Football Season Guide

Chester had a season to forget last year as they flirted with relegation and were under such a serious danger late on that the dismissal of the much respected Steve Burr. His assistant Jon McCarthy secured a couple of important results at the end to avoid the disaster and has subsequently been handed the job on permanent basis. It was a safety-first approach from the club and a decision that left many fans underwhelmed for the prospects for the coming season. Chester bid farewell to a few of their best players as John Rooney departed for arch rivals Wrexham and top scorer Ross Hannah moved to Barrow. The loss of talented defender Ben Heneghan is a blow as well and the squad looks leaner and in quality and lacking the required mettle for the tough battle. While Evan Horwood is a good additional in defence and Blaine Hudson can be a solid defensive presence, all the other signings have neither the experience, nor the expected quality to make the fans believe in better. Chester look like an unimaginative side of little attacking potency and playing in a sterile way. McCarthy will look to follow the path that Burr lined up and a little change of style is expected as well. While the team still boats some pretty decent players, there is a good chance that Chester struggle at the bottom end of the table and will need to have a good start and settle in nicely to avoid the trauma of a relegation battle.