Football Season Guide

Whatever the plan was for Bristol City last season, it unravelled spectacularly midway through last season. The Robins best season in 17 years was soon cast into the dustbin of history as head coach Liam Manning left for home-town club Norwich City and Gerhard Struber was handed the reigns. He inherited a talented squad and they were well-placed until January when majority owner Steve Lansdown, in his infinite wisdom, sold several of their best players. The loss of midfield playmaker Anis Mehmeti, sold to Ipswich Town for a paltry sum, was the bitterest blow of them all, and an ill-advised radio interview from Lansdown created a schism, with fans furious at being one of the targets of his ire. Incredibly having had those players sold from underneath him, Struber was subsequently sacked, made the scapegoat for the poor performances that followed. In another move seemingly detached from reality, 78-year-old Roy Hodgson was appointed on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. Into this chaos steps Michael Skubala, who led Lincoln City to one of the best seasons in their history. Whilst they will compete at the same level this season, the disparity between the two clubs is clear for all to see, yet having seen some of the absurd decisions made above, this represents something of a gamble for Skubala. His first task has been replacing goalkeeper Radek Vitek, who was outstanding during his season-long loan from Manchester United. Goalkeeper Sam Tickle has been on the radar of big clubs since emerging at Wigan Athletic, and a significant fee has been paid to bring him to Ashton Gate. His second move was to splash more cash on strikers Dominic Ballard and Lorent Tolaj from Leyton Orient and Plymouth Argyle respectively. Both players enjoyed a remarkable rise last season, establishing themselves as two of the best players in League One. They were the talismans for their respective clubs and big hopes are resting on their shoulders. The spine of the team otherwise remains the same, and allows Skubala the opportunity to build. With a couple of shrewd additions, there’s no reasons why they can’t spring a few surprises.