
3 Target evolution, not revolution 26 Tottenham (H)
Saints still have a fine core in place, and Puel 31 West Brom (H)
has a reputation for getting the best out of GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 5 January
individuals. Henry credits him with developing 2 Everton (A)
his finishing technique – good news, surely, for 14 Burnley (A)
Jay Rodriguez, Shane Long and Charlie Austin. 13 21 Leicester (H)

4 Strengthen the spine

GOALS FROM 31 Swansea (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

February
While Southampton’s first XI is impressive,
57 6 4 West Ham (H)
they are in urgent need of depth. They were
WOODWORK 11 Sunderland (A)
fortunate that first-choice centre-backs Virgil
van Dijk and Jose Fonte stayed fit for almost 13 25 Arsenal (H)
March
all of last season as they lack equivalent cover, 4 Watford (A)
whether it’s in a four-man defence or the back
five seen at times under Koeman. Wanyama’s
DISCIPLINE 11 Man United (H)
18 Tottenham (A)
exit means they lack an enforcer – although April
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is an excellent addition
from Bayern Munich in central midfield – and
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Bournemouth (H)
5 Crystal Palace (H)
a decent backup keeper wouldn’t go amiss. MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 West Brom (A)
15 Man City (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

5 Keep some perspective 22 Chelsea (A)

It’s probably impossible in a fast-moving
football world crazed with instant gratification,
but failing to match the stellar achievements
8 7 11 6 16 11 29 Hull (H)
May
6 Liverpool (A)
of Nigel Adkins, Pochettino and Koeman should 13 Middlesbrough (A)
not be seen as a reason to get sack-happy. 21 Stoke (H)
Saints were near bankruptcy in the third tier
just seven years ago. Mid-table might not be
exciting, but it also wouldn’t be horrendous for
a club that continues to sell its best players. VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Sam Dobson, thesaintshub.com
FFT VERDICT: 11TH
Regenerating without Koeman won’t be easy, This season will be different to l t The opposition player
nor quick, but they certainly won’t slip far. because we’ll have a brand new secretly admire is N’Golo Kante.
team yet again, and a proper e would make any football team
European campaign to enjoy. n the planet infinitely better.

KEY PLAYER Our pantomime villain is

VIRGIL VAN DIJK
Saints’ latest Celtic
buy is central to their
defensive excellence. Many
were initially taken with the
rangy Dutchman’s ability on
the ball, but asked if he could
actually defend; by the end
of his first season in England,
though, he resembled almost
the complete centre-back.
Ronald Koeman (right) this season.
Our most underrated player is
James Ward-Prowse. He is going to
be a superstar given the time.
The players I’d happily drive
to another club were Maarten
Stekelenburg and Juanmi, but we’ve binned them now.
Saints fans should follow Kent Messenger reporter
@IvesonKM for some intelligent Southampton chat.
Keep an eye out for young midfielder Harrison
Reed – he’s already Premier League quality.
The best away ground is Anfield. I love it.
One change I’d make at our
club is to stop briefing the press that
certain players won’t be sold when
they know for a fact they will be.
This season we’ll finish
about 12th. We’re entering
p d with a new cycle of players.
FFT asks: How gutted are you to see Koeman
leave for another Premier League club? Not
much. I’d rather have a more training ground-oriented
manager who actually pays attention to our academy
players. He won’t get a pleasant reception upon his
return to St Mary’s with Everton on November 26.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 31

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
STOKE CITY
Last season: Premier League 9th FA Cup Fourth Round League Cup Semi-final Top scorer (all comps) Marko Arnautovic (12)
IS IT TIME SHAQIRI
JUSTIFIED THE HYPE?
It’s easy to forget Xherdan Shaqiri is only 24.
He has already lived several players’ careers,
enjoying three title-winning seasons with
Basel, two title-winning but stifling seasons
with Bayern, signing a four-and-a-half-year
contract with Inter only to leave after the
half, and moving to Stoke for a club record
fee, all while earning 57 Switzerland caps
and appearing in three major tournaments.
No wonder some people are beginning to
wonder what the fuss is all about.
There’s no doubt his star has fallen. Potters
supporters were flabbergasted when they
Shaqiri and Arnautovic
are both trying to rebuild
their reputations at Stoke
were first linked with Shaqiri, then of Bayern
Munich, in January 2015. This was one of
Europe’s hottest talents. Now he’s seen as
one of the better players at a mid-table side.
So, with the traditional transitional season
now under his belt, there’s pressure on Shaqiri
to fulfil his promise in the Premier League.
There shouldn’t be.
Shaqiri doesn’t need an incredible 2016-17
season; he just needs a good one. He needs
an injury-free year of encouraging signs and
maybe 10 goals and half-a-dozen assists.
Above all, he needs to show consistency.
The winger’s career to date has featured
periods of relative gloom lit up by moments
of blinding genius: a hat-trick at the 2014
World Cup; that first-time lob against
Everton (which Charlie Adam claimed
was a fluke, because he just loves to spoil
everyone’s fun); a long-range winner against
Newcastle; a stunning overhead kick against
Poland. He knows he’s good, but he doesn’t
help himself by saying things like: “You
obviously don’t know me well; I always score
nice goals!” after that bicycle at Euro 2016.
Unlike Italy, where he said: “Here you work
a lot more on tactics and I’m not a big fan of
these particular training sessions,” the Premier
League suits Shaqiri. He’s robust – “a young
man who has clearly been eating his greens,”
as cartoonist David Squires put it – and fearless,
claiming that Stoke can aim for the Champions
League. And at the Brita... the Bet365 Stadium,
he has team-mates who will sympathise with
his attempt to rebuild a once-hot reputation:
Bojan, Ibrahim Afellay, Marko Arnautovic.
Shaqiri’s on the right track. His touch and
dribbling let him down last season, but 1.9 key
passes per game was among the league’s best
rates, bettering Riyad Mahrez, Dele Alli and
Cesc Fabregas among others. He will thrive if
Stoke can find a top striker to create space for
him, and latch onto his through-balls. Until
then, what would really help is a little less hype.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Nail down Plan A in attack 13 Middlesbrough (A)
Stoke’s search for a line-leader sees each 20 Man City (H)
option make the team play very differently: 27 Everton (A)
Mame Biram Diouf is a beast; Joselu, a creator; September

RECORD RECORD MOST

Jonathan Walters, a worker; Bojan, a false nine; 10 Tottenham (A)
Peter Crouch, a giant. Settling on just one style 17 Crystal Palace (A)

GOALS

HOME
could help goals to come more freely – it’s rare W6 24 West Brom (H)

AWAY
D4 D5
a top-half team has a goal difference of -14, October
W8
but the Potters finished above Chelsea and MARKO ARNAUTOVIC 1 Man United (A)
Everton despite conceding as many goals and L7 15 Sunderland (H)
scoring 18 fewer. They were shot-shy, especially
OT OT
L8
11 22 Hull (A)

T
at home (only Aston Villa had fewer attempts), AL AL 29 Swansea (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
and frustration led to a league-high 48 per cent November
of shots coming from outside the box. By way 5 West Ham (A)
of comparison, Arsenal’s ratio was 28 per cent. 19 Bournemouth (H)
26 Watford (A)
2 Continue to shift the old guard December
Steve Sidwell (33) and Peter Odemwingie (35)
have been released, but Crouch (35), Shay Given GOALS SCORED 33 MOST 3 Burnley (H)
10 Arsenal (A)
(40), Stephen Ireland and Charlie Adam remain,
despite seldom playing. Glenn Whelan’s place INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS 14 Southampton (H)
17 Leicester (H)
will come under increasing pressure from MARKO ARNAUTOVIC, 26 Liverpool (A)
£18 million record signing Giannelli Imbula. XHERDAN SHAQIRI 31 Chelsea (A)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 8
6 January
3 Keep looking for future Potters 2 Watford (H)
The club is striving to improve an academy that 14 Sunderland (A)
has been left behind by rapid progress and Tony 5 21 Man United (H)
Pulis’ indifference. Stoke’s youngest players last
GOALS FROM February

HIT THE SET PIECES

season were 23 years old and imports. Their 1 Everton (H)
under-21s taking part in the new-look EFL
51 4 4 West Brom (A)
Trophy could help matters. Well, it could.
WOODWORK 11 Crystal Palace (H)

4 Embrace the counter culture 6 25 Tottenham (A)

March
Stoke moved away from counter-attacking 4 Middlesbrough (H)
football just as many others adopted it; indeed,
no team caught opponents offside more often.
DISCIPLINE 11 Man City (A)
18 Chelsea (H)
Mark Hughes’ style has brought some success, April
but his team were still far less effective when
they had more than half of the possession in
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Leicester (A)
4 Burnley (A)
a match, winning 14 points in 17 games, than MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Liverpool (H)
when they saw less of the ball (36 in 21). City 15 Hull (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

shouldn’t just sit back, but there are times 22 Swansea (A)
when it’s OK to let the other team have the ball.

5 Don’t panic over Christmas

A poor festive period can prompt a January
trolley dash, but the Potters should be prepared
for a potentially lean Christmas: they end 2016
against Arsenal, Southampton and Leicester
before visiting Liverpool and Chelsea. Rotation
and conditioning will be key – as will patience.
FFT VERDICT: 10TH
With teams around them strengthening, the
Potters will do well to maintain top-half status.
8 7 2 12 1 11 29 West Ham (H)
May
6 Bournemouth (A)
13 Arsenal (H)
21 Stoke (A)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Rob Doolan, chiefdelilah3.wordpress.com
This season will be different to last because The best away ground is Swansea’s Liberty
we’ll shake off the injury jinx that blighted last season. Stadium – that’s always a great day out.
The player I’d happily drive to another club Our pantomime villain is still Arsene Wenger (left).
is Geoff Cameron. He can play in a number of different Save the date for our old friends, Arsenal, coming to

KEY PLAYER positions, but not especially well in any of them.

ne change I’d make at our club is to change
Stoke for our last home game of the season on May 13.
Our most underrated player is Mame Biram Diouf
JACK BUTLAND e name of the stadium from the Bet365 he’s no world-beater, but he is the best
Butland’s emergence las ck to the Britannia Stadium, or riker at the club. Lovely smile, too.
as a keeper of serious qu e Stanley Matthews Stadium, he best away fans are Spurs’ – they
in 35 games before injur the Kyle Lightbourne Arena, ere a noisy bunch considering they had to
was just what the Potter pretty much anything else. ome to the Potteries on a Monday night.
needed: Stoke had to ma he opposition player This season we’ll finish ninth, just
a league-high number o ecretly admire is Dele Alli. ke last year, and the two years before.
saves from shots inside has got incredible energy. FFT asks: What’s the next step
the penalty area. He’s Keep an eye out for our for this team? Our home form really
knocking on the door to young left-back, Joel Taylor, who needs to improve, and we also have to
be England’s No.1, too… scooped Under-21 Player of the S break down the more stubborn teams.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 33

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

SUNDERLAND
Last season: Premier League 17th FA Cup Third Round League Cup Third Round Top scorer (all comps) Jermain Defoe (18)

CAN THEY AVOID THE

with the FA about managing England – there’s Is that sustainable? It was his second-best
a sentence we never thought we’d say – but season tally in a long career, and he spent a lot
if he stays at Sunderland, Allardyce won’t be of time chasing long passes, which is a young

RELEGATION SCRA
content with treading water. The club should
encourage that and commit, persuading their
ger to forge a legacy as he did at Bolton.
t’s easier said than done. Since 2012,
rland’s points column has read 39, 38,
Every season Sunderland ask: can we e . In their latest late escape, the joys of
relegation this season? The question th brought just one defeat in their final
should instead ask is: can we escape mes (they’d lost 13 of 19 in the season’s
a relegation battle altogether? ct), but in total the Black Cats spent 237
With Premier League TV deals gaining n the drop zone. This just can’t go on.
another zero every year, survival has lon ch depends on Jermain Defoe (left),
been the club’s main goal – perhaps its e contract extension to summer 2019
only goal. When Sam Allardyce was s him just shy of his 37th birthday. The
appointed last autumn, he was their ative long-term deal thrown at him in
fourth ripcord manager in succession. nuary 2015 looked like desperate folly on
Allardyce, though, has loftier ambition nderland’s part, and indeed his volleyed
even if they’re no longer to manage Real erby winner was one of only four strikes
Madrid and “win the double every time”. n 19 starts, but in 2015-16 he justified
FFT goes to press, the 61-year-old is in ta the gamble with 15 league goals.
man’s game. He was isolated, and at 5ft 7in
struggles to hold up the ball. If Sunderland
persist with three defensive midfielders, the
men either side of Defoe must contribute more
goals – Wahbi Khazri (two in 13 league starts)
and Fabio Borini (five in 22), we’re looking at
you. Getting Jeremain Lens focused would help.
Also, only Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion
side averaged less possession, and only Albion
and Leicester misplaced passes more often.
That isn’t a problem – ask Leicester – but then
you must limit opponents’ opportunities, and
Sunderland didn’t do that (see Point 4, right).
Can Sunderland avoid a relegation scrap? Not
this year. Can they avoid relegation itself? Yes –
if Allardyce stays. But, with consecutive April
games bringing four of last season’s top seven
before their campaign ends at Stamford Bridge,
they can’t leave it to the last minute yet again.

Sunderland concede
more shots per game
than any other team
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Give the midfielders shooting boots 13 Man City (A)
Sunderland didn’t want for goals last season – 21 Middlesbrough (H)
48 was their joint-highest total since the turn 27 Southampton (A)
of the millennium – but the forwards lacked September

RECORD RECORD MOST

support. After Defoe’s 15 and Borini’s five, 12 Everton (H)
joint-top scorers were the departed Steven 18 Tottenham (A)

GOALS

HOME
Fletcher and the Dutch defender Patrick van 24 Crystal Palace (H)

AWAY
W3
W6 D6 D6
Aanholt, who really earned his new contract. October
Goals from midfield are virtually non-existent. JERMAIN DEFOE 1 West Brom (H)
From February, Allardyce’s favoured central trio 15 Stoke (A)
comprised of Lee Cattermole (just two goals
OT
L7
OT
L10
15 22 West Ham (A)

T
in seven seasons with the club), Yann M’Vila AL AL 29 Arsenal (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
(whose strike against Aston Villa was his first November
in four and a half years) and Jan Kirchhoff 5 Bournemouth (A)
(who has yet to score as a professional). 19 Hull (H)
26 Liverpool (A)
2 Allow the gaffer transfer freedom… December

GOALS SCORED 40 MOST

After two and a half years yielded almost 3 Leicester (H)
exclusively flops, the club’s Director of Football 10 Swansea (A)
experiment ended with Allardyce’s arrival. Like
any good manager, Sam excels at identifying INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
13 Chelsea (H)
17 Watford (H)
weaknesses and Sunderland benefited from 26 Man United (A)
his shrewd January signings of Lamine Kone
ADAM JOHNSON 31 Burnley (A)
and Kirchhoff, the latter for less than £1 million. GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 8
5 January
2 Liverpool (H)
3 …but don’t tolerate short-term fixes 14 Stoke (H)
With Allardyce holding the chequebook, Steve 10 21 West Brom (A)
Harper and Emmanuel Eboue both arrived
GOALS FROM 31 Tottenham (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

mid-season and left without playing, Eboue February
due to a FIFA suspension, while the loan deal
61 2 4 Crystal Palace (A)
for journeyman striker Dame N’Doye brought
WOODWORK 11 Southampton (H)
11 appearances and just one, deflected, goal.
15 25 Everton (A)
March
4 Protect the goalkeeper 4 Man City (H)
The Black Cats conceded more shots per
game, 15, than any other Premier League
DISCIPLINE 11 Middlesbrough (A)
18 Burnley (H)
team during 2015-16. It’s rare for teams to April
defy such odds for long. That number simply
has to drop, especially given the calibre of
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Watford (A)
4 Leicester (A)
goalkeeper available to the Wearsiders in MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Man United (H)
comparison to the division’s other teams. 15 West Ham (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

22 Arsenal (A)
5 Reward the travelling hordes
Sunderland’s supporters are a real asset:
they have the furthest to trek of any Premier
4 2 12 9 7 14 29 Bournemouth (H)
May
6 Hull (A)
League fans yet sold out 17 of their 19 trips 13 Swansea (H)
last season. A measly three away wins in 21 Chelsea (A)
each of the past two campaigns isn’t great
reward for that commitment. Give the fans
something to celebrate on the road – or at
least some beers for the long journey home. VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Michael Lough, A Love Supreme
FFT VERDICT: 17TH
Stablility may have n will be different to last because The player I’d happily drive to another club
hinges on Allardyc rdyce’s good work, the feeling around the is Jack Rodwell. We have a lot of deadwood but at least
own is the best it has been for years. they’re just rubbish – Rodwell commands high wages
e out for Jordan Pickford. o, and we’re yet to win a Premier

KEY PLA ny to be a future England

tribution is outstanding.
eague game that he has started.
The opposition player I secretly
LAMINE KONE mime villain is Diego admire is Yohan Cabaye – I should
The Paris-born Iv ght): his petulance makes hate him, being a former Newcastle
international was stly unpopular figure. player, but he’s very talented.
contract breakdo I’d make at our club This season we’ll finish 12th.
Lorient to call Sun ng reliant on loan signings Allardyce’s organisation combined with
conduct “scanda ittle chance of signing a few quality signings will, I hope, have
quick to impress – it just means we have to y e before the end of the season for once.
he’s become indi r replacement 12 months down the line. FFT asks: Was the club right to get rid of Wes
Big Sam is a big f way ground is Turf Moor, because we Brown, Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham and
Kone “a proper c ig allocation and it’s a relatively short Steve Harper? Would you have kept any of
who knows how t generate a great atmosphere down there. them on? Yes, they were, and no I wouldn’t.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 35

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
SWANSEA CITY
Last season: Premier League 12th FA Cup Third Round League Cup Third Round Top scorer (all comps) Andre Ayew (12)
CAN GUIDOLIN GET
GOOD RESULTS OVER
A FULL SEASON?
Following the strong conclusion to the
Swans’ fifth Premier League campaign,
all eyes are on Francesco Guidolin to
see if the 60-year-old can maintain
that impressive form in the longer term.
The Welsh side were one point above the
drop zone when Guidolin took charge of his
first match. But, starting with a 2-1 win at
Everton, he led them to seven wins in his 16
matches and a 12th-placed finish which, while
matching the Swans’ lowest final position to
date in the Premier League, was more than
respectable given where they were sat upon
his arrival. The Italian unfussily overcame the
departure of Jonjo Shelvey,
inclement local weather and
even a prolonged chest infection.
The former Udinese manager’s
shrewd tactics – a nominal 4-3-3,
often with either Andre Ayew or
Gylfi Sigurdsson playing as a false nine –
ensured a descent into the Championship
was averted and any misgivings over Garry
Monk’s removal were punctured. If beating
a depleted Liverpool side wasn’t enough
to convince sceptics, impressive away wins
against West Ham and Arsenal certainly did
the trick, while a first league victory over
Chelsea since 1981 was seen as further cause
to give Guidolin a longer ride in the saddle.
So, Guidolin stays – and things look bright for
Swansea. There might even be some cash to
The Swans have signed
QPR midfielder Leroy Fer
after his recent loan spell
splash following investment by American sports
executives Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan. Not
that Guidolin himself would get to spend it; he
has previously admitted – happily – that he
doesn’t make purchase decisions, due to City’s
recruitment policy. Huw Jenkins has the last
say on transfers, with the head coach able
only to request players via their characteristics,
rather than by offering names. Early arrivals
this summer include ex-Ajax defender Mike
van der Hoorn and QPR’s Leroy Fer, while more
importantly, star players Sigurdsson and Ayew,
as well as their inspirational captain, Ashley
Williams, all remain at the club (for now).
With the success of Williams’ wonderful
Welsh team boosting local confidence, and
the club boasting a wily tactician as well as
mooted incomings and stadium expansion,
it could, could, be the Swans’ year, if they
strengthen in attack. Either way, Guidolin,
a keen cyclist, looks likely to be dashing
through the Mumbles for a fair while longer.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Don’t get stuck playing catch-up 13 Burnley (A)
Swansea must find a way to score the first 20 Hull (H)
goal away from home – in that respect, they 27 Leicester (A)
had the division’s worst record outside of the September

RECORD RECORD MOST

three relegated teams. Holding onto a lead 10 Chelsea (H)
hasn’t been a problem – only once last season 17 Southampton (A)

GOALS

HOME
did they suffer defeat after opening the scoring 24 Man City (H)

AWAY
W4 D5
– so if they can just make the breakthrough D6 October
W8
a bit more often, they should win more points ANDRE AYEW 01 Liverpool (H)
(although the odd clean sheet on their travels 15 Arsenal (A)
wouldn’t go amiss; they kept just the one in
OT
L5
OT
L10
12 22 Watford (H)

T
2015-16). There are clearly no issues with team AL AL 29 Stoke (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
spirit, either, as the Welsh club scored the most November
equalisers in the Premier League last term. Tidy. 5 Man United (H)
19 Everton (A)
2 Keep the Euro 2016 feeling going 26 Crystal Palace (H)
Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lukasz Fabianski each December
had tournaments to remember, Iceland and
Poland reaching the quarter-finals, but Wales GOALS SCORED 35 MOST 3 Tottenham (A)
10 Sunderland (H)
were the story of the European Championship,
and in Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor the
Swans have two key components of Chris
INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
GYLFI SIGURDSSON,
13 West Brom (A)
17 Middlesbrough (A)
26 West Ham (H)
Coleman’s team (they’re also, as FFT goes to KYLE NAUGHTON 31 Bournemouth (H)
press, being predicted to recapture Joe Allen, GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 7
3 January
who was superb in France). The home crowd 2 Crystal Palace (A)
will be even louder and prouder than before. 14 Arsenal (H)
14 21 Liverpool (A)
3 Speculate to accumulate
GOALS FROM 31 Southampton (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

If the investors want to expand the Liberty, now February
is a good time, with Welsh football on a high.
55 1 4 Man City (A)
As the top flight’s second-smallest ground, it
WOODWORK 11 Leicester (H)
regularly packs out, and more bums on seats
would improve Swansea’s financial footing. 8 25 Chelsea (A)
March
4 Burnley (H)
4 Keep future swans a-swimming
As well as the seniors, Wales’ Under-17s have
DISCIPLINE 11 Hull (A)
18 Bournemouth (A)
impressed on the European stage – so much so, April
the English FA are reportedly casting envious
glances their way. Swansea provide a healthy
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Middlesbrough (H)
4 Tottenham (H)
number of that squad. This next generation MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 West Ham (A)
of stars, such as the very promising forward 15 Watford (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

Liam Cullen, will need careful nurturing. 22 Stoke (H)

5 Invest wisely
Andre Ayew was one of the signings of the
4 9 10 4 10 5 29 Man United (A)
May
6 Everton (H)
season, arriving on a free and hitting 12 league 13 Sunderland (A)
goals. Lille-bound Euro 2016 star Eder, less so, 21 West Brom (H)
with none in 15 appearances. Jenkins would
be wise to tap into Guidolin’s knowledge of
the Italian market and avoid signing another
Alberto Paloschi, who left after five months. VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Matthew Phillips, season ticket holder for 14 years
FFT VERDICT: 15TH
Guidolin needs attacking reinforcements if he This season will be different ur pantomime villain is
is to continue his good early work at the club. to last because we will carry ndy Carroll, although he loves the
on our promising end-of-season tick he gets from opposition fans.
form under Guidolin, I hope. ne change I’d make at our

KEY PLAYER Our most underrated player is

GYLFI SIGURDSSON
After a summer that
brought an unexpected
quarter-final for Iceland, the
free-kick specialist returns to
lead his club going forward.
His versatility is also useful:
he played in central midfield
of a 4-4-2 at Euro 2016 but
operates further forward,
even in attack, for Swansea.
Neil Taylor (right). He’s a very good
defender and rarely lets you down.
The best away ground is
Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
The opposition player
I secretly admire is Sergio Aguero.
He scores a lot of goals for Manchester City.
Keep an eye out for young defender Stephen
Kingsley. He did well towards the end of last season
and will be looking to get more minutes this term.
The player I’d happily drive to another club
is Bafetimbi Gomis, if he’s still around after pre-season.
club is – as always – to make
he Liberty Stadium bigger.
The best away fans are
Crystal Palace’s lot.
This season we’ll finish 13th,
o call. I’m hoping that we can’t
possibly be as bad as we were for most of last season.
FFT asks: Are you happy with Guidolin being
given the head coach job full-time? I am. Many
aren’t. But his record after he came in was impressive,
and when we were mathematically safe the football did
become more enjoyable to watch, so he deserves the
chance to show what he can offer across a full season.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 37

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Last season: Premier League 3rd FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup Third Round Europa League Last 16 Top scorer (all comps) Harry Kane (28)
HOW LONG WILL IT
They started slowly, but in the middle 30
matches Tottenham won 20 and lost three. It
ning form and, for the first time in
TAKE TO RECOVER
eague era, Spurs were contenders.
cio Pochettino working wonders,
eft) consistent in goal, Toby
FROM LAST TERM’S
bringing much-needed calm to
a midfield trio of Eric Dier, Mousa
nd Dele Alli in superb form and
LATE COLLAPSE?
e winning the Golden Boot, they
to have the lot. Tottenham did
ob than anyone else of chasing
cester – at least up to a point.
four games to play, the title was
y the Foxes’ to lose, but instead of
“You’d have taken that at the start of the g away, Spurs lost their heads.
season.” Every Spurs fan has heard this o trating, ill-tempered draws with
the summer. It’ll have been no consolatio Bromwich Albion and Chelsea
It says a lot about the north Londoners’ fi d title hopes and saw Alli and
performances between September and Apr mbele banned for, in turn, thumping
that their best-ever Premier League finish o udio Yacob in the gut and clawing
third was largely viewed as a disappointme Diego Costa’s face (the Belgian will
Tottenham still have one of the
Premier League’s most exciting
squads, and it will only improve
miss the first four games of 2016-17 as
a result). Tottenham struggled without them.
A home defeat to Southampton and a baffling
capitulation at already-relegated Newcastle
meant Spurs finished on a low and, once again,
below Arsenal. It left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Teams who end a season badly can start the
next one feeling sorry for themselves. Lifting the
gloom is vital – but Spurs should be optimistic.
Theirs is still one of the Premier League’s
youngest, most exciting squads, and it’ll only
improve. Victor Wanyama and forward Vincent
Janssen have been recruited to boost the ranks
where Spurs looked short on quality options in
the busier stages of last season. Plus there’s the
small matter of Champions League football,
albeit at Wembley, not White Hart Lane.
With Dembele suspended, Jan Vertonghen
injured and Harry Kane potentially lacking in
confidence after his wretched Euro 2016, Spurs
could start slowly again. If so, Pochettino need
only point to how they recovered last time out.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Rotation, rotation, rotation 13 Everton (A)
That late-season collapse was as much mental 20 Crystal Palace (H)
as it was physical, but tired legs were certainly 27 Liverpool (H)
showing when Spurs hit mid-April. Giving key September

RECORD RECORD MOST

players adequate rest is crucial, even if that 10 Stoke (A)
means chairman Daniel Levy has to loosen 18 Sunderland (H)

GOALS

HOME
the purse strings before the end of August. D7 24 Middlesbrough (A)

AWAY
D6
October
2 Finish off mid-table sides HARRY KANE 1 Man City (H)
Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and West Brom L3
15 West Brom (A)
W9
finished 8th, 10th, 11th and 14th respectively,
OT
W10
OT
L3
25 22 Bournemouth (A)

T
yet Tottenham drew all eight of their matches AL AL 29 Leicester (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19

MOST
against the quartet. While the Reds and west November
Londoners will insist they were ‘mid-table’ in 5 Arsenal (A)

ASSISTS
name only, a title-challenging team cannot 19 West Ham (H)
afford to drop so many points to sides so far 26 Chelsea (A)
behind them. Spurs could certainly have been December
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN
GOALS SCORED 61
a little more ruthless, particularly during the 3 Swansea (H)
autumn, when protecting a long unbeaten 11 Man United (A)
13
run appeared to be the team’s main priority.
INSIDE THE BOX 14 Hull (H)
17 Burnley (H)
3 Keep Alli close to Kane 26 Southampton (A)
Most Spurs fans watching England stodgily 31 Watford (A)
amble their way through Euro 2016 will have GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 8 January
noticed a difference between the way Harry 2 Chelsea (H)
Kane and Dele Alli linked up with the national 14 West Brom (H)
team and their near-telepathic understanding 19 21 Man City (A)
at club level. Alli played just behind Kane last
GOALS FROM 31 Sunderland (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

season, and from that position he assisted February
seven of the striker’s 25 league goals. He
72 0 4 Middlesbrough (H)
played much deeper for England, and Kane
WOODWORK 11 Liverpool (A)
was starved of decent service. Do the maths.
17 25 Stoke (H)
March
4 Don’t devalue the derby 4 Everton (H)
Lilywhites fans just about forgave Mauricio
Pochettino for playing a weakened team in last
DISCIPLINE 11 Crystal Palace (A)
18 Southampton (H)
September’s League Cup defeat to the Gunners, April
seeing as league form subsequently improved,
but his insistence that finishing above Arsenal
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Burnley (A)
4 Swansea (A)
wasn’t of great importance left many less than MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Watford (H)
impressed, especially given the way in which 15 Bournemouth (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

the season ended. Maybe don’t do that again. 22 Leicester (A)

5 Keep smiling at referees

Only Watford and Aston Villa picked up more
yellow cards than Spurs in the Premier League
last season, and only three sides made more
fouls than Pochettino’s scrappers – and yet
Spurs were one of only two teams not to be
shown a single red card. It’s even more baffling
when you consider their late-season hijinks.
FFT VERDICT: 5TH
Juggling White Hart Lane and Wembley duties
will be hard on a young – albeit talented – unit.
6 10 15 9 14 15 29 Arsenal (H)
May
6 West Ham (A)
13 Man United (H)
21 Hull (A)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Mike Wynn, attended his first game aged four
This season will be different to last because Our most underrated player is
the traditional top four has been Mousa Dembele. The midfield looks so
broken. Is it now a top eight? much more composed when he plays.
One change I’d make at our The player I’d happily drive to

KEY PLAYER club is to drop the infuriating

StubHub partnership. They have
another club is midfielder Tom Carroll.
He has been given so many high-profile
MOUSA DEMBELE been screwing football supporters chances to prove his worth, and yet he
A year ago his place in across the country for many years. always shows that he isn’t good enough.
the team was uncertain, Our pantomime villain is The best away ground grub is
but Dembele’s form in Arsene Wenger. Just quit already. the hot dogs at West Brom.
2015-16 simply made him Keep an eye out for Josh Save the date for Arsenal at home in April.
undroppable. Spurs lost just Onomah, a wily young English No.10. This season we’ll finish in the top six. Several
one league game with him The best away ground is Anfield. It is other new managers getting a full pre-season with
in the starting XI, and will rue still an absolutely beautiful football stadium. their clubs will make such a difference this year.
the early-season suspension The best away fans are Swansea’s. They Champions League football at Wembley
that he picked up during the are always passionate and always really noisy. (above): a good or bad idea? At least it’s in London
battle of Stamford Bridge. Tottenham fans should follow @Simply_Spurs. and not Milton Keynes, which looked the likely alternative.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 39

PREMIER LEAGUE
WATFORD
Last season: Premier League 13th FA Cup Semi-final League Cup Second Round Top scorer (all comps) Odion Ighalo (17)
POZZONOMICS:
DOOMED TO
Last season, Watford signe
players. They came from 10
leagues, and represented 1
left on loan; five more didn
League game. Presenting: P
While Watford are known f
with the Pozzo family’s other
and (until now) Granada, the
isn’t that tightly focused. A h
network allows their clubs to
from across the globe, hence
It isn’t popular. In 2012-13
borrowing of 12 Udinese and
2016-17
players inspired the Football League to restrict
loans – so Watford bought them instead. In late
2014, they signed Odion Ighalo for nothing by
terminating his loan and waiting a few hours
for Udinese to release him. Right-back Allan
ived in Hertfordshire from Italy after
on loan at Granada; he told FFT he
to Udine just once, for his medical.
n if it’s unpalatable, it’s not unethical.
b is cared for: Udinese reassure their
the process aids player development;
nada have been sold so new investors
take them further, Giampaolo Pozzo
ying: “Granada must become like
evilla and we can’t do it”; and Watford
ot only have an improved stadium
nd training ground but have no need
to sell. So, Ighalo doesn’t move on to
hina for £38 million, and Troy Deeney
hooses a new contract over Leicester.
There’s just one potential problem:
ning some football matches.
Signing Liverpool’s
Jerome Sinclair shows
Watford are reverting
i i
See, recruiting is about quality, not quantity.
The Pozzo model targets money-makers, but
not every obscure youngster is Alexis Sanchez
(bought by Udinese at 17). And changing tack
isn’t easy: last summer Watford made what
their scouting kingpin called “cautious choices”
to ensure top-flight safety, and ended up with
famous but faltering thirtysomethings from
Harry Redknapp’s Rolodex. This year they have
reverted to type, signing Liverpool teen Jerome
Sinclair, uncapped Belgian defender Christian
Kabasele and 20-year-old Isaac Success from
Granada – obviously – for a club record £12.5m.
Meanwhile, Walter Mazzarri is the owners’
seventh appointment in a four-year reign and
could be yesterday’s man: brilliant with Napoli,
he left a struggling Inter in 2014. He’s in a new
league, managing a thrown-together squad.
There’s the rub. Any system needs people to
operate it. For all their intricate club dynamics,
Watford could be undone by the simplest error
in football: not knowing your best team.
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Ease the burden on Ighalo and Deeney 13 Southampton (A)
This is vital. The pair started together in 35 of 20 Chelsea (H)
38 Premier League games, making cameos in 27 Arsenal (H)
others, and no other striker played more than September

RECORD RECORD MOST

five minutes all season. Watford scored the 10 West Ham (A)
fewest goals from distance of any team, and 17 Man United (H)

GOALS

HOME
were fourth-worst for possession and pass 24 Burnley (A)

AWAY
D3
completion, often pumping the ball long to W6 D6 W6 October
their front two and hoping for the best. To say ODION IGHALO 1 Bournemouth (H)
the team desperately rely on them to hit the 15 Middlesbrough (A)
net is an understatement: last term Deeney
OT
L7
OT
L10
15 22 Swansea (A)

T
contributed 20 goals and assists, Ighalo 18, and AL AL 29 Hull (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
no other player managed more than two. Two. November
5 Liverpool (A)
2 Don’t change too much at the back 21 Leicester (H)
The Hornets’ defence was relatively settled 28 Stoke (H)
under Quique Sanchez Flores, helping them to December

GOALS SCORED 37 MOST

concede fewer than anyone outside the top six 3 West Brom (A)
or the borders of West Bromwich. Only Spurs, 10 Everton (H)
Leicester and Liverpool put in more tackles;
only Leicester and Aston Villa averaged more INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
14 Man City (A)
17 Sunderland (A)
interceptions; only Manchester United and 26 Crystal Palace (H)
Crystal Palace made more fouls. Things fell
TROY DEENEY 31 Tottenham (H)
apart late on: before April they’d shipped three GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 3
7 January
in a game just the once, but in their final five 2 Stoke (A)
matches Watford let in 13 against weak sides. 14 Middlesbrough (H)
9 21 Bournemouth (A)
3 Use your squad
GOALS FROM 31 Arsenal (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

That slump suggested that while it’s important February
Mazzarri identifies his best XI early, judicious
76 3 4 Burnley (H)
rotation in winter and spring could revitalise
WOODWORK 11 Man United (A)
a tiring side. It’s not as if he lacks the options.
Several players complained Flores hadn’t given 8 25 West Ham (H)
March
them opportunities (despite 21 arriving, only 4 Southampton (H)
20 players started a league game, including
those already at the club), so Mazzarri must
DISCIPLINE 11 Chelsea (A)
18 Crystal Palace (A)
keep squad players happy and ready for action. April

4 Keep your discipline

WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Sunderland (H)
4 West Brom (H)
Watford were naughty boys last term, with MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Tottenham (A)
their 76 yellow cards more than any other 15 Swansea (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

Premier League side, one ahead of Aston Villa. 22 Hull (A)

5 Don’t be distracted by silverware

Mazzarri has the players to fight on several
fronts, but so did Flores and yet the collapse of
Watford’s league season (they won nine points
in their final 12 matches) coincided with them
reaching the FA Cup quarters, then semis. They
may not have enough points in the bag to get
away with that this year. Focus, boys, focus.
FFT VERDICT: 18TH
Alarmingly reliant on two players for goals, the
Hornets also need Mazzarri to settle quickly.
6 5 7 8 5 9 29 Liverpool (H)
May
6 Leicester (A)
13 Everton (A)
21 Man City (H)
VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Kieran Callanan,WFCforums.com
This season will be different to last because Our most underrated player is Troy Deeney, in that
as the first game of last season kicked off, we all thought he’s the most underrated player in the Premier League.
that we had what it took to survive comfortably, but this The best away ground is Everton’s Goodison Park.
year we actually know we can do it. It’s just a proper football ground.

KEY PLAYER The best away fans are Crystal

Palace’s (right) – they always create
ur pantomime villain is Diego
osta – but I love that about him.
TROY DEENEY good noise and a lot of colour. This season we’ll finish in
Watford’s strong position Hornets fans should follow similar position to last season,
meant they could turn down @WatfordTalk. probably, but with more young
£20m-plus for their captain, The opposition player I secretly layers involved so we can look
and his commitment meant admire is Callum Wilson. It seems forward to aiming for bigger things.
he was content to refuse the unfashionable for Watford fans to say FFT asks: Is the chopping
Premier League champions. anything positive about Bournemouth, and changing of managers
Deeney needs more support, but he’s annoyingly fantastic for them. to success? It is certainly
Ighalo aside, but he leads One change I’d make at our club is to move the unorthodox but it has worked so far. Each change has
from the front, powerful in the team coach from the top of Occupation Road at full-time. had its own set of reasons, and ruthlessness has meant
dressing room and in attack. It’s a nightmare to get out of the ground after the game. we have had a successful – if turbulent – few years.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 41

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Last season: Premier League 14th FA Cup Fifth Round League Cup Third Round Top scorer (all comps) Salomon Rondon (10)

HOW FAR CAN

two teams. Crystal Palace became good to suggests that it is the gilt-edged chances that
watch during Pulis’ eight months in charge. Pulis’ players are most guilty of spurning.
The man himself, of course, will always Injuries to creative stalwarts James Morrison

PRAGMATISM
refute implications that his Albion team are and Chris Brunt didn’t help, and neither did
boring. “That has been us for seven or eight the Saido Berahino saga. Top scorer Salomon
games,” said the 58-year-old after West Rondon, meanwhile, should be better for having

REALLY TAKE THEM?

If West Bromwich Albion just want to
survive in the Premier League, then Tony
Pulis is their man and a restricted approach
should be their plan. If they want to emulate
Stoke and climb the Premier League table by
adding a little more silk to their steel, then...
well, Tony Pulis could still be their man.
If neither thought fills the Baggies’ faithful
with joy, perhaps they should remember who
the Welshman managed in between those
Brom’s final-day 1-1 draw with Liverpool
in May. “We needed the second goal,
created the chances, and have not been
able to put them away. We have to have
that little bit more in the final third.”
As ever, statistics can prove or disprove
anything. On the one hand, West Brom
scored the league’s second-fewest goals from
open play last season, and had the lowest
number of shots – and the lowest number of
shots on target – per game, amongst many
other damning numbers. That suggested
they simply don’t create enough chances or
pull the trigger often enough. And the fact
that, conversely, only Arsenal averaged more
shots per game from inside the six-yard box
a season in the Premier League under his belt.
But the man who really holds the key to
West Bromwich Albion’s future is Jeremy Peace.
The chairman has previously seen changing
managers as the key to improvement, with
mixed results, but after shelving plans to sell
the club – for the time being – in the summer,
could we finally see him change tack? “The
chairman has said that he’s planning to bring
more players in and then try to kick on up the
league table,” said midfielder Morrison upon
signing a new contract. “I bought into his
vision and his plan. I want to be part of that.”
Until Peace puts his money where his mouth
is, though, 14th place and Tony Pulis is about
as sexy as it’s going to get at The Hawthorns.

Salomon Rondon cut a lone,

if willing, figure in attack
for the Baggies last season
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Throw out bath water, keep baby 13 Crystal Palace (A)
Yes, only Aston Villa scored fewer goals than 20 Everton (H)
the Baggies in the Premier League last season, 28 Middlesbrough (H)
but only the top six conceded fewer. Such September

RECORD RECORD MOST

solidity should be built on, not dismissed. 10 Bournemouth (A)
If Ben Foster can stay injury-free and Chris 17 West Ham (H)

GOALS

HOME
Brunt can return to full fitness at left-back, 24 Stoke (A)

AWAY
D5 W4
meaning Jonny Evans and/or James Chester W6 October
D8
can move back inside to their natural position, SALOMON RONDON 1 Sunderland (A)
the team could become even more miserly. L7 15 Tottenham (H)

OT
L8
OT
9 22 Liverpool (A)

T
2 Give the fans something to cheer AL AL 29 Man City (H)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
There was as much booing as there was November
boing-boinging at The Hawthorns last term 5 Leicester (A)
and Pulis’ claim that “the majority of fans are 19 Burnley (H)
absolutely delighted with what we’re doing” 26 Hull (A)
didn’t stop a petition being circulated at the December
end of the campaign – following nine games
without a win – that called for the manager’s GOALS SCORED 31 MOST 3 Watford (H)
10 Chelsea (A)
dismissal. Whether it’s significant investment,
the addition of a marquee signing or simply
a more adventurous tactical approach, the
INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
BRUNT, FLETCHER,
13 Swansea (H)
17 Man United (H)
26 Arsenal (A)
Baggies need their boisterous backing onside. GARDNER, MORRISON 31 Southampton (A)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 3
3 January
3 Don’t get caught up in a soap opera 2 Hull (H)
Had Albion realised what upheaval refusing 14 Tottenham (A)
Berahino a move to Spurs last summer would 10 21 Sunderland (H)
cause, they would probably have driven him to
GOALS FROM 31 Middlesbrough (A)

HIT THE SET PIECES

White Hart Lane themselves. Often used from February
the bench and managing only four league
65 3 4 Stoke (H)
goals – the same as defender Craig Dawson –
WOODWORK 11 West Ham (A)
the striker went about disproving the theory
that no player is bigger than the club, driving 12 25 Bournemouth (H)
March
everyone else to distraction. Not helpful. 4 Crystal Palace (H)

4 Get Rondon some help – and fast

DISCIPLINE 11 Everton (A)
18 Arsenal (H)
With Saido Berahino sulking and Rickie Lambert April
labouring in his few opportunities, Rondon cut
a lone, if willing, figure up top last season. The
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Man United (A)
4 Watford (A)
subsequent departures of Victor Anichebe and MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Southampton (H)
Stephane Sessegnon, both released, have left 16 Liverpool (H)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

the attacking cupboard even emptier. Matt 22 Man City (A)

Phillips will add pace and width but signing
another established frontman is essential. 5 4 9 7 3 6 29 Leicester (H)
May
6 Burnley (A)
5 Marry old and new 13 Chelsea (H)
Attacking midfielder Jonathan Leko is the pick 21 Swansea (A)
of West Brom’s youngsters, impressing against
Liverpool at the end of last season shortly after
his 17th birthday, in a game that also saw Sam
Field (18) and Tyler Roberts (17) make debuts. VIEW FROM THE STANDS
Alex Horton, saw 27 games last season despite exile in Somerset
FFT VERDICT: 14TH
Progress is dependent ason will be different to last because The opposition player
on and off the pitch. M will become the player he has looked like secretly admire is Romelu
ng us to a cup final and a mid-table finish. ukaku. What we’d do to have
the date for the FA Cup third round im up top with Rondon...

KEY PLAYE nuary, when the journey to Wembley

ences. This is the first time in my life there
The best away fans
are Leicester’s. Hats off to
CLAUDIO YACOB en a local derby in the league, after all. them for last season.
Evans, Dawson and ntomime villain is Ashley Young: Keep an eye out for
Darren Fletcher come Villa and partial to a bit of diving. Jonathan Leko, who signed his
but the Argentine wa t away ground is Bournemouth’s – first pro contract after impressing at the end of last term.
answer to N’Golo Kan he seaside, hopefully with some sun. This season we’ll finish by lifting the FA Cup
season, averaging th st underrated player is Jonny Evans. at Wembley (above) on May 27. We still believe!
seventh-most tackles less worker and a key part of the team. FFT asks: Tony Pulis gets results, but would
and fifth-most interc ange I’d make at our club is to move you prefer to see more attractive football?
displays in defensive fans at The Hawthorns from behind one of Yes. Last season was hard viewing for us Albion fans.
ensured the departe and create more of an atmosphere by giving We would love to see the attacking, attractive football
Mulumbu was barely supporters both stands behind the goals. that this club has been famed for in the past.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 43

PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17

WEST HAM UNITED

Last season: Premier League 7th FA Cup Sixth Round League Cup Third Round Top scorer (all comps) Dimitri Payet (12)

HOW WIL
ing to their If history is anything to go by, teams can
leyn’s final take a little while to get used to their new digs.
mospheres, Manchester City’s first season at the converted

SETTLE A
w stadium Commonwealth Games stadium ended with
ere close. a ninth-place finish and a win percentage
ld’s longest under 30. While that would be considered

NEW HO
y piece of far from disastrous for West Ham, the feeling
hey seek to around the club is one of upward mobility;
sphere will that the stadium move is an opportunity to
e inevitable be seized, not feared. It is up to the team to
e Boleyn’s communicate that feel-good factor to the fans.
,000, after In that respect, West Ham have an ace in
With last season’s e hard their deck. Slaven Bilic has already brought the
to Upton Park now Part-time fans and players together, and if his punditry
memory, it’s with e doubtedly persona is any judge, he’ll get things moving in
a little trepidation e off the the right direction through sheer force of will.
United enter a new y hardcore Bilic has a touch of Klopp about him, with
The first challenge eryear, and an underlying hint of threat that makes him
seats, was met with of a £99 a perfect man-manager. “I love you… for now.”
supporters snapped r children The ground move, sad though it is, represents
tickets, leaving a me ers trip a huge win for West Ham. It’s up to everyone,
fans and the prawn August. supporters included, to make it a success.

Teams take time to get used to

new digs, while new fans take
the edge off a hardcore following
 PREMIER LEAGUE 2015-16 FIXTURES
FIVE-POINT PLAN

THE NUMBER CRUNCHER

August
1 Hold on to Dimitri Payet 15 Chelsea (A)
It’s an obvious suggestion, and easier said 21 Bournemouth (H)
than done, but there’s a reason West Ham 28 Man City (A)
fans were simultaneously proud and annoyed September

RECORD RECORD MOST

every time Payet did something spectacular at 10 Watford (H)
Euro 2016. He’s integral to the Irons, evident in 17 West Brom (A)

GOALS

HOME
the run-up to last Christmas when he missed W9 W7 25 Southampton (H)

AWAY
a stretch of six games: their spark gone, West D7 October
Ham were involved in three consecutive 0-0s ANDY CARROLL, 1 Middlesbrough (H)
and also drew 1-1 with a dismal Aston Villa.
D7 DIMITRI PAYET 15 Crystal Palace (A)
L3
OT OT
L5
9 22 Sunderland (H)

T
2 Buy or Byram at right-back AL AL 29 Everton (A)
GAMES 19 GAMES 19
Michail Antonio’s appearances at right-back in November
the season’s later stages were a scandalous 5 Stoke (H)
waste of an attacking threat who had powered 19 Tottenham (A)
his way into the team and scored key goals. 26 Man United (A)
That the Hammers have brought in two more December

GOALS SCORED 55 MOST

right-wingers this summer – Gokhan Tore on 3 Arsenal (H)
loan and Sofiane Feghouli on a free – implies 10 Liverpool (A)
Antonio might not be moving back into his
best position any time soon, either. Bilic: either INSIDE THE BOX ASSISTS
13 Burnley (H)
17 Hull (H)
buy a right-back or trust in 22-year-old talent 26 Swansea (A)
Sam Byram, purchased from Leeds in January.
DIMITRI PAYET 31 Leicester (A)
GOALS SCORED OUTSIDE THE BOX 10
12 January
3 Sign a genuine goalscorer 2 Man United (H)
What a difference a few more goals would’ve 14 Crystal Palace (H)
made. West Ham drew so many games last 19 21 Middlesbrough (A)
term, it’s remarkable they were still pushing for
GOALS FROM 31 Man City (H)

HIT THE SET PIECES

European football at the end of it. A top-class February
striker is on the shopping list – though it might
58 5 4 Southampton (A)
be an idea, Davids Gold and Sullivan, to stop
WOODWORK 11 West Brom (H)
announcing how much you’re willing to spend.
16 25 Watford (A)
March
4 Capitalise on the cult of Slaven 4 Chelsea (H)
Bilic has always been popular, but right now
the feeling around him is even more positive,
DISCIPLINE 11 Bournemouth (A)
18 Leicester (H)
following West Ham’s excellent season and his April
passionate Euro 2016 punditry. His enthusiasm
helps in convincing new players to sign for him,
WHEN THEY SCORED 1 Hull (A)
4 Arsenal (A)
something West Ham should and will exploit. MINS 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90 8 Swansea (H)
15 Sunderland (A)
GOALS

H A L F -T I M E

5 Keep going until the very end 22 Everton (H)

People scoffed when West Ham began to chat
Champions League football as if they had the
right to consider it, but they were genuinely in
with a shout until the final few weeks. In the
end they had to settle for the Europa League.
However, feeling the freedom to dream was
liberating for the club and they embraced the
pressure – at least until things got serious and
they ran out of steam. Stick at it this time, lads.
FFT VERDICT: 9TH
With Bilic and a big budget they’ll challenge for
Europe again, but a slow start may cost them.
8 9 11 12 6 19 29 Stoke (A)
May
6 Tottenham (H)
13 Liverpool (H)
21 Burnley (A)
VIEW FROM THESTANDS
Callum Hurley, phaseofplay.net
This season will be different to last because The opposition player I secretly admire is
we have a new stadium to move into, European football Dele Alli. Why oh why must he play for Tottenham?
and, it would appear, heavy investment. he best away ground is the Emirates:
Our most underrated player is s a gorgeous pitch for football, and you

KEY PLAYER James Collins. He’s ageing like a fine wine

DIMITRI PAYET
The song may say
others just don’t
understand, but
there are few followers
of football who haven’t been
cooing over the Frenchman’s
beguiling style. His free-kicks are
becoming the stuff of legend and
his assist rate is excellent. Better
than Zidane? Not quite… yet.
and hasn’t lost an aerial duel since 1997.
The best away fans are Leicester’s,
for chanting “We are staying up” in April.
Keep an eye out for Sam Byram, who
had an injury-hit first six months with the
club but then showed glimpses of why he has
been touted as a future England right-back.
The player I’d happily drive to another
club is Enner Valencia, the only player who truly
underperformed for the club last season.
One change I’d make at our club is maybe to
change the ground name to the Dimitri Payet Stadium?
an always hear your fellow away fans.
West Ham fans should follow
our goalkeeper Adrian (@AdriSanMiguel).
He is just as loveable on Twitter (left)
as he is on the football pitch.
we’ll finish in the top six – at least, that
has to be the aim. We must develop a big-club mentality
and no longer be satisfied with making the top 10.
FFT asks: Just how popular is Slaven Bilic?
The fact that he’s a former Hammer is merely a bonus –
any club’s supporters would adore a manager who
prowls the touchline, takes calculated risks and is so
refreshingly frank in his post-match interviews.

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 45

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2016-17
THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Rafa’s Newcastle are favourites in a league where almost every team is eyeing promotion
N
eil Warnock has always called the
Championship a “muck and nettles”
division, but this season it promises
to feature a little more glamour.
Remarkably, there will be as many
Champions League-winning managers in the
second tier as there are in the Premier League,
with Rafa Benitez taking charge of Newcastle
and Roberto Di Matteo joining Aston Villa.
Of course, success in club football’s glitziest
arena doesn’t necessarily point to promotion
from a division that grinds even the hardiest
soul into the dust. However, there’s still
going to be plenty of attention focused on
the Championship throughout 2016-17.
Brighton missed out on
automatic promotion
by just two goals
48 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
Newcastle are the clearest title favourites in
years, and while Di Matteo’s Villa might think
that consolidation might be a more realistic
goal for them, Alex Neil’s Norwich side will
be among those who will expect to bounce
straight back into the top flight... again.
The teams that just missed out last season
aren’t going away, either. In Nigel Pearson
(right), Derby’s absurdly talented squad finally
has a manager with a proven record in the
division, while one of the burning questions is
whether the surprise promotion candidates of
2015-16, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton,
can again reach the play-offs – or better – now
they’re under more pressure and expectation.
Then there are the other clubs who think they
should be challenging for promotion – which is
about 95 per cent of them. Ipswich are clinging
to the dream of glory on a shoestring budget,
Birmingham’s Gary Rowett looks ready to
enhance his already impressive reputation,
David Wagner might shake off the tag of being
Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant if he does good
things at Huddersfield, and Nottingham Forest
have appointed a coach with a decent CV in
Philippe Montanier, who took Real Sociedad
into the Champions League only a few years
ago. QPR will feel quietly confident that Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink can take them back up, while
both Brentford and Wolves could potentially fly
Reading’s Jaap
Stam is one of
many managers
who could be
either brilliant
or calamitous
Delia’s feeling
confident, anyway
 1.WHO WILL BE PROMOTED? 3.WHERE
WILL EACH
TEAM END
UP, THEN?
2016-17PREDICTION
“Maybe I’m
the ostrich...” 8/13 7/2 11/1 1. Newcastle
2. Derby
NEWCASTLE UNITED DERBY COUNTY BIRMINGHAM CITY 3. Norwich
under the radar as they did in 2014-15. Even Unsurprisingly, the Magpies are Nigel Pearson could be the You can get some very tasty 4. Sheffield Wed
Slavisa Jokanovic at Fulham is openly targeting short odds to bounce straight man to take Derby’s talented odds on the Blues to go up. 5. Brighton
the top six, which is nothing if not ambitious. back into the top flight. Go big squad into the promised land With a good manager in Gary 6. Birmingham
A number of managers really could go either or go home with this one. – so 7/2 isn’t be to sniffed at. Rowett, they won’t be far away. 7. QPR
way. Lee Johnson at Bristol City, Paul Trollope at
2.WHO WILL BE RELEGATED?
8. Ipswich
Cardiff, Owen Coyle at Blackburn, Alan Stubbs at 9. Brentford
Rotherham and most intriguingly Jaap Stam at 10. Aston Villa
Reading – all could be brilliant or calamitous. So 11. Nott’m Forest
many new faces have arrived, Simon Grayson’s 12. Huddersfield
three years at Preston make him the division’s 13. Leeds
longest-serving manager after Mick McCarthy. 14. Preston
Speaking of new faces, the teams coming up 15. Barnsley
from League One all look strong. If Barnsley 16. Wolves
hold onto their nucleus of talented young 17. Bristol City
players they could do very well indeed; Wigan 18. Cardiff
won the title while buying a whole new squad; 1/1 5/2 7/4 19. Wigan
and Burton’s remarkable rise continues into 20. Fulham
the second tier after successive promotions.
BURTON ALBION BLACKBURN ROVERS ROTHERHAM UNITED
You’ll get evens on the Brewers Could Rovers be the latest big The Millers have finished 21st in 21. Reading
Oh, and Massimo Cellino is still the owner 22. Blackburn
to return quick-sharp to League name to sink into the third tier? each of their two Championship
of Leeds United. There’s always something 23. Burton Albion
One. Presumably Nigel Clough We reckon they could be – and seasons and face another
happening in the Championship, all right. 24. Rotherham
isn’t betting on it, though. so do the bookies, offering 5/2. struggle again this term.

#FFTPREVIEW
2016-17 FIXTURES
Get involved. Tweet us using the hashtag

Burton’s debut in the second tier takes them to their illustrious Nottingham neighbours
Burton Albion

Sheffield Wed
Nott’m Forest
Huddersfield
Birmingham

Rotherham
Bristol City
Aston Villa

Newcastle
Blackburn

Brentford
Barnsley

Brighton

Norwich

Reading
Preston
Ipswich
Fulham

Wolves
Cardiff

Wigan
Derby

Leeds

QPR

Aston Villa – 14/02 23/04 05/11 13/09 07/05 28/01 26/12 26/11 25/02 22/10 16/08 11/02 31/12 24/09 01/04 11/09 21/01 04/04 15/04 13/08 11/03 10/12 15/10
Barnsley 27/09 – 31/12 26/12 17/04 18/02 29/10 29/04 04/04 13/08 15/10 25/02 11/03 21/01 18/10 10/12 26/11 04/02 17/08 17/09 27/08 01/04 19/11 31/01
Birmingham 30/10 03/12 – 01/10 02/01 17/12 19/11 17/04 06/08 08/04 04/02 29/04 13/12 04/03 18/03 27/08 14/01 27/09 18/02 31/01 18/10 17/09 07/03 20/08
Blackburn 29/04 08/04 21/01 – 19/11 13/12 17/04 20/08 07/03 18/02 27/08 03/12 15/10 01/02 02/01 06/08 18/10 18/03 04/02 17/12 17/09 27/09 04/03 29/10
Brentford 31/01 22/10 26/11 07/05 – 04/02 01/04 10/12 26/12 14/04 05/11 11/03 13/08 04/04 14/01 31/12 16/08 17/09 22/04 27/09 25/02 27/08 01/10 18/02
Brighton 19/11 24/09 04/04 01/04 10/09 – 29/04 11/02 30/12 11/03 26/11 13/09 14/02 10/12 28/01 29/10 12/08 15/10 26/12 25/02 16/08 21/01 17/04 18/10
Bristol City 27/08 22/04 07/05 22/10 13/12 05/11 – 04/03 14/01 17/09 18/02 18/03 03/12 27/09 20/08 07/03 01/10 17/12 15/04 02/01 04/02 31/01 06/08 08/04
Burton Albion 08/04 05/11 22/10 24/02 18/03 17/09 13/08 – 01/10 26/08 31/01 13/12 14/04 22/04 17/12 18/02 11/03 02/01 27/09 07/05 03/12 16/08 14/01 04/02
Cardiff 02/01 17/12 11/03 17/08 08/04 03/12 15/10 21/01 – 27/09 25/02 19/11 18/03 17/09 29/04 04/02 17/04 31/01 14/08 27/08 18/02 18/10 29/10 13/12
Derby 20/08 04/03 26/12 24/09 18/10 06/08 11/02 28/01 14/02 – 04/04 17/04 13/09 15/10 10/09 26/11 10/12 07/03 01/04 21/01 19/11 29/10 31/12 29/04
Fulham 17/04 14/01 10/09 28/01 29/04 02/01 24/09 13/09 20/08 17/12 – 29/10 08/04 07/03 05/08 18/10 14/02 04/03 01/10 03/12 13/12 19/11 11/02 18/03
Huddersfield 07/03 20/08 05/11 31/12 06/08 31/01 10/12 01/04 07/05 22/10 22/04 – 21/01 04/02 04/03 04/04 26/12 14/04 17/09 18/02 27/09 15/10 26/11 27/08
Ipswich 17/09 06/08 01/04 14/01 04/03 27/09 30/12 18/10 10/12 31/01 26/12 01/10 – 18/02 17/04 21/08 19/11 27/08 26/11 04/02 29/10 29/04 04/04 07/03
Leeds 03/12 01/10 13/08 13/09 17/12 18/03 14/02 29/10 11/02 14/01 16/08 10/09 24/09 – 19/11 29/04 28/01 08/04 11/03 13/12 02/01 25/02 18/10 17/04
Newcastle 18/02 07/05 10/12 26/11 15/10 27/08 25/02 05/04 05/11 04/02 11/03 13/08 22/10 15/04 – 28/09 31/12 22/04 01/02 17/08 21/01 26/12 01/04 17/09
Norwich 13/12 18/03 28/01 11/03 03/12 22/04 16/08 24/09 10/09 02/01 14/04 17/12 25/02 05/11 14/02 – 11/02 22/10 07/05 08/04 15/10 13/08 13/09 21/01
Nott’m Forest 04/02 02/01 14/10 14/04 07/03 04/03 21/01 06/08 22/10 18/03 27/09 08/04 07/05 27/08 03/12 17/09 – 13/12 05/11 22/04 31/01 18/02 20/08 17/12
Preston 01/10 10/09 14/02 10/12 11/02 14/01 04/04 26/11 13/09 16/08 13/08 18/10 28/01 26/12 29/10 17/04 01/04 – 25/02 11/03 29/04 31/12 23/09 19/11
QPR 17/12 07/03 24/09 10/09 29/10 08/04 18/10 14/02 04/03 13/12 21/01 11/02 02/01 07/08 13/09 19/11 29/04 20/08 – 15/10 18/03 17/04 28/01 03/12
Reading 18/10 11/02 13/09 04/04 14/02 20/08 26/11 19/11 28/01 01/10 30/12 24/09 09/09 01/04 07/03 26/12 29/10 06/08 14/01 – 17/04 10/12 29/04 04/03
Rotherham 04/03 28/01 14/04 11/02 20/08 07/03 10/09 31/12 24/09 07/05 01/04 14/02 22/04 26/11 01/10 14/01 13/09 05/11 10/12 22/10 – 04/04 26/12 06/08
Sheffield Wed 07/08 13/12 11/02 14/02 28/01 01/10 13/09 07/03 14/04 22/04 07/05 14/01 05/11 20/08 08/04 04/03 24/09 03/12 22/10 17/03 17/12 – 10/09 02/01
Wigan 18/03 15/04 16/08 13/08 21/01 22/10 11/03 15/10 22/04 03/12 17/09 02/01 17/12 07/05 13/12 31/01 25/02 18/02 27/08 05/11 08/04 04/02 – 27/09
Wolves 14/01 13/09 25/02 22/04 24/09 14/04 26/12 10/09 01/04 05/11 10/12 28/01 16/08 22/10 11/02 01/10 04/04 07/05 31/12 13/08 11/03 26/11 14/02 –

Above figures represent day/month – all are subject to change FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 49
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
ASTON VILLA
Last season Premier League 20th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Fourth Round Top scorer Jordan Ayew (7)
It’s time to leap into the unknown. Aston
Villa haven’t competed in the second
tier of English football since 1988, but
they are there now as a result of several
years of underinvestment and neglect,
relegated as a shell of a once-great club.
A complete rebuild is required, with
the squad that came crashing down
from the Premier League full of players
too expensive for the Championship, and
in many cases not cut out for it, either.
Villa are comfortably the least likely
of the three relegated teams to bounce
straight back. As well as a sub-standard
squad, they have a new manager with
an uncertain track record (despite that
somewhat fortuitous Champions League
win on his CV) and a new owner, Chinese
businessman Tony Xia, who talks a good
game – he says he wants Aston Villa
to be spoken of in the same breath as
Barcelona and Real Madrid within five
years – but still remains something of
an unknown quantity.
Never mind Barça and Real Madrid: they
have to deal with Burton and Rotherham
first. Promotion is the dream, but simple
stability might be more realistic for now.
FFT VERDICT: 10TH
FAN FILE
RYAN WALMSLEY
This season will be different to last
because we’ll win more than three
league games. I mean, it can’t get
any worse than last year, can it?
Save the date for Birmingham City
away on October 30. Nothing beats
a local derby. Nothing.
The best away ground grub is Wigan’s.
In a way I’m glad we went down...
Keep an eye out for Andre Green,
a tricky winger full of pace and flair.
50 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
ROBERTO DI MATTEO
After leaving Chelsea, Di Matteo (above,
with Xia) managed Schalke for eight
months but resigned following a slump
late in the season. He has Championship
experience, though, winning promotion
with West Bromwich Albion in 2010, and
made a shrewd first signing with Villa in
Bournemouth defender Tommy Elphick.
DID YOU KNOW?
Di Matteo almost became a butcher.
“I lasted three weeks, then dropped out,”
he once told FFT. “I couldn’t handle
doing it for the rest of my life.”
KEY PLAYER
RUDY GESTEDE
Bought for £6m from
Blackburn last July, the
Benin battering ram
may not have lived up
to expectations in the
Premier League but he
scored 20 times when
last at this level, and his
experience could be vital.
Villa fans should follow Joe Lolley
(@Lolleyj10): an Aston Villa fan first,
Huddersfield Town player second.
This season we’ll finish somewhere in
the top six, hopefully. It’s so hard to
gauge. The first six games are pivotal;
I just hope we aren’t still mentally
broken from last season.
FFT asks: Are you happy with Roberto
Di Matteo being brought in as the
club’s new manager? It’s as good
an appointment as we could have
realistically hoped for. Steve Clarke
as assistant is hugely important.
villatalk.com
BARNSLEY
Last season League One 6th (Play-off winners) FA Cup First Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Sam Winnall (24)
At the end of November, Barnsley were
bottom of League One and in some strife,
seemingly heading out of the division in
a different direction to the one they had
in mind. Their position didn’t reflect their
performances, however, and following
a remarkable turnaround under first Lee
Johnson and then Paul Heckingbottom,
the Tykes edged into a play-off place in
the season’s final weeks. Having won the
Johnstone’s Paint Trophy two months
earlier, they returned to Wembley and
beat Millwall to seal promotion (above).
With a talented group of young players
Barnsley can re-establish themselves in
the second tier. Composed playmaker
Conor Hourihane should cope well with
the step up, Alfie Mawson is a fine
defender and Sam Winnall scored 24
goals last season. A mild concern is the
loss of loanees Ashley Fletcher and Lloyd
Isgrove, both pivotal in the run-in, but the
team has confidence and momentum.
New faces include former West Ham
prodigies George Moncur (son of John)
and Elliot Lee (son of Rob), but perhaps
most intriguing is Stefan Payne, poached
from non-league Dover after goals galore.
FFT VERDICT: 15TH
FAN FILE
LEWIS PERRY
This season will be different to last
because it’d be pretty much
impossible to have another
season like that one.
Barnsley fans should follow
@WestStandBogs. They
always have something
funny to say about Barnsley and
they do a lot of charity work, too.
Keep an eye out for James Bree –
he could be the next John Stones.
THE BOSS
PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM
A youth-team coach at Oakwell before
stepping up when Johnson departed for
Bristol City, Heckingbottom – who is also
a Barnsley fan and former player – took
over as caretaker from February and got
the job full-time after continuing the
team’s rise all the way to promotion.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tykes chairman Maurice Watkins was
formerly on the board at Old Trafford
and, as a qualified solicitor, represented
Eric Cantona following the Frenchman’s
infamous ‘kung-fu kick’ in January 1995.
KEY PLAYER
CONOR HOURIHANE
The Irish central midfielder
adapted to a new, deeper
role last season with some
style: a third of the Tykes’
goals were either scored
or set up by him. The
25-year-old plays with
the kind of assurance
this young side needs.
Our most underrated player is Adam
Davies. He’s improved a lot since he
joined, but doesn’t get many mentions.
One change I’d make at our club is
the scoreboard (left).
This season we’ll
finish as survivors, but
I’m not sure we’ll do
much more than that.
FFT asks: Can Paul
Heckingbottom carry
on his great work?
I’m sure he’s more than capable, yes.
He has two Wembley wins already...
Season ticket holder for 11 years
 BIRMINGHAM CITY
Last season Championship 10th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Clayton Donaldson (11)
After years of uncertainty, struggle and
a seemingly never-ending saga over the
club’s ownership, signs of stability are
beginning to show at Birmingham City.
Talk of a £10 million transfer budget
from their prospective new custodians
must feel rather strange: in the past few
years the Blues have had to replenish
their squad predominantly with loanees
and free transfers (in January, Diego
Fabbrini became the club’s first
seven-figure signing in five years).
It’s remarkable that Gary Rowett has
kept the ship afloat, never mind sailing
towards an unlikely play-off place at
various points last season. Now that they
can buy a few players, starting with the
formerly on-loan defender Ryan Shotton,
they may set their sights even higher.
Under Rowett, City work as a unit, are
strong on the counter – even after losing
the lightning-quick Demarai Gray to
Leicester at the turn of the year – and
represent the classic example of a side
that is more than the sum of its parts.
With shrewd recruitment, Birmingham
will be confident of playing a big part in
the promotion picture come May.
FFT VERDICT: 6TH
FAN FILE
NICK GLYNN
This season will be different to last
because there’s a glimpse of optimism
with the promise of a cash injection.
Our most underrated player is Clayton
Donaldson. The guy gives his all, wins
us games and smiles as he does it, and
I still hear people moaning about him.
The best away fans are probably
Leeds United’s. They travel; they sing;
they support their team through thick
and thin. Respect to them.
THE BOSS
GARY ROWETT
It’s a surprise Rowett isn’t more widely
coveted following excellent work with
Burton and now Birmingham. The Blues’
immediate future looks bright with
their former defender at the helm.
DID YOU KNOW?
Birmingham club captain Paul Robinson
(above) played over 200 games in the
Premier League and scored the same
number of goals (one) as the former
Tottenham, Leeds and Blackburn man
of the same name, despite the notable
advantage of not being a goalkeeper.
KEY PLAYER
DIEGO FABBRINI
With on-loan player of
the year Jon Toral
having returned
to Arsenal, much
of the playmaking
responsibility will fall on
Fabbrini, who should fill
the No.10 role and be
the Blues’ creative hub.
Keep an eye out for young Viv
Solomon-Otabor. But keep that to
yourselves – we want to keep him!
Birmingham fans should follow
@DavoBirmingham, without a doubt.
His films are the best.
This season we’ll finish top of the
league – because it’s hope and not
expectation that keeps me going!
FFT asks: How much are you looking
forward to the trip to Villa Park? I’m
looking forward to going there and
coming away with three precious
points and the bragging rights.
Match-going supporter for 40 years
BLACKBURN ROVERS
Last season Championship 15th FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Jordan Rhodes (11)
Having lost Tom Cairney to Fulham, Josh
King to Bournemouth, Rudy Gestede to
Aston Villa and finally the free-scoring
Jordan Rhodes to Middlesbrough last
season, it came as no real surprise Rovers
didn’t set the Championship alight.
Things don’t look much brighter now,
particularly after Paul Lambert also said
goodbye to Ewood Park. Owen Coyle was
announced as the club’s new manager
to general dismay, which might turn out
to be unfair but is not without cause.
Coyle left his last job with Houston
Dynamo, ostensibly to be nearer his
family in England, with the club bottom
of the MLS Western Conference having
won only three of their first 12 games.
Coyle had a busy first few weeks,
snapping up winger Liam Feeney and
forwards Anthony Stokes and Danny
Graham (top) – all on free transfers –
while arranging loans for Manchester
City midfielder Jack Byrne and West
Ham full-back Stephen Hendrie.
Even with a refreshed squad, however,
it’s difficult to see Blackburn improving
on last term’s 15th place. In fact, things
could get worse before they get better...
FFT VERDICT: 22ND
FAN FILE
ANDREW BARCLAY
This season will be different to last
because we have a new manager,
a new squad... and the same
mess behind the scenes.
Our must underrated player
is Shane Duffy (right), though
a strong Euro 2016 showing
may have opened a few eyes.
Blackburn fans should follow
@DavidDunny8: a club legend and
not afraid to speak his mind.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 51
THE BOSS
OWEN COYLE
Coyle had been heavily linked with the
Blackpool job, so his jump to Rovers from
a basket case of a club preparing for
League Two wasn’t warmly received by
the Ewood Park faithful. Perhaps he’ll be
a success, although the former Bolton
and Burnley boss was last seen in the
Championship – and in Lancashire –
setting Wigan on the road to relegation.
DID YOU KNOW?
Coyle is the first manager in history to
have taken charge of both Burnley and
Blackburn. There may well be a reason.
KEY PLAYER
GRANT HANLEY
Amidst all the squad
upheaval of recent
years, Blackburn have
at least kept a solid
figure at the heart of their
defence. The Scot – their
player of the year last term
– has played 200 games for
the club and is still only 24.
Keep an eye out for Darragh Lenihan.
One change I’d make at our club is
to get rid of the awful music to
celebrate goals. We’re not Bolton!
This season we’ll finish top half if I’m
being optimistic. It’s anyone’s guess.
FFT asks: Is Owen
Coyle a good choice
as manager?
I doubt it. His record
isn’t the best. But his
signings look decent,
and it’s only fair that he gets a proper
chance. A good start is essential.
Attended 40-plus matches last season
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
BRENTFORD
Last season Championship 9th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Alan Judge, Lasse Vibe (14)
This time last year, everyone was
scratching their head and trying to
figure out exactly what foolproof
number-crunching scheme Brentford
had in mind that would justify a split
with Mark Warburton, the manager who
had led them to a shock play-off place.
On the surface it would appear that
it didn’t quite go to plan: Brentford
finished ninth without ever really
threatening the top six, and the man
who replaced Warburton, Marinus
Dijkhuizen, left after only nine games.
However, this was simply a reversion
to the mean. Not only did Warburton
depart but so did star man Andre Gray,
to Burnley, so the chances of a play-off
place were slim. Indeed, finishing as
high as they did was pretty impressive
considering they had another two
managers after Dijkhuizen, in Lee
Carsley and current boss Dean Smith.
Results have been patchy under Smith
so far, but the nucleus of a decent squad
is in place at Griffin Park, bolstered by
the summer arrival of goalkeeper Daniel
Bentley, defender John Egan and St Kitts
and Nevis midfielder Romaine Sawyers.
FFT VERDICT: 9TH
FAN FILE
CHRIS HORRICKS
This season will be
different to last
because we’ll have the
same manager for the
whole season, I hope.
The opposition player
I secretly admire is Stuart Dallas.
I wish he was still a Bee.
Brentford fans should follow the
legendary Mads Tarrant (@MadsBFC),
going beyond the call of duty for fans.
52 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
DEAN SMITH
The former Walsall boss arrived midway
through the season and maintained the
Londoners’ league position while dealing
with player sales and injuries, but his
tactics came into question on occasion.
The Bees’ board have already proved
that they will act if they believe it is
necessary, so a good start is required.
DID YOU KNOW?
Scott Hogan will be hoping to emulate
Jamie Vardy by rising from Park Steels
to the Premier League: both strikers have
turned out for Stocksbridge and Halifax.
KEY PLAYER
ALAN JUDGE
Judge starred with 14
goals and 11 assists
last season, but he
broke his leg in April
before being reprimanded
by the FA for accidentally
breaching their doping
regulations through the
use of an asthma inhaler.
Our must underrated player is Sam
Saunders (top). He’s a fan favourite –
though there are some who doubt he
can cut it at this level in his thirties.
This season we’ll finish at
Wembley and finally win
promotion via the play-offs.
ell, if you can’t be feeling
ptimistic in pre-season,
when can you be?
asks: Are you excited about the
20,000-seater stadium being built
(above)? Very excited – Lionel Road
is vital to the club’s development.
Match-going supporter since 1997
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
Last season Championship 3rd FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Tomer Hemed (17)
Brighton were the unexpected success
story of the Championship last season.
They racked up 89 points, missing out on
automatic promotion thanks only to goal
difference (a mere two goals, at that),
then looked so exhausted going into the
play-offs that they barely stood a chance.
While most teams in this year’s tussle
at the top will be large, powerful and
rich, the Seagulls have a good enough
squad to join the fray. Beram Kayal is an
underrated midfielder, Connor Goldson
a real find in defence, and Jiri Skalak and
Anthony Knockaert are threatening on
the flanks either side of Tomer Hemed.
Becoming free-scoring goal merchants
halfway through last term could provide
some optimism: by mid-February they
hadn’t won a single match by more than
one goal, but in the following 16 games
they did it six times. Intriguingly, striker
Glenn Murray has returned (on loan from
Bournemouth), having left Brighton in
2011 for their arch-rivals Crystal Palace.
Everything about Brighton suggests
a model modern club, from their sound
recruitment to state-of-the-art facilities.
Premier League status would round it off.
FFT VERDICT: 5TH
FAN FILE
ALAN BROWNINGS
This season will be different to last
because we’re coming into the new
campaign from a much better position.
Save the date for Newcastle away,
on August 27, and there’s also an
opportunity to sample some decent
beer in Burton on September 17.
Look out for Vahid Hambo, a Finnish
under-21 international who has been
among the goals and will be pushing
for the first-team squad this year.
THE BOSS
CHRIS HUGHTON
The definition of the solid managerial
citizen, Hughton (above, left) brought
stability to a club who had struggled to
keep hold of managers over the previous
few seasons. He has a reputation as the
nice guy of football, but there is a quiet
steel to Hughton that his players say
makes them listen when he speaks up.
DID YOU KNOW?
Israeli midfielder Beram Kayal is such
a big fan of Andrea Pirlo that he named
his son after the former Juventus and
Milan star. He’s ca
KEY PLAYE
ANTHONY
KNOCKAERT
The former Leice
flanker arrived fr
Standard Liege in
and quickly prove
one of the divisio
dangerous playe
does well, then B
probably will, too
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Danny Holla. Sadly
it hasn’t worked out for him.
The best away fans are Leeds’ –
reluctantly – for numbers and noise,
but we’ve a good rapport with Fulham.
This season we’ll finish pushing for
promotion again. The Championship
does get harder each year, though.
FFT asks: Is Steve Sidwell a good
signing? He provides competition
in a key position. The two play-off
games against Sheffield Wednesday
demonstrated the impact he can make.
Match-going supporter since 1984
 BRISTOL CITY
Last season Championship 18th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Jonathan Kodjia (20)
After an inspired 2014-15 League One
campaign, hopes were high for the
Robins last term. Alas, a series of
damaging defeats in the early weeks
under Steve Cotterill saw them firmly
ensconced in the bottom three by the
time the manager reluctantly left.
In some respects it was tough not to
feel sorry for Cotterill, who had done
such an excellent job the previous year,
but assorted problems, notably with
recruitment – they tried and failed to
bring in Dwight Gayle, Andre Gray and
Zach Clough – hampered him, and the
revival under caretaker John Pemberton
and then Lee Johnson implied that a lack
of talent was not necessarily the issue.
Smart signings such as Lee Tomlin
(who spent five successful months on
loan last term) and Gary O’Neil suggests
their squad will be significantly beefed
up in time for the new season, so their
ambitions should be loftier than survival.
Assuming they keep hold of players
such as Aden Flint, Marlon Pack and
striker Jonathan Kodjia, they might just
have enough to make an impression
a little higher up the league table.
FFT VERDICT: 17TH
FAN FILE
RYAN CASEY
This season will be different to last
because four sides of the ground will
be open, with a capacity of 27,000.
We’ve had our season to consolidate
in this league. Now it’s time to kick on.
Our most underrated player is Korey
Smith (above, left). He does a lot of
unnoticed work in midfield.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Ross McCormack of Fulham.
He was good in both games against us.
THE BOSS
LEE JOHNSON
The top job at Ashton Gate suddenly
resembles a family heirloom. Johnson,
who played for the Robins for six years,
followed father Gary in taking charge of
City in February and oversaw his second
revival of the season, having started
Barnsley’s surge in League One. The
35-year-old is a gaffer of great promise.
DID YOU KNOW?
Following recent development work to
the tune of £45 million, City’s Ashton
Gate home now boasts a capacity of
27,000, two-thirds larger than last term.
KEY PLAYER
JONATHAN KODJIA
The 26-year-old arrive
last July after moving
around the French
lower leagues, and
became a Robins hero
by bagging 20 goals.
If he can add more
consistency, he’ll be
an even greater force.
One change I’d make at our club is
to be better on the commercial side of
things. For example, the shop is too
small, with a limited range of products.
Bristol City fans should follow
@Scotty_Murray, our kitman and club
legend. He’s always on form!
This season we’ll finish comfortably
in mid-table. That would be great after
last season’s relegation struggle.
FFT asks: What do you make of the
signing of Gary O’Neil? He’s a great
signing on a free. He’ll bring vital
experience on and off the pitch.
Season ticket holder since 1996
BURTON ALBION
Last season League One 2nd FA Cup First Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Lucas Akins (12)
In December 2014, Burton Albion
claimed a 1-1 draw at St James Park.
This season they’ll visit a ground of that
name again in a league fixture, only this
time it will be in Newcastle rather than
Exeter. Such is the Brewers’ extraordinary
rise, back-to-back promotions taking
them into the second tier of English
football for the first time in their history.
It’s even more remarkable given that
both promotions were achieved despite
losing their manager halfway through
the season. In 2014-15 Gary Rowett
left for Birmingham but Jimmy Floyd
Hasselbaink took them up from League
Two, then when he was tempted away
by QPR a year later, Nigel Clough (above)
returned to guide them up again. This
club can seemingly survive blows that’d
sink others; chairman Ben Robinson
either has great judgement when it
comes to managers or he has created
a club that almost doesn’t require one.
On the signings front, centre-back Ben
Turner is an excellent acquisition if he
can rediscover his pre-injury Cardiff form.
Few expect Burton to survive, but then
few expected them to even be here...
FFT VERDICT: 23RD
FAN FILE
IAN HAWKINS
This season will be
different to last because
Burton Albion are in the
Championship for the first
time in their history!
Save the date for Derby
at home on August Bank Holiday
weekend. It’s our first time playing the
neighbours in a competitive game.
Burton fans should follow ex-player
Aaron Webster (@GWebbz33).
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 53
THE BOSS
NIGEL CLOUGH
It seemed fitting that the man who was
the first high-profile boss to ‘graduate’
from Burton, leaving for Derby in 2009
when the Brewers were still non-league,
should be the one to take them into the
Championship. Clough came back last
December, and capitalised on their fine
start to the season to secure promotion.
DID YOU KNOW?
Albion’s top scorer last term, Lucas
Akins, ditched a career as a dancer in
favour of football, having taken ballet,
jazz and tap classes since he was four.
KEY PLAYER
JOHN MOUSINH
Burton had the be
in League One last
and a big reason fo
was the displays o
captain in defence
has had to strengt
backline this summ
Mousinho’s nous w
even more vital.
Our most underrated player is
Damien McCrory, a solid, dependable
left-back who deserves more credit.
This season we’ll finish 21st. Anything
outside the bottom three
his season would be
a fantastic achievement.
FT asks: Would staying
n the Championship
e even more of an
achievement than back-to-back
promotions? Survival would top
anything from the past two seasons.
We relish upsetting the odds.
Watched every game last season
SKY BET CHAMPIO SHIP
CARDIFF CITY
Last season Championship 8th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Anthony Pilkington (9)
It has, as ever, been a strange summer
in the Welsh capital. After missing out on
a play-off spot, manager Russell Slade
moved upstairs to a head of football role,
before resigning in order to join Charlton.
Paul Trollope has taken over, and while
he has been a coach with the Bluebirds
for 18 months he hasn’t managed a side
since 2010, when he left Bristol Rovers.
One also wonders about the impact of
his dual role with Wales. The 44-year-old
Trollope has been part of Chris Coleman’s
backroom staff for the past year, and
the team’s historic – and unexpectedly
lengthy – Euro 2016 adventure has
reduced the time spent on preparations
for Cardiff’s campaign. He has appointed
Lennie Lawrence, who led Cardiff into
the second tier in 2003, as his assistant.
With goals in short supply, City have
signed striker Frederic Gounongbe from
Westerlo in Belgium and made the loan
deal for Lex Immers (above) permanent.
Meanwhile, the figure of fun that is Etien
Velikonja has finally left the club after
four years and 165 first-team minutes.
Expect yet another season of transition
in this part of South Wales.
FFT VERDICT: 18TH
FAN FILE
GARETH PRICE
This season will be different
to last because we now have
a settled, pruned-down squad.
Our most underrated
player is Stuart O’Keefe.
The best away ground grub is
a Carrow Road pie, after a pre-match
pint and Alan Partridge-inspired ‘Lady
Boy’ chaser at The Murderers pub.
Save the date for the Severnside Derby
against Bristol City on October 15.
54 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
17
THE BOSS
PAUL TROLLOPE
It’s tricky to assess Trollope’s managerial
abilities, as he hasn’t actually done any
managing for almost six years. Cardiff
will hope he can overcome that lack of
recent dugout experience by bringing
back a huge dollop of inspiration from
Wales’ European Championship.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bluebirds right-back Lee Peltier has the
unusual distinction of having played in
more Champions League matches than
Premier League games. He featured for
Liverpool against Galatasaray aged 19.
KEY PLAYER
DAVID MARSHALL
Goals didn’t exactly fly
in for Cardiff last season,
making Marshall all the
more important. The
Scotland international
has a strong claim to be
the best goalkeeper in the
division, and he will need
to be at his best once again.
The opposition players I secretly
admire are George Thorne, Ross
McCormack and Chris Gunter (left).
This season we’ll finish in the play-offs
if we can find a pair
of decent full-backs
and a goalscorer.
FFT asks: How do you
view Paul Trollope’s
appointment? It adds
much-needed stability and him joining
the coaching staff last year brought an
upturn in fortunes. I’d be happier if the
club insisted he give up his Wales role.
Match-going supporter for over 50 years
DERBY COUNTY
Last season Championship 5th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Chris Martin (15)
In the last few seasons Derby have been
part-football team, part-experiment,
exploring how many ways a club can
make a mess of a promotion chase.
The 2013-14 season saw them
mugged by QPR in the play-off final,
2014-15 brought the most spectacular
late-season collapse in recent history,
and 2015-16 was a long letdown of
a campaign that ended in the play-offs.
The sheer quality of the Rams’ squad
suggests that one of these days they’ll
get it right. With Nigel Pearson in charge,
and Chris Powell as his assistant, they
will once again be among the favourites.
Last term they splashed out on new
talent, spending a cool £25 million in
transfer fees, but their key men were still
the ones who were there before: Richard
Keogh, Will Hughes and Chris Martin.
There’s no doubt this is a collection of
players capable of winning not just
promotion but the league, and with the
Championship’s strongest managerial
team now in place (assuming chairman
Mel Morris doesn’t panic as he did by
sacking Paul Clement in early February),
they’ll surely go up this time. Surely.
FFT VERDICT: 2ND
FAN FILE
ANDY HUTCHINSON
This season will be different to last
because we have a no-nonsense
manager at the helm and last
season’s signings have bedded in.
Our most underrated player is Jason
Shackell. Not many fans give him the
credit he deserves for shoring up the
defence and revitalising Richard Keogh.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Alan Judge from Brentford.
He’s a quality player at this level.
THE BOSS
NIGEL PEARSON
As he watched a Leicester team built on
his foundations win the Premier League,
you wondered why Pearson (above)
hadn’t been snapped up. With Chris
Powell assisting and arguably the
strongest squad in the division at his
disposal, Pearson could be the man to
lead the East Midlanders into the top tier.
DID YOU KNOW?
Rams midfielder Bradley Johnson has
undertaken a course in bricklaying,
plastering and plumbing to help his
father’s business in north London.
KEY PLAYER
TOM INCE
Jason Shackell is
a defensive rock and
Will Hughes can run
games on his own, but
Ince shows flashes of being
the most gifted attacker in the
league. If he can do that more
often, Derby may avoid falling
at the final hurdle this season.
The best away fans are Sheffield
Wednesday’s, easily.
Save the date for Burton vs Derby on
August 27: our first league meeting,
against Nigel Clough. It’ll be good!
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Nick Blackman – one
of the worst signings we’ve ever made.
This season we’ll finish second behind
Newcastle. Surely this is our year...
FFT asks: Derby County and Nigel
Pearson – a match made in heaven?
I think so. We need someone who will
give egos a rollocking when needed.
dcfcfans.uk
 FULHAM
Last season Championship 20th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Ross McCormack (23)
It isn’t solely down to the change in
ownership, necessarily, but since
Shahid Khan took over Fulham back
in 2013, not much has gone right.
First there was relegation from the
Premier League and the ill-advised
managerial appointments that followed,
then, despite some heavy spending that
included £11m for Ross McCormack,
they finished 17th. They managed to
slip even further in the last campaign,
ending it in 20th place, just two spots
away from another drop. Former
Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic is the
latest to try to arrest the slide. Appointed
in December, he didn’t improve results
significantly, but April’s run of three
wins on the spin secured survival.
With a dozen players released in June,
the squad looks rather thin. Tom Cairney
(above, left) has yet to truly impress after
his move from Blackburn, and the only
real threat came from McCormack and
Moussa Dembele, who has moved to
Celtic and been replaced at Craven
Cottage by Togo international Floyd Ayite.
The team that opens the season against
Newcastle is unlikely to be a familiar one.
FFT VERDICT: 20TH
FAN FILE
THOMAS MCILROY
This season will be different
to last because we’re going
into it with a manager who
knows what he’s doing.
Fulham fans should follow
@WhiteNoise1879.
Our pantomime villain is Darren Bent.
Neither he nor the Fulham fans are
particularly fond of each other.
Keep an eye out for Ryan Sessegnon,
who is training with the first team.
THE BOSS
SLAVISA JOKANOVIC
Based on Khan’s past levels of patience,
Jokanovic might think himself lucky to
still be in a job. However, the owner
assured fans that Fulham will enter the
new season with “confidence as high as
it has been in years” under Jokanovic –
over-optimistic, perhaps, but at least the
manager has some backing... for now.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Cottagers signed Jose Mourinho this
summer. That’s Jose Mourinho Jr, the
16-year-old goalkeeper and son of the
new Manchester United manager.
KEY PLAYER
ROSS McCORMACK
Striker McCormack looks
increasingly like a man
who regrets moving
to Fulham two years
ago. They’d be lost without
him: of their 66 goals in
2015-16 (three more than
promoted Boro), he scored
or assisted 30.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Matt Ritchie. Fulham were
keen on him a couple of Januarys ago.
This season we’ll finish mid-table.
FFT asks: Can Fulham
turn things around?
We’re still recovering
from the tenure of
Felix Magath (left).
With Jokanovic now in
charge, I hope we’ll see
some stability and also some decent
defending – we’ve been incapable of it
pretty much since Roy Hodgson left.
Season ticket holder since 1998
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Last season Championship 19th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Nahki Wells (18)
Having Jurgen Klopp’s former right-hand
man didn’t immediately pay off for
Huddersfield. Following David Wagner’s
appointment in November, when the
Terriers were in 19th place and two
points above the drop zone, they ended
an inconsistent season in exactly the
same position, albeit a much healthier
11 points away from relegation.
A couple of embarrassing defeats to
close the campaign – 4-0 to Bristol City
and 5-1 at home to Brentford – didn’t
exactly send Huddersfield fans into the
summer in the greatest of humour. The
club did get a good chunk of transfer
business done early, though, recruiting
eight players before the end of June.
German trio Chris Lowe, Michael
Hefele and £1.8m club-record signing
Christopher Schindler were among
that crop, as was ex-Croatia under-21
midfielder Ivan Paurevic. They aren’t
household names, and don’t have any
experience of English football, but the
key thing is that this is Wagner’s squad.
He has his own players and a pre-season
to boot, so Town fans can expect a little
more progress than they saw last term.
FFT VERDICT: 12TH
FAN FILE
IAN TAYLOR
This season will be different to last
because under David Wagner we play
exciting, attacking football, unlike with
Chris Powell at the start of last season.
Our most underrated player is Joe
Lolley. He has the potential to play in
the Premier League; he just has to
become a bit more consistent.
Keep an eye out for Philip Billing, an
amazing talent and only 20 years old.
The best away ground grub is at
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 55
THE BOSS
DAVID WAGNER
Former Schalke striker Wagner (above)
spent nearly five years working with
Klopp at Dortmund, and says he wants
to implement the German club’s style
of play at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Whether or not that’s realistic remains
to be seen, but his aim of ‘exciting’
the club’s fans should be achievable.
DID YOU KNOW?
Although Wagner was born, raised and
spent his playing career in Germany,
he won eight caps for the United States
thanks to an American passport.
KEY PLAYER
NAHKI WELLS
Huddersfield didn’t
completely rely on
Wells for goals last
season, but they’d be
some bother without
17 league strikes. He
not always an autom
selection for Wagner,
should change this tim
Blackburn – their food is excellent.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Jason Davidson. He
has played in a World Cup yet he’s not
good enough for the Championship.
Save the date for February 4. Leeds
at home is always a big game.
This season we’ll finish in the top half,
definitely. And if all the transfers work
out, then who knows? Maybe we could
sneak into the play-offs.
FFT asks: Which of the new signings
will have the biggest impact? Chris
Lowe sounds like a cracking signing.
downatthemac.proboards.com
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
IPSWICH TOWN
Last season Championship 7th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Brett Pitman (11)
After 2014-15’s unexpected play-off run,
last season proved a disappointing one.
It was a campaign significantly impacted
by injuries, and, despite ending the
campaign in seventh, Ipswich rarely
looked like challenging for promotion.
Perhaps that wasn’t a huge surprise.
The previous year’s top-six finish had
been achieved with a team cobbled
together from off-cuts and scraps that
then lost star man Tyrone Mings to
Bournemouth and also had to cope
with the reversion to the mean of
Daryl Murphy, who couldn’t replicate
his 27-goal return from 2014-15.
The problem with the Tractor Boys’
policy of filling their squad with bargains,
free transfers and youngsters is that it
relies on a large number of gambles all
paying off at the same time. Still, some of
those youngsters are genuinely exciting
– notably Andre Dozzell. The son of Jason
scored on his debut last season, aged 16.
Mick McCarthy gives Ipswich an edge:
he will, as always, create a cohesive unit
from the players at his disposal. He also,
however, has to hope that one of them
can do something out of the ordinary.
FFT VERDICT: 8TH
FAN FILE
JAKE MILLER
This season will be different to last
because our fans’ compromise of style
for results is wearing thin, so some
positive football would be nice.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Cameron
Stewart. I’m not really sure
why he’s still here, going into
his third year without having
made a single league appearance.
Keep an eye out for Andre Dozzell.
56 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
MICK McCARTHY
You know what you’re getting with Mick:
a bluff attitude with a healthy amount
of honesty and a touch of twinkly-eyed,
knowing humour. But is that enough for
Ipswich, who have seen teams of similar
and lesser size win promotion recently?
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite scoring 50 league goals in
his last three seasons with Ipswich,
33-year-old Republic of Ireland striker
Daryl Murphy hasn’t been able to find
the net in 22 games for his country,
a run that continued at Euro 2016.
KEY PLAYER
TEDDY BISHOP
A big problem for Ipswich
last season was a lack
of creativity, partly
caused by injuries
to this talented
20-year-old playmaker.
If he can live up to his
early promise, it would
give them a huge boost.
One change I’d make at our club is to
give McCarthy some financial backing.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Fernando Forestieri (below).
Our pantomime villain is Chris Martin
– he’s always good for some stick.
This season we will finish sixth.
FFT asks: How
important is it that
Ipswich hold on to
David McGoldrick?
It’s essential. On his
day, there aren’t
many better strikers in this league.
twtd.co.uk
LEEDS UNITED
Last season Championship 13th FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Chris Wood (13)
The Massimo Cellino Show at Elland
Road goes on. And on. Between spells
of forced absence due to assorted
irregularities and misdemeanours, life
with Cellino tends to swing between
exasperated ‘threats’ to sell the club and,
of course, his favourite pastime: sacking
managers. If you’re keeping track, six
have been cast aside since the Italian
arrived in 2014, the Leeds owner being
perhaps the only man in the country
able to elicit sympathy for Steve Evans,
the latest boss to get shoddy treatment.
So it was something of a surprise that
Garry Monk – who could surely have
landed a more stable job – arrived in
June. For a club who’ve been a laughing
stock of late, he represents an impressive
appointment. If Monk is given the time to
assert himself, the stability to keep Leeds’
best young talent, and the cash to recruit
further (Rob Green and Swedish striker
Marcus Antonsson have joined, with
Swansea duo Kyle Bartley and Matt
Grimes arriving on loan), this could be the
smartest move Cellino has made to date.
That being said, as long as he remains
in charge, chaos will never be far away.
FFT VERDICT: 13TH
FAN FILE
RICHARD GELL
This season will be different to last
because season ticket holders will get
a 25 per cent refund if we don’t make
the play-offs, so we’re pretty much
guaranteed some money back.
Keep an eye out for Ronaldo Vieira,
who made his debut in May. With that
name, how can you not be talented?
The best away ground is Fulham’s,
largely for the fantastically-named
Craven Cottage Pie on offer there.
THE BOSS
GARRY MONK
This is a step into the unknown. Monk’s
only previous managerial job was with
Swansea City: a stable, well-run Premier
League club with whom he had spent
the previous decade as a player. If Monk
(above) is inspired by being outside his
comfort zone, he could be a success.
DID YOU KNOW?
Another of Leeds’ summer signings,
Kemar Roofe, likes to collect trainers
for a hobby. “I’ve probably got about
65 pairs,” he told FFT in May. “I have
a clothing line with my brother, too.”
KEY PLAYER
CHRIS WOOD
A return of 13 league goals
in 2015-16 represented
a solid start to the New
Zealand striker’s career in
Yorkshire. The 24-year-old
will need to up that tally
this term, though, if Leeds
are to move in the right
direction under Monk.
Leeds supporters need to follow
@TheSquareBall, the Twitter account
for the Leeds United fanzine, always
offering a fans’ perspective.
Save the date for New Year’s Eve: Villa
away, for the first time in many years.
This season we’ll finish around eighth
– but a lot will depend on how long
a grace period Cellino will give Monk.
FFT asks: What do you make of the
appointment of Garry Monk? I’m
happy – he has great potential. But it’s
naïve to get too excited, considering he
may be gone by the time this prints...
Season ticket holder for 14 years
 NEWCASTLE UNITED
Last season Premier League 18th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Georginio Wijnaldum (11)
There has been a sense of inevitability
about it for a few years now, but just as
in 2009-10, it’s hard to fully comprehend
that Newcastle are a Championship side.
No team waltzes to promotion in this
division but Newcastle are the clearest
title favourites in some time, and a big
reason for that is the man in charge.
It was surreal enough that Rafael
Benitez joined the Magpies’ relegation
battle, two months after leaving Real
Madrid, so it feels even more bizarre that
he has decided to remain at St James’
Park. However, there is plenty of logic in
the decision. Newcastle are a huge club,
of course, but they’re also a blank canvas
for a manager with considerable clout to
create a team in his own image – and,
unexpectedly, it looks as if Mike Ashley
will let him do just that. The unpopular
owner wasted no time in stumping up
eight-figure sums for Matt Ritchie and
Dwight Gayle, who’ll thrive at this level.
This is almost the ideal job for Benitez,
fixated as he is on control. If nothing
else, beleaguered Toon supporters
will be glad that someone other than
Ashley is in charge of the big decisions.
FFT VERDICT: 1ST
FAN FILE
ANDY GURR
This season will be different to last
because we’re in a different league
and we might win a few games.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Moussa Sissoko.
I’d piggy-back him there if I had to.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Ross McCormack. He has
always scored goals at this level.
The best away fans are Leeds’ -
they always travel in big numbers.
THE BOSS
RAFAEL BENITEZ
In Benitez (above) and Aston Villa boss
Roberto Di Matteo, there will be more
Champions League-winning managers
in the Championship than in the Premier
League this season. The Spaniard’s lack
of experience in this division may bring
difficulties, but he has given Newcastle
fans reason to be excited again.
DID YOU KNOW?
When new signing Matt Ritchie received
the first of his 10 Scotland caps in 2015,
qualifying through his father, the winger
admitted he’d never been to Scotland.
KEY PLAYER
JAMAAL LASC
The 22-year-old d
stepped up during
injury crisis in spri
and left an impres
on Benitez. He has
both Championsh
experience and th
authority to lead t
Magpies’ defence.
The best away ground is Burton’s – or
at least, that’s where I’m most looking
forward to visiting this season.
Keep an eye out for Adam Armstrong.
He had a good season in League One
on loan at Coventry and he could do
well for us in the Championship.
This season we will finish first. We’ve
got the right man to guide us back.
FFT asks: Can Benitez handle the
unpredictability of the Championship?
Yes. He’s managed in – and won – the
UEFA Cup and Champions League,
which are also pretty unpredictable.
Match-going supporter since 1998
NORWICH CITY
Last season Premier League 19th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Fourth Round Top scorer Dieumerci Mbokani (7)
Of the three teams arriving sheepishly
from the Premier League, Norwich are
arguably the best equipped to bounce
straight back – just as they did last time.
They have a fine young manager, a solid
squad and the experience of getting out
of this division the hard way, having won
the play-offs under Alex Neil in 2014-15.
Some surgery will be required, though.
The Canaries need to bring in a reliable
scorer, unless they come to the unlikely
conclusion that Cameron Jerome (above),
with his new contract, is going to come
up trumps in the second tier again after
netting three goals in 34 Premier League
appearances last term. Nathan Redmond
has left for Southampton, meanwhile.
There was some uncertainty at the end
of the season over whether Neil would
stay, but the 35-year-old Scot will now
remain at Carrow Road. The good news
for Canaries fans is that he is learning all
the time. The addition of Alan Irvine to
the coaching staff also adds experience.
The goal is promotion and, this time,
top-flight survival to follow. After three
seasons of bouncing between tiers, fans
would warmly welcome a little stability.
FFT VERDICT: 3RD
FAN FILE
STEVE KENNY
This season will be different
to last because we’ll be
challenging for promotion.
Norwich fans need to
follow Darren Huckerby
(@hucks6dh6) and Darren
Eadie (@eadie11). Former players are
usually good for entertainment; those
two get a lot of bites from Suffolk.
Keep an eye out for James Maddison,
19: a highly rated creative midfielder.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 57
THE BOSS
ALEX NEIL
It’s hard not to be impressed by Neil,
an honest man with a straightforward,
no-nonsense approach. He’s still fairly
inexperienced, entering only his fourth
full season as a manager, but the
knowledge gained from a year in the
Premier League can only be a benefit
as he looks to take Norwich back there.
DID YOU KNOW?
With their famous win in the 1993-94
UEFA Cup, Norwich were the only British
team to beat Bayern Munich at the
Olympic Stadium in their 33 years there.
KEY PLAYER
WES HOOLAHA
With the ability to
play and ensure hi
team uses the ball
intelligently, it’s
only Hoolahan’s ag
standing in the wa
a move to a bigger
Ironically, he’s in th
form of his life.
One change I’d make at our club is
whoever designs the kits!
The best away fans are our lovely
neighbours from down the road (left).
You can’t beat them –
except we usually do...
This season we will
finish in the top two,
I hope. It’s key that
we make a good start
and then maintain that momentum.
FFT asks: Are you glad Norwich kept
Alex Neil as manager? Yes, definitely:
he’s still learning and will only improve.
First watched Norwich in 1977
SKY BET CHAMPIO SHIP
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Last season Championship 16th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Nelson Oliveira (9)
Another season, another joyless mess
at the City Ground. Manager Dougie
Freedman did a reasonable job in the
circumstances, having to deal with the
general disorganisation at the club while
having his hands tied by a transfer
embargo, even if his tactics were often
uninspiring. But Freedman was sacked in
March after a poor run of form and Paul
Williams took over until the season’s end,
avoiding the vague threat of relegation
but doing little to set pulses racing.
This is a football club drifting under
the chairmanship of Fawaz Al-Hasawi.
Despite new investment from the, erm,
‘colourful’ Olympiakos owner Evangelos
Marinakis, and a new director of football,
Pedro Pereira, being appointed in the
summer, there is a sense of ‘we’ll believe
it when we see it’ from the supporters.
Greece international Apostolos Vellios,
once of Everton, has been bought to fix
a lack of goals – only the three relegated
sides scored fewer than Forest’s 43 last
term – while there’s youthful promise in
midfielder Ben Osborn, winger Oliver
Burke (19 but capped by Scotland) and
incoming Finland defender Thomas Lam.
FFT VERDICT: 11TH
FAN FILE
LEE CLARKE
This season will be different to
last because we’ll have a regular
goalscorer in the side on a frequent
basis, and we won’t finish 16th.
Nottingham Forest fans should follow
@StuartBroad8, the England cricketer
– he’s always tweeting about the Reds.
The best away ground is Oakwell.
I’m pleased that Barnsley are back.
The best away ground grub is at
Huddersfield. It’s pretty decent!
58 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
7
THE BOSS
PHILIPPE MONTANIER
The Reds waited until the first day of
pre-season training to appoint their new
head coach. The Frenchman (above)
certainly comes with a pedigree, having
taken Real Sociedad into the Champions
League before leaving for Rennes, where
he was sacked in January despite the
club sitting sixth in the Ligue 1 table.
DID YOU KNOW?
Forest were prohibited from using the
City Ground during pre-season after the
local council discovered that the club
had no officially registered safety officer.
KEY PLAYER
BRITT
ASSOMBALONGA
Forest’s main problem
in 2015-16 was goals,
or a lack thereof. Having
missed most of the last
campaign with a knee
injury, the pressure is
on the £5.5 million
man to start firing.
Our must underrated player is
Wales international David Vaughan.
Our pantomime villain is Nigel Pearson
– there has always been something
about him I don’t quite like, and now
he’s going to be managing them.
Save the date for New Year’s Eve:
Newcastle United away!
This season we’ll finish ninth, although
it’s difficult to say as our new gaffer’s
never worked in the Championship.
FFT asks: Are you confident now the
embargo has been lifted? I’m more
confident now Assombalonga is fit.
@FLeagueWorld
PRESTON NORTH END
Last season Championship 11th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Daniel Johnson (9)
Last term saw a very solid return to the
Championship for Simon Grayson’s side,
sealing a top-half finish despite winning
just one of their first 11 league matches.
It felt like a classic ‘bridging’ campaign;
the season a newly-promoted outfit
uses to feel out the division before
setting their sights a little higher.
Goals were an issue. They scored only
45, partly because Joe Garner couldn’t
continue his League One strike rate,
partly because Paul Gallagher (above) is
rarely prolific, and partly because injury
limited Jermaine Beckford to 10 games.
Naturally, Preston’s early business has
focused on attack, with Palermo’s Simon
Makienok joining on loan and Eoin Doyle
making his one permanent. They’ve also
recruited Anders Lindegaard and Chris
Maxwell on free transfers after using five
keepers last term, three of them loanees.
North End are aiming for promotion, as
you might expect, but there’s a crowded
field all sharing the same target, and
considering the number of traditional
big-hitters clamouring for three places,
the likelihood of an unfancied team such
as Preston springing a surprise are slim.
FFT VERDICT: 14TH
FAN FILE
CHARLIE GREGORY
This season will be
different to last because
we can’t fly under the radar.
Our most underrated
player is Bailey Wright:
he puts in a good shift at
centre-back and sometimes
that form can go unnoticed.
Preston fans should follow The Voice
(@WIBGPNE) and Dave Seddon of the
Lancashire Evening Post (@Sedds_LEP).
THE BOSS
SIMON GRAYSON
Grayson was reportedly on the shortlist
for the Aston Villa job this summer, and
Preston fans were relieved when that
didn’t come to pass. Before last season
his record in the second tier was patchy,
but now, with a side that is very much
his own, he could build something more.
DID YOU KNOW?
Jermaine Beckford earned his big move
to Leeds United in 2006 by scoring goals
aplenty for Wealdstone, playing for the
non-league outfit part-time between
shifts as an RAC windscreen fitter.
KEY PLAYER
DANIEL JOHNSON
There are better technical
players in this Preston
squad, but due to the
paucity of goals from
their strikers last term,
Johnson’s team-high
contribution from midfield
could prove vital for North
End if he is able to repeat it.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Alan Judge (below). He was
tremendous for Brentford last year.
This season we’ll finish 16th. We had
a great season last time
out but the surprise
element is gone and
teams now know how
to set up against us.
FFT asks: Are you
looking forward to watching 6ft 7in
striker Simon Makienok in action?
I’m intrigued to see how he does.
He wasn’t too great at Charlton.
Season ticket holder for four years
 QPR
Last season Championship 12th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorers Charlie Austin, Tjaronn Chery (10)
Rebuilding QPR from the wreck they
were in following Harry Redknapp’s
February 2015 exit was always going to
be a gradual process, as a squad full of
expensive deadwood had to be whittled
into one that was hungry for success.
The Rs began last term with Chris
Ramsey in charge, but by November the
board decided things weren’t working
out and fresh blood was sought in the
shape of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. The
results were patchy, Rangers finishing
a place lower than they were when the
Dutchman arrived, but it would be have
been unfair to expect too much given
the state of things at Loftus Road – like
handing someone a tangled ball of wool
and expecting them to return 10 minutes
later with a beautifully knitted sweater.
Things should improve in 2016-17.
Hasselbaink will have had pre-season to
prepare his squad and add fresh faces to
it, with the likes of Jake Bidwell and Joel
Lynch bringing application and valuable
Championship experience as well as
defensive stability. Patience is required,
however, and that isn’t a quality you
readily associate with QPR right now.
FFT VERDICT: 7TH
FAN FILE
DANIEL HARROD
This season will be
different to last because
there are no unrealistic
expectations on a young
and vibrant squad who
actually want to play and
do well for the club.
Set the date for October 1. Revenge
against Fulham is top of the list.
Our pantomime villain is Richard
Keogh - he’s always worth a laugh.
THE BOSS
JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK
The latest graduate from Burton Albion’s
remarkable school of managers, Jimmy
followed Gary Rowett and Nigel Clough
into the Championship on the back of
success with the Brewers. The jury’s still
out at Loftus Road, but there does seem
to be enough goodwill on show to give
the ex-Chelsea striker time to succeed.
DID YOU KNOW?
QPR will move home for the 19th time in
their 130-year history in 2018. They plan
to build a 40,000-seater stadium at Old
Oak Common in north-west London.
KEY PLAYER
TJARONN CHERY
The attacking midfielder
lacked consistency last
season but performed
well in patches. His
team-mates voted
him as their player
of the year, and the
Dutchman will hope
to kick on in 2016-17.
Our most underrated player is Alex
Smithies (below). He’ll be playing
Premier League football soon.
This season we’ll finish around
eighth, just short of
a play-off place.
FFT asks: Is Hasselbaink
the man to take you
back into the top flight?
Big changes have been
made under JFH, on and off the pitch,
and an aura of professionalism and
success is hopefully an indication of
a step in the right direction.
Season ticket holder since 2001
READING
Last season Championship 17th FA Cup Sixth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Nick Blackman (13)
It seems a long time ago that Reading
were in the Premier League, even though
it was as recent as 2013. Perhaps that’s
because the last three seasons have
been such a procession of mediocrity:
after just missing out on a play-off place
in 2014, they then finished 19th and
17th and got through three managers in
the process. The last of those was Brian
McDermott, disposed of by Reading’s
shareholders just six months into his
second spell, to the annoyance of fans
and indeed chairman John Madejski.
The Royals have restructured this
summer with a touch of Dutch courage.
Former Ajax coach Brian Tevreden is in
as director of football, two Eredivisie
players were announced to be joining
the squad in May, and finally they took
a gamble in making Jaap Stam their
manager, his previous dugout experience
having extended to coaching Ajax’s
youth team. It could go either way.
Expectations are high and patience is
low, and while that’s the case at most
Championship clubs now, Reading have
more reason than most to look over their
shoulder before gazing up at the stars.
FFT VERDICT: 21ST
FAN FILE
JON KEEN
This season will be different to last
because we have a new manager and
new director of football, who are both
untested in English football.
Keep an eye out for fast and creative
winger Tarique Fosu, who made a big
impact on loan at Accrington Stanley.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Chris Gunter. Despite
his Euro 2016 role, I’ve never been
convinced by his defensive capabilities.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 59
THE BOSS
JAAP STAM
Appointing a novice manager is always
a risk, but Stam (above) is a real punt:
his reputation isn’t stellar, and he ruffled
feathers a few years ago by walking out
of his coaching course on the basis that
there was too much ‘theory’ work. Don’t
expect too many lengthy dossiers, then.
DID YOU KNOW?
Reading’s North Stand is to be renamed
after Eamonn Dolan, the former Royals
academy coach who passed away in
June, aged 48. The club had asked the
fans for suggestions earlier that month.
KEY PLAYER
OLIVER NORWOOD
Norwood spent the summer
enjoying the freewheelin’,
heartwarming story of
Northern Ireland’s Euros
campaign, and Reading
will hope he brings some of
that spirit back with him. The
midfielder set up eight goals
last season, scoring three as well.
The best away ground grub is the
meat and potato pie at Preston.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Nahki Wells, who always
seems to score against us.
This season we’ll finish in the bottom
half, unless Stam works miracles. We’ll
do enough to ensure survival, though.
FFT asks: Is appointing Stam a risk?
It’s a major risk. There are shades of
Tommy Burns in 1998, who had no
English experience, brought in several
players from his homeland and soon
left, with the club fighting relegation!
Author of ‘The Sum of the Parts’
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP
ROTHERHAM UNITED
Last season Championship 21st FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Matt Derbyshire (8)
It’s difficult to know what to make of
Rotherham. In February they looked
nailed on for relegation, but then
Neil Warnock was tempted out of
semi-retirement to save them and
he did so with some élan, the Millers
embarking on a remarkable 11-game
unbeaten run in which they took points
from three of the eventual top six sides.
Survival was secured with weeks to
spare, but Warnock, with one eye on an
unprecedented seventh promotion as
a final flourish to his career, bade them
a fond farewell. Alan Stubbs was soon
named his successor, fresh from guiding
Hibernian to a first Scottish Cup success
since 1902. A note of caution should be
struck: Warnock is a master in this
division and Stubbs will be hard pressed
to get close to the wily veteran’s feats.
He won’t be helped by losing Matt
Derbyshire. Last season’s top scorer has
moved on to Omonoia Nicosia in Cyprus,
managed by Nikos Dabizas, meaning
there’s more pressure on the likes of
Danny Ward (above) to find the net.
Creative efforts should be helped by the
arrival of Anthony Forde from Walsall.
FFT VERDICT: 24TH
FAN FILE
CAZ NEALE
This season will be different to last
because we won’t be hanging on for
dear life, fingers crossed!
The best away ground is
probably St James’ Park,
but we’ve always felt
welcome at Brighton’s
new ground (right).
One change I’d make at our club is to
move the ticket office out of the club
shop and put it somewhere on its own.
60 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
ALAN STUBBS
The former Bolton and Everton defender
has admitted it was a risk to leave
Scotland, and probable promotion
with Hibs, for a division in which life
expectancy can be seriously limited for
managers. His appointment represents
a risk for Rotherham, too: this is Stubbs’
first managerial job south of the border.
DID YOU KNOW?
Defender Kirk Broadfoot once picked up
an unlikely injury by scalding himself in
the face when an egg he was trying to
poach in the microwave exploded.
KEY PLAY
JOE NEWELL
Versatile midfi
Newell saw his
season at the c
brought to an e
April by an ank
He scored five t
2015-16 and w
a threat once h
regained full fit
Our most underrated player is Joe
Mattock. He always gives 100 per cent.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Tom Ince – the full package.
This season we’ll finish mid-table.
My glass is always half-full!
FFT asks: How frustrating
was it to hear that Neil
Warnock wasn’t staying
on as manager? It was
disappointing more than
frustrating. I think the
club could have done a bit more to
get him to stay for another season.
rotherham.vitalfootball.co.uk
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Last season Championship 6th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Fifth Round Top scorer Fernando Forestieri (15)
This time last year, Sheffield Wednesday
had barely signed any players and had
just appointed a manager with 14 jobs
in the previous 14 years. A promotion
challenge didn’t look likely. However,
Carlos Carvalhal impressed greatly by
knitting together the new recruits that
did arrive and ultimately making the
play-off final, only to be beaten by Hull.
Wednesday embarked on something
of a trolley dash in the final weeks of
the 2015 summer transfer window,
assembling a squad that, with a bit
more preparation, might even have
finished a little higher than sixth.
That means minimal surgery is required
another promotion tilt. The addition of
ven Fletcher to ease the goalscoring
den on Gary Hooper and Fernando
estieri gives them a third top-quality
ker at this level (indeed, it’s Fletcher’s
t ever campaign below the top tier).
Where last summer brought instability
d uncertainty, Owls supporters now
ve a much better idea of what lies
ad – and on the basis of the team’s
formances last term, they have every
t to be feeling quietly optimistic.
T VERDICT: 4TH
FAN FILE
JON SELLARS
This season will be different to last
because we can start the campaign
with the belief that we are good
enough to be promoted.
Our must underrated player is Keiren
Westwood; he’s not underrated as
such but how he isn’t first choice for
Ireland, I don’t know. He is class.
One change I’d make at our club is to
improve the training facilities. They got
into pretty bad shape last season.
THE BOSS
CARLOS CARVALHAL
Leaping around the touchline in his
sheepskin coat, Carvalhal (above) did
some fine work with little expectation
at Hillsborough. Having narrowly lost in
the play-off final, there’ll be a little more
pressure on the Portuguese manager to
deliver another promotion challenge.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Owls have re-worked the club crest
in a nod to a design that dates back to
the 1950s. The new badge was unveiled
in January, and then tweaked in June to
make the owl appear slightly more alert.
KEY PLAYER
FERNANDO
FORESTIERI
Many Watford fans
were upset that the
silky Argentine wasn’t
given a chance in the
Premier League. He’s
among the best in this
division at making and
taking chances.
Our pantomime villain is Massimo
Cellino. The guy is an absolute clown.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Derby’s Will Hughes.
This season we’ll finish top six again.
That has to be the minimum target.
FFT asks: Did the club overachieve
last season? I didn’t expect us to do
so well with a new manager and a lot
of new players. Maybe we got found
out in the play-off final. But when the
chairman took over last year the target
was to return to the Premier League
by 2017, and that isn’t unrealistic.
Match-going supporter since 1991
 WIGAN ATHLETIC
Last season League One Winners FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Will Grigg (28)
There’s no such thing as a model club,
particularly one that has been relegated
twice in the past three seasons. But
Wigan showed with some gusto how
to deal with successive demotions,
bouncing back after dropping from the
Premier League to the Championship,
under Roberto Martinez, then from the
Championship to League One, led by
an assortment of ill-suited characters.
They won promotion (above) at the
first attempt having rebuilt under Gary
Caldwell – a Latics player for five years
before getting the top job in April 2015,
shortly before his 33rd birthday – and,
perhaps even more implausibly, their
25-year-old chairman David Sharpe.
Wigan signed no fewer than 20 players
on permanent deals last term, including
Will Grigg, whose catchy/irritating chant
has made him notorious across Europe
despite most of it having never seen him
play. Midfielders David Perkins, Michael
Jacobs and the splendidly-named Max
Power, new arrivals all, combined with
Grigg to seal promotion, and while they
need to keep recruiting well, Wigan look
set to continue their upward trajectory.
FFT VERDICT: 19TH
FAN FILE
SAM WHYTE
This season will be different
to last because we aren’t the
big hitters in the division.
Our most underrated
player is David Perkins.
Save the date for Preston
away on September 24. It’s been
a while since our paths have crossed.
The best away ground is Villa Park.
It’s brilliant for a big away following to
make a bit of noise and have some fun.
THE BOSS
GARY CALDWELL
Thrown in for the last weeks of Wigan’s
doomed 2014-15 campaign, the rookie
manager was given the unenviable task
of assembling an entirely new side while
striving for the target of 100 points set
by Sharpe. They managed ‘only’ 87, but
winning promotion as champions will do.
DID YOU KNOW?
After its subject top-scored in League
One last season, Will Grigg’s On Fire took
over Euro 2016 (despite him not playing
a single minute for Northern Ireland)
and made it to No.7 in the UK charts.
KEY PLAYER
WILL GRIGG
Grigg scored 20 goals
in MK Dons’ 2014-15
promotion season and
was expected to take on
the second tier with them
or parent club Brentford.
Instead he moved to Wigan
and bagged 25 more. Time
to set a new division ablaze.
This season we’ll finish in the top half.
That would be a good season for us.
If we can stay injury-free, maybe we
can even sneak into the play-offs, and
then who knows?
FFT asks: Are Wigan
fans bored of the Will
Grigg song yet? Of
course not! The song’s
still relatively new to
us, too – it only started in the stands in
March or April. That said, when Eric
Cantona (above) is singing it during the
Euros, you know it’s gone a bit too far!
Season ticket holder for 16 years
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Last season Championship 14th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Benik Afobe (10)
Things looked promising for Wolves
12 months ago, with a forward line of
Benik Afobe and Nouha Dicko looking
set to lay waste to defences around the
division. However, in September Dicko
suffered a knee injury that ruled him
out for the season, then in January they
sold Afobe to top-flight Bournemouth.
That, coupled with an assortment of
other injuries and the failure to replace
Crystal Palace-bound Bakary Sako, saw
them slip down the table, even looking
at times as if they might even become
involved in a relegation tussle rather
than the anticipated promotion push.
The good news is that Wolves possess
a crop of very promising young players
who have established themselves in the
first team, including midfielder George
Saville (above, right) and academy
products Dominic Iorfa and Jack Price.
The bad news is that manager Kenny
Jackett needs to supplement those
youngsters before the season starts –
and, experienced as he is, moulding
a group of new arrivals is a challenge for
any coach, let alone one under pressure
following a disappointing campaign.
FFT VERDICT: 16TH
FAN FILE
OLLIE FLOYD
This season will be different to last
because we’ll have an improved blend
of youth and experience in the squad.
Our most underrated player is Jack
Price. He has incredible composure,
authority and range of passing for 23.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Fernando Forestieri, despite
his acting at Molineux a few years back.
One change I’d make at our club is to
incentivise away support a bit more.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 61
THE BOSS
KENNY JACKETT
Life in the Championship can change
quickly: Jackett went from being lauded
as one of the division’s better managers
to having Wolves fans call for his head.
Chief executive Jez Moxey warned that
things “must change” at Molineux, so
a good start to the season is essential.
DID YOU KNOW?
Owner and former chairman Steve
Morgan is still looking for a buyer
after putting Wolves up for sale last
September. He bought the club from
Jack Hayward in 2007 for just £10.
KEY PLAYER
NOUHA DICKO
The big question for
Wolves this season is
whether Dicko can
come back to play at
the level he reached
before that injury. If he
can, Wolves have reaso
to be cheerful. If not, th
might struggle for goals
Set the date for October 15: Villa
away. Renewing a rivalry should create
a much-needed buzz around the club.
This season we’ll finish ninth. Things
will be more stable this time out.
FFT asks: Can Kenny Jackett take you
back into the Premier League? He’s
clearly a fantastic guy, he has worked
wonders for the club, and last season’s
poor performance was mostly down to
injuries and a lack of investment – but
he has shown huge tactical weakness.
I can’t see him staying long enough to
guide us back to the promised land.
wolvesfancast.com
%*****

 








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!   & ( & !  (

     


   
  

The third tier’s hot seats are hotter than ever, with over a third of clubs hiring a new manager
The managerial merry-go-round has
been in full swing over the summer
with nine of the 24 clubs appointing
a new gaffer, in three cases poaching
directly from a rival League One club.
Phil Parkinson’s decision to quit
Bradford after five years and embark
upon a fresh challenge at Bolton has
raised most eyebrows, mainly because
the job prospects appear no different.
Presumably, a change of ownership at
both clubs has forced his hand: better to
be the chosen one of a new regime than
part of the existing furniture for another.
With the rumour mill suggesting that
the Bantams’ new German owners had
been eyeing Uwe Rosler as part of their
long-term vision, it was a surprise when
they subsequently turned to Stuart
McCall to fill the void. McCall is a Bradford
legend, of course, but he struggled to
cope with expectations in a previous
spell in the Valley Parade hot seat.
Sheffield United, meanwhile, have
ditched Nigel Adkins and turned to Chris
Wilder in a bid to end their numbing
exile from the Championship. Wilder’s
stock has never been higher, having led
Northampton to a blistering League Two
title success last term, and his capture
represents something of a coup for the
Blades, as several other clubs were
reportedly interested in his services.
The Cobblers have responded sensibly
Stability could give
by appointing Rob Page as manager,
Millwall the platform
arguably the best available candidate
for a title challenge
for any newly-promoted side wishing
to consolidate in the division. The former
Wales captain has done a fine job at
Port Vale over the past two seasons,
but was evidently on a different page
to chairman Norman Smurthwaite in
terms of their immediate objectives.
And it is a measure of Smurthwaite’s
desire for instant gratification that he
has taken what is surely the biggest
gamble of the lot, appointing former
Sheffield United and Leeds midfielder
Bruno Ribeiro. The Portuguese might be
a close friend of Jose Mourinho, but
his track record of seven jobs in five
years with almost no success to shout
about is worrying, to say the least.
By contrast, Russell Slade represents
a safe appointment by Charlton. Not
only does the ex-Cardiff City chief
boast a fine League One track record,
his diplomatic qualities may go
a considerable way towards quelling
supporters’ unrest at The Valley.
Ultimately, stability could be the key
to success. In that regard, Millwall and
Oxford will both benefit from continuity
and having established a clear identity
under Neil Harris and Michael Appleton
respectively. They could go all the way.

#FFTPREVIEW
2016-17 FIXTURES
Get involved. Tweet us using the hashtag

2016-17PREDICTION
1. Millwall AFC Wimbledon’s home clash against MK Dons in March could prove testy...
2. Oxford
3. Charlton
Sheffield United

AFC Wimbledon

4. Sheffield United
Bristol Rovers

Peterborough
Northampton

Shrewsbury
Chesterfield

Scunthorpe
Gillingham
Fleetwood

5. Scunthorpe
Southend
Rochdale
Coventry

Port Vale

Swindon
Bradford

Charlton

MK Dons

Millwall

Oldham

Walsall
Oxford
Bolton

6. Peterborough
Bury

7. Coventry
Bolton – 24/09 28/02 18/04 28/01 01/04 22/11 20/08 10/12 10/09 19/11 18/03 15/10 01/10 30/04 29/10 14/02 31/12 06/08 26/12 03/09 14/01 11/02 04/03
8. Bristol Rovers Bradford 18/02 – 17/09 31/12 10/12 07/01 20/08 27/09 04/02 28/02 21/01 22/11 27/08 14/04 04/03 06/08 12/11 26/12 22/10 08/10 18/10 18/03 01/04 22/04
9. Rochdale Bristol Rovers 17/08 11/02 – 10/12 22/11 18/03 26/12 08/10 15/10 19/11 30/04 07/01 17/04 14/08 29/10 24/09 10/09 25/02 14/02 01/04 11/03 28/01 03/09 31/12
Bury 22/10 08/04 14/03 – 06/08 24/09 28/02 25/03 04/03 14/02 26/11 22/04 20/08 17/12 14/01 03/09 13/04 01/10 02/01 10/09 12/11 11/02 28/01 18/10
10. Bolton
Charlton 27/08 14/03 02/01 25/02 – 29/10 15/10 04/02 17/04 25/03 14/01 13/08 27/09 18/02 17/12 19/11 01/10 21/01 26/11 16/08 08/04 30/04 11/03 17/09
11. Shrewsbury Chesterfield 17/12 01/10 26/11 18/02 22/04 – 14/01 18/10 27/09 02/01 27/08 17/09 04/02 25/02 14/03 08/04 25/03 22/10 12/11 11/03 14/04 13/08 16/08 21/01
12. MK Dons Coventry 02/01 11/03 25/03 16/08 14/04 08/10 – 21/01 18/02 26/11 04/02 27/08 17/09 18/10 08/04 07/01 22/10 12/11 17/12 13/08 14/03 25/02 22/04 28/09
Fleetwood 11/03 14/02 14/01 26/12 10/09 19/11 03/09 – 29/10 24/09 17/04 25/02 31/12 17/08 15/10 30/04 11/02 13/08 01/10 22/11 28/01 01/04 10/12 18/03
13. Southend Gillingham 14/03 10/09 14/04 13/08 22/10 14/02 24/09 22/04 – 17/12 08/04 12/11 08/10 02/01 25/03 11/02 26/11 11/03 04/09 28/01 25/02 16/08 18/10 07/01
14. Gillingham MK Dons 04/02 16/08 18/10 27/09 26/12 22/11 18/03 18/02 01/04 – 13/08 21/01 07/01 17/09 27/08 08/10 11/03 14/04 22/04 25/02 22/10 30/12 12/11 10/12
Millwall –
15. Bury 18/10 03/09 12/11 18/03 08/10 28/01 10/09 22/10 31/12 04/03 14/04 06/08 22/04 28/02 14/02 24/09 01/04 20/08 10/12 11/02 26/12 07/01 22/11
Northampton 26/11 02/01 01/10 29/10 04/03 11/02 28/01 06/08 30/04 04/09 15/10 – 28/02 25/03 19/11 14/03 17/12 14/01 08/04 17/04 24/09 14/02 10/09 20/08
16. Northampton Oldham 15/04 28/01 22/10 11/03 14/02 10/09 11/02 08/04 14/01 01/10 25/02 16/08 – 14/03 26/11 02/01 22/04 18/10 25/03 03/09 17/12 24/09 13/08 12/11
17. Bradford Oxford 07/01 15/10 04/03 01/04 24/09 06/08 19/11 28/02 22/11 11/02 29/10 26/12 10/12 – 20/08 17/04 03/09 18/03 28/01 30/04 14/02 10/09 31/12 08/10
Peterborough 12/11 13/08 22/04 08/10 01/04 10/12 31/12 14/04 26/12 28/01 16/08 18/10 18/03 11/03 – 10/09 25/02 22/11 11/02 14/02 07/01 03/09 24/09 22/10
18. Chesterfield
Port Vale 22/04 25/02 18/02 20/01 18/10 31/12 01/10 12/11 17/09 14/01 27/09 10/12 22/11 22/10 04/02 – 16/08 27/08 14/04 18/03 13/08 11/03 26/12 01/04
19. Walsall Rochdale 27/09 30/04 04/02 15/10 07/01 26/12 17/04 17/09 18/03 20/08 18/02 01/04 29/10 21/01 06/08 28/02 – 10/12 04/03 31/12 08/10 19/11 22/11 27/08

20. AFC Wimbledon Scunthorpe 08/04 25/03 06/08 07/01 03/09 17/04 30/04 04/03 20/08 15/10 17/12 08/10 19/11 26/11 02/01 28/01 14/03 – 24/09 11/02 10/09 29/10 14/02 28/02
Sheffield United 25/02 17/04 27/09 22/11 18/03 30/04 01/04 07/01 21/01 29/10 11/03 31/12 26/12 27/08 17/09 15/10 13/08 18/02 – 19/11 16/08 10/12 08/10 04/02
21. Swindon Shrewsbury 25/03 14/01 17/12 04/02 28/02 20/08 04/03 02/01 27/08 06/08 14/03 22/10 21/01 12/11 27/09 26/11 08/04 17/09 18/10 – 22/04 01/10 14/04 18/02
22. Fleetwood Southend 21/01 19/11 20/08 30/04 31/12 15/10 10/12 27/08 06/08 17/04 17/09 18/02 01/04 27/09 01/10 04/03 14/01 04/02 28/02 29/10 – 22/11 18/03 26/12
Swindon 08/10 26/11 27/08 17/09 12/11 04/03 06/08 17/12 28/02 08/04 25/03 27/09 18/02 05/02 21/01 20/08 18/10 22/04 14/03 07/01 02/01 – 22/10 14/04
23. Port Vale
Walsall 17/09 17/12 21/01 27/08 20/08 28/02 29/10 14/03 19/11 30/04 01/10 04/02 04/03 08/04 18/02 25/03 02/01 27/09 14/01 15/10 26/11 17/04 – 06/08
24. Oldham AFC Wimbledon 13/08 29/10 08/04 19/11 11/02 03/09 14/02 26/11 01/10 14/03 02/01 11/03 30/04 14/01 17/04 17/12 28/01 16/08 10/09 24/09 25/03 15/10 25/02 –

Above figures represent day/month – all are subject to change FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 63
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
BOLTON WANDERERS
Last season Championship 24th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Zach Clough (7)
They say the darkest hour is just before
the dawn. Bolton fans will hope there’s
some truth in that after a campaign
so bad, it broke several club records.
New owners and a new manager
herald a new day. Only time will tell how
quickly former agent Ken Anderson and
former player Dean Holdsworth can sort
out the financial mess, but the arrival of
Phil Parkinson as manager is a confident
step towards a more stable future.
The Trotters need organisation, and
Parkinson will provide that in abundance
– his Bradford City team kept more clean
sheets than anybody else in the Football
League last season. A shrewd tactician
who knows this division inside-out,
his style of football isn’t always the
prettiest, but it’s usually effective.
Success won’t come overnight: a losing
culture can take a while to reverse. But
Parkinson is under no illusions. “I know
what I’m coming into,” he says. “I’m not
walking around doe-eyed looking at the
stadium and how great everything is.”
Promotion at the first attempt is
unlikely. This is probably a two-stage
process: the first is consolidation.
FFT VERDICT: 10TH
FAN FILE
RYAN TAYLOR
This season will be different to last
because we’ll win a lot more games.
Keep an eye out for Rob Holding.
He has been one of our best players.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is either Darren Pratley
or Dorian Dervite. Both massively
underperformed for us last year.
The best away fans are Bury’s. They
will be loud and bring a load of fans
for the biggest game of their season!
64 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
PHIL PARKINSON
A stickler for detailed planning, the
48-year-old Lancastrian (above) thinks
nothing of an eight-hour round trip to
scout upcoming opponents in the flesh.
He’s a regular 4-4-2 manager but the
formation is never rigid, and his ability
to ensure matches are played on his
terms is almost unrivalled at this level.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bolton will be playing in the third tier of
English football for the first time since
1992-93, when they won promotion
after finishing second with 90 points.
KEY PLAYER
ZACH CLOUGH
For as long as they
can keep him,
Bolton are boosted
by the presence of
21-year-old attackin
talent Clough. He ha
had opportunities t
leave the club he jo
aged eight, but still
Our pantomime villain is probably MK
Dons, especially with AFC Wimbledon
being in the same league as them.
This season we’ll finish in the top half,
pushing for the play-offs, depending
on what happens with the transfer
embargo and the players we bring in.
FFT asks: Is Phil Parkinson the right
man to get you promoted? He knows
the lower leagues pretty well and has
performed excellently at Bradford over
the past five years – their fans were
gutted he left. We need to be patient
and give him time to work his magic.
Lifelong Bolton fan
BRADFORD CITY
Last season League One 5th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer James Hanson (13)
Breaking up is hard to do, so it shouldn’t
come as too much of a surprise that
Bradford were shacked up with an old
flame barely a week after Phil Parkinson
dropped the bombshell that his bags
were packed and he wasn’t coming back.
Parkinson’s shock departure to Bolton
in June, shortly after losing to Millwall in
the play-offs (above), brought a swift
end to five great years at Valley Parade,
but Stuart McCall returns with a sense of
unfinished business, having floundered
as a managerial novice at the club in
the late 2000s. McCall’s appointment
happened quickly – it had to – and the
club’s new owners, Stefan Rupp and
Edin Rahic, were safe in the knowledge
it would be well received. Parkinson
mostly kept players on short-term deals,
to keep them hungry, which guarantees
a busy summer for McCall. He was quick
to recruit ex-Rangers man Nicky Law.
The main concern is that he inherits
a squad that isn’t as good as Parkinson
often made it look. The Bantams have
never been in the market for big-name
players but are used to finding a tactical
approach that negates the opposition.
FFT VERDICT: 17TH
FAN FILE
MESH JOHAL
This season will be different
to last because we have new
owners and a new manager.
Our most underrated player
is striker James Hanson.
Keep an eye out for Reece
Webb-Foster, a highly-rated forward.
The best away fans are Colchester’s –
65 brave souls travelled up to Bradford
on a Tuesday night to watch their
team snap a 19-game winless streak.
THE BOSS
STUART McCALL
McCall is a Valley Parade legend, making
two stints as a player and now three as
manager. He turned down Sheffield
United when his stock was at its highest
with Motherwell, but has been itching to
get back into management full-time
since being replaced at Rangers by Mark
Warburton just over a year ago.
DID YOU KNOW?
McCall finished his first reign at Valley
Parade with a win percentage of 34.6.
Outgoing boss Parkinson left with it
at 34.69 per cent. Tight margins...
KEY PLAYER
JAMES HANSON
As the only survivor
from McCall’s first spell
as Bantams manager,
the targetman could be
as important behind the
scenes this season as he is
on the pitch, smoothing the
transition from one coaching
philosophy to another.
Bradford fans need to follow
@BantamsBanter.
This season we’ll finish in a play-off
place, but mid-table wouldn’t be a big
surprise. This may be
a rebuilding season.
Save the date for
February 18: Bolton at
home and the return
of Phil Parkinson...
FFT asks: Are you pleased to see
McCall back or would you rather have
kept Parkinson? McCall (left) was the
only person who could fill the void.
widthofapost.com
 BRISTOL ROVERS
Last season League Two 3rd FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Matty Taylor (28)
When Bristol Rovers dropped out of the
Football League two years ago, Darrell
Clarke vowed to restore the club to what
he saw as its rightful place: the upper
echelons of League One. He is now
two-thirds of the way to his goal and,
happily for Rovers, remains around to
complete the job, after rejecting an
approach from Leeds in the summer.
Boundless stamina and spirit were the
core strengths that enabled the Gas to
complete back-to-back promotions last
term. A strong late surge allowed them
to snatch automatic promotion with
a last-gasp winner on the final day,
using more or less the same group that
had battled its way out of non-league.
Unsurprisingly, the top priority has
been tying those players down to new
contracts, and a dozen have put pen
to paper. Plymouth’s Peter Hartley and
Port Vale’s Byron Moore are not the
most sensational transfer arrivals of the
summer, but Rovers aren’t in the market
for luxury upgrades that might dilute
their mentality. Personality is key, while
greater strength in depth will only make
the Pirates even more competitive.
FFT VERDICT: 8TH
FAN FILE
MAX ALDERSON
This season will be different to last
because we won’t be under the same
pressure to succeed, as our club is
back in the position it should be, given
its fanbase and financial situation.
Keep an eye out for Tom Lockyer. Our
21-year-old centre-back is by far the
best defensive player in our squad,
and he’s constantly improving.
Rovers fans should follow
@The_Rovers_Ram.
THE BOSS
DARRELL CLARKE
Early indications point to a bright future.
Clarke’s only 38 but has an extraordinary
ability to see beyond what most other
managers see. His talent isn’t in scouting
raw ability, but identifying players with
the right mentality that suit his squad.
DID YOU KNOW?
Rovers fans repeatedly bombarded US
politician Darrell Clarke with tweets last
season, mistaking him for their gaffer.
The politician responded: “I can relate
to the manager because we both get
blamed when things go wrong.”
KEY PLAYER
MATTY TAYLOR
Rovers didn’t always
goals easy to come b
term but were unstop
when Taylor hit a pur
patch. His haul includ
13 in 15 matches
before Christmas
and 13 in 12 as the
campaign drew to a c
Our pantomime villain is John-Joe
O’Toole, the former Rovers midfielder
now with Northampton Town.
Save the date for our matches with
Swindon: a relatively local derby that
hasn’t been played in a few years.
This season we’ll finish 14th. We
could do with a period of stability.
FFT asks: Were you pleased to see
midfielder Ollie Clarke sign a new
deal? Yes. He’s a local lad. While he
hasn’t been a first-team regular, he’s
a good squad player, and has a habit
of scoring absolute screamers.
GasChat.co.uk
BURY
Last season League One 16th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Leon Clarke (18)
A couple of winding-up petitions from
HMRC put the focus on finances at Gigg
Lane last term. Fortunately, a run to the
FA Cup fourth round netted the Shakers
around £500,000, enabling them to
settle both unpaid tax bills in full.
A run of four wins in 19 league games
to accompany those knockout exploits
provided a stark contrast that served to
highlight the urgency of their short-term
priorities, but it was otherwise a solid
season of mid-table consolidation.
Owner Stewart Day is ambitious and
insists that the debts are manageable,
but losses of £2.9 million are a strong
indication that Bury are living beyond
their means. Targets are also being
tempered by a growing acceptance that
the club must move to a new ground.
An aggressive presence in the transfer
market has subsided, putting greater
emphasis on the day-to-day work of
David Flitcroft (above) at the club’s
plush Carrington training base.
Strength and conditioning is Flitcroft’s
forte and his side can be dangerous
opponents. On their day, the Shakers are
capable of beating the best in the league.
FFT VERDICT: 15TH
FAN FILE
MICHAEL PRIOR
This season will be
different to last because
we will be battling with
second season syndrome
The best away fans are
Bradford’s or Sheffied United’s, but
Blackpool had a class atmosphere.
One change I’d make at our club is
less winding up orders (above), please!
Shakers fans should follow
@TomPope11. He’s a good laugh.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 65
THE BOSS
DAVID FLITCROFT
Democracy rules in a Flitcroft dressing
room. The 42-year-old Boltonian likes his
players to take ownership, inviting input
on tactics and strategy. Championship
survival with Barnsley in 2013 remains
his finest hour, although promotion with
Bury in 2015 comes a close second.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bury were docked three points, dropping
them from 14th to 16th in last season’s
final table, following a registration error
in playing 16-year-old Callum Styles in
their final game, against Southend.
KEY PLAYER
DANNY MAYOR
The winger didn’t live up
to high expectations last
term but will improve
with a year of third-tier
football under his belt.
He showed glimpses of
his best form as Bury
dabbled with a 4-2-3-1
late in the campaign.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Nicky Ajose at Charlton. He
was in the year below me
at primary school!
This season we’ll finish
above the drop zone. I’d
be happy just to stay up.
Save the date for Bolton:
the ‘real’ derby, apparently.
FFT asks: Is anyone ready to fill Leon
Clarke’s scoring boots? I don’t think
any other player got close to his goal
tally last season, so not unless we
bring in another 20-a-season striker.
Match-going supporter since 1997
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
CHARLTON ATHLETIC
Last season Championship 22nd FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Johann Berg Gudmundsson (6)
The discord between Charlton fans and
the club’s owner, Roland Duchatelet,
seems irreparable, not helped by chief
executive Katrien Meire adding fuel to
the fire every time she opens her mouth.
But if there’s one manager who can
bring a sense of calm back to The Valley
then it’s probably Russell Slade (above).
Relations were similarly strained
between Cardiff fans and Vincent Tan
when Slade was called upon to steady
the ship and bring some tranquility back
to the Welsh capital, and you suspect
those pacifying qualities appealed to
the Belgian hierarchy as much as his
excellent track record in League One.
Some will say it’s too little, too late, but
Slade’s dignified presence and his ability
to put a hard-working team on the pitch
might stop the protests for a period.
With Ricky Holmes now providing
the ammunition for a front two of Lee
Novak and Nicky Ajose, it’s possible to
see a promotion charge taking shape.
The drop in standard should also enable
Johnnie Jackson to boss matches in
a way he hasn’t done with any real
consistency in recent years.
FFT VERDICT: 3RD
FAN FILE
LEE JARVIS
This season will be different to last
because we’re in League One! The
drop should have been avoidable.
Our most underrated player is Ricky
Holmes. He was key for Northampton
as they won promotion last season.
Keep an eye out for Ademola
Lookman, as long as he sticks around.
One change I’d make at our club is
the owner. He’s not wanted; he’s
ruining the club. Protests will continue.
66 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
RUSSELL SLADE
The softly-spoken 55-year-old delivers
more than his resources should allow,
and with a remit to get results while
slashing the playing budget he did good
work at Cardiff, even if the football was
a little dreary. Simplicity and continuity
are key: Slade tends to find a system to
suit his best XI and then stick with it.
DID YOU KNOW?
Under Duchatelet’s ownership, Charlton
went through six managers in 818 days.
Before the Belgian’s arrival, Chris Powell
had been Addicks boss for 1,152 days.
KEY PLAYER
LEE NOVAK
Charlton beat off stiff
competition to land the
Birmingham City striker
following an impressive
loan spell at Chesterfield.
Novak bagged 15 goals
for the Spireites – not bad
for an unselfish player
who stretches defences.
Addicks fans should follow
@charltonCARD, for protest news.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Bradley Dack. He was in our
academy. Why did we let him go?
This season we’ll finish in the top six,
I hope. That’s where we should be.
Save the date for both Millwall games.
FFT asks: Is Russell Slade a manager
to get excited about? He definitely is!
He’s just what we’ve been crying out
for: a British manager who knows the
league. I did like Jose [Riga], though –
it wasn’t his fault we were relegated.
Match-going supporter since 1998
CHESTERFIELD
Last season League One 18th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Lee Novak (15)
Last season, half of which was overseen
by Danny Wilson following the inevitable
November dismissal of Dean Saunders,
was spent hovering precariously above
the League One drop zone, with survival
eventually secured courtesy of a 3-0 win
over Bury on the penultimate weekend.
Given the many departures over the
summer of 2015 – Jimmy Ryan, Gary
Roberts, Sam Clucas and Tendayi
Darikwa were all key under previous
boss Paul Cook – the struggle wasn’t
a big surprise, but Wilson believes
there’s a simple solution for climbing the
table again: muscle. Chesterfield were
bullied all too easily last term; Wilson is
identifying players to put a stop to that.
One of those players will be Ched
Evans, brought into the side to replace
the goals scored by last season’s
now-departed top scorer, loanee
Lee Novak. Chesterfield made national
headlines in the summer when they
decided to throw Evans a career lifeline:
the 27-year-old striker had his rape
conviction quashed in April and will face
a retrial in October. He hasn’t played
professionally for four years.
FT VERDICT: 18TH
FAN FILE
BEN LITTLEWOOD
This season will be different
to last because expectations
are much lower. Avoiding
relegation was a huge relief.
Our most underrated player
is Liam O’Neil (top).
Keep an eye out for Conor
Dimaio. Impressive performances
have highlighted his potential.
The best away fans are Sheffield
United’s, by some distance.
THE BOSS
DANNY WILSON
Now in the ninth post of a managerial
career that stretches back 22 years,
Wilson has spent the past 18 seasons
working almost continuously at this
level. There’s nothing too innovative
about his approach these days, but
equally there are few problems he
has not seen before and cannot solve.
DID YOU KNOW?
New Spireites signing Reece Mitchell,
from Chelsea, grew up in the same year
group as Raheem Sterling at Copland
Community School near Wembley.
KEY PLAYER
JAY O’SHEA
The Irishman is in
demand: with former
manager Paul Cook in
charge at Fratton Park,
Chesterfield are having
to fend off Portsmouth
with a stick. Cook won’t
be the last to bid for the
goalscoring midfielder.
Save the date for special events
celebrating 150 years of the Spireites.
Spireites fans should follow Rai
Simons (@RaiSimons13_), for the life
of a League One player.
The opposition player
I secretly admire is Burton’s
Kyle McFadzean (left, with
MK Dons). He’s one of the best
centre-backs at this level.
This season we’ll finish
mid-table, I think. Aspiring for anything
more would be unrealistic. It depends
on our transfer activity, though.
Attended every game last season
 COVENTRY CITY
Last season League One 8th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Adam Armstrong (20)
A local newspaper poll came back with
a 93 per cent vote of confidence in Tony
Mowbray in the summer, which speaks
volumes for the job he did over the first
five months of last season – because the
next four were a complete disaster.
When they opened 2016 by thumping
Crewe 5-0 on the road, Coventry were
just three points off the top. But nine
defeats in 14 matches followed and the
Sky Blues finished eighth, stretching their
run without a top-six finish to 47 years.
For many, the pain was too much to
bear. But this was a baying mob without
a scapegoat. Dumbstruck supporters
didn’t turn on Mowbray; if anything, they
just seemed resentful of the hope he’d
given a fanbase starved of it, with his
exotic signings and scintillating football.
For Mowbray, post-Christmas collapse
is not a new phenomenon: he suffered it
twice at Middlesbrough. If he wants to fix
that, one obvious solution is to rely less
heavily on loan signings (they had 12 last
season). The goals of Newcastle’s Adam
Armstrong won’t be easily replaced, even
with ex-Team GB striker Marvin Sordell
arriving to rebuild a broken career.
FFT VERDICT: 7TH
FAN FILE
NICK ROBINSON
This season will be different to last
because Tony Mowbray has got more
of a structure this time around.
Our underrated player is Ruben
Lameiras. He deserves more credit.
Keep an eye out for our defender
Cian Harries. Remember the name.
The best away fans are Bradford’s:
they make noise and bring plenty.
The best away ground is MK Dons’
impressive home – good to have it back.
THE BOSS
TONY MOWBRAY
The son of a steel worker and scaffolder,
‘Mogga’ is big on creating the right
working environment for his players to
enjoy their work and thrive. The results
can be somewhat inconsistent, though.
History suggests he struggles to lift
teams when form takes a nosedive.
DID YOU KNOW?
Coventry’s 6-0 win over Bury in February
was their biggest league victory in more
than 50 years, since they turned over
Shrewsbury Town 8-1 in the third tier
back in October 1963.
KEY PLAYER
ROMAIN
VINCELOT
The Frenchman’s
flexibility as a warrio
midfielder who can
also cover at centre
enabled Mowbray t
shift formations las
season without Vin
losing his combativ
One change I’d make at our club is
the owners, plain and simple.
Coventry fans should follow Reice
Charles-Cook (@MrReiceCook).
The best away ground grub is
Oldham Athletic’s pies.
Save the date for April 22, when we
are at home to Walsall in an M6 clash.
This season we’ll finish promoted.
Mowbray has been given the time to
ensure that he is well-equipped.
FFT asks: Were you disappointed to
see Joe Cole’s contract cancelled?
Not at all, but I do hope he will return!
Season ticket holder since 1997
FLEETWOOD TOWN
Last season League One 19th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Bobby Grant (10)
Fleetwood stayed up at the expense of
local rivals Blackpool last term, but it
was hardly a cause for rejoicing among
the Cod Army, who enjoy something akin
to friendship with their neighbours from
down the Fylde coast. No, the pervading
sensation was one of muted relief.
While Town were competitive, their
2015-16 was a slog. “Nobody thumped
us,” proclaimed chairman Andy Pilley,
“but we just didn’t grind out results.”
Graham Alexander was initially held
accountable and sacked in September,
but things barely improved under Steven
Pressley. When Alexander rocked up
at Scunthorpe and led them to a late
(if unsuccessful) play-off charge, it
urely crossed a few minds that maybe
leetwood as a club had gone stale.
Chris Maxwell and Antoni Sarcevic,
ainstays of the past three years,
ave since moved on. The captures of
hris Neal (from Port Vale), Cian Bolger
Southend), Alex Cairns (Rotherham),
shley Eastham (Rochdale), Michael
uckworth (Hartlepool) and Aaron
madi-Holloway (Wycombe) represent
bold attempt to freshen things up.
FFT VERDICT: 22ND
FAN FILE
JAKE ASHURST
This season will be
different to last
because we’ll be a bit
more clinical up front, hopefully.
Our most underrated player is
young defender Joe Davis.
The best away ground is Bramall
Lane. The Valley will be good, too.
Our pantomime villain is Rochdale’s
Ian Henderson. He rolls around like
a baby when anyone goes near him.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 67
THE BOSS
STEVEN PRESSLEY
Recommended to Coventry by Alex
Ferguson three years ago, Pressley
(above) never lived up to his billing,
but the difficult circumstances under
which he was operating were taken
into account when Andy Pilley handed
him Fleetwood’s reins last October.
The jury’s still out, though, so a strong
start to the new season is essential.
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite having been in the Football
League for four years, Fleetwood have
yet to win a match in the League Cup.
KEY PLAYER
JIMMY RYAN
A class act in the holding
midfield role, Ryan was
easily the standout
performer last term.
His steadying presence,
confident distribution
and intelligent game
management provides
a substantial platform.
One change I’d make at our club is
to get rid of the manager.
Pressley is tactically inept.
This season we’ll finish
anywhere above 16th.
Save the date for Bolton
away on August 20. It’s
monumental for us.
FFT asks: Shola Ameobi (left) had his
contract cancelled over the summer.
What did you make of his brief spell?
I expected a bit more from him in
lifting the team and helping the young
players. The gamble didn’t pay off.
Season ticket holder since 2008
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
GILLINGHAM
Last season League One 9th FA Cup First Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Bradley Dack (15)
No matter how well you manage
expectations, it’s never easy seeing
a promising season go up in smoke.
Gillingham were fourth as they came
out of the Easter period, with an outside
chance of pipping Burton Albion to
the second automatic promotion berth,
but a run of five defeats in their final six
matches saw them finish as low as ninth.
A numbing 3-2 home defeat to
Shrewsbury in April was the moment
that the unfolding nightmare hit home.
For the first time all season, and with just
two matches remaining, the Gills were
outside the play-off places, looking in.
Justin Edinburgh must now suffer the
pitfalls of that success, without having
tasted the perks. Defender John Egan
has already moved up to the next level
with Brentford, and others are set to
follow. Business has been slow so far,
but Edinburgh knows what’s coming.
Another promotion push seems
fanciful for the Kent club, but once
everything settles down, Edinburgh’s
tactical nous should be enough to
navigate the Gills away from any
danger of exiting in the other direction.
FFT VERDICT: 14TH
FAN FILE
DANNYSMITH
This season will be different to last
because we won’t blow our season
with two wins in the final 15 games.
Our most underrated player is Aaron
Morris (top, right): the man for a crisis.
The best away fans are Sheffield
United’s, who still bring a big club
atmosphere despite slumming it in
League One for six seasons now.
The best away ground is Valley Parade
and its charming crapness.
68 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
JUSTIN EDINBURGH
The former Tottenham defender has
a keen eye for tactical detail and isn’t
afraid to go against the grain to achieve
the right balance. He likes to work with
a settled side, though that approach can
backfire when injuries hit, because Gills’
replacements lack the same quality.
DID YOU KNOW?
Justin Edinburgh has said that when he
played for Portsmouth in the early 2000s,
the cash-strapped club often had to find
public parks where the players could
train, before being seen and chased off.
KEY PLAYER
JOSH WRIGHT
Without a club last
summer, the ex-Leyton
Orient midfielder trained
with the Gills for free and
won himself a contract,
going on to make 41
outings in the league.
Wright’s can-do attitude
could be crucial this term.
Gills fans should follow @maxehmer.
Save the date for Millwall away on
New Year’s Eve. It’s either the very best
or the very worst way to wrap up 2016.
This season we’ll finish above last
season’s ninth place, which would
be an outstanding achievement.
FFT asks: Were you surprised to see
Doug Loft leave in the summer? Who
should take over as captain? Loft
struggled with injuries and never really
made a mark, so it’s no huge loss. Mark
Byrne has played under Edinburgh
before and could be his go-to man.
Season ticket holder since 2000
MILLWALL
Last season League One 4th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Lee Gregory (21)
Neil Harris has managed to deliver on
his promise to restore Millwall’s identity,
reconnecting the fans with a team ethic
built on tenacity and aggression. The
Lions are high-tempo and direct, sticking
to a rigid 4-4-2 framework, with a heavy
emphasis on winning individual battles.
It wasn’t quite enough for promotion
last time around, their limitations being
exposed at Wembley by an outstanding
Barnsley side containing several quality
loanees. Relying on ‘outsiders’, however,
is a road that Harris refuses to go down.
Now the foundations are in place for
an automatic promotion tilt. Harris
insists his team will be better, implying
top two – after all, they collected 47
points from their final 22 games.
The boss is prioritising creativity on the
flanks and the arrival of wingers David
Worrall from Southend and Gregg Wylde
from Plymouth looks good business.
Last season, Millwall lost their first four
home games. Now it’s hard to imagine
them suffering two successive defeats
in front of their own fans. If the Lions
can hit the ground running in 2016-17,
they could take some stopping.
FFT VERDICT: 1ST
FAN FILE
NICK HART
This season will be different
to last because we have
a weight of expectation.
Our most underrated player
is Steve Morison (top).
The opposition player
I secretly admire is not
a player, but I’ve got huge respect for
Charlton chairman Roland Duchatelet.
The best away ground is at Milton
Keynes (right). It oozes character.
THE BOSS
NEIL HARRIS
The 39-year-old former Lions striker has
thrived on adversity ever since a cancer
diagnosis in 2001 that he now describes
as a “great life experience”. So long as
his players play with energy, desire and
mental toughness, Harris will forgive
shortcomings and back them to the hilt.
DID YOU KNOW?
Last season’s play-off final saw Millwall
at Wembley for the fourth time in seven
years, following League One play-off
finals in 2009 and 2010, and the FA
Cup semi-final against Wigan in 2013.
KEY PLAYER
LEE GREGORY
The striker finished last
season by netting 17 goals
in his final 25 Lions games.
That blistering run was
the driving force behind
Millwall’s surge up the
table, and similar form
will be key to any
promotion push.
Save the date for our new striped kit,
matching 1966, when we set a record
for going 59 home games unbeaten.
This season we’ll finish in the top six
– that’s a minimum after last
season’s heroics. We’ll learn
from the play-off final.
FFT asks: You’ve signed David
Worrall, known for his good
crossing. Is this an area
Millwall needed to improve?
Absolutely. When we had Jed Wallace
on loan from Wolves last season, we
looked like prospects for the top two.
Podcaster for Achtung! Millwall!
 MILTON KEYNES DONS
Last season Championship 23rd FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Nicky Maynard (8)
Karl Robinson (above) has promised big
changes following relegation, with the
attacking third set for an overhaul as
he looks to redisover the spark that
went missing in the Championship.
But when you consider that Dele Alli
and Benik Afobe were the players largely
responsible for the goals that propelled
them upwards in 2014-15, it gives you
some measure of the gap that the
manager is attempting to bridge.
If the Dons do finish near the top, it will
mean the search for the ‘next big thing’
has been successful. The club harbours
high hopes that Connor Furlong and Oran
Jackson fit the bill, both winning senior
debuts last term. Standard-bearers Dean
Lewington and Darren Potter ensure that
newcomers – which this year include Ed
Upson from Millwall and Paul Downing
from Walsall – know what is required.
In the meantime, Robinson talks about
the importance of looking and behaving
like the most accomplished outfit in
the league. With AFC Wimbledon now
competing in the same division as MK
Dons, the manner in which you conduct
yourself has never seemed so important.
FFT VERDICT: 12TH
FAN FILE
JOZEF CHAPMAN
This season will be different to last
because we’re a division lower and
fighting a promotion battle rather
than a relegation one... hopefully.
Our most underrated player is George
Baldock. After a few loan spells he has
come back and flourished.
Keep an eye out for Connor Furlong.
The young midfielder will want to
begin pushing for a place in the
first-team squad this season.
THE BOSS
KARL ROBINSON
Robinson is the second-longest-serving
manager in the Football League and
continues to be linked with bigger jobs
elsewhere, but appreciates that he has
a cushy number in Milton Keynes with
the loyal backing of Pete Winkelman.
DID YOU KNOW?
MK Dons are 24-year-old Paul Downing’s
seventh club, following West Bromwich
Albion, Hereford, Rotherham, Barnet,
Shrewsbury and Walsall, but the
central defender made first-team
appearances for only three of them.
KEY PLAYER
DEAN LEWINGTO
As the only remaining
connection to the old
Wimbledon, skipper
Dean understands the
significance of sharing
a league with the new
club, and his leadershi
qualities will be vital in
the bid to bounce back
The best away fans are Millwall’s.
They always travel in good numbers
and make a lot of noise, too.
The best away ground is Fleetwood’s.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Tom Hitchcock.
Save the date for March 14: our first
league trip to face AFC Wimbledon.
This season we’ll finish fourth.
FFT asks: How much blame should
Karl Robinson take for last term’s
relegation? Sometimes his reluctance
to change tactics did cost us, but last
year’s recruitment was very, very poor.
Supporter since “the Wimbledon days”
NORTHAMPTON TOWN
Last season League Two Winners FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Marc Richards (18)
After a title-winning season that turned
out better than anyone dared imagine,
the summer brought some very harsh
realities for Northampton with the
departure of manager Chris Wilder and
star turn Ricky Holmes, who both moved
to bigger fish in the very same division
where the Cobblers now reside.
The decision of both men could be
seen as an admission that 2015-16 was
a one-off; an extraordinary campaign
that resulted from a chemistry nobody
could ever knowingly recreate. It’s not
as if the Cobblers had been building
towards this for several years.
But in appointing Rob Page, new owner
Kelvin Thomas can at least consolidate
and build towards a brighter future with
League One status as the benchmark.
The Welshman did a solid job working
with a similar budget at Port Vale.
Page got to work at Sixfields by signing
seven players in his first month, namely
keepers David Cornell and Paddy Kenny,
defenders Aaron Phillips, Gabriel Zakuani
and Raheem Hanley, midfielder Jak
McCourt and attacker Alex Revell. Several
of them dropped a level or two to sign up.
FFT VERDICT: 16TH
FAN FILE
JOE BALL
This season will be
different to last
because we probably
won’t win the league!
Our most underrated player is
David Buchanan – I’m a big fan of his.
Keep an eye out for Rod McDonald,
who could be set for a decent year.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Midfielder Lawson
D’Ath. He just hasn’t made the grade.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 69
THE BOSS
ROB PAGE
The former Watford defender regards
Graham Taylor and Kenny Jackett as
big influences on his management and
his pragmatic approach to dealing with
problems reflects that. As a centre-back
who played more than 500 games and
captained his country, his leadership
credentials are beyond question.
DID YOU KNOW?
Northampton’s route to the League Two
title last season saw them collect 99
points – the same amount as in their
record-breaking 1986-87 campaign.
KEY PLAYER
JOHN-JOE O’TOOLE
The maverick midfielder
can be unplayable, but
the arrival of a new
manager raises
questions over whether he
can replicate last season’s
form. If Page is flexible, then
JJ should adjust and make
an impact at the higher level.
The one change I’d make at our club
is to introduce safe standing.
The opposition player
I secretly admire is Lyle
Taylor at Wimbledon (left).
This season we’ll finish
somewhere in mid-table.
Save the date for our trip to
Peterborough on October 18.
FFT asks: Your new boss Rob Page
took Port Vale to 12th in League One
last season – would you settle for
that? Yes. That’s a realistic finish for
us. We won’t be repeating last season!
Match-going supporter since 2000
 OLDHAM ATHLETIC
Last season League One 17th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Liam Kelly (6)
Oldham were left searching for their
sixth manager in less than 18 months
when John Sheridan walked out in May,
dropping down a division to take a job
with better prospects at Notts County.
Given Sheridan’s affinity with the club,
it spoke volumes for an apparent lack of
resources at Boundary Park, a perception
further accentuated by the difficulty in
finding a suitable successor.
Chief executive Neil Joy set a deadline
of June 13 to have a new man in place,
but Steve Robinson (above) didn’t arrive
until nearly a month later, after an
attempt to land Steve Evans had failed.
By that stage, Jonathan Forte, Liam
Kelly, Joel Coleman, James Wilson and
Dominic Poleon had all left, meaning
Robinson inherited a first-team squad
containing just six senior professionals.
The Ulsterman is keen to accentuate
the potential of starting with a blank
canvas. Jamie Reckford, Josh Law, Chris
Kettings, Lee Erwin, Luke Woodland and
Connor Ripley were all swift arrivals. The
Latics’ fate will rest on the gaffer’s ability
to assemble, from scratch, a whole far
greater than the sum of its parts.
FFT VERDICT: 24TH
FAN FILE
JOSHUA BOWKER
This season will be different
to last because there’ll be no
John Sheridan (right) miracle
in the second half of it.
The best away ground is
Fleetwood’s: always a great
day at the seaside, and it’s
fun standing behind the goal
Latics fans should follow
@Holden28Mike, aka OAFC
Memories, as he tweets great pictures.
70 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
THE BOSS
STEVE ROBINSON
The former Motherwell assistant was
part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom staff
for Northern Ireland at Euro 2016, so
he’s used to working with underdogs.
The former Bournemouth and Luton
midfielder prioritises organisation and
team structure and expects his side to
play with energy and counter with pace.
DID YOU KNOW?
Goalkeeper Connor Ripley, on loan from
Middlesbrough and an England Under-20
international, is the son of former
Blackburn and England winger Stuart.
KEY PLAYER
BRIAN WILSON
The 33-year-old
defender signed
a new contract in
July, which gives the
beleaguered Latics
a smidge of continuity
in a much-changed team.
His experience will be vital
across a tough season.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is young Welsh striker
Jake Cassidy. He hasn’t scored a single
goal since September 2014.
This season we’ll finish
somewhere in the bottom
hird of the table. Again.
FT asks: What should be
he priority for the new
manager? Players in every
osition, but especially
goalkeeper, a new back
ur, two wingers and
couple of strikers. Easy…
Season ticket holder for 13 years
OXFORD UNITED
Last season League Two 2nd FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Kemar Roofe (26)
Oxford had to wait until the final day to
secure promotion from League Two, but
only because they’d spent much of the
previous nine months proving they were
already League One material, with all
three cup competitions bringing wins
against teams from higher divisions.
The consistency the U’s maintained
when competing on three fronts during
the winter suggests they are the best
equipped of the four promoted sides
to cope with the demands at this level,
although losing the services of top
scorer Kemar Roofe, who has joined
Leeds United, won’t help their cause.
Their budget has increased to remain
competitive – six new players were on
board by early July, including on-loan
Arsenal youngster Dan Crowley, and
Bolton’s Rob Hall joined soon after – but
the importance of a happy camp means
that the wage structure won’t be broken.
Manager Michael Appleton is basking
in the club’s new status as a desirable
destination. “All of a sudden, agents are
ringing us,” he said. “I think we’ve put
Oxford on the map. When they talk about
styles, our name keeps cropping up.”
FFT VERDICT: 2ND
FAN FILE
TONY FALLOWS
This season will be different to last
because we’re back in League One.
Our most underrated player is Joe
Skarz (top) – he is hugely consistent.
The best away fans are Coventry’s.
Being in a similar situation as tenants
in our stadium, we feel the pain of
what they have been through.
The best away ground is Bramall
Lane. It has so much history and is
always an impressive place to visit.
THE BOSS
MICHAEL APPLETON
The jury was out when Oxford finished
in the bottom half of League Two in his
first season in 2014-15, but Appleton
was too busy putting solid foundations
in place to care about perceptions. Few
are more level-headed: the 40-year-old
Salfordian does a remarkable job of
keeping his emotions in check.
DID YOU KNOW?
Oxford have sold a best-ever number of
season tickets at the Kassam Stadium.
In flogging 4,346, they have surpassed
their record from the 2011-12 campaign.
KEY PLAYER
LIAM SERCOMBE
An inspired signing from
Exeter City in May 2015,
the 26-year-old found
another level playing
alongside better players. His
desire to get forward has
brought him 17 goals
and added punch to
the pretty football.
One change I’d make at our club is to
get our own stadium, whether building
a new one or buying the current one.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is George Baldock of MK Dons.
This season we’ll finish mid-table.
Save the date for Swindon. Five wins
in a row – five! – will hopefully be
seven come the end of the season.
FFT asks: Is Kemar Roofe worth £3m?
He did win League Two Player of the
Season. He’s a class above. Goals last
season against Swansea and Brentford
showed he has what it takes to step up.
yellowsforum.co.uk
 PETERBOROUGH UNITED
Last season League One 13th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Conor Washington (15)
Owner Darragh MacAnthony revealed
that he was ready to call it a day after
sacking Graham Westley in April, only
to be reinvigorated by both the passion
and drive of new boss Grant McCann.
McCann had successfully tapped into
a special chemistry when taking charge
seven months earlier, guiding previously
aimless Peterborough to a rousing 5-1
away victory at Oldham, prompting calls
for him to be given the job full-time.
But MacAnthony turned to Westley,
and though it appeared to be a shrewd
move as Peterborough climbed half
a division to occupy a play-off berth by
Christmas, things took a turn for the
worse when Westley inexplicably began
to experiment with tactics and team
selection in the new year. McCann isn’t
tainted by association with past failures,
with the team scoring nine goals (and
conceding four) in two games when he
returned to the dugout in late April.
Ryan Tafazolli, Brad Inman, Andrew
Hughes, Hayden White, Matty Stevens
and Gwion Edwards all made the move
to London Road over the summer, and
a top-six finish could be on the cards.
FFT VERDICT: 6TH
FAN FILE
TOM HUTCHINGS
This season will be
different to last
because we have the
right man in charge.
Our most
underrated player is
Marcus Maddison. He’s Marmite with
fans, but the best attacker we have.
The best away fans are Millwall’s. They
have a noisy following and have never
caused problems at London Road.
THE BOSS
GRANT McCANN
As a player, McCann was lauded for his
temperament – he always delivered at
key moments – so onlookers shouldn’t
be surprised by a determination to take
his big break in management with such
conviction. He was a cultured midfielder,
but a career total of seven red cards give
a clue to the edge that lies beneath.
DID YOU KNOW?
It’s 10 years since Darragh MacAnthony
bought Peterborough and he will be
overseeing his 10th permanent boss
this season, having appointed McCann.
KEY PLAYER
CHRIS FORRESTER
A speculative signing
from St Patrick’s Athletic
12 months ago, the
young Dubliner
arrived at London
Road as a left-winger
but ended the campaign
at the base of a midfield
diamond under McCann.
Save the date for November 19, away
at Northampton. It’s been a while
since our poor little rivals got to the
ofty heights of League One.
Peterborough fans should
follow @DMAC102.
This season we’ll finish in the top
x. I have confidence in McCann.
FT asks: How much of an
influence does Darragh
MacAnthony have on the team and
tactics? None at all. Our chairman
makes his feelings known, but I don’t
think he has any say in who plays.
Match-going supporter since 1994
PORT VALE
Last season League One 12th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer AJ Leitch-Smith (12)
After two progressive campaigns under
Rob Page, one extraordinary local radio
interview with the chairman Norman
Smurthwaite has raised concerns about
the current state of affairs at Vale Park;
concerns that remain uneased by the
appointment of Bruno Ribeiro (above).
Page left for Northampton in May, with
Smurthwaite claiming he effectively
forced the manager out by reducing his
playing budget by £800,000, stating the
intention was always to re-raise the
figure for his eventual successor.
The claim brought strong criticism from
Vale legend Robbie Earle and, reading
between the lines, it would appear that
Ribeiro’s long-standing friendship with
Jose Mourinho was the main attraction.
The new coach admits he’ll pick up the
phone to his fellow Portuguese when the
time is right, but must rely on his own
mettle in the short term to plug the gaps
left by the departure of key men Byron
Moore, Louis Dodds and AJ Leitch-Smith,
all of whom have moved to direct rivals.
Michael Brown gets his first break in
coaching as Ribeiro’s number two, and
one assumes it will be a hands-on role.
FFT VERDICT: 23RD
FAN FILE
MARK HEELIS
This season will be different to last
because we have a completely new
management team at the helm.
Our most underrated player is Adam
Yates. He always gives his best.
Keep an eye out for JJ Hooper.
The best away ground is Wimbledon’s.
It’s great to see a club with such an
inspirational recent history on the up.
Vale fans should follow Chairman
Norman Smurthwaite @smurfpvfc.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 71
THE BOSS
BRUNO RIBEIRO
The former Leeds and Sheffield United
midfielder has a questionable track
record, the Vale job being his eighth in
five years. He started out at hometown
club Vitoria Setubal and lasted less than
two months with Bulgarian champions
Ludogorets Razgrad, but has generally
inhabited the Portuguese lower leagues.
DID YOU KNOW?
New Vale signing Carlos Saleiro was the
first baby in Portugal to be born through
IVF treatment in 1986, and made 67
first-team outings for Sporting.
KEY PLAYER
ANTHONY GRANT
Unwanted by Crewe,
the 29-year-old made
the move to Burslem in
June 2015 and quickly
rediscovered his best
form. His combative
approach in the holding role
brought 15 bookings but
gave Vale a solid platform.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Louis Dodds. Our creative
midfielder has joined Shrewsbury.
Save the date for opening day against
Bradford. It’s the first chance for fans
to see how our new team shapes up.
This season we’ll finish in mid-table.
FFT asks: How big a loss will former
manager Rob Page be? It could go
either way. The complete rethink could
be really exciting. Hopefully the less
than complimentary words from our
chairman about Rob Page since his
departure won’t come back to bite us.
OneValeFan.co.uk
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
ROCHDALE
Last season League One 10th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Ian Henderson (13)
In many ways, what Rochdale achieved
last term was even more remarkable
than the season before. But once you’ve
performed a trick once, the plaudits are
seldom forthcoming next time around
because the shock value disappears.
The extraordinary becomes the norm.
Here’s a reminder of it, nonetheless:
Rochdale finished in the top half of the
third tier for only the third time in 46
years, working with the division’s lowest
budget, and they surpassed their points
total from 2014-15 by six. So much for
second season syndrome.
They loitered near the play-off party
for much of the campaign but never
quite had the belief to gatecrash it – and
therein lies the mental hurdle that Keith
Hill will be looking to clear this season.
It’s all change at centre-back, with Olly
Lancashire, Ashley Eastham and Rhys
Bennett moving on to pastures new.
Niall Canavan and Harrison McGahey
arrive as ready-made replacements.
A top-six finish might be beyond Dale,
but seeing their name above the dotted
line at some stage post-October would
give them a taste of targets to come.
FFT VERDICT: 9TH
FAN FILE
DEANSMITH
This season will be different to last
because we’ll hopefully be better
defensively after a few new signings.
Our most underrated player is
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. The winger
has got bags of skill and speed.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Joe Bunney – weaker
than the Carlsberg in the club bar!
The best away ground is the Macron.
I’m looking forward to going there.
72 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
KEITH HILL
One of English football’s unsung heroes,
Hill (above) continues to take in players
not equipped for the culture at other
clubs and get them to express their
talent. He’s a man completely at ease
with this level of football and his ability
to continually produce teams that
entertain and get results within it.
DID YOU KNOW?
Rochdale’s 0-0 stalemate with Oldham
in October was their third goalless draw
in a row – an unwanted hat-trick they
had not achieved since December 1972.
KEY PLAYER
JAMIE ALLEN
The 21-year-old midfield
orchestrator is far too
grounded to get carried
away by team-mates
comparing him to Paul
Scholes. This will be Allen
fourth season as a first-t
regular; his consistency
has been remarkable.
Dale fans should follow @petevincenti
– possibly the nicest man in football.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Bradley Dack, a fine player.
This season we’ll finish in
upper-mid-table again. Our squad is
pretty much the same as last year’s.
Save the date for the games against
Oldham. The last few have been
entertaining so they should be good.
FFT asks: Are you worried that Dale
might lose Keith Hill if the club have
another successful season? Definitely.
I live in fear of King Keith leaving.
RochdaleAFC.com
SCUNTHORPE UNITED
Last season League One 7th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Paddy Madden (23)
It’s tempting for Scunthorpe fans to look
back on last season with tinges of regret
about what might have been, recalling
pivotal moments in key matches that
didn’t quite go their way. Just one more
point and they would have snatched
Barnsley’s place in the play-offs and
might now be in the Championship.
The truth, though, is that Scunny
played with freedom only once they
thought their cause was lost. They were
15th in the standings when January’s
5-0 defeat against doomed Blackpool
sounded the death knell for Mark Robins.
Given a fresh start, with nothing to
lose, they collected 42 points from the
final 20 games, demonstrating beyond
doubt that a team capable of a genuine
promotion push lurks somewhere within.
Midfielders Duane Holmes, Josh Morris
and Sam Mantom have all joined the
club, and manager Graham Alexander
is confident he has the right tools at his
disposal. The big question is whether he
can take the heat off his players and
then keep them focused, recapturing the
same chemistry that made Scunthorpe
look formidable when it mattered less.
FFT VERDICT: 5TH
FAN FILE
JAKE WYKES
This season will be
different to last
because Graham
Alexander has
steadied the ship.
Our most underrated
player is Jamie Ness (top) by a country
mile. He’s such a composed midfielder.
Keep an eye out for Hakeeb Adelakun.
The best away fans are Oldham’s.
Their support was fantastic last year.
THE BOSS
GRAHAM ALEXANDER
He’s not the most charismatic, but
Alexander’s playing career commands
the utmost respect given its longevity
and level. His teams have excellent
game management, regularly staying in
matches when the tide is against them
and nicking points that others wouldn’t.
DID YOU KNOW?
When Aston Villa paid £350,000 to sign
Neil Cox from Scunny in 1991, they not
only broke the Iron’s record transfer fee
but also threw in some seats, which were
used at Glanford Park until 2007-08.
KEY PLAYER
PADDY MADDEN
The Irishman returned to his
favoured centre-forward
role last term and
responded with 20
league goals. A spell
out wide shows he retains
the capacity to create some
chances, too. He forms a good
partnership with Tom Hopper.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Bradford’s James Hanson.
He’s a big, mean striker. I would love
see him sign for Scunthorpe.
Our pantomime villain is
Billy Sharp (left): ex-Scunny
and loves to score against us.
his season we’ll finish
omewhere in the top 10.
FT asks: Do you think you
will stay up if you don’t invest in
a goalscoring striker? We have Paddy
Madden. He bagged 23 last season
and is capable of 20+ every season.
Saw more than 50 games in 2015-16
 SHEFFIELD UNITED
Last season League One 11th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Billy Sharp (21)
After the mismatch that was Nigel
Adkins and the Bramall Lane faithful,
Sheffield United fans once again have
a manager who talks their language.
Chris Wilder isn’t just a boyhood Blade;
he’s also a no-nonsense operator.
Adkins won’t struggle for employment
opportunities elsewhere – other clubs
and fanbases will be lining up to buy into
his happy-clappy brand of pull-together
positivity... just not in Yorkshire right
now. And whatever he was trying to
build, Wilder doesn’t agree with it: the
48-year-old’s first act was to release 10
players and put seven more up for sale.
“We’re going to have rows,” said
Wilder, describing a managerial style
that pushed Northampton to a runaway
League Two title success under testing
conditions last season. “But they will
always be rows for the right reasons.”
The Blades have languished for five
years at this level, so Wilder’s aggressive
entrance is a statement of intent: any
mercenaries will not be tolerated. With
more tenacity and fight, the Blades will
soon be back in the reckoning. A top-six
finish shouldn’t be too much to ask.
FFT VERDICT: 4TH
FAN FILE
PAUL MCDONALD
This season will be different to last
because it can’t get any worse. In all
my years following United, I’ve never
known such a disconnection between
players, management, board and fans.
One change I’d make at our club is
focusing on what we need to do on
the pitch. Some bright spark decided
a circus performing at Bramall Lane
during the summer was a good idea.
You really couldn’t make it up…  Season ticket holder since 1997
THE BOSS
CHRIS WILDER
In at the deep end as a League One boss
after 14 years a division or two below,
Wilder’s stock has never been higher
after a superb season at Northampton.
He doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but long
stints at Halifax and Oxford illustrate the
level of stability that he brings.
DID YOU KNOW?
A sixth consecutive season in League
One makes this the longest amount of
time that Sheffield United have spent
outside the top two tiers of English
football in their 127-year history.
KEY PLAYER
CHE ADAMS
If Wilder can get
Adams, a real
rough diamond,
sharp in both mind
and body, then the
20-year-old former
Ilkeston winger has the
quality to spark an overdue
promotion tilt for United.
The best away ground is Rochdale’s
or Oldham’s, for going out around
Manchester before and after. None of
them really stand out in League One.
Blades fans should follow @SUSA_org.
This season we’ll finish in the play-offs
because saying top two keeps jinxing it.
FFT asks: Is Chris Wilder the man to
take you back into the Championship?  and are hoping to push
Doing it at the first time of asking is
a tough ask with the high turnover of
playing staff and decrease in budget.
Hopefully he will be afforded the
patience that has been sadly lacking.
SHREWSBURY TOWN
Last season League One 20th FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorers Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro, Shaun Whalley (7)
Micky Mellon threw down a gauntlet
to chairman Roland Wycherley in May,
calling for assurances about his position
and backing in the transfer market.
It was a bold move, but the manager’s
suitability and commitment were never
in doubt. He was also well aware that
the club had made a few quid from cup
exploits last term, as well as the sales
of Connor Goldson and Ryan Woods.
Wycherley accepted the challenge and
upped the budget. By the time the squad
had reconvened for pre-season training,
seven new faces of proven League One
pedigree were already on board. Ryan
McGivern, AJ Leitch-Smith, Louis Dodds,
Olly Lancashire, Jim O’Brien, Joe Riley,
Gary Deegan and Antoni Sarcevic all bring
something different and Mellon has the
acumen to maximise those resources.
Given the destabilising effect of Woods
and Goldson’s departures last August,
it was little surprise that the Shrews
spent much of the campaign treading
water. With no such concerns about
outside influences intervening this time
around, the Shropshire club can achieve
their best league finish since 1990.
FFT VERDICT: 11TH
FAN FILE
LIAM HOOFE
This season will be different to last
because we’re much better
prepared. We have made
some impressive signings
up the table.  with their efficiency in the
The best away ground
is Bolton’s. I’m excited
about visiting there on Boxing Day.
Our pantomime villain is striker Tom
Bradshaw (above). He left Town a few
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 73
THE BOSS
MICKY MELLON
A proud Scot who puts great stock in
players prepared to make sacrifices for
their career, Mellon (above) is a jovial
figure in the day-to-day environment
but a serious competitior on matchdays.
He is a canny tactician and has bloodied
the nose of many higher-level managers
during the past couple of campaigns.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Shrews’ run to the FA Cup fifth round
last season was a refreshing change for
fans who’d seen their side fall at the first
hurdle in nine of the previous 12 years.
KEY PLAYER
ABU OGOGO
The Arsenal academy
graduate joined Town
last season after six
years at Dagenham
& Redbridge, but
needed no time to
adjust: ever-consistent
displays made him the
club’s player of the year.
years back for local rivals Walsall and
hasn’t stopped scoring for them since. 
This season we’ll finish comfortably
mid-table – somewhere around 12th.  
FFT asks: How impressed were you
with the arrival of six players within
weeks of the season
nding? The club have
eally impressed everyone
ransfer market so far. We
pent a lot of time with
a ractured squad last season and
Mellon is intending to put that right.  
Match-going supporter since 1995
SKY BET LEAGUE ONE
SOUTHEND UNITED
Last season League One 14th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Jack Payne (9)
Come-and-get-me pleas don’t come
much more flagrant than Phil Brown’s
attempt on Channel 5 last April, as the
Southend boss chose the Football League
Tonight show to trumpet his undying
love for managerless Bolton on the
day the Trotters were relegated.
The matter was put to bed a fortnight
later when Brown declared his intention
to stay at Roots Hall, but Shrimpers fans
were understandably irked. One wonders
whether resentment might resurface.
The summer has brought a shake-up.
Playmaker Jack Payne has been prised
away by Huddersfield, and regulars Gary
Deegan, David Worrall and Cian Bolger
have moved to other League One clubs.
Both Jason Demetriou and Jermaine
McGlashan were early arrivals in Essex,
while Brown also took the troubled
ex-Newcastle striker Nile Ranger on trial.
Brown – with a four-match touchline
ban hanging over from last season – is
making no promises about a promotion
push, merely targeting a higher finish
than last term. That’s setting the bar low:
Southend may have finished 14th but
they were in the play-off hunt until April.
FFT VERDICT: 13TH
FAN FILE
JAMIE WHITE
This season will be different to last
because we’ll have nearly an entirely
new starting XI come August 6.  half. We’ve lost key players and I can’t
Our most underrated player is Will
Atkinson, a hard worker in midfield.
Keep an eye out for Jack Bridge.
He made his debut last season.  with the fans – are you sad to see him
The best away fans are Millwall’s. They
always bring a large, noisy following.
The best away ground is The Valley.
The away end is superb – and it’s local.  Season ticket holder since 2004
74 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
PHIL BROWN
Arguably the shrewdest game-by-game
strategist in this division, Brown (above)
typically produces his best work when
the Sky cameras are there to capture the
evidence. He’s a high-profile gaffer and
his ego hasn’t diminished; one suspects
he is itching to get back to a higher level
if the right opportunity comes along.
DID YOU KNOW?
Southend’s Anthony Wordsworth didn’t
exactly enjoy his full debut for Ipswich
in 2013, cracking three vertebrae in his
back during a clash against Blackpool.
KEY PLAYER
RYAN LEONARD
Approaching his
sixth campaign,
Leonard makes the
Shrimpers tick now more
than ever. He was voted
their player of the season
despite a knee injury ruling
him out of a nine-game
chunk of the run-in.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Scunthorpe’s Paddy Madden.
He’s a proven goalscorer at this level.  JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD
Our pantomime villain is our own
manager, Phil Brown, at times!
This season we’ll finish in the bottom
see where the goals are coming from.  no obvious goalscorer.
FFT asks: Midfielder Kevan Hurst
seemed to have a good relationship
go? Not really. He started well, but for
the past two-and-a-half years he was
poor and barely featured.
SWINDON TOWN
Last season League One 15th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Nicky Ajose (25)
Swindon fans never know what they’re
going to get with Lee Power calling the
shots. Not only do the Robins’ fortunes
fluctuate wildly from one six-month
period to the next; the chairman limits
access to staff and routinely bans media
outlets from attending matches.
Last season was always going to be
a tricky one in the wake of key players
returning to parent clubs or departing
for the Championship. When Mark
Cooper’s dismissal came in October, it
felt like the inevitable consequence of
a League One play-off hangover.
But Power’s impressive recruitment
network delivered another gem in Nicky
Ajose, whose 24-goal haul in the league
kept Swindon competitive, 22 of those
strikes coming after Cooper’s departure.
Martin Ling sparked the initial revival
only to step down eight weeks later,
paving the way for 35-year-old Luke
Williams to take his first coaching role.
Ajose has now moved on to League
One rivals Charlton, adding to the
pressure on Jonathan Obika (above),
whose firepower will be crucial if the
Robins are to avoid a relegation scrap.
FFT VERDICT: 21ST
FAN FILE
This season will be different
to last because we’ll have
an even younger squad and
Keep an eye out for Ellis
Iandolo and John Goddard.
One change I’d make at our club is
to lift the ban on the press. It’s petty.
Swindon fans should follow
@SamMorshead_ as he’s usually
entertaining and informative.
THE BOSS
LUKE WILLIAMS
Described by Power as “the best coach
I’ve come across in 25 years”, Williams
was supposedly reluctant to take the job
at first, but was persuaded once the role
and responsibilties had been defined. He
goes under the title ‘head coach’, while
Power remains in control of recruitment.
DID YOU KNOW?
Before 2010, Swindon hadn’t tasted
defeat in three trips to Wembley. Since
then, they have lost to Millwall (1-0 in
2009-10) and Preston (4-0 in 2014-15),
both in League One play-off finals.
KEY PLAYER
YASER KASIM
The Iraqi playmaker will
miss the start of the
season to play at the
Rio Olympics, but that
could work to Town’s
advantage, keeping potential
suitors at bay beyond the
August transfer window. He
should be playing higher up.
Save the date for two derbies in two
weeks: Bristol Rovers on August 27
and then Oxford on September 10.
This season we’ll finish in League Two.
FFT asks: Nicky Ajose
will be missed – but
were you surprised to
see him join Charlton
rather than stepping
up a league? I’m never
surprised to see players leave clubs.
It’s a good move for him. He could
have a huge effect on a League One
club with promotion aspirations.
Match-going supporter since 2000 
 WALSALL
Last season League One 3rd FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Tom Bradshaw (20)
Only time will tell whether Jon Whitney
(above) has what it takes to be succeed
long-term in management, but had the
Saddlers trusted him sooner, they might
now be playing in the Championship.
The appointment of Sean O’Driscoll
as Dean Smith’s successor at the Bescot
last December was a wrong turn that
set back a promising season. The dour
persona and risk-averse attitude of
O’Driscoll undermined the confidence of
what is still a talented group of players.
Whitney got the players enjoying their
football again. Walsall won 25 points in
their final 12 matches, but missed out on
automatic promotion by a single point.
Still, it’s one thing inheriting a good
side and injecting some confidence, but
a mass exodus this summer – including
talented trio Romaine Sawyers, Tom
Bradshaw and Sam Mantom – has left
Whitney with the sort of rebuilding job
that might not suit his skill set. A 6-1
aggregate play-off defeat to Barnsley
exposed concerns about his tactical
level; Whitney insists the shortcomings
are nothing that can’t be solved by
adding mental toughness to the squad.
FFT VERDICT: 19TH
FAN FILE
DYLAN FRADGLEY
This season will be
different to last
because our starting
XI has changed
completely.
Our most
underrated player is Kieron Morris.
He can be key in the midfield for us.
The best away ground is The Valley
(above): an ex-Premier League ground,
plus a good day out in London.
THE BOSS
JON WHITNEY
The 45-year-old ex-defender has been
a permanent fixture at the Bescot for the
past six years, first as a physio and then
as assistant to Dean Smith. A brilliant
motivator, his ability to galvanise players
after a defeat is second to none. But
does he have enough tactical nous?
DID YOU KNOW?
Walsall skipper Adam Chambers and his
brother, James, became the first twins
to play together in the Premier League
in 2002, turning out for West Bromwich
Albion in a 2-1 defeat against Arsenal.
KEY PLAYER
FLORENT CUVEL
The former Saddlers
loanee offers an
interesting case
study for Whitney’s
reviving qualities.
Cuvelier’s career has
stalled, but if he fulfi
potential, it could s
the blow of key dep
Saddlers’ fans should follow
@VitalWalsall, without a doubt.
This season we’ll finish 11th, though
there have been been huge changes
so it’s hard to say for certain.
Save the date for Shrewsbury
away on April 14 next year –
it’s always a key fixture.
FFT asks: Are you pleased to
see Florent Cuvelier back for
a third spell? Will he stick around this
time? He will be key to the squad.
It is great to see him tied down
permanently and not just on loan.
Attended 27 games last season
AFC WIMBLEDON
Last season League Two 7th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Lyle Taylor (23)
Fourteen years was all it took for AFC
Wimbledon to compete on equal terms
with MK Dons, following a sensational
second half to 2015-16 that culminated
with play-off glory at Wembley (above).
Whether the Dons wish for their name
to be shared in the same breath as the
club that took the original Wimbledon’s
place in the Football League is another
matter, but it’s something they’ll have
to get used to, because the thirst for
this storyline is unquenchable. The two
games against Karl Robinson’s men
will receive huge media attention.
As such, Neal Ardley’s biggest job
might be keeping players focused on
their own objectives, rather than being
sidetracked by the perception of their
ogress from elsewhere. Survival is the
mber one priority, and Ardley will
nt to be near the 50-point mark by
time his side host MK Dons at
ngsmeadow in mid-March.
Ardley came of age last term, creating
squad that enabled him to let his
actics do the talking. He won’t want
s campaign to become a sideshow in
hich attention to detail is secondary.
FT VERDICT: 20TH
FAN FILE
MATT LEITCH
This season will be different to last
because we’re out of the hell of League
Two, into the heaven of League One.
Keep an eye out for midfielder Jake
Reeves, soon to be League One’s Pirlo.
The best away ground grub is at
Stevenage. They even made some
AFC Wimbledon cupcakes last term!
Our pantomime villain is anyone or
anything from Milton Keynes, although
they’re more just straight-up villains.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 75
THE BOSS
NEAL ARDLEY
Highly regarded within coaching circles,
the 43-year-old finally lived up to much
talked-about potential in his fourth
season at Kingsmeadow. As a player he
appeared 301 times for the original
Wimbledon before departing in 2002
when they relocated to Milton Keynes.
DID YOU KNOW?
Wimbledon’s 2-0 League Two play-off
final win against Plymouth on May 30
took place exactly 14 years after the
phoenix club was born in the Fox and
Grapes pub on Wimbledon Common.
KEY PLAYER
JAKE REEVES
The inspirational Dannie
Bulman turns 38 next year,
so the demands on his
23-year-old sidekick are
only going to increase.
A terrific athlete with
incredible stamina, the
former Tottenham trainee
matured tactically last term.
This season we’ll finish 18th. You
can guarantee this will be correct...
Save the date for our first game
against Milton Keynes in the same
division on December 10. Most people
will look out for it but Wimbledon fans
try and ignore anything MK-related.
FFT asks: A move to Plough Lane
seems to be edging ever closer.
How important is that for the club?
It would allow us to leave Kingston
and go back to our rightful, spiritual
home in Wimbledon, giving us more
income and a much larger fanbase.
Season ticket holder since 2007
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Goals! Goals! Goals! The fourth tier is anything but drab – and it’s as competitive as ever, too
Attacking football was back on the
menu in League Two last season,
following a two-year cycle in which
the division had been dominated by
defensive, counter-attacking teams.
The 2015-16 campaign produced an
extra 155 goals compared to 2014-15
and 181 goals more than 2013-14.
It was the highest-scoring season
for five years, with four different
players (Bristol Rovers’ Matty Taylor,
Leyton Orient’s Jay Simpson, Barnet’s
John Akinde and AFC Wimbledon’s Lyle
Taylor) hitting 20 goals – as many as in
the previous four years combined. And
yet only one of that quartet – Rovers’
Taylor – secured automatic promotion.
It’s reasonable to assume the trends
will continue, and Orient will be in the
mix again. Portsmouth, though, are
the clear favourites, having added
Carl Baker, Danny Rose, Curtis Main
Michael Smith and Milan Lalkovic to
a squad that netted 75 times last term.
Notts County could be a force after
convincing John Sheridan to drop down
a division, also adding Jonathan Forte to
a strikeforce that already includes both
Izale McLeod and Jonathan Stead. The
Magpies were a shambles last term, but
Sheridan should knock them into shape.
Cambridge and Luton are now in their
third season back at this level and could
be ready to mount a promotion charge, Cambridge’s Luke Berry (right)
having exchanged old-school managers is ready to challenge
for younger models. Richard Money and at the top
John Still have put solid foundations in
place; now the early evidence suggests
that Shaun Derry and Nathan Jones
have the guile to help them progress.
Meanwhile, Carlisle could feature
prominently under Keith Curle. The
Cumbrians finished 10th last year
but faded on the back of a gruelling
campaign in which they were forced to
travel 15,748 miles, partly due to their
remarkable cup exploits and partly due
to the terrible floods that left Brunton
Park unplayable for several weeks.
Carlisle, more than anybody, will
welcome the trio of northern teams
relegated from League One: Blackpool,
Crewe and Doncaster. Recent history
suggests at least two of those and
Colchester will cluster somewhere in the
lower reaches of the table – only six of
the previous 36 teams dropping down
have figured in the basement division’s
top seven places the following season.
If anything, trends indicate Grimsby
and Cheltenham should fare better.
Over the past eight years, a quarter of
non-league newcomers have gone on
to achieve back-to-back promotions,
Bristol Rovers being the latest example.
League Two, eh? You’ve got to love it.

#FFTPREVIEW
2016-17 FIXTURES
Get involved. Tweet us using the hashtag

2016-17PREDICTION
1. Portsmouth Good news, Carlisle fans: that long trip to Portsmouth is out of the way early
2. Leyton Orient
3. Carlisle
4. Luton
Leyton Orient

Notts County
Cheltenham

Portsmouth
Morecambe
Accrington

Hartlepool

5. Notts County
Cambridge

Stevenage
Colchester

Doncaster

Plymouth
Blackpool

Mansfield

Wycombe
Newport
Grimsby
Crawley
Carlisle 

Yeovil
Barnet

Exeter

6. Cambridge
Crewe

Luton

7. Plymouth
Accrington – 04/03 15/10 07/01 21/01 08/10 18/02 17/04 08/04 06/08 20/08 25/03 02/01 14/03 29/04 27/09 27/08 29/10 04/02 17/12 17/09 19/11 28/02 26/11
8. Accrington Barnet 13/08 – 16/08 25/02 27/08 25/03 17/09 11/03 19/11 14/01 15/10 29/04 29/10 01/10 08/04 04/02 27/09 21/01 26/11 02/01 18/02 17/12 17/04 14/03
9. Doncaster Blackpool 14/04 28/02 – 08/10 17/09 22/04 04/02 07/01 18/02 22/10 06/08 08/04 25/03 06/05 17/12 02/01 04/03 26/11 12/11 27/08 27/09 14/03 20/08 21/01
Cambridge 01/10 06/08 14/01 – 20/08 26/11 04/03 29/04 17/12 28/02 17/04 15/10 14/03 08/04 27/08 21/01 17/09 18/02 02/01 04/02 29/10 25/03 19/11 27/09
10. Mansfield
Carlisle  03/09 28/01 11/02 11/03 – 16/08 01/10 29/10 25/03 14/02 19/11 02/01 15/10 10/09 14/03 26/11 14/01 29/04 08/04 13/08 25/02 17/04 24/09 17/12
11. Wycombe Cheltenham 14/01 26/12 29/10 18/03 28/02 – 22/11 15/10 27/08 20/08 10/12 17/04 29/04 06/08 01/10 04/03 01/04 04/02 17/09 21/01 19/11 27/09 30/12 18/02
12. Cheltenham Colchester 24/09 11/02 10/09 13/08 07/01 02/01 – 14/02 26/11 14/04 03/09 16/08 25/02 12/11 25/03 14/03 22/10 08/10 17/12 22/04 11/03 08/04 28/01 06/05
Crawley 22/10 20/08 01/10 12/11 22/04 14/04 27/09 – 14/03 04/03 28/02 26/11 14/01 25/03 17/09 06/05 18/02 17/12 27/08 08/04 21/01 04/02 06/08 02/01
13. Grimsby
Crewe 31/12 06/05 24/09 01/04 26/12 28/01 18/03 10/12 – 03/09 10/09 11/02 16/08 22/04 14/01 01/10 22/11 11/03 14/04 12/11 13/08 25/02 14/02 22/10
14. Exeter Doncaster 25/02 08/10 17/04 16/08 27/09 11/03 15/10 13/08 21/01 – 29/04 17/12 19/11 26/11 18/02 08/04 04/02 17/09 14/03 25/03 07/01 02/01 29/10 27/08

15. Hartlepool Exeter 11/03 14/04 25/02 22/10 06/05 14/03 21/01 16/08 04/02 12/11 – 08/10 13/08 02/01 26/11 17/12 22/04 08/04 27/09 17/09 27/08 18/02 07/01 25/03
Grimsby 26/12 12/11 31/12 14/04 22/11 22/10 28/02 18/03 17/09 01/04 14/01 – 01/10 20/08 04/02 18/02 06/08 27/09 21/01 06/05 10/12 27/08 04/03 22/04
16. Barnet Hartlepool 22/11 22/04 26/12 10/12 14/04 12/11 06/08 08/10 28/02 06/05 04/03 07/01 – 22/10 27/09 17/09 30/12 27/08 20/08 18/02 01/04 21/01 18/03 04/02
17. Blackpool Leyton Orient 10/12 07/01 19/11 31/12 04/02 25/02 29/04 26/12 29/10 18/03 22/11 11/03 17/04 – 15/10 27/08 21/01 13/08 18/02 27/09 08/10 16/08 01/04 17/09
Luton 12/11 31/12 01/04 28/01 10/12 07/01 26/12 11/02 08/10 24/09 18/03 10/09 14/02 14/04 – 22/10 06/05 16/08 22/04 25/02 22/11 11/03 03/09 13/08
18. Yeovil
Mansfield 14/02 10/09 22/11 03/09 18/03 13/08 10/12 19/11 07/01 31/12 01/04 24/09 11/02 28/01 17/04 – 26/12 25/02 08/10 11/03 29/04 29/10 15/10 16/08
19. Colchester Morecambe 28/01 14/02 13/08 11/02 08/10 17/12 17/04 24/09 02/01 10/09 29/10 25/02 08/04 28/12 19/11 25/03 – 14/03 07/01 26/11 16/08 15/10 29/04 11/03

20. Crewe Newport 22/04 03/09 18/03 24/09 12/11 10/09 14/01 01/04 20/08 10/02 31/12 14/02 28/01 04/03 28/02 06/08 10/12 – 06/05 22/10 26/12 01/10 22/11 14/04
Notts County 10/09 19/03 29/04 22/11 31/12 11/02 01/04 28/01 15/10 26/12 14/02 03/09 11/03 24/09 29/10 14/01 01/10 19/11 – 16/08 17/04 13/08 10/12 25/02
21. Newport Plymouth 01/04 22/11 28/01 10/09 04/03 03/09 29/10 31/12 29/04 10/12 11/02 19/11 24/09 14/02 06/08 20/08 18/03 17/04 28/02 – 15/10 14/01 26/12 01/10
22. Crawley Portsmouth 11/02 24/09 14/02 22/04 06/08 06/05 20/08 03/09 04/03 01/10 28/01 14/03 17/12 14/01 02/01 12/11 28/02 25/03 22/10 14/04 – 26/11 10/09 08/04
Stevenage 06/05 01/04 10/12 26/12 22/10 14/02 31/12 10/09 06/08 22/11 24/09 28/01 03/09 28/02 20/08 22/04 14/04 07/01 04/03 08/10 18/03 – 11/02 12/11
23. Stevenage
Wycombe 16/08 22/10 11/03 06/05 18/02 08/04 27/08 25/02 27/09 22/04 01/10 13/08 26/11 17/12 21/01 14/04 12/11 02/01 25/03 14/03 04/02 17/09 – 14/01
24. Morecambe Yeovil 18/03 10/12 03/09 14/02 01/04 24/09 19/11 22/11 17/04 28/01 26/12 29/10 10/09 11/02 04/03 28/02 20/08 15/10 06/08 07/01 31/12 29/04 08/10 –

Above figures represent day/month – all are subject to change FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 77
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
ACCRINGTON STANLEY
Last season League Two 4th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Billy Kee, Josh Windass (17)
Last season’s surprise package defied
the doubters only to then fall short of
automatic promotion in heart-breaking
fashion on the final day. Goal difference
separated Accrington and Bristol Rovers,
with the West Countrymen going up,
and Stanley’s disappointment from the
goalless draw with Stevenage lingered
into the play-offs as John Coleman’s
side narrowly lost out to eventual
winners AFC Wimbledon in the semis.
It’s been a hectic close-season at the
Crown Ground, with 16 of Coleman’s
side out of contract at the end of the
last campaign. Josh Windass and Matt
Crooks – two of the stars of this Stanley
side – had long since agreed deals to
join Rangers in their first season back in
the SPL. They’ll be missed, but Coleman
is a shrewd operator and has been busy
bringing in new faces such as Bastien
Hery, Frazer Shaw and Steven Hewitt.
A tiny budget in comparison to other
clubs in League Two hasn’t stopped
Accrington from thinking big. The most
sizeable task facing them, though, could
be bouncing back from last season’s
near-miss to challenge once again.
FFT VERDICT: 8TH
FAN FILE
LEE WALKER
This season will be different to last
because we have a new squad. Only
time will tell if we can cope with the
loss of six of last season’s starting XI.
Keep an eye out for goalkeeper Aaron
Chapman. He has the potential to be
the safest pair of gloves in the league.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Sean McConville. I’d
pay for a cruise liner to sail him away.
Never been good enough, never will be.
78 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
JOHN COLEMAN
Some bosses and clubs have a special
bond, and John Coleman (above) and
Stanley is a classic example. He took
the club back into the Football League
in 2006 and then came within an ace
of leading them into League One last
season. With Coleman at the helm,
it seems anything is possible.
DID YOU KNOW?
Chinese football fans Wang Yi and
Li Wen made the 10,000-mile trip to
Accrington Stanley last season after
falling in love with the club on FIFA 16.
KEY PLAYER
BILLY KEE
The goals dried
at the tail end
but with Josh W
having headed
the former Leic
trainee will
need to
rediscover
his scoring touc
Stanley fans should follow club
reporter @danjewellmedia.
Our pantomine villan is Stevenage.
They hate us. We hate them. Simple!
This season we’ll finish nice and solid
in mid-table, somewhere around 12th.
FFT asks: Did the club make a mistake
in not offering Josh Windass a new
contract? People have to remember
this was his third season in the league
and he’d looked MILES off the pace
until this year. No doubt his surname
helped, but he was only ever going to
move on following his good form.  (above). They’ve had some tough
Match-going supporter since 1992
BARNET
Last season League Two 15th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer John Akinde (24)
It took Barnet some time to adapt to
life back in League Two following their
promotion from the Conference. By the
time May rolled around, though, Martin
Allen’s Bees were hovering safely around
mid-table. The north Londoners lost five
of their first seven league fixtures, but
thanks to the goals of John Akinde
and the unheralded Michael Gash, the
Bees comfortably avoided a relegation
dog fight to finish in 15th spot, some 11
points clear of 16th-placed Hartlepool.
Allen’s challenge now is to build on
that, despite the loss of his captain
Andy Yiadom to newly Championship
side Barnsley. Yiadom had played a key
role in the club’s recent rise after arriving
at their former Underhill home from
Braintree Town in 2012.
Alex Nicholls has joined from Exeter,
but perhaps the most significant deal this
summer was to secure Curtis Weston’s
services for another two seasons, with
the midfielder (above) signing a new
contract in May. Akinde remains the
subject of transfer talk after another
goal-strewn season – the big question is
whether the Bees can keep hold of him.
FFT VERDICT: 16TH
FAN FILE
JOE FERRIS
This season will be
different to last
because our young
players have had
a season to improve
and get used to league football
Our most underrated player is Sam
Togwell: he holds the midfield together.
The best away fans are Grimsby’s
times of late, but they always sing up.
THE BOSS
MARTIN ALLEN
The outspoken Allen has continued his
love affair with Barnet in his fourth spell.
The 50-year-old should be applauded for
his achievements last term, comfortably
navigating a potentially troublesome
first term back in the Football League.
DID YOU KNOW?
Curtis Weston remains the youngest
ever FA Cup finalist, featuring aged 17
years and 119 days for Millwall against
Manchester United in 2004. He beat
the 125-year-old record set by Clapham
Rovers’ James Prinsep in 1879.
KEY PLAYER
JOHN AKINDE
Any doubts over Akinde’s
ability to cut it in the fourth
tier were dispelled when he
bagged 23 league goals last
season. He has now scored
54 in just 88 league games
for the Bees, making him
a priceless asset as the club
look to keep progressing.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Jay Simpson at Orient.
Save the date for April 1
and the Hertfordshire derby
away at Stevenage.
This season we’ll finish 10th.
We have got a good young
squad, but I don’t think we are
quite strong enough to go up.
FFT asks: Are you worried that Martin
Allen might leave again if he brings
success to the club, as he’s done in
the past? No, I think he is pretty
settled here now and wants to stay
and help the club to grow.
 BLACKPOOL
Last season League One 22nd FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Mark Cullen (9)
The Fylde coast has not been a happy
place in recent seasons and mutiny is
still very much in the air at Bloomfield
Road. Former Blackburn manager Gary
Bowyer became the club’s eighth boss
since 2012 this summer, but he faces
a huge task to resurrect the Tangerines’
fading fortunes following their dismal
drop from League One last season.
Just six years ago, Blackpool were
preparing for life in the top flight, but as
the club gears up for life in League Two,
that single season amongst the likes
of Chelsea, Manchester United and
Liverpool seems impossibly distant.
The board has since accepted that
“mistakes have been made in the last
few years”, but it will take far more than
words to pacify a fanbase that is intent
on holding chairman Karl Oyston and
his father, Owen – the club’s owner –
to account for Blackpool’s plummet.
The arrival of powerful striker Jamille
Matt from nearby Fleetwood Town, plus
Kyle Vassell, Colin Daniel, Andy Taylor
and Kelvin Mellor, has provided some
hope, but it’s a bumpy road out of
League Two – upwards, at least...
FFT VERDICT: 17TH
FAN FILE
HENRY WOODSFORD  shivers down my spine. I can’t believe
This season will be different to last
because we find ourselves in League
Two, after being in the Premier League
just five years ago. Expect more chaos.
Our most underrated player is Tom
Aldred (top, right) - a solid centre-half
who deserves to be playing higher up.
One change I’d make at our club is
to get rid of the Oyston ownership.
Our pantomime villain is Karl Oyston.
Not even Preston fans like the man.
THE BOSS
GARY BOWYER
Working at Blackburn could be the ideal
preparation for moving into the hot seat
at Bloomfield Road, so Bowyer might be
the right man at the right time for
Blackpool. Having signed a one-year
rolling contract in June, he’ll know that
time’s tight to turn their fortunes around.
The fans are in an unforgiving mood.
DID YOU KNOW?
Blackpool’s nine-year rise from League
Two to the top flight was achieved
through the play-offs alone, with no
automatic promotions during that time.
KEY PLAYER
MARK CULLEN
A £180,000 capture from
Luton last summer, Cullen
scored nine goals for the
Seasiders as they went
tumbling through the
League One trapdoor. With
competition from Matt and
Vassell now, it’s up to the
ex-Hull striker to respond.
Save the date for Grimsby away on
New Year’s Eve. The thought sends
we’re in the same league as them.
This season we’ll finish in the
play-off places, hopefully.   to last because Shaun Derry
FFT asks: What odds on Gary Bowyer
lasting the whole season? If he is not
given substantial backing by Oyston,
I expect him to be gone by January.
Our most recent managers all called
this job “impossible”. I feel he doesn’t
quite know what he’s let himself in for.  Having played them in our Conference
Regular supporter since 2000, currently
boycotting Bloomfield Road in protest
CAMBRIDGE UNITED
Last season League Two 9th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Luke Berry (13)
It was a tale of two halves for the Abbey
Stadium outfit last season, with a slow
start costing Richard Money his job in
November before Shaun Derry (above)
lifted the U’s to within seven points of
a play-off place. An inability to turn
draws into wins did for Derry’s men, but
there are plenty of reasons for optimism
as Cambridge prepare for a third season
back in the Football League following
their promotion to League Two via the
the Conference play-offs in May 2014.
The formidable Barry Corr and Ben
Williamson posed a consistent goal
threat before the former’s injury in
January ruled him out for the rest of
the season. Luke Berry, meanwhile,
scored 12 league goals from midfield
in his second spell at the club. Derry is,
however, eyeing a greater attacking
menace next season, signing up striker
Joe Piggott as well as wingers Medy Elito
and Piero Mingoia during the summer.
The second half of the last campaign
illustrated just how good Cambridge
can be, and if they can hit the ground
running this time around, a play-off
tilt should be well within their range.
FFT VERDICT: 6TH
FAN FILE
SCOTT McGEORGE
This season will be different
will have a full pre-season
to mould his own squad.
Our most underrated player is
Greg Taylor (right) – in fine form before
injury cut his season short last year.
The best away fans are Grimsby’s.
days, I know that they are loud and
will travel around in big numbers.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 79
THE BOSS
SHAUN DERRY
The former Palace and QPR midfielder
didn’t enjoy the easiest of rides at his
boyhood club, Notts County, but he has
once again shown his immense promise
at the Abbey Stadium. A run of five wins
out of six from late November set the
tone for the remainder of the season.
DID YOU KNOW?
An unnamed U’s triallist went the extra
mile in trying to earn himself a contract
last month, helping to push CEO Jez
George’s broken-down car during the
club’s training camp in the Netherlands.
KEY PLAYE
BARRY CORR
After scoring 12
times in 22 leagu
games, Corr then
missed the secon
last season throu
Now he’s fit, his g
provide a crucial
edge as United t
the play-off place
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Graham Carey of Plymouth:
great left foot; knows where the goal is.
Save the date for Wycombe
away on May 6. Hopefully it
will be a promotion party! 
This season we’ll finish in
the top seven. Derry will
settle for no less.
FFT asks: Can new signing Medy Elito
make the difference? Time will tell. He
only scored once for Newport County
last season, but I trust Derry and fully
expect him to get the best from Medy. 
Match-going supporter since 1987
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
CARLISLE UNITED
Last season League Two 10th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Jabo Ibehre (17)
Awash with goals, but with a rearguard
leakier than a porous sandbag, the
Cumbrian side shoe-horned in the lot
between August and May last season,
including a flooded Brunton Park and
the sight of professional footballers
donning their waterproofs to help out
the locals as the waters rose.
Carlisle shipped more goals (62) than
any other side in the top half of the table
but, at the other end, the form of Jabo
Ibhere and Charlie Wyke maintained the
club’s interest in the play-offs until the
final throes of the season. Ultimately
Carlisle finished eight points off the top
seven to consign Keith Curle’s men to
another campaign in the fourth tier.
A realistic promotion push might not
be too far away. Carlisle released 10
players at the end of the season, but
Curle (above) has been active in the
transfer market, bringing in midfielder
Russell Penn, Northampton winger Nicky
Adams – now eyeing three League Two
promotions in three seasons – and
forward Shaun Miller. With Ibehre and
Wyke still at Brunton Park, Carlisle have
a genuine goal threat to fire a challenge.
FFT VERDICT: 3RD
FAN FILE
MATTHEW HILL
This season will be different
to last because we look to
have added some genuine
attacking quality in midfield.
Keep an eye out for Charlie
Wyke. He could be in the mix
to be League Two top scorer.
The best away fans are Plymouth s
and Pompey’s. Racking up the miles
that we do, it’s hard not to hold
admiration for fellow secluded sides.
80 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
KEITH CURLE
The dapper ex-England defender hasn’t
had the easiest of rides since taking
over at Carlisle in September 2014, but
after dragging the Cumbrians clear of
relegation in his first season in charge,
he has built a side that is now looking
up the table rather than down.
DID YOU KNOW?
Groundsman Dave Mitchell discovered
three koi carp lying in the goalmouth
at Brunton Park’s appropriately-named
Waterworks End after Storm Desmond
swept through the area last Christmas.
KEY PLAYER
DANNY GRAINGER
A leader in ever
Carlisle’s player
year helped out
residents when
floods hit last y
and his battling
qualities will be
needed if Unite
are to challenge
Blues fans should follow Cumbrian
News & Star reporter @JonColman.
This season we’ll finish in the play-off
places. I wouldn’t rule out the top
hree, but let’s stay calm.
ave the date for the trip to
artlepool at Easter. It’s a big
ay for the Monkey Hangers.
FFT asks: How keen are you
for the club to move ground?
We’re not going anywhere
fast. I love Brunton Park. We’ll need
a new ground if we’re regulars in the
Championship – worry about it then!
Attended 34 games last season
CHELTENHAM TOWN
Last season National League Winners FA Cup First Round
FA Trophy Second Round Top scorer Daniel Wright (22)
Once you’ve fallen through the Football
League trapdoor it is notoriously tough
to clamber back up again. Cheltenham,
though, made it look like a breeze last
season, winning the National League
at a canter and breaking the 100-point
mark under Gary Johnson. The gaffer
has previous in this part of the world,
of course, having inspired Yeovil to
similarly unlikely success in the past.
The signing of Finnish centre-back
Daniel O’Shaughnessy, along with
James Jennings from Forest Green, has
bolstered options in defence. It’s now
up to youngster Billy Waters and the
prolific pair of Daniel Wright and Dan
Holman to bring their scoring boots
with them to the Football League.
It’s hard to over-state Cheltenham’s
achievement in bouncing back at the
first time of asking – a feat that has
proved beyond so many clubs in the
past. But their hard work starts now, as
they attempt to tackle the higher level.
Johnson, for one, appears to be in no
mood to rest on his laurels. “There will
be no talk of consolidation,” he has said.
“The only focus for us is promotion.”
FFT VERDICT: 12TH
FAN FILE
JOSH NUGENT
This season will be different to last
because expectations are a lot higher.
Keep an eye out for Dan Holman.
Renewing his contract will arguably be
our best bit of business this summer.
Robins fans should follow
@hEaLeR_CTFC. He dedicates so much
time and effort into his great content.
Our pantomime villain is Martin Allen,
the Barnet manager. Let’s just say he’s
not too popular with Cheltenham fans.
THE BOSS
GARY JOHNSON
The ever-smiling Johnson remains
one of the most colourful managers in
the English game, and his ability to lift
a club’s ailing fortunes is undimmed.
The 60-year-old led the Robins out of
the fifth tier as champions after just
a single season – the first time that
feat has been achieved since 1990.
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite having the best home goals
record in the National League last term,
Cheltenham’s biggest victory actually
came away in a 7-1 rout of Halifax Town.
KEY PLAYER
HARRY PELL
The former Hereford and
AFC Wimbledon man
was a driving force in
midfield for the Robins,
scoring in both league
matches against title
rivals Forest Green Rovers
route to being named in
division team of the seas
One change I’d make at our club is to
get rid of Gloucester City groundsharing
with us. The pitch would definitely be
in better condition in winter if we did.
This season we’ll finish in one of the
play-off places. Anything is possible.
FFT asks: Club captain Aaron Downes
is close to a return following knee
surgery – will he get a starting place?
Downsey was a big loss when he got
injured last season. He might miss the
first few games, but as long as he can
prove his fitness I’d have him back in
the team. He’s a leader on the pitch.
Attended 45 games last season
 COLCHESTER UNITED
Last season League One 23rd FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer George Moncur (14)
The U’s relegation was an accident
waiting to happen, with the club having
held onto their League One status by
their fingertips for a number of seasons.
Colchester’s final-day defeat to Rochdale
was their 24th of a dismal campaign
that had begun fairly optimistically.
A 19-match winless run in the league
between October 20 and March 1 made
the drop almost certain for a club that
operated a revolving-door approach to
management last season. Tony Humes
was sacked in December, before Kevin
Keen arrived for a 24-match stint that
saw the U’s win just five matches.
The latest man charged with lifting
Colchester’s fortunes is John McGreal.
His first task will be to raise the spirits of
a side that has lost its creative heartbeat
following George Moncur’s departure
for Championship outfit Barnsley.
The new manager swiftly added eight
new players to Colchester’s ranks, with
defenders Brennan Dickenson, Dexter
Peter and Luke Prosser, midfielders Craig
Slater, Doug Loft and Courtney Senior,
and forwards Kurtis Guthrie and Denny
Johnstone all moving to the Essex club.
FFT VERDICT: 19TH
FAN FILE
DANIEL WOODROW
This season will be differen
to last because it’s a new
division, with a new sense
of hope and optimism.
Keep an eye out for Tom
Lapslie – a tiny midfielder
with big shoes to fill now
Alex Gilbey and Moncur have gone.
Colchester fans should follow
Graeson Laitt (@Laitty) – all the stats
you need, and quite a few you don’t!
THE BOSS
JOHN McGREAL
Colchester have a tradition of promoting
from within, although it’s debatable how
much good it has done them. Former
under-21s coach McGreal will need time
to find his feet in a way that neither Tony
Humes nor Joe Dunne could after their
promotion from the club’s youth setup.
DID YOU KNOW?
Defender Alex Wynter (above) began
his career at Crystal Palace, making his
debut as a 16-year-old in 2010 – the
same year he passed 12 GCSEs as Head
Boy at Croydon’s Oasis Academy school.
KEY PLAYER
OWEN GARVAN
The Irishman was
handed the captain’s
armband in February
and Colchester will
need all of the former
Crystal Palace man’s
leadership talents if
their stay in League
Two is to be brief.
Our pantomime villain is Gareth
Ainsworth (below). His hand’s still sore
from punching in a last-minute winner
last time we played Wycombe.
Save the date for the first game.
There’ll be renewed optimism.
his season we’ll finish top half.
FT asks: Who’ll be missed more:
ex Gilbey or George Moncur?
bey. Moncur had some great
mes and scored important
goals, but he overplayed things
and went missing at times. Gilbey was
a real leader who drove the team.
Season ticket holder for 19 years
CRAWLEY TOWN
Last season League Two 20th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Matt Harrold, Rhys Murphy (9)
It wasn’t the easiest of seasons for
the Reds following their relegation
from League One in May 2015, with
consolidation rather than promotion
the extent of the club’s ambitions.
A run of eight straight defeats at the
end of the season tainted Crawley’s first
season back in League Two and cost
boss Mark Yates his job. A goal difference
of -33 tells its own story, with goal-shy
Crawley unable to build any kind of
momentum thanks to a toothless
forward line and an erratic defence.
They shipped 78 goals, conceding four
or more on five different occasions.
The man charged with lifting them
from their stupor is former Chelsea
academy chief Dermot Drummy (above).
The 55-year-old took charge of Crawley’s
final two matches of 2015-16 – both 3-0
defeats – but has had this summer to
evaluate his squad. His Chelsea contacts
are already coming in handy, with Blues
keeper Mitchell Beeney joining the club
on loan until the new year. The contract
extension of midfielder Jimmy Smith
could be just as significant. But Drummy
faces an uphill task all the same.
FFT VERDICT: 22ND
FAN FILE
CRAIG BRATT
This season will be different to last
because we’ve got a new manager
who the fans have warmed to.
Our most underrated player is
Bobson Bawling. He’s a workhorse.  This season we’ll finish mid-table.
Keep an eye out for Enzio Boldewijn.
The winger has signed from the Dutch
second tier and has had rave reviews.  Save the date for Blackpool away on
The best away fans are Plymouth’s.
Their fans deserve a medal for the
distances they travel in numbers.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 81
THE BOSS
DERMOT DRUMMY
This time last year, Drummy was being
linked with a move to Bangu in Brazil –
now he’s facing a long, tough season in
the fourth tier. The challenge couldn’t
be bigger, but Drummy has a reputation
for getting the best out of young players.
DID YOU KNOW?
In March this year, Crawley’s James
Collins – then of Shrewsbury Town –
was chastised for urinating into a beer
glass with MK Dons’ Samir Carruthers
at the Cheltenham Festival, and then
pouring the contents over a balcony.
KEY PLAYER
JIMMY SMITH
Since playing once in
the Premier League for
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea
Smith has been a reliabl
performer in the lower
leagues with Leyton Orie
Stevenage and Crawley.
Reds are especially grat
for his infectious work ra
The best away ground grub is at
Hartlepool. The pies are amazing.
One change I’d make at our club is to
introduce kebabs at the food kiosks.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Portsmouth’s Conor Chaplin. 
Our pantomime villain is Karl Oyston.
It’s the only correct answer, really. 
Drummy will ease his squad into his
playing style and consolidate us.
January 7. It’s the fixture that every
Crawley supporter looked for first. 
Regular supporter since 2006
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
CREWE ALEXANDRA
Last season League One 24th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Marcus Haber, Brad Inman (10)
In the basement division once again
after a miserable campaign in League
One, Steve Davis’ side have injected
some experience this summer in a bid to
bounce back at the first time of asking.
The addition of 37-year-old Ryan Lowe
for his third spell at the club has been
welcomed by director of football Dario
Gradi. His goals are badly needed by
a club that scored just 46 last season –
fewer than every other club in League
One except Blackpool and Oldham.
Things were hardly more encouraging
at the back, the club conceding 83 goals
on their way to winning just seven
matches. Not surprisingly, the Alex were
relegated in last place. It says much for
Crewe’s famed patience that Davis’ job
remained safe amid all of the carnage.
A similar sort of season this time around,
though, and that patience might snap.
The permanent signings of Lowe and
defender Zoumana Bakayogo will help,
but a lack of leaders among the
Railwaymen’s sea of promising academy
graduates was identified as one of the
primary reasons for their demise. It
could be equally tough in the fourth tier.
FFT VERDICT: 20TH
FAN FILE
PAUL BLAKEMAN
This season will be different
to last because we’ll lose
our key players, see a drop
in revenue and have to show
what we are worth in order to
stay in the Football League.
Keep an eye out for Daniel
Udoh. He looks a real talent.
One change I’d make at our club is
to have better marketing and more
incentive to get people into the ground.
82 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
STEVE DAVIS
The manager’s future has been high on
the agenda at Gresty Road, but after
being given the backing of chairman
John Bowler, it’s time for Davis to repay
the faith shown in him. Relegation, not
promotion, has been occupying the
minds of Alex fans for most of his
five-year tenure. The pressure is on.
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite residing in the third or fourth tier
for 63 of their 71 post-war seasons,
Crewe have never been a non-league
side. No pressure on Steve Davis, then.
KEY PLAYER
GEORGE COOPER
Cooper, 19, is another
product of the Crewe
youth system that is
the envy of English
football. He made
30 appearances
last term and has
the talent to stand
out in League Two.
Alex fans should follow
@cafc_unofficial.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Adebayo Akinfenwa (left).
Who doesn’t love The Beast?   This season will be different to last
his season we’ll finish 16th.
We lack quality and depth.
FT asks: Do you agree with
Dario Gradi that unless the
club produce ‘a Jamie Vardy’
hen you won’t progress up
the leagues? We need another Nick
Powell or five. Our club is a selling club
and we need to produce players.
Season ticket holder for 10 years
DONCASTER ROVERS
Last season League One 21st FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Andy Williams (16)
Life is rarely dull at the Keepmoat and
last season was no exception. Relegated
under former Peterborough boss Darren
Ferguson, who took charge in October,
Rovers paid the price for a dire run that
saw them go 16 matches without a win
between early January and mid-April.
They finished four points shy of safety
to suffer a second successive relegation
– but that’s par for the course, perhaps,
for a club that hasn’t spent two seasons
in the same division since 2011-12.
Stability is badly needed and, after
entrusting Ferguson with bringing them
back up, they do at least have a platform
for rebuilding. Gary McSheffrey (top),
who ended last season on loan with
Rovers, signed a permanent deal in
June. Another crucial capture could be
hat of John Marquis from Millwall, who
cored six goals on loan at League Two
hampions Northampton last season.
Add the signings of Huddersfield’s
oe Wright, Mathieu Baudry from Leyton
rient and Mansfield’s Matty Blair, and
s clear Ferguson is forming a squad
apable of challenging in a physically
ugh and mentally demanding league.
FFT VERDICT: 9TH
FAN FILE
LEE ROURKE
because we have a squad that is more
than capable of challenging for the
play-offs or higher in League Two.
Our most underrated player is
Mitchell Lund. He has all the attributes
to become a top-quality right-back.
Keep an eye out for Tommy Rowe. His
skill set should stand out at this level.
One change I’d make at our club is
another 3-5,000 fans through the gate.
THE BOSS
DARREN FERGUSON
The Scot will need all of his experience to
lift Doncaster to a promotion tilt so soon
after relegation. That failure will have
hurt the former Peterborough gaffer,
but he has built teams successfully in
the past and this summer’s transfer
activity suggests that he’s intent on
putting the disappointment behind him.
DID YOU KNOW?
The club sparked fury from its fans last
season when a competition to design
the club’s new away kit was won by
One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson.
KEY PLAYER
TOMMY ROWE
Ferguson knows Row
having signed him fo
Posh from Stockport
County and brought
to the Keepmoat last
before making his de
permanent. His creat
versatility will be ass
in League Two.
Doncaster fans should follow
@BlackBank_DRFC.
Save the date for April 1: Grimsby
away. It’s a derby at a time when we
should be chasing a promotion spot.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Gary Roberts at Portsmouth.
This season we’ll finish second.
FFT asks: Was the club correct to
maintain faith in Darren Ferguson
despite relegation? Yes, as he had to
work within the confines of the squad
and the budget. The additions that he
has made so far have been positive.
Season ticket holder for 15 years
 EXETER CITY
Last season League Two 14th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Tom Nichols (12)
Last season promised much but then
delivered relatively little for supporters of
the Grecians. Holding Liverpool to a 2-2
draw at St James Park in the FA Cup
showed what Paul Tisdale’s outfit were
capable of, but their league campaign
was dogged by inconsistency.
As in recent seasons, Exeter enjoyed
purple patches followed by extended
winless runs, and it left them languishing
in a disappointing 14th. Exeter’s inability
to keep clean sheets was one of the
major reasons for their failure: the 65
goals they shipped was more than any
of the sides above them. A dismal home
record – Exeter won just six matches
as hosts – left them unable to mount
a credible promotion campaign.
Celebrating his tenth season at Exeter
this summer, Tisdale has acknowledged
the need to “compromise” as a result of
the club’s small budget, but he has still
been busy, bringing in Wolves striker
Liam McAlinden and Robbie Simpson
from Cambridge. The capture of Lloyd
James from Leyton Orient will add to
the midfield options. It could, though,
be another season of frustration.
FFT VERDICT: 14TH
FAN FILE
JOSH DENHAM
This season will be differen
to last because we have
made signings without
panicking in the week
leading up to the season.
Grecians fans should
follow @ExiledGrecian.
The best away ground is Accrington s,
for the open terrace.
The best away ground grub is the
burger van at Yeovil. It’s special.
THE BOSS
PAUL TISDALE
Only Arsene Wenger has spent longer
at a single club than Tisdale and the
nattily-attired Exeter manager remains
one of the most highly-rated gaffers
in the lower leagues. Exeter have done
well to keep him for a decade – but
a promotion push is long overdue.
DID YOU KNOW?
Club captain Matt Oakley has no
shortage of hobbies and alternative
careers: in the past he has set up a wine
company, kept piranhas and declared
his intention to go into architecture.
KEY PLAYER
OLLIE WATK
Watkins scored
in 10 games as
drew to a close,
a pair in the 2-1
win against Plym
Tisdale will hop
20-year-old can
that sort of for
the new campa
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Gary Roberts at Pompey –
he’s just too good for League Two.
This season we’ll finish top half.
Our signings are decent, but the
play-offs may be out of reach.
ave the date for Blackpool on
pening day. Thanks, fixture list!
FT asks: You’ve unveiled a new
russia Dortmund-style yellow
d black kit (left). Like it? The
fact we had to release a statement
confirming the colour didn’t fill me
with joy, but I’ll still be buying it!
Attended 35 games last season
GRIMSBY TOWN
Last season National League 4th FA Cup Second Round
FA Trophy Runners-up Top scorer Padraig Amond (35)
It has been a long road back for the
Mariners, but they returned to League
Two courtesy of a play-off final victory
over Forest Green Rovers, six years after
they dropped into the Conference. That
win eased the pain of their shootout
loss to Bristol Rovers 12 months before,
one of three botched play-off attempts
before they made it fourth time lucky.
Grimsby finished nine points behind
Forest Green in the regular season, but
two goals from Omar Bogle and a late
strike from Nathan Arnold sealed a 3-1
win and sent Mariners into dreamland.
A primary reason for their success was
Padraig Amond scoring 30 league goals.
The Irishman has joined Hartlepool,
though, so Grimsby will have to do
hout his attacking threat this season.
eplacing those goals will be difficult,
Grimsby, having signed experienced
s such as Sean McAllister, Andrew
ce and Luke Summerfield, still return
eague Two with a spring in their step.
s Bristol Rovers showed, the feelgood
tor can take a promoted side a long
y – though Amond’s departure means
k-to-back promotions aren’t likely.
FT VERDICT: 13TH
FAN FILE
PAULSAVAGE
This season will be different to last
because finally, we’re on our way,
we’re on our way, to the Football
League, we’re on our way!
The best away ground is Doncaster’s.
It’s the type of stadium we aspire to
have ourselves in the next few years.
Mariners fans should follow
comedian @lloydgriffith, the club
fanzine @codalmighty and myself
@toogoodtogodown.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 83
THE BOSS
PAUL HURST
After taking sole charge of the Mariners
in 2013, having led them alongside Rob
Scott in their third spell joint-managing
a club, Hurst established himself as one
of the best in non-league. It won’t be
easy for Grimsby to keep hold of him –
but even though he has reinvigorated
the club, Hurst’s job is only half-done. 
DID YOU KNOW?
Grimsby appointed the first foreign
manager in the Football League when
Hungarian coach Elemer Berkessy was
given the job at Blundell Park in 1954.
KEY PLAYER
OMAR BOGLE
Last season proved t
a breakthrough cam
for the West Brom tr
– and his two goals i
play-off final at Wem
were the icing on th
He will now need to
up again following P
Amond’s exit to Hart
The opposition player I secretly
admire is John Akinde at Barnet.
This season we’ll finish in the top 10,
hopefully. We’ve seen what Bristol
Rovers did and we should be confident.
Save the date for Saturday, August 6
– Morecambe at home – for our first
game back in the Football League.
FFT asks: Were you surprised to see
so many players leave after winning
promotion? Not really. We’d have liked
to have kept Richard Tait, Amond and
Arnold, but the players brought in look
better, with more league experience.
Board member on the Mariners Trust
 HARTLEPOOL UNITED
Last season League Two 16th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Billy Paynter (15)
Hartlepool started last term like a train.
They finished it like a tractor. They also
finished it under a different manager,
with local favourite Craig Hignett being
handed the reins in February following
the departure of Ronnie Moore.
The latter had worked miracles to
keep Pools in League Two in 2015,
dragging them to safety from
a seemingly impossible position. But
the inconsistency that has blighted the
Monkey Hangers in recent years
returned, and 16th place was probably
an accurate reflection of where they sit.
It is a measure of Hignett’s standing
that he managed to secure the services
of Padraig Amond from Grimsby, and
the free-scoring Irishman should bring
a guarantee of goals this season. They
are sorely needed following a campaign
that saw Pools hit the net just 49 times.
A two-year deal with Chelsea trainee
Michael Woods is a welcome piece of
news for the club’s long-suffering fans,
as is the arrival of 19-year-old Jake Orrell
from Chesterfield. Still, consolidation
rather than a promotion push is likely to
be the best Hignett can hope for.
FFT VERDICT: 15TH
FAN FILE
ROSS HAMILTON-
MILBURN
This season will be
different to last
because we’ve got
a fresh, young squad
with more experience.
Our most underrated player is Nicky
Featherstone: a solid 7/10 every week.
One change I’d make at our club is
to stop making changes. The club
desperately needs some stability.
84 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
THE BOSS
CRAIG HIGNETT
The former Middlesbrough midfielder
was assistant to Colin Cooper at Victoria
Park before moving to the Riverside to
work under Aitor Karanka in March 2014.
He returned to Pools in February and had
an immediate impact. Hartlepool were
close to the League Two play-offs when
he left – getting them back to a similar
level would be a major achievement.
DID YOU KNOW?
Ridley Scott’s roots in the area and with
the club prompted a petition this year
calling for an Alien
KEY PLAYE
PADRAIG AM
Signing Amond w
undoubted coup
Hignett, as the Iri
wasn’t lacking in
He scored 30 tim
National League
season. Pools will
can be similarly p
this time around.
Pools fans should follow chairman
@MrGCoxall – always a good laugh.
Save the date for the final awayday at
Cheltenham. The fancy dress day (left)
s always a highlight.
This season we’ll finish in
he top half. We have
trengthened at the back
nd added goals up front.
FT asks: Were you too
reliant on the goals of Billy Paynter
last season? Absolutely – no one else
came close to double figures last year
– but the signing of Amond will help.
Season ticket holder for five years
LEYTON ORIENT
Last season League Two 8th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Jay Simpson (25)
Even by their high standards, last season
was barking for the East Londoners. In
keeping with the revolving-door policy
operated by Francesco Becchetti, Leyton
Orient’s owner, the club went through
three managers: Ian Hendon survived
until January before being replaced by
Kevin Nolan, and his reign lasted a touch
under three months. Andy Hessenthaler
then sat in the hot seat and is the man
in possession as the new season begins.
He has had a big summer, bringing in
eight new players. The arrival of winger
Gavin Massey and striker Jordan Bowery
will bolster attacking options in a squad
was heavily reliant on the goals of
impson last term. Robbie Weir and
Kelly will provide some central
t, and the gaffer has strengthened
efensive ranks by adding Josh
rty, Callum Kennedy, Tom Parkes
Yvan Erichot to the O’s backline.
ccess on the pitch, coupled with
e stability off it, would represent the
ct combination for a club that, not
ong ago, found itself on the cusp of
econd tier. Promotion this season
d represent a good starting point.
VERDICT: 2ND
FAN FILE
ADAM SAMPSON
This season will be different to last
because Dean Cox is fit. As the heart of
our team, he was a huge loss last year.
The best away ground is Newport’s.
It’s abroad, has a beer festival and
makes you glad you aren’t from there.
O’s fans should follow Matt Simpson
(@West_Stand_O). He donated a lot
of money to charity after saying he
would tattoo our goalkeeper’s face
onto his own in an ill-advised tweet.
THE BOSS
ANDY HESSENTHALER
The former Watford and Gillingham
midfielder (top) knows the O’s as well
as anyone, having served as assistant
manager under former boss Hendon.
A fracas between Hessenthaler and
Becchetti and the owner grabbed the
headlines back in December; the
manager will be hoping to hog them for
entriely different reasons in 2016-17.
DID YOU KNOW?
The O’s played Italy’s Under-19 side
in July to help them prepare for the
summer’s European Championship.
KEY PLAYER
JAY SIMPSON
The former Arsenal
man’s goals kept the
O’s in the promotion
hunt until they tailed
off at the end. He scor
just three after Januar
but if he can rediscove
touch he and Orient c
be celebrating come M
The best away ground grub is
Newport’s. Genuinely.
Save the date for May 6: last game of
the season, away at Blackpool, where
we celebrate promotion in the sun.
This season we’ll finish third. We were
eighth last season whilst being terrible.
FFT asks: Was it the right call to
relieve Kevin Nolan of his managerial
duties? No. The results weren’t good
and the style of play was awful, but we
gained nothing. We were two points
outside the play-offs with a month
to go. He wasn’t given a fair shot.
Co-host of Orient podcast @E10Mess
 LUTON TOWN MANSFIELD TOWN
Last season League Two 11th FA Cup Second Round Last season League Two 12th FA Cup First Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Jack Marriott (16) League Cup First Round Top scorer Matt Green (16)

The Hatters finished their second season
back in League Two in 11th place, a fall
of three on their 2014-15 position but
hardly a disaster. A slack start to the
campaign did, though, signal the end of
John Still’s Kenilworth Road tenure. The
man who helped Luton back into the
Football League in 2014 was given his
marching orders in December following
a run of four successive defeats – hardly
the most gratifying of Christmas gifts for
a manager who had written his name
into the club’s folklore. He was replaced
first by caretaker boss Andy Awford, and
then Nathan Jones, who had earned his
stripes as coach and assistant manager
at Championship outfit Brighton.
THE BOSS
NATHAN JONES
The former Southend, Brighton and
Yeovil defender experienced mixed
fortunes during his first five months in
charge, but a summer of transfer activity
has allowed him to build a squad which
should be competitive this time around.
A left-field appointment for some, Jones
could be the right man at the right time.
DID YOU KNOW?
Gaffer Jones is a devout Christian and
also bilingual. The Welshman has an
A-level in Spanish and played in Spain
with Numancia and Badajoz in 1996.
A 12th-place finish last season was
a creditable effort from Adam Murray’s
men, and another sign of the impact
one of the Football League’s youngest
managers is having on the club.
Like many of their League Two rivals,
Mansfield’s wins came in batches, with
the Stags unable to build up a head of
steam in the battle for a play-off place.
A disappointing run of seven matches
without a win between February and
April put paid to a top-seven finish, but
there are reasons for optimism on the
eve of the new campaign.
Matt Green is one of those reasons: the
29-year-old netted 16 goals last term.
The main challenge for Murray (above) is
THE BOSS
ADAM MURRAY
Then 33, ex-midfielder Murray became
the youngest gaffer in the English game
when he took the player-manager job
at Field Mill in December 2014. It was
a risk from the club, but after taking
some time to find his feet, the former
Stag has justified their leap of faith.
DID YOU KNOW?
In March 2016, Stags striker Adi Yussuf
received a five-game suspension and
a £700 fine from the FA for urinating at
the back of a stand while warming-up
as an unused substitute at Plymouth.

KEY PLAYER KEY PLAYER

Four successive wins in February
suggested Luton could challenge for
a play-off place, but the inconsistency
that dogs so many sides in League Two
returned to thwart that ambition. The
signing of Oxford pair Danny Hylton and
Johnny Mullins, as well as Walsall’s
Jordan Cook, has handed the Hatters
a boost. Hylton, in particular, could be
key, offering a genuine goal threat for
the team alongside Jack Marriott.
FFT VERDICT: 4TH
JACK MARRIOTT
Still only 21, Marriott made
an immediate impact at
Kenilworth Road after his
release by Ipswich in June
2015. Quick and strong,
he scored freely for the
Hatters last season, and
the aim for this campaign
is simply more of the same.
finding a cutting edge from elsewhere in
his side. He’s brought in Pat Hoban from
Lincoln, Bury’s Danny Rose and Ashley
Hemmings from relegated Dagenham &
Redbridge in a bid to discover it.
One area he doesn’t have to worry
about is the Stags’ defence, with his side
boasting one of the stingiest backlines
in League Two last season. If Mansfield
manage to get both ends in order, then
a play-off challenge is a possibility.
FFT VERDICT: 10TH
MATT GREEN
Green was Mansfield’s
major attacking threat
last term after his return
from Birmingham City
in the summer of 2015.
A brace in just his fourth
back at the club he left i
in a 2-1 win at York, set h
his way and he didn’t loo

FAN FILE One change I’d make at our club is to

turn Kenilworth Road into a fortress
FAN FILE Stags fans should follow
@SatiricalStag, for some great comic
MICHAEL PATEL   after our abysmal home form last year.    CONNOR WIGLEY strips of goings-on at the club.
Save the date for May 6: Morecambe Save the date for both Notts County
This season will be different to last at home, last day of the season, and This season will be different to last games It was 7-0 to us last year on
because Nathan Jones will finally be hopefully celebrating promotion.   because Adam Murray’s got aggregate (left).
able to bring in his own players.  This season we’ll finish in the top a settled core of players. This season we’ll finish
Our most underrated player is three, winning automatic promotion.   Keep an eye out for our n the top 10 – higher if
Stephen O’Donnell, an overlapping FFT asks: What do you think of the left-back Mal Benning - we get a couple of loans.
full-back with great crossing ability.    club’s plans to build a 17,500-seater solid, with a sweet left peg. FT asks: Which of your
The player I’d happily drive to stadium by 2020? It’s vital for the The best away fans are ummer signings are
another club is defender Magnus football club to be able to continue to Plymouth’s. The distance they travel to you most looking forward to seeing?
Okuonghae. He’s disappointed hugely.    grow and prosper at Championship other southern clubs is far enough, yet Danny Rose. He could be the missing
The opposition player I secretly level, and maybe even beyond that. they’re always well represented by the piece of our jigsaw up front.
admire is Graham Carey of Plymouth. Attended 36 games last season Green Army when venturing north.  Season ticket holder since 2007

FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 85

SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
MORECAMBE
Last season League Two 21st FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Shaun Miller (16)
For a good third of last season, the
Shrimps looked like strong promotion
contenders. By the time 2015-16 drew
to a close, they looked like relegation
certainties. The campaign concluded
just in the nick of time for Jim Bentley’s
men. Morecambe won just two of their
final 21 matches and were only saved by
the even more disastrous displays of
Dagenham & Redbridge and York,
marooned in the bottom two places.
Bentley’s side shipped a league-high
91 goals and looked shattered by the
time May rolled around, so it will take
all of the manager’s motivational skills
to lift the spirits of a club with one of the
smallest budgets in League Two.
A further blow was delivered this
summer when Shaun Miller (15 goals)
and Jamie Devitt (15 assists) joined
Carlisle, leaving the Shrimps desperately
short of firepower. The club’s miserable
2016 decline led to chairman Peter
McGuigan putting the club up for sale,
creating even greater uncertainty over
the immediate future. If they don’t start
this campaign well, that future may well
reside outside of the Football League.
FFT VERDICT: 24TH
FAN FILE
DAVID FREEAR
This season will be
different to last
because the weight
of expectation is less
as we have lost so
many of our players.
Our most underrated player is Alex
Kenyon (top, left). He likes a challenge.
Keep an eye out for Aaron McGowan,
a young full-back who has made the
breakthrough from the youth ranks.
86 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
JIM BENTLEY
Bentley is one of the Football League’s
longest-serving managers, having taken
over at Morecambe in May 2011, and was
a Shrimps favourite as a player. But the
locals’ patience has been tested as the
40-year-old looked powerless to stop the
club’s slide. More challenges await.
DID YOU KNOW?
Less than two weeks into the season,
Kevin Ellison and Ryan Edwards were
banned for three matches after pulling
on the dreadlocks of Wycombe’s Marcus
Bean, prompting a brawl at full-time.
KEY PLAYER
KEVIN ELLISO
Andrew Fleming
(top) will be as
important as eve
even at 37, Elliso
key for Morecam
something of a p
villain for visiting
his goals and ex
will be invaluable
Save the date for Blackpool and Accy.
One change I’d make at our club is to
put a cover over the home-end bar.
This season we’ll finish around
halfway, if things go well.
We’re in a state of flux, both
off and on the field.
FT asks: How frustrating
was it to see Jamie Devitt
eave for Carlisle? We have
to be realistic: he was out of contract,
and with the most assists in the league
we knew he was hot property. Good
luck to him – he’s always done it for us.
Attended 41 games last season
NEWPORT COUNTY
Last season League Two 22nd FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Scott Boden (15)
Newport endured a roller-coaster of
a 2015-16 season split into thirds. The
Exiles appeared doomed under Terry
Butcher – an appointment that seemed
ill-advised from the outset – but saw
fortunes pick up under John Sheridan,
then nosedive again as the season drew
to a close under Warren Feeney (above).
Like Yeovil and Morecambe, Newport
were grateful for the failings of York and
the Daggers as they stumbled over the
finish line in 22nd place. A dismal lack of
cutting edge saw County score 43 goals
in 46 matches, while an inability to pick
up points at Rodney Parade – they won
only four home matches all season – left
them in peril until the campaign’s end.
The departure of captain Mark Byrne to
gham will hardly help to raise spirits
club which has known nothing but
aval of late. Danny Holmes, Medy
and John Cristophe-Ayina have also
eaving Feeney facing a formidable
e to make the side competitive. The
als of, among others, wingers Sean
and Jack Compton, full-backs Dan
r and Jazzi Barnum-Bobb, and the
rienced Ben Tozer offer some hope.
VERDICT: 21ST
FAN FILE
MARTYN PHILLIPS
This season will be different to last
because the club appears to have
found some stability off the pitch.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club would have been Janoi
Donacien, but he’s gone back to Villa,
so that saves some petrol money.
One change I’d make at our club is
to get rid of the negative supporters
with no tactical understanding
whatsoever. They think we’re Barça!
THE BOSS
WARREN FEENEY
The ex-Northern Ireland international
won just six of his 23 games in charge
after taking over from Sheridan, who
departed for Oldham in January. Feeney
faces a huge task to revitalise the Exiles.
DID YOU KNOW?
Having closed their offices for the Easter
holidays, FIFA left County fuming when
the club were unable to finalise a loan
move for Souleymane Coulibaly, instead
having to wait. “The club are very
disappointed that the offices at FIFA
closed early,” said a spokesman.
KEY PLAYER
JOE DAY
Day arrived for a club
record fee (in the
region of £40,000) in
2014-15, and with his
team scoring so few
goals at the other
end, there’s no
little pressure on
him in nets.
Exiles fans should follow
@AndrewPenman1. The South Wales
Argus reporter is always in the know.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Gwion Edwards, who moved
on to Peterborough this summer.
Save the date for Grimsby, now that
they’re back in the Football League.
This season we’ll finish 10th. We
could yet surprise some people.
FFT asks: How much will winger Alex
Rodman be missed? He’s a huge loss.
He was positive, always went forward
and wasn’t scared to take anyone on.
Attended 30+ games last season
 NOTTS COUNTY
Last season League Two 17th FA Cup First Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Jon Stead (14)
It’s been another summer of upheaval
at Meadow Lane following the departure
of Mark Cooper as boss and the arrival
of John Sheridan from Oldham to
replace him. A lack of stability in the
dugout has been the hallmark of the
Magpies in recent seasons, with four
men being given the task of keeping
County’s head above water in what was
their first season back in League Two.
A 10-match winless streak in February
and March ended promotion ambitions,
and a 5-0 home reverse to Carlisle on
the final day capped a season of misery
on the Trent. Finishing 17th was hardly
what the club had in mind, but it did
illustrate the impact a lack of stability
can have in a league where consistency
is the exception rather than the rule.
A transfer embargo has been lifted,
and with the club having cleared their
debt to HMRC, the threat of a winding-up
petition is one less thing to worry about.
Getting promoted may prove more
testing, although swoops for Jonathan
Forte, Matt Tootle and Michael O’Connor
– all from the third tier – as well as Alex
Rodman represent good early business.
FFT VERDICT: 5TH
FAN FILE
ALEX LEVY
This season will be different to last
because County have a stable gaffer
in John Sheridan who will hopefully
stick around for the whole season.
Keep an eye out for Montel Gibson.
He looked promising last season.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Izale McLeod. No idea
why we paid Crawley £150k for him.
The best away ground is Kenilworth
Road – a proper old-school ground.
THE BOSS
JOHN SHERIDAN
The former Leeds midfielder must
sometimes have to check his Sat Nav
to check where he’s currently stationed.
Plymouth, Newport, Oldham and now
Nottingham have all been home since
the end of 2014-15. He, like County, will
hope this is a longer-term arrangement.
DID YOU KNOW?
County’s Stanley Aborah made
his professional debut for Ajax as
a 16-year-old in 2004. Three days later
he took to the field against Maccabi
Tel-Aviv in the Champions League.
KEY PLAYER
JON STEAD
The former Blackbur
seems to have been
forever, and the exp
of the 33-year-old co
crucial again this sea
particularly if he can
a good partnership
equally well-travelle
goal-hungry Izale M
Magpies fans should follow
@KieranGuy_Ncfc – he always has
some entertaining opinions.
Our pantomime villain is Kevin Nolan.
He was a massive moaner with Orient.
This season we’ll finish third. Despite
the unclear ownership situation at
the football club, John Sheridan has
recruited very well this summer.
FFT asks: Which of your side’s
summer signings are you most
looking forward to seeing in action?
Defender Carl Dickinson, as he has
experience as a captain and leader.
Season ticket holder since 2004
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
Last season League Two 5th FA Cup First Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Graham Carey (12)
The Pilgrims appeared bound for League
One for the majority of last season, only
for a late dip in form and play-off final
heartache against AFC Wimbledon to
thwart them. It was a second successive
disappointment in the end-of-season
shootout, having narrowly gone down to
Wycombe in the 2014-15 semi-finals.
Confidence, rather than fear, is the
over-riding feeling as the new season
approaches, and for good reason. Derek
Adams’ outfit were a revelation in the
early part of the campaign, with Argyle
winning nine of their first 13 games.
A run of four matches without a win
in March saw them drop out of the
automatic promotion places, but they
look well-placed to have another crack
op three this season.
ms has managed to keep the
y of his side together and
t in several new faces, including
Ryan Donaldson and striker
Slew. The goals of Jake Jervis
nd Graham Carey should ensure
Park regulars are kept entertained
he end result could leave them
rather than scowling come May.
ERDICT: 7TH
FAN FILE
DANIEL WALDRON
This season will be different to last
because we have a point to
prove after a diabolical
play-off final display.
Our most underrated
player is Tyler Harvey –
rated by the fans but not
by the management, yet.  No chance. My last away game was at
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Kelvin Mellor! He can
be 8/10 one week, 1/10 the next five.  Season ticket holder for 16 years
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 87
THE BOSS
DEREK ADAMS
Eyebrows were raised when Plymouth
replaced John Sheridan with the former
Ross County boss, but Adams proved
himself in his first season in English
football. He’s an excellent motivator,
and the Plymouth players have clearly
responded to his methods.
DID YOU KNOW?
New defensive signing Yann Songo’o is
the son of Cameroon ex-international
goalkeeper Jacques Songo’o, who is one
of only three African players to have
been in four World Cup squads.
KEY PLAYER
GRAHAM CAREY
Carey’s promptings a
threat from midfield
two of the big reason
behind the Pilgrims’
last season. The Irish
arrived with Adams
from Ross County
but soon found his
feet in League Two.
Save the date for Exeter or Pompey
at home: always a great atmosphere
against two pretty average teams.
This season we’ll finish sixth? It’s hard
to judge with a squad in transition.
FFT asks: Argyle have
o travel an extra 500
iles this season for
way games. Will you
e going to Carlisle,
artlepool or Grimsby?
Wembley for the play-off final in May
and that was a horrific day out! 
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
PORTSMOUTH
Last season League Two 6th FA Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Marc McNulty (13)
Last season was a frustrating one for the
south-coast side, despite it being their
most successful campaign since their
freefall down the leagues began in 2010.
An inability to hold onto leads, and
a propensity for conceding last-minute
goals, combined to consign Pompey to
a play-off place rather than automatic
promotion – and they ultimately paid the
price against Plymouth over two legs.
This season will be a fourth in League
Two for Paul Cook’s side and although
the support has remained patient, that
tolerance will surely last only so long.
The sale of homegrown defender
Adam Webster to Ipswich for a reported
£750,000 will have helped the coffers,
but Fratton Park regulars will want to
see movement inwards as Pompey
look to escape from the bottom tier.
The signings of League One duo Carl
Baker, from MK Dons, and Danny Rose,
from Northampton, offer an indication
of Pompey’s pulling power. A string of
promising youngsters, including Conor
Chaplin (top) and Jack Whatmough,
illustrate the huge strides taken by
the club’s academy in recent seasons.
FFT VERDICT: 1ST
FAN FILE
BRENDAN BONE
This season will be different to last
because we have had a full season to
consolidate. Paul Cook (right) knows
the expectations, and
where we went wrong.
Our most underrated
player is Gareth Evans.
With superb energy, he’ll
be a big player for us.
Keep an eye out for Con r li :
a superb goalscorer, and still only 19.
88 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
PAUL COOK
It was a mixed first season in charge
for the sometimes prickly 49-year-old.
Endlessly supportive of his players, who
have responded to his management
style, Cook has arrested Pompey’s slide
and got the 2008 FA Cup winners back
on a firm footing going into 2016-17.
He’ll now be under pressure to deliver.
DID YOU KNOW?
Finishing sixth in League Two meant
that last term was the first time in eight
seasons that Pompey bettered their
finish from the previous campaign.
KEY PLAYER
KYLE BENNETT
The 25-year-old
provided creativity
and a goal threat last
season. He was the
target of moans from
more unforgiving sect
of the Fratton Park cro
but will be a crucial fi
for Cook’s side this sea
The best away ground is Plymouth’s:
Always a good atmosphere, and there
will be some needle after the play-offs.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Reuben Reid.  This season will be different to last
This season we’ll finish as champions.
FFT asks: Should Paul Cook make big
hanges or stick with last
eason’s group that nearly
won promotion? We fell
hort because some of the
layers couldn’t live with
he expectation, especially
t . okie knows what’s needed.
Season ticket holder for 24 years
STEVENAGE
Last season League Two 18th FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round Top scorer Chris Whelpdale (9)
Hopes were high that the appointment
of Teddy Sheringham last summer
would led to Stevenage marching
directly out of League Two. The reality
was somewhat different. The former
England great was dismissed in February
with Stevenage marooned in the bottom
half of the table, although things
hardly improved under his successor,
33-year-old Darren Sarll (above).
The new man – Stevenage’s former
first-team coach – has been joined by
former Hammers boss Glenn Roeder,
and chairman Phil Wallace feels they are
the right combination to take the club
forward, saying, “Glenn and Darren have
proved to be an inspiring combination.”
An 18th-place finish hardly bodes well
for the season ahead and the club has
been relatively quiet in the transfer
market, with full-back Andrew Fox and
strikers Matt Godden, Rowan Liburd and
Jake Hyde the main captures since May.
The club’s goal tally of 52 was among
the lowest in League Two last season
and the lack of a proven goalscorer at
this level means the season could
potentially unravel at alarming speed.
FFT VERDICT: 23RD
FAN FILE
D. SMITH
because we have a new, young
manager. It can’t get any worse.  Save the date for August 6, at home
Our most underrated player is
Dale Gorman. He’s still only young bu
ist developing into a great footballer.
Keep an eye out for Matt Godden,
a new signing who seems to have
scored goals wherever he has been.
The best away fans are Portsmouth’s
– apart from that guy with the bell.
THE BOSS
DARREN SARLL
Stevenage won just five of Sarll’s 17
matches in charge after he took over
from Sheringham. One defeat in nine at
the season’s end suggests he could be
the man to lift the current malaise,
but he lacks managerial experience.
Roeder’s presence should be a big help.
DID YOU KNOW?
Sheringham admitted that he went
incognito to watch Stevenage play after
he’d been given the boot. “I wanted to
see what the reaction of the players
and the supporters would be,” he said.
KEY PLAYER
TOM PETT
The midfielder joined
Wealdstone but was s
learning to fly in leagu
football, and can stop
Boro free-falling into
the great wide open o
non-league. He’s datin
an American girl, Seat
Reign player Kim Little
One change I’d make at our club is
getting rid of Category A games. Every
club is in League Two for a reason. It’s
just an excuse to charge more money.
This season we’ll finish 11th. A strong
defence should see us pick up points.
to Crewe. Football is finally back!
FFT asks: Is Darren Sarll the right
choice as manager? He has Stevenage
in his heart and deserves his chance.
Being inexperienced, it’s vital to have
someone like Glenn alongside him. 
I trust them to build on last season.
Attended 35 games last season
 WYCOMBE WANDERERS
Last season League Two 13th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Garry Thompson, Michael Harriman (8)
It initially looked as if Wycombe had
brushed aside their 2014-15 play-off
final hangover, but the longer the
season went on, the more Gareth
Ainsworth’s side faded from view.
In contention for a top-seven place for
the majority of the campaign, they
ended up in 13th – a harsh reflection,
perhaps, but as Ainsworth knows,
after 46 matches the table rarely lies.
They still operate on a tight budget. If
anything, last season merely illustrated
the enormous achievement of reaching
the play-off final 12 months earlier.
The Chairboys have picked up former
England C international Dayle Southwell
from Boston United, and if he can bring
his non-league scoring boots – 54 goals
in two seasons in the National League
North – then he could make a crucial
contribution. The Beast, aka Adebayo
Akinfenwa (below), has also moved
to Adams Park, which will beef things
up – and they need it. Defender Michael
Harriman was the club’s joint-leading
goalscorer last season, which tells you
everything you need to know about
where Wycombe’s issues currently lie.
FFT VERDICT: 11TH
FAN FILE
PHIL SLATTER
This season will be different to last
because we have
unfinished business
and Ainsworth has
promised to work on
our inability to score.
Our most underrated
player is Anthony
Stewart (top, right). He gets on with
things quietly and is a rock-solid
part of our excellent defence.
THE BOSS
GARETH AINSWORTH
The former QPR and Wycombe midfielder
has worked miracles since taking charge
of Wanderers in September 2012, and
he’s highly respected by the players and
adored by the fans. Nevertheless, last
season was difficult. It’s now up to him
and his side to bounce back up the table.
That could be easier said than done.  in the car crash that ended his playing
DID YOU KNOW?
“I once got blended fish in my eye,”
explained new signing Dayle Southwell,
talking about his job in a fish factory
while at Boston United.
KEY PLAYER
MICHAEL HARRIMAN
The former QPR trainee
signed for Wycombe
in January after a loan
spell and excelled in all
areas of the pitch. The
defender netted eight
times in 49 outings
and was consistently
sound at the back, too.
Keep an eye out for Dayle Southwell.
We hope he can bring his goalscoring
form for Boston into League Two.
This season we’ll finish seventh.
We need to improve this term, and
th l ffs have to be our target.
FFT asks: Are you worried
about losing Gareth
Ainsworth if he brings
success this season? Not
mmediately, no. He will
robably move on to better
things one day, but he’s a big believer
in what we’re working on as a club.
Season ticket holder for 22 years
YEOVIL TOWN
Last season League Two 19th FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round Top scorers Ryan Bird, Francois Zoko, Harry Cornick (8)
The Glovers’ plunge down the divisions
looked set to continue after a dreadful
start to last season (they recorded just
two wins before the turn of the year)
left them rock-bottom of League Two.
The sacking of manager Paul Sturrock,
and the appointment of Darren Way –
a man who knows a thing or two about
adversity, having had a brush with death
career – eventually provided the upsurge
in fortunes that the West Country side
required, four straight wins in February
and March leading them to safety.
Yeovil finished 19th: relative success
after three seasons of almost constant
tumult. The main issue is finding the
goals to propel the Glovers to a more
comfortable finish. No League Two side
scored fewer than their 43 last season.
There has been a summer clear-out at
Huish Park, too, with Way releasing eight
players, including Leroy Lita. Francois
Zoko, who arrived on a short-term loan
deal in November, has signed a one-year
deal, but the club still look short on both
numbers and quality. Another season of
struggle looks to be in the offing.
FFT VERDICT: 18TH
FAN FILE
OLLY DOUGLAS
This season will be different to last
because we will hopefully go an entire
season without falling into disarray
and needing play-off form to survive.
The best away grounds are the older,
more traditional ones, for me: Exeter,
Hartlepool, Stevenage. I’m looking
forward to Grimsby this season.
Glovers fans should follow media
man @Jimmer84. His viral clips have
entertained people far beyond Yeovil.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 89
THE BOSS
DARREN WAY
A favourite with the Huish Park crowd as
a bustling midfielder, Way has endeared
himself to the locals as a manager, too.
Last season’s great escape, after the club
had picked up just 11 points from their
opening 20 matches, has deservedly
earned him more time to try to lead
Yeovil back up from whence they came. 
DID YOU KNOW?
During his first spell with the club,
in 2008, left-back Nathan Smith had
to give up his IT job before accepting
a professional contract with the Glovers.
KEY PLAYER
ARTUR KRYSIAK
The Polish goalkeeper
shone like a beacon in
the Somerset gloom
during 2015-16 and
he will be crucial for the
Glovers again this season.
It’s possible that he will be
a very busy man indeed
between the sticks.
Our pantomime villain is the most
successful Yeovil manager ever, Gary
Johnson, now at Cheltenham Town.
This season we’ll finish in the top 10.
With a smidge of luck... who knows...
maybe in the p... play... no, I can’t say it!
Save the date for Exeter on Boxing
Day: an emotional game. The sides
will honour Adam Stansfield again. 
FFT asks: Francois Zoko has signed
a new one-year deal. How pleasing
is that? Very! We could name a full 11
for the season during May. That hasn’t
happened in many, many seasons.
Regular supporter since 1999
 NON-LEAGUE 2016-17

VANARAMA
NATIONAL LEAGUE
No team bounces back in nine seasons then it’s two for two You’re up, York and Dagenham
ALDERSHOT TOWN
Bringing back manager Gary Waddock
could be inspired, but the Shots need to keep
up their solid early business if they’re to better
last term’s 15th-place finish. FFT verdict: 14th
Key man: Jake Gallagher
BARROW
The addition of Chester talisman Ross
Hannah could help to fire the ambitious Barrow
boys yet further up the table. FFT verdict: 10th
Key man: Andy Haworth
BOREHAM WOOD
They did fantastically well to survive last
season but Scott Doe leaving to rejoin relegated
Dagenham & Redbridge is a blow. There’s work
to do in this transfer window. FFT verdict: 23rd
Key man: Kenny Davis
BRAINTREE TOWN
Making the play-offs again will take some
doing: the loss of manager Danny Cowley can’t
be underestimated and he has taken some key
players with him to Lincoln. FFT verdict: 11th
Key man: Lee Barnard
BROMLEY
Stability and smart summer deals hint
at improvement, but 14th place last season
was an overachievement. FFT verdict: 19th
Key man: Jack Holland
CHESTER
With highly rated midfielder Elliott Durrell
joining the ranks, Jon McCarthy’s men – 17th in
2015-16 – may surprise a few. FFT verdict: 13th
Key man: Tom Shaw
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE
John Still’s vast managerial experience
gives the Daggers an edge as they aim to put
relegation behind them. FFT verdict: 5th
Key man: Scott Doe
DOVER ATHLETIC
Words Mark Carruthers, editor of NonLeagueDaily.com
NORTH FERRIBY UNITED
With FC Halifax Town poaching manager
Billy Heath and several key players, the Villagers
know staying up is a big ask. FFT verdict: 24th
Key man: Danny Clarke
SOLIHULL MOORS
Under Marcus Bignot they can maintain
momentum from an impressive National
League North title win. FFT verdict: 18th
Key man: Harry White
SOUTHPORT
Rookie manager Andy Bishop aims, with
help from some strong early signings, to move
the Sandgrounders into mid-table and beyond
– but that’ll be far from easy. FFT verdict: 21st
Key man: Louis Almond
SUTTON UNITED
Paul Doswell’s positivity will rub off on his
players, helped by midfielders Nicky Bailey and
Above Eastleigh’s FOREST GREEN ROVERS Craig Eastmond stepping up. FFT verdict: 20th
boss Chris Todd has Jon Parkin’s left but Rhys Murphy should Key man: Dan Fitchett
reason to be cheerful score goals at this level, while new boss Mark
Below Forest Green’s Cooper has a point to prove. FFT verdict: 2nd TORQUAY UNITED
Darren Carter was Key man: Darren Carter Kevin Nicholson performed a minor –
once sent off for actually, make that major – miracle in keeping
England U20s after GATESHEAD the Gulls in this division. He will be able to lead
a bad foul on one After a summer of change for the Heed, them a little higher this term. FFT verdict: 15th
Cristiano Ronaldo a lot depends on how Neil Aspin’s completely Key man: Brett Williams
new back four settles early on. FFT verdict: 8th
Key man: Antony Sweeney TRANMERE ROVERS
While 2015-16 felt like a long recovery
GUISELEY from relegation, it did build the foundations for
Dramatic last-day survival will give them a play-off bid this time around. FFT verdict: 4th
a boost, but the Lions need signings Javan Vidal Key man: Andy Cook
and Ash Palmer to impress. FFT verdict: 22nd
Key man: Will Hatfield WOKING
The Cards have lost some big players, but
LINCOLN CITY on their day Garry Hill’s men can trouble any
Danny Cowley arrives as one of the most team in this tier. Much will depend on their
in-demand managers in non-league. He’ll have experienced defenders. FFT verdict: 17th
some work to do on the Imps. FFT verdict: 6th Key man: Brian Saah
Key man: Alex Woodyard
WREXHAM

Last year’s play-off spot was a massive
success, but Nicky Deverdics’ move up (and up,
and up) to Hartlepool will hurt. FFT verdict: 9th
Key man: Ricky Miller
EASTLEIGH
Spitfires gaffer Chris Todd has invested
well over the summer, with 21-year-old striker
Mickael Mandron arriving from Sunderland to
especially high expectations. FFT verdict: 1st
Key man: Adam Dugdale
MACCLESFIELD TOWN
Early business has been slow but bringing
back winger Jack Mackreth is a good move as
the Silkmen look to push on. FFT verdict: 12th
Key man: Chris Holroyd
MAIDSTONE UNITED
Promising young manager Jay Saunders
should keep them up. And how will teams cope
with the new boys’ 4G pitch? FFT verdict: 16th
Key man: Lee Worgan
After last term’s progress, Gary Mills spent
a busy summer in the transfer market – but the
play-offs may remain elusive. FFT verdict: 7th
Key man: Jordan White
YORK CITY
Former Partick and Dundee United boss
Jackie McNamara has overhauled the squad in
the hope of bouncing straight back. It’ll need
to knit together quickly. FFT verdict: 3rd
Key man: Yan Klukowski

90 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com

 SCOTTISH
Rangers are back in the
PREMIERSHIP Big club,
big time – and look who big ambition,
2016-17 big mouth
they brought with them... PREDICTION
Scottish football fans are used to watching 1. Celtic
major tournaments from home. This summer 2. Rangers
hurt more than most, though, as the only UK 3. Hearts
nation to miss the Euro 2016 party, while the 4. Aberdeen
likes of Iceland made a mockery of excuses 5. St Johnstone
about population size or lack of a star player. 6. Dundee
Domestically, however, there is excitement 7. Ross County
ahead of the new campaign. For all of the 8. Motherwell
naysaying, there has been a lot to be positive 9. Partick Thistle
about in recent years – not least the variety 10. Kilmarnock
of teams who have enjoyed cup success. 11. Inverness CT
What has been missing is some box-office 12. Hamilton
glitz. That has at least been partially rectified
by the arrival of Brendan Rodgers and Joey League splits into
Barton, in addition to exciting young prospects two for the final five
such as Moussa Dembele and Jordan Rossiter. rounds of games. One
Rodgers has already had Parkhead punters team qualifies for
lining the streets to snap up season tickets, Champions League
while Barton has quickly picked up on the 2nd Qualifying Round
kind of soundbites the Gers’ legions lap up.

#FFTPREVIEW
But the tit-for-tat scrap between reunited Get involved. Tweet

2016-17 FIXTURES
rivals Celtic and Rangers isn’t the be-all and us using the hashtag
end-all. Aberdeen are frustrated to have blown
perhaps their best chance at a first top-flight
title since 1984-85. Hearts will be thereabouts
as well, with a packed Tynecastle and monthly
Enjoy the return of Celtic vs Rangers... and again... and again
cash injections via the fans’ Foundation of
Inverness CT

St Johnstone
Ross County
Motherwell
Kilmarnock

Hearts fuelling their restoration from ruin.

Aberdeen

Hamilton

At the other end, it seems harsh to highlight

Rangers
Dundee

Partick
Hearts

Hamilton Academical as a team destined

Celtic

to battle the drop, but they’re used to it at

New Douglas Park. It serves as motivation.
After signing a whole new team, Kilmarnock --- 29/10 28/01 28/12 13/08 10/09 26/11 22/10 20/08 24/09 15/10 10/12
hope their new recruits gel quickly to avoid Aberdeen --- --- --- --- 18/03 05/04 --- 11/03 04/02 08/04 25/02 ---

a repeat of last season’s nervy play-off battles. 27/08 --- 17/12 22/10 28/01 05/11 24/09 15/10 TBC 10/09 28/12 26/11
Celtic 01/02 --- --- 25/02 --- --- 08/04 18/02 05/04 11/03 --- ---

AT THE LOWER LEVELS… Dundee

17/09
01/04
01/10
18/03
---
---
19/08
15/04
24/12
---
26/11
---
10/09
01/02
05/11
---
26/10
01/03
13/08
18/02
10/12
---
31/12
---
The Championship retains some intrigue. 26/10 24/12 29/10 --- 19/11 01/10 13/08 31/12 03/12 17/12 27/08 24/09
Hibs simply have to go up at the third time Hamilton 01/03 --- --- --- --- 01/02 04/02 --- --- --- 08/04 01/04
of asking, and were ambitious in appointing 31/12 07/08 15/10 10/09 --- 20/08 28/12 26/11 17/12 22/10 24/09 05/11
Neil Lennon to replace the Rotherham-bound
Hearts --- 01/04 08/04 11/03 --- 18/02 --- --- --- 01/02 01/03 ---

19/11 17/09 24/09 10/12 29/10 --- 22/10 28/12 28/01 15/10 13/08 27/08
Alan Stubbs, though relegated Dundee United Inverness CT --- 01/03 04/02 --- --- --- 01/04 --- --- 25/02 18/03 08/04
– remodelled by Ray McKinnon – and Falkirk
01/10 19/11 03/12 05/11 26/10 17/12 --- 06/08 17/09 27/08 28/01 24/12
will ensure they don’t have it all their own way. Kilmarnock 18/02 --- --- --- 15/04 --- --- 01/03 18/03 05/04 --- ---
In League One, Airdrie have gone full-time 24/12 03/12 27/08 17/09 01/10 26/10 10/12 --- 19/11 28/01 29/10 13/08
in a bid to inch their way back to the glory Motherwell --- --- 25/02 05/04 04/02 15/04 --- --- --- --- --- 18/03

days, while Livingston are also determined 05/11 10/12 28/12 15/10 27/08 06/08 31/12 24/09 --- 26/11 22/10 10/09
Partick --- --- --- 18/02 25/02 11/03 --- 08/04 --- --- 01/04 01/02
to bounce back up to the Championship.
03/12 31/12 19/11 06/08 10/12 24/12 29/10 20/08 01/10 --- 17/09 26/10
Former Rangers and Scotland captain Rangers --- --- --- 18/03 --- --- --- 01/04 15/04 --- 04/02 01/03
Barry Ferguson is determined to lead Clyde to 17/12 26/10 06/08 26/11 03/12 31/12 20/08 10/09 24/12 05/11 --- 01/10
League Two promotion after two failed Ross County --- 15/04 05/04 --- --- --- 11/03 01/02 --- --- --- 18/02

attempts, while Edinburgh City are looking 07/08 20/08 22/10 28/01 17/09 03/12 15/10 17/12 29/10 28/12 19/11 ---
St Johnstone 15/04 04/02 11/03 --- 05/04 --- 25/02 --- --- --- --- ---
forward to their first crack at senior football.

Above figures represent day/month – all are subject to change FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 91
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
ABERDEEN
Last season Premiership 2nd Scottish Cup Fourth Round League Cup Third Round
Europa League Third Qualifying Round Top scorer Adam Rooney (20)
It says a lot for Aberdeen’s consistency
in recent seasons that a second-place
finish came as a disappointment
to some. In the end they finished
a distant 15 points behind Celtic, having
looked well-placed at one stage to go
toe-to-toe with the Glasgow giants.
After opening with eight straight wins
in the Premiership, their efforts were
undermined when autumn’s League Cup
exit to Championship outfit Hibs led to
a return of one point from a possible 15 in
the league. They were further hampered
by Liverpool’s decision to recall red-hot
loan keeper Danny Ward in January.
It’s true they have only one trophy –
the 2013-14 League Cup – to show for
spending four years in a division without
Rangers around, and Aberdeen do boast
a better budget than everyone except
Celtic, but boss Derek McInnes has done
nothing but enhance his reputation with
the Dons. They now possess a settled
squad with strength in most areas
and an improving balance between
established senior pros and some
highly-regarded prospects. They’ll likely
fight it out again to be ‘best of the rest’.
FFT VERDICT: 4TH
FAN FILE
KEITH MACKENZIE
This season will be different to last
because it could be the last one before
Derek McInnes’ side starts to break up.
Our most underrated player is Graeme
Shinnie, at least by Gordon Strachan.  FFT asks: Do you think kicking off your
The best away fans are Motherwell’s.
They always make a decent racket.
Dons fans should follow journalist
Michael Grant (@MGrantScotland).
Our pantomime villain is Joey Barton,
before he’s even kicked a ball.   Match-going supporter since 1988
92 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
DEREK McINNES
As Aberdeen’s most successful manager
since Alex Ferguson, McInnes enjoys
a great relationship with the Red Army.
He is determined, meticulous and has
been successful in patiently improving
the depth and quality of his squad.
DID YOU KNOW?
In May, Aberdeen unveiled plans to
move away from Pittodrie, their home
since 1899, to a new purpose-built
stadium and training complex. It’s
expected to cost £40 million and
should be ready in time for 2019-20.
KEY PLAYER
GRAEME SHINNIE
Fans are perplexed why
Shinnie, who can play
anywhere in defence
or midfield, has yet to
be called up for Scotlan
by Gordon Strachan. He
been Dons’ best perfor
since joining from Inve
Caley Thistle in 2015.
The one change I’d make at our club
is to have new training facilities – they
are essential. I’m not totally convinced
that moving away to an out-of-town
stadium is the right call, though.
This season we’ll finish second again.
Celtic will get stronger, but we can aim
to be better than Hearts and Rangers.
season in the Europa League in June
could affect the squad later in the
season? It seemed to affect us last
year. Failure to strengthen in January
probably cost us a shot at the title.
CELTIC
Last season Premiership Winners Scottish Cup Semi-final League Cup Semi-final
Champions League Play-off Europa League Group Top scorer Leigh Griffiths (40)
They finished the season as champions
for a fifth successive season, rounded
off by a 7-0 demolition of Motherwell,
but there’s no masking a disappointing
2015-16 campaign for Celtic.
Failure to reach the group stage of the
Champions League, a dismal Europa
League showing and an inability to lift
either domestic cup ultimately cost the
likeable Ronny Deila his job. By his own
admission, the Norwegian hadn’t been
able to realise his vision for the team,
and in a display of admirable honesty
he conceded it was best for both
parties to go their separate ways.
After Deila lost the Scottish Cup
semi-final to Rangers there was never
really going to be any other outcome.
he place needed reinvigorating. And
with one stroke of his pen, billionaire
ermot Desmond – Celtic’s biggest
ndividual shareholder – did just that,
y bringing in Brendan Rodgers (above).
Soaring season ticket sales paid for
odgers’ reported £2.4 million salary
within hours and there is excitement
bout how he’ll go about breathing new
fe into what had become a tired team.
FFT VERDICT: 1ST
FAN FILE
COLIN WATT
This season will be different to
last because Brendan Rodgers
is a great appointment.
Keep an eye out for Eric
Sviatchenko: if he stays fit, he
could be player of the year.
Save the date for May 25,
2017: the 50th anniversary of
our European Cup final win (right).
The best away ground grub is Ross
County’s for the Highland Haggis Pie!
THE BOSS
BRENDAN RODGERS
Rodgers needs no introduction – hardly
the case with his predecessor – and the
signing of Fulham’s in-demand young
talent Moussa Dembele was a statement
of intent. Expectations are sky-high – so
losing a Champions League qualifier 1-0
to Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps in his first
match wasn’t ideal, to say the least.
DID YOU KNOW?
This season, Celtic Park will be the first
UK ground to offer rail seating, a safe
standing area for 2,600 supporters in
the corner of the Lisbon Lions Stand.
KEY PLAYER
LEIGH GRIFFITHS
Special mention should
go to 19-year-old Kieran
Tierney, whose rapid prom
from the stands at Celtic
to left-back is already the
of legend, but striker Griffi
still their talisman. It’s ha
to overstate the importan
of his 40-goal haul last te
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn.
We should never have let him go.
Our pantomime villain is Joey Barton.
Our most underrated
player is Tom Rogic. He can
change a game instantly.
This season we’ll finish first.
FFT asks: How close can
Rangers push you in their
first season back? Mark
Warburton’s done a good job
but it’ll be harder this year. I’ll say they
will be second, or third after Aberdeen.
Season ticket holder since 2003
 DUNDEE
Last season Premiership 8th Scottish Cup Quarter-final
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Kane Hemmings (25)
Dundee had three players named in PFA
Scotland’s Premiership Team of the Year:
goalkeeper Scott Bain, attacker Greg
Stewart and top scorer Kane Hemmings.
Stewart and Hemmings were nominated
for Player of the Season to boot. So it’s
a mini-mystery how a team that earned
so many plaudits for their swashbuckling
approach managed to finish only eighth.
The Dark Blues narrowly missed out on
a top-six slot after losing to struggling
Hamilton in May, which manager Paul
Hartley described as ‘a massive blow’,
as was the loss in January of skipper
James McPake (above) with a fractured
kneecap. His return will be a huge boost.
It’s important to remember that it was
only Dundee’s second season back in the
top flight. They were never in danger of
being sucked into a relegation scrap,
and many fans couldn’t have cared less
about a late slump – after all, they sent
down rivals Dundee United with a 2-1
derby win in May that will live long in
the memory of Dee fans everywhere.
Although they’ve lost defender Paul
McGinn, versatile young Mark O’Hara has
arrived from Kilmarnock to high acclaim.
FFT VERDICT: 6TH
FAN FILE
JACK CAIRD
This season will be different to last
because there will be no easy derbies
to win now that United are relegated.
Our most underrated player is
Paul ‘our friend’ McGowan.
Keep an eye out for Sean Gallacher.
The best away fans are United’s.
We’ll miss their 1,500 at Dens Park.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is anyone caught
wearing tangerine boots.
THE BOSS
PAUL HARTLEY
Regarded as one of Scottish football’s
up-and-coming talents, 39-year-old
Hartley has earned respect for plucking
players from lower leagues and turning
them into top-flight performers. In 2014
he turned down the Cardiff job, and you
suspect that won’t be his last big offer.
DID YOU KNOW?
That derby win was secured by local lad
Craig Wighton’s winner in injury-time,
prompting Dee diehard Bobby Buchan
to have the teenager’s name tattooed
on his bum while on holiday in Tenerife.
KEY PLAYER
SCOTT BAIN
In an attack-minded
team you need
a dependable last
line of defence and
Dundee have that in
Bain. Signed from Allo
in 2014, the keeper ha
since played his way i
Scotland’s national sq
The best away ground is Partick
Thistle’s. We usually win there.
The best away ground grub is
Ross County’s haggis pehs.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Motherwell’s Marvin Johnson.
Our pantomime villain is Joey Barton.
Save the date for our possible ‘home’
game against Celtic, which is set to
take place in Philadelphia in March.
FFT asks: In your opinion, how good
can striker Kane Hemmings become?     without the nonsense that goes
Hopefully just good enough that we
can keep hold of him for a bit longer!
@dfctrivia
HAMILTON ACADEMICAL
Last season Premiership 10th Scottish Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Dougie Imrie (6)
Hamilton are a rarity in modern football:
a club that have a plan and stick to it,
regardless of hype, noise and panic. They
are built on development and patience.
The team were on a wretched run last
season that had them hurtling towards
what looked like a relegation play-off
spot at best. A section of the support
turned on 34-year-old player-manager
Martin Canning, but he was calmness
personified. His board adopted an
identical stance. It rubbed off on the
players, who, almost to a man, praised
their boss after edging out Kilmarnock in
the race to avoid the dreaded play-offs.
The groans will return if Hamilton
leave it late again, but Canning & Co.
are well used to starting the season as
virtual certainties to go down. Given
their modest resources and the size of
the club, they are punching above their
weight – and yet they keep on swinging.
Life would be a lot easier if they had
a creative spark and someone who could
be relied upon to stick the ball in the net,
although Canning is hardly alone there.
Expect more of the same at Accies – but
this time with a potentially sad ending.
FFT VERDICT: 12TH
FAN FILE
IAN KELLY
This season will be different to
last because our goalkeeper
Michael McGovern (right) has let
his contract run down so that he
can move on after Euro 2012.
The best away fans are Partick’s.
They create a decent atmosphere
with the bigger clubs in Scotland.
One change I’d make at our club is
to sign a striker. We don’t have any.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 93
THE BOSS
MARTIN CANNING
Alex Neil left big shoes to fill when he
departed for Norwich City 18 months
ago, but Canning (above) has given it his
best shot. Never one to look for excuses,
he prefers to keep a cool head, analyse
in meticulous detail and then go again,
defending and encouraging his players
who, in return, give their all for him.
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite featuring only three times
last season, Canning handed himself
a new year-long deal as a player in May,
saying: “If I can play a part, then I will.”
KEY PLAYER
MIKEY DEVLIN
Accies have lost some
influential players over
the summer in Michael
McGovern and Ziggy Gordo
so it’s a big year for 22-year
centre-back Mikey Devlin. L
season was disrupted by inj
but, in the closing weeks, h
was inching back to his bes
Save the date for September 17 and
a visit to our local rivals, Motherwell.
This season we’ll finish 10th again.
he club is moving in
he right direction.
FT asks: Manager
Martin Canning has
xtended his own
playing contract for
another year – can
you see him having an impact on the
pitch this season? It’s unlikely. He
has just signed as cover for injuries.
He hardly played at all last season.
Season ticket holder for 37 years
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN
Last season Premiership 3rd Scottish Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Quarter-final Top scorer Juanma Delgado (13)
In March, a few Hearts ‘fans’ thought it
would be a good idea to hire a small
plane carrying a message that called
for the removal of coach Robbie Neilson.
The plane flew over a packed Tynecastle
as the Jambos ground out a 1-0 win over
Partick. It was, frankly, a ludicrous stunt.
In their top-flight return, Neilson having
led a steamrollering of the Championship
in his first year in charge, Hearts finished
third, qualifying for the Europa League.
Under the stewardship of Ann Budge,
the club is barely recognisable from the
one brought to its knees by the Romanov
regime, highlighted by the £12 million
facelift their iconic stadium will soon
undergo. Home games are usually sold
out and Neilson, backed by director of
football Craig Levein, has done a superb
job moulding homegrown talent with
some imaginative imports. This year,
those include Swedish goalkeeper Viktor
Noring, defender Faycal Rherras from
Belgium, and two experienced pros in
Paul Gallacher and Conor Sammon.
Some argue their football could be
easier on the eye, but the league table
doesn’t lie. Hearts look set to push on.
FFT VERDICT: 3RD
FAN FILE
JOELSKED
This season will be different
to last because a season
of top-flight experience
should see improvement.
Keep an eye out for Liam
Smith, young understudy to
Callum Paterson at right-back.
The best away ground is Ross
County’s (right). It’s a tight ground
a two-minute walk from the station,
which has a pub on the platform.
94 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com
2016-17
THE BOSS
ROBBIE NEILSON
The former Hearts defender has taken
to managing like a duck to water. The
36-year-old is intelligent and driven,
pushing his players hard, but it says a lot
for his man-management that there are
next to no gripes, on or off the record.
DID YOU KNOW?
American midfielder Perry Kitchen
won a year-long lease of a £180,000
Lamborghini after coming out on top
in an MLS player challenge while with
former club DC United, but was banned
from shipping the car over to Scotland.
One change I’d make at our club is
the fans. Hearts fans have a sense of
entitlement which has affected the
intimidating atmosphere.
This season we’ll finish
third again. It’ll be tight
between us, Aberdeen
and Rangers for second.
FFT asks: Should Robbie
Neilson have won the
league’s manager of the year award?
No, but the progress he has made in
two years is startling. It’s crazy to think
a small section of fans want him out.
Attended 37 matches last season
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE
Last season Premiership 7th Scottish Cup Quarter-final League Cup
Quarter-final Europa League Second Qualifying Round Top scorer Miles Storey (13)
Manager John Hughes did warn it would
be impossible to top 2014-15, when
Inverness won their first Scottish Cup
and finished third in the league. He was
right. Seventh place last term was no
disgrace but it was a disappointment.
Hughes grew frustrated at what he
perceived to be a lack of resources, be
it in training facilities or an inability to
keep his best players, and with the club
insisting they were doing everything in
their power to support their manager,
a parting of the ways was inevitable.
Caley turned to skipper Richie Foran
(above), handing him a four-year deal
in a show of commitment. Foran, who
made over 200 appearances in seven
tired upon his
ed for the post
t in 2013, and
ompetition from
ackenzie. Writing
n Kenny Cameron
at club duties
hoolwork.
d, Scott Boden has
port County, with
hton also arriving.
H
FAN FILE
GRANT PRINGLE
This season will be different to last
because we are rid of the ball of
negativity that was John Hughes!
Our most underrated player is Ross
Draper, at least by others in the league.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Joey Barton. Him and Draper
in the midfield would be outrageous.
Our pantomime villain is Joey Barton!
Caley fans should follow the Ross
County wind-up @topsixnextyear.
THE BOSS
RICHIE FORAN
Having earned ‘wild child’ status early
in his career, Foran, 36, hopes to become
the classic poacher-turned-gamekeeper.
Life in the Highlands seems to suit him
and he has been described regularly as
a born-again model professional.
DID YOU KNOW?
Former boss John Hughes became
a YouTube sensation in March after
accidentally punching midfielder Liam
Polworth while celebrating an equaliser
against Hibernian. Polworth, nursing an
aching jaw, failed to see the funny side.
KEY PLAYER
AARON DORAN
A knee injury kept him out
for the whole of last term,
but Doran’s worth was
reflected in his receiving
a new two-year contract
in May. The ex-Blackburn
man offers craft to go
with the graft put in by
his Caley team-mates.
Keep an eye out for Liam Polworth. He
made his name properly last season
and will be ready to rip it up this term.
The best away fans are Aberdeen’s,
although it pains me to admit it.
This season we’ll finish in the top six if
we sign a couple of attackers. We are
solid defensively; just lack a bit of bite.
FFT asks: Are you happy to have
Richie Foran as boss, or do you worry
about his inexperience? Very happy.
He was always the natural successor
to Hughes and he’ll put some positivity
and passion back into the place.
Match-going supporter since 2000
 KILMARNOCK
Last season Premiership 11th Scottish Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Josh Magennis (above, 12)
To say Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark
has tried to put his own stamp on the
club this summer is an understatement.
Killie stayed up by the skin of their teeth
last time out, a play-off second leg
turnaround against Falkirk resulting in
huge sighs of relief all round Rugby Park.
Clark replaced Gary Locke in February
and, largely, had to make do with what
he had. So he wasted no time in clearing
the decks in pre-season before bringing
in 11 new players, including Tottenham
academy product Souleymane Coulibaly,
in one single day in late June. They were
unveiled in a single press conference; the
club had to give the new boys name tags.
“I knew what I wanted,” stated Clark.
“I’ve been working since the day I came
through the door.” His up-and-at-’em
theatrics on the touchline combined
with post-survival speech on the pitch
have endeared him to the disillusioned
diehards, but there can be no excuses
now after that kind of support from the
hierarchy. Clark’s been given full control
to rebuild football operations, right down
to academy level. Whatever happens
this season, it’s unlikely to be dull.
FFT VERDICT: 10TH
FAN FILE
ALEX CASSIDY
This season will be
different to last because
we have a competent
manager in Lee Clark.
Our most underrated
player is keeper Jamie
McDonald. He doesn’t
get enough credit.
Keep an eye out for Greg Kiltie.
He signed a new contract and when
he’s on his game he is unplayable.
THE BOSS
LEE CLARK
Clark raised eyebrows by switching
Killie’s training to coincide with usual
kick-off times, leading to grumps and
groans from his players. But it’s his way
or the highway – the new-look young
squad will have to buy into his methods.
DID YOU KNOW?
Kilmarnock’s 13-year association with
Brownings the Bakers has come to an
abrupt end after a legal wrangle over
the trademarking of the award-winning
‘Killie pie’. To the dismay of Scottish
football fans, it’s no longer on sale.
KEY PLAYER
GREG KILTIE
The winger’s contra
expired last Januar
he was a target for
Rangers and Hiber
But Killie pulled out
stops to convince h
stay and the Scotla
youth inspired thei
play-off success.
The best away ground grub is nothing
compared to a Killie pie.
This season we’ll finish in the top six,
I hope. The manager has brought in
young lads with good pedigrees.
Save the date for October 15:
the first Meh Derby of the season,
away against St Johnstone.
FFT asks: Manager Lee Clark
brought in 11 players in one day.
Was that much of an overhaul
really needed? Definitely. We’ve
been languishing at the bottom for
too long. A mass clearout was needed.
Match-going supporter since 1990
MOTHERWELL
Last season Premiership 5th Scottish Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Third Round Top scorer Louis Moult (18)
The 2015-16 season was eventful for
Motherwell fans. With the team looking
destined for another battle against the
drop, boss Ian Baraclough lasted only
until September 23. The Well then went
three weeks with Stephen Craigan as
caretaker, before Mark McGhee (above)
was tempted back to Fir Park.
McGhee, part of Gordon Strachan’s
Scotland backroom team, didn’t spark
an instant upturn in results upon his
return, but the Steelmen held their
collective nerve and a strong second
half to the season saw them finish fifth.
That resurgence bought McGhee time
to make the top-to-bottom tweaks that
he feels can get the club challenging
nsistently at the right end of the table,
d there is hope that an exciting crop
kids can help to inspire change. They
t Hearts 5-2 to win the Youth Cup for
first time in their history, and the likes
Chris Cadden and Dom Thomas are
ped for a very bright future. They are
unate to have experienced pros
ngside them such as Keith Lasley,
phen McManus and Steven Hammell,
o stayed on despite talk of wage cuts.
T VERDICT: 8TH
FAN FILE
GRAHAM
BARNSTAPLE
This season will be different to last
because Mark McGhee will have a full
pre-season to work with. He took us
from 11th to fifth in half a season…
The best away fans are Inverness’ and
Ross County’s – large in number, no,
but they always get behind their team.
One change I’d make at our club is to
see all fans get behind the Well Society
and have the chance to own our club.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 95
THE BOSS
MARK MCGHEE
He might have wondered what he’d
walked into after a tough start to life
back at Motherwell, but he stuck to his
guns. It paid off and now the challenge
is to improve on a reduced budget.
DID YOU KNOW?
The iconic Euro 2016 ‘volcano clap’
between the Icelandic players and their
supporters was inspired by Motherwell.
Well fans unleashed their own version
in July 2014 in a Europa League tie
away to Icelandic side Stjarnan and
it struck a chord with the locals.
KEY PLAYER
CHRIS CADDEN
Stephen Pearson’s
sale to Indian Premier
League side Atletico de
Kolkata came as a blow,
but in 19-year-old Cadden
they have a direct, pacy
attacking talent who
grew in stature as last
season progressed.
Our pantomime villain is usually Scott
Brown at Celtic. He’ll be given a good
run for his money by Joey Barton.
This season we’ll finish anywhere
between sixth and eighth, depending
on how well Rangers do this season.
FFT asks: From non-league Wrexham
to the Premiership, why do you think
Louis Moult has been so successful
under Mark McGhee? Moult had done
well before McGhee arrived, but he’s
a willing listener and has taken a lot of
advice on board from a manager who
played as a striker at the highest level.
Match commentator, Motherwell TV
 PARTICK THISTLE RANGERS
Last season Premiership 9th Scottish Cup Fifth Round Last season Championship Winners Scottish Cup Runners-up
League Cup Second Round Top scorer Kris Doolan (14) League Cup Third Round Top scorer Martyn Waghorn (28)

You don’t hear much bad news at Partick
Thistle these days and that was typified
by out-of-contract pair Steven Lawless
and Stuart Bannigan penning fresh deals
and ignoring interest from elsewhere.
It’s no overnight success story at Firhill
– more a triumph of patience and
forward-planning. What they lack in
facilities, they make up for in ingenuity.
The coffers have at least been boosted
at academy level with investment from
lottery winners Chris and Colin Weir, who
sunk £750,000 of their £161 million win
into helping Gerry Britton and Scott
Allison put a new programme in place.
It’s paying off. Wigan swooped to sign
defender Jack Hendry, but 20-year-old
THE BOSS
ALAN ARCHIBALD
You rarely see Archibald on the back
pages, such is the former Partick
defender’s aversion to soundbites.
It also means he often doesn’t get the
recognition he merits for building Thistle.
He’s one regular goalscorer away from
helping them to take the next step.
DID YOU KNOW?
Baywatch star David Hasselhoff declared
his love for Partick Thistle as ‘a team for
the people’, having apparently been
seduced by the club’s charms during
a pantomime stint in Glasgow.
Absence is meant to make the heart
grow fonder, but after four years away
there are no signs of tensions thawing
between Rangers and the rest of
Scotland’s top flight – just look at the
scraps on social media. Bitterness is
entrenched on both sides, but eventually
football will become the priority again.
Mark Warburton made an instant
impact after taking over from caretaker
Stuart McCall, getting a small squad to
buy into his philosophy and produce
free-flowing football. The Championship
title was secured and Warburton gained
near-legendary status for the Scottish
Cup semi-final win over Celtic (above).
There will still be a hangover from the
THE BOSS
MARK WARBURTON
The gaffer is endearingly referred to as
‘The Magic Hat’ around Ibrox, but there’s
nothing mystical about his methods. His
team are fit, organised and pass the ball
well. The former Brentford boss and city
trader has a lot of credit in the bank.
DID YOU KNOW?
Never short of a bold statement or two,
Joey Barton has already picked a fight
with Celtic skipper Scott Brown. Asked
about the Scotland captain, Barton said:
“He is not even in my league – he is
nowhere near the level of player I am.”

KEY PLAYER KEY PLAYER

Liam Lindsay has picked up where he
left off. Young talents are arriving from
elsewhere, too, led by AFC Wimbledon’s
Ade Azeez and Hamilton’s Ziggy Gordon.
And then there’s Kingsley, Thistle’s
infamous mascot. The Maryhill monster
is a marketing phenomenon, even if he
gives more than a few fans nightmares.
Thistle just missed out on the top six
spot they crave and, in a tougher league,
they’ll do well just to maintain standards.
FFT VERDICT: 9TH
ABDUL OSMAN
The defensive midfielder,
described by Archibald as
‘a real leader on and off
the pitch’ gave the club
a huge shot in the arm by
agreeing a new two-year
deal in the summer, despite
interest from half of the
teams in the top flight.
limp cup final loss to Hibs, but Warburton
moved quickly to bolster the side. Joey
Barton’s arrival hogged the headlines, LEE WALLACE
but equally interesting is the capture on The raiding left-ba
a cross-border loophole of Liverpool’s is adored by the
England Under-19 midfielder Jordan Rangers support fo
Rossiter. Niko Kranjcar, Clint Hill and Josh sticking with them
Windass are other high-profile additions. their darkest hour
The big question now is whether this in effect sacrificing
mix of pedigree and youth will be able to international caree
mount an instant challenge for honours. A natural leader, h
play a big role this
T VERDICT: 2ND

FAN FILE Our panomime villain is Joey Barton,

RAYMONDSTARK
This season will be different to last
because it’s a tougher league with
the new club now in it too, but also
a better squad for Thistle thus far.
Keep an eye out for James Penrice,
who is only 17, and Kevin Nisbet.
Jags fans should follow
@TheJagscast, a Thistle podcast.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Aberdeen’s Northern
Ireland winger Niall McGinn.
Tommy Wright… there’s quite a few!
This season we’ll finish Sixth. I’ll stick
my neck out and say we’ll do well.
Save the date for November 26, when
new club The Rangers visit Firhill!
FFT asks: The club have expressed
their anger over having fewer
guaranteed home games against
Celtic and Rangers next season. A fair
complaint, or just sour grapes? It is
a fair complaint, but given the clueless
nature of Scottish football authorities,
nothing will ever be done about it.
Programme editor and fan since 1974
FAN FILE
STEVEN CHALMERS
This season will be different
to last because we’re now
back where we belong, at
the top of Scottish football.
Our most underrated player
is Jason Holt, and his ability to
make space with a late run.
The player I’d happily drive to
another club is Kenny Miller (above),
safe in the knowledge that he’ll beat
me back to Ibrox to win us title No.55!
Gers fans should follow
@TheGersReport.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Callum Paterson of Hearts.
This season we’ll finish
top. We are Rangers…
Save the date for
Rangers vs Celtic on
December 31, a huge
game and close to the
anniversary of the Ibrox
disaster – always an emotional time.
FFT asks: Joey Barton’s season in
three words? Barton batters Brown.
Season ticket holder since 2000

96 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com

 ROSS COUNTY
Last season Premiership 6th Scottish Cup Quarter-final
League Cup Winners Top scorer Liam Boyce (20)
There was little debate when Jim
McIntyre scooped the 2016 Scottish
Football Writers’ Association Manager
of the Year award. When he took over
in September 2014, the Staggies had
already been written off as relegation
certainties. Now? They can look back with
pride on a season that saw the Dingwall
minnows lift their first piece of major
silverware, seeing off Hibs in the League
Cup (above), and secure a top-six finish.
McIntyre has been backed by wealthy
chairman Roy MacGregor but he earned
that support, through shrewd transfer
market dealings and successfully selling
his vision for the team’s development,
both on and off the pitch.
A different culture is now in place, with
players handed longer-term deals to
boost continuity, and County look well
set for another solid campaign. New
faces include Christopher Routis, keeper
Aaron McCarey and defenders Kenny
van der Weg and Jay McEveley. Slovakian
defender Erik Cikos returns to the club.
As Inverness discovered, it can be hard
to follow up a dream season, but the
Staggies will give it their best shot.
FFT VERDICT: 7TH
FAN FILE
LIAM MACKAY
This season will be different to last
because we probably won’t end it with
a trophy! That was a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for County supporters.
Our most underrated player is Craig
Curran. He would run through a brick
wall for his Staggies team-mates.
The best away ground is Tynecastle –
without a doubt, my favourite away
trip in Scottish football.
Staggies fans should follow @rcfcsc.
THE BOSS
JIM McINTYRE
The former striker (above, left) took his
first steps as a manager at Dunfermline.
He was the right guy at the wrong time,
as it turned out, forced to take charge of
drastic cost-cutting. Sterling work at
Queen of the South got him going again
and he has not looked back since.
DID YOU KNOW?
Alex Schalk earned legendary status
for his last-minute League Cup winner.
The Dutch Under-21 striker was on the
books at PSV as a youngster, where he
played alongside one Memphis Depay.
KEY PLAYER
ANDREW DAVIES
The centre-back helped Bradford to
reach a League Cup final
in 2013 and
one better n
of the borde
last term as
he led the
Staggies to
silverware.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Ross Draper. It pains me
to say it, but I’d love him at County.
This season we’ll finish sixth. Rangers
coming up is going to make it harder.
Save the date for September 17: we’ll
be at Ibrox for the first time ever.
FFT asks: Are you disappointed to see
midfield man Stewart Murdoch leave
for Dundee United after one season?
Not really – he was too inconsistent.
However, he’ll always be a part of the
team which made Ross County history
by winning their first League Cup.
Saw more than 30 games last season
ST JOHNSTONE
Last season Premiership 4th Scottish Cup Fourth Round
League Cup Semi-final Top scorer Steve MacLean (15)
It must hurt St Johnstone to kick off
a season without European football,
after four straight years of continental
competition for a curtain-raiser. That’s
despite a fourth-placed finish on the
back of a run of four victories and one
draw from their final five fixtures.
Hibs’ Scottish Cup triumph took that
additional Europa League slot away
from them, but the rare extended
summer break will maybe do Tommy
Wright’s men no harm. They continue
to punch above their weight, but it no
longer comes as a surprise, such is the
general admiration for Wright’s abilities.
Competition in this year’s division has
only increased, but Saints have made
some smart signings to boost their
efforts. Falkirk midfielder Blair Alston
offers a goal threat and invention from
midfield, while Paul Paton from Dundee
United brings tenacity alongside him.
Wright even has the luxury of choosing
between two of the league’s better
goalkeepers, in Alan Mannus and
up-and-comer Zander Clark. The return
to full fitness of captain David Mackay,
after hip surgery, will also be welcomed.
FFT VERDICT: 5TH
FAN FILE
JOHN McKEAND
This season will be different to last
because poor old Dundee
United won’t be here. We
will miss the nine points.
Our most underrated player
is Steven Anderson (right).
Mr Reliable, cup final scorer
and longest-serving player.
The best away ground is Victoria Park
in Dingwall – the setting is probably
the best in Scottish football.
FourFourTwo.com Season Preview 2016-17 97
THE BOSS
TOMMY WRIGHT
Saints know just how good they’ve got it
in the dugout, which is why they fought
off Dundee United’s advances for Wright
(above). Each year he manages to rebuild
on a budget and it would surprise no one
if he became Michael O’Neill’s eventual
successor as Northern Ireland boss.
DID YOU KNOW?
He’s only 23, but defender Brad McKay is
already coaching, at amateur side West
Edinburgh United. He said: “A few boys
seem to think they can [skip] pre-season,
but they’ve another thing coming!”
KEY PLAYER
JOE SHAUGHNE
The team is the star
St Johnstone, but o
man who grew in st
through the season
defender Shaughne
A frustrated fringe p
at Aberdeen, he has
thrived with regular
first-team football.
The opposition player I secretly
admire is Greg Stewart at Dundee.
Our pantomime villain is going to be
Joey Barton. That’s why he’s here, eh?
This season we’ll finish top six. Fourth
again would be great.
FFT asks: How pleased
are you about signing
Paul Paton and Blair
Alston? They’re great
signings. I think they’ll
complement each other.
Hopefully Blair will get a few breaks
from Paul’s crunching tackles.
Season ticket holder since 1979
YOUR PREDICTIONS 2016-17

SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE GOT

Leicester? Seriously? We got a few calls wrong last year. Here’s your chance to show you know better

Getting a football team’s prediction
monumentally wrong usually results
in endless stick on social media.
But when the bad call was such
a gargantuan shock, you just about get
away with it. That’s why we’re barely
even embarrassed to admit we tipped
Leicester for relegation last season, or
that Chelsea would win the league title
and not be left more humiliated than
a damp-trousered schoolboy. Nope.
Mercifully, our ever-ready critics let it lie.
The same can’t be said, however, for
our prediction that Brighton would be
relegated from the second tier. Seagulls
fans reminded us at every opportunity –
and why not? – that their heroes were
in fact pushing for promotion. Oops.
The point, simply, is that accurately
predicting where 92 teams will finish
isn’t easy – so we want you to have a go!
Just grab a pen, fill in the tables below,
take a snap and tweet us @FourFourTwo
including the hashtag below. Bring it on.

TWEET US YOUR PREDICTIONS USING THE HASHTAG #FFTPREVIEW

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PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE ONE LEAGUE TWO

WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT
1. Man City 1. 1. Newcastle 1. 1. Millwall 1. 1. Portsmouth 1.
2. Chelsea 2. 2. Derby 2. 2. Oxford 2. 2. Leyton Orient 2.
3. Norwich 3. 3. Charlton 3. 3. Carlisle 3.
3. Arsenal 3.
4. Sheffield Wed 4. 4. Sheffield United 4. 4. Luton 4.
4. Man United 4. 5. Brighton 5. 5. Scunthorpe 5. 5. Notts County 5.
5. Tottenham 5. 6. Birmingham 6. 6. Peterborough 6. 6. Cambridge 6.
6. Liverpool 6. 7. QPR 7. 7. Coventry 7. 7. Plymouth 7.
7. Everton 7. 8. Ipswich 8. 8. Bristol Rovers 8. 8. Accrington 8.
9. Brentford 9. 9. Rochdale 9. 9. Doncaster 9.
8. Leicester 8.
10. Aston Villa 10. 10. Bolton 10. 10. Mansfield 10.
9. West Ham 9. 11. Nott’m Forest 11. 11. Shrewsbury 11. 11. Wycombe 11.
10. Stoke 10. 12. Huddersfield 12. 12. MK Dons 12. 12. Cheltenham 12.
11. Southampton 11. 13. Leeds 13 13. Southend 13 13. Grimsby 13
12. Crystal Palace 12. 14. Preston 14. 14. Gillingham 14. 14. Exeter 14.
15. Barnsley 15. 15. Bury 15. 15. Hartlepool 15.
13. Bournemouth 13
16. Wolves 16 16. Northampton 16 16. Barnet 16
14. West Brom 14. 17. Bristol City 17. 17. Bradford 17. 17. Blackpool 17.
15. Swansea 15. 18. Cardiff 18. 18. Chesterfield 18. 18. Yeovil 18.
16. Middlesbrough 16 19. Wigan 19. 19. Walsall 19. 19. Colchester 19.
17. Sunderland 17. 20. Fulham 20. 20. AFC Wimbledon 20. 20. Crewe 20.
21. Reading 21 21. Swindon 21 21. Newport 21
18. Watford 18.
22. Blackburn 22. 22. Fleetwood 22. 22. Crawley 22.
19. Hull 19. 23. Burton Albion 23. 23. Port Vale 23. 23. Stevenage 23.
20. Burnley 20. 24. Rotherham 24. 24. Oldham 24. 24. Morecambe 24.

TOP SCORER TOP SCORER TOP SCORER TOP SCORER

WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT WE PREDICT YOU PREDICT

Harry Kane Fernando Forestieri Paddy Madden Jay Simpson

98 Season Preview 2016-17 FourFourTwo.com