Football Season Guide

It is the end of an era for Stockport County and the start of another following the departure of manager Dave Challinor. The Hatters have finished 1st, 4th, 1st, 3rd and 3rd in the four-and-a-half seasons under Challinor. It is remarkable level of consistency and success which will take some replacing. He navigated an awkward season where a combination of poor summer recruitment and injury led to a series of inconsistent performances. Despite his constant frustrations, the team still finished in 3rd place, albeit never seriously challenging Lincoln City and Cardiff City. Wembley has never been a happy place for the Hatters and the play-off final ended in misery as they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Bolton Wanderers. It felt like a natural conclusion had and Challinor’s departure was announced a week later. His successor was quickly appointed with Jimmy McNulty returning to Edgeley Park having just guided Rochdale back into the Football League with victory in the National League play-off final against Boreham Wood. McNulty is a former player having won promotion with Hatters back in 2009, ironically against Rochdale at Wembley. He inherits a very strong squad with some exceptional players in the likes of centre-half Ethan Pye, midfielders Lewis Bate and Oliver Norwood and strikers Kyle Wootton and Adama Sidibeh. Norwood was one of the best players in the division last season. Pye has signed a new three-year deal this summer but there’s bad news with Sidibeh having been ruled out for ten weeks with a hamstring injury. McNulty has wasted no time in adding to his squad as he seeks to establish his own style and system. Goalkeeper Oliver Whatmuff and right-back Kyron Gordon were both with him at Spotland last season whilst he played alongside centre-back Eoghan O’Connell and came up against the likes of winger Ryan Glover, who has signed from Barnet. It leaves the Hatters in good shape heading into the unknown. It looks like McNulty will adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation, which will suit the players at his disposal. There’s plenty of cause for optimism that he can carry on from where Challinor left off.