Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

With the football season only a matter of days and the fans optimism at it's highest, how do you feel your club will fare in the 2015/16 campaign?


How do you think your club will do in each major competition?

Who will be the key player and why?

Who will be top goalscorer?

Which youngster will emerge?

Biggest weakness?

Biggest Strengths?

Player you hope will do well?

I think with the current state of my old home town team I could answer "trialist" for most of those questions

How do you think your club will do in each major competition?
League 1: Top 6 - missed out last season due to injuries, a dodgy pitch and an energy sapping FA Cup run. With a stronger squad on paper (albeit not yet complete) and major work done on the pich, then the playoffs should be achievable.

League Cup: Round 1 - I think York are capable of causing an upset.

Johnstone Paints Trophy: Round 2 - the North section is ridiculously strong and I feel Bradford won't prioritise the competition.

FA Cup: Round 3 - Eventually out to a Premier League team.

Who will be the key player and why?
Steve Davies - his career stuttered at Blackpool, but if he can find his Championship prowess and be amongst the goals then Bradford are capable of challenging for automatic promotion.

Who will be top goalscorer?
Good question as Bradford have no out and out striker as such, i'll go with Billy Clarke.

Which youngster will emerge?
Matt James - season long loan striker from Peterborough, who was signed from Hartlepool for £500k. Highly thought of, but just hasn't quite adapted to the next step up. Maybe being at a club closer to home will help his game.

Biggest weakness?
Goalkeeper position - only one senior player at present and the jury is still out on Ben Williams. The replacement for previous loanee Jordan Pickford seems unknown, bar Jussi Jaskealinen. I just hope it's not some random u21 Premier League keeper who is there for development reasons rather than achieving promotion (unless if it's Sam Johnstone)

Biggest Strengths?
Midfield - Gary Liddle, Billy Knott, Josh Morris from Blackburn, Paul Anderson from Ipswich, Mark Marshall from Port Vale and Filipe Morais to come back from injury next year.

Player you hope will do well?
Stephen Darby

Manchester United.

How do you think your club will do in each major competition?
PL - 2nd
UCL - QF
FA - Winners
COC - QF

Probably been slightly optimistic. But the squad is good enough to win a trophy and there's no reason why we can't finish above Arsenal and Man City.

Who will be the key player and why?
Pedro (presuming he signs which seems almost certain). Good team player who will create lots of chances. Will also be required to chip in with some goals seeing as the club are going for him instead of an out and out striker. Similarly, i expect Memphis will be just as key on the opposite wing.

Who will be top goalscorer?
Memphis Depay. Good eye for goal and should be able to top Rooney if he plays to his potential.

Which youngster will emerge?
Andreas Pereira. Exciting creative midfielder. He'll be competing against quite a few other players but he should get some opportunities throughout the season.

Biggest weakness?
Has to be central defence. Smalling, Blind, Rojo etc are all alright but not on the same level as a CB we could have signed like Otamendi, Ramos etc. Still could sign a CB but i don't think we will. Up front is a bit of an issue with only Rooney, Hernandez, Wilson but we do have lots of wingers and midfielders who can contribute so i think we'll have just about enough firepower presuming there's no injuries.

Biggest Strengths?
Difficult to say. If De Gea stays you could easily say the keeper position. But i'll go with central midfield - looks excellent with Schweinsteiger, Carrick, Herrera, Schneiderlin, Mata etc. Full backs and wingers also pretty good.

Player you hope will do well?
Memphis Depay. Got high hopes for him. May well be the best player of his age in the league.

Manchester City

How do you think your club will do in each major competition?

PL - A disappointing fourth, with us languishing behind Chelsea, United and Arsenal.
CL - Group Phase
CC - Semi-finals
FA - Last 16

Who will be the key player and why?

Aguero. When fully fit and firing he's unquestionably the best striker in the league.

Who will be top goalscorer?

Aguero.

Which youngster will emerge?

Kelechi Iheanacho has been earmarked for great things. Incidentally, reports are emerging that he is to be our fourth choice striker.

Biggest weakness?

Our defence. Kompany and Zabaleta appear to be past their best, and Mangala is an accident waiting to happen. We need reinforcements in this area!

Biggest Strengths?

Creativity. With Silva's wizardry, Yaya's power and Sterling's explosiveness we should be creating plenty of chances.

Player you hope will do well?

Bony. After his disappointing displays in the latter half of last season, he desperately needs to improve.

How do you think your club will do in each major competition?

Prem- 9th
Europa - Knockouts
FA Cup 5th Round
League Cup - Quarters

Who will be the key player and why?

Sadio Mane - so quick, good eye for goal

Who will be top goalscorer?

Pelle

Which youngster will emerge?

Matty Targett, very good left back, an injury to Bertrand will see him start the season

Biggest weakness?

Squad depth, coping with ( potentially ) Thursday night football

Biggest Strengths?

Jay Rod being fit, Creativity of Mane and Tadic

Player you hope will do well?

All of them, particularly Jay Rod after 15 months out

Nottingham Forest

How do you think your club will do in each major competition?
CH -10th
UCL - hahahahaha
FA - 3rd round. Never take cups seriously
COC - See above


Who will be the key player and why?
Andy Reid, sadly will be injured again for most of the season. So Antonio if still at Forest will be expected to score and create goals

Who will be top goalscorer?
A really good question. Britt if he has another good season but Dexter Blackstock is back after multiple injury problems and is a very good striker at this level. Dougie seems to like him as well. Can see Britt being sold due to FFP

Which youngster will emerge?
Ben Osbourne was last years youngster t come through. Will be interesting to see if he can take the next step, which would mean becoming one of the best midfielders in the league. This year hoping that Tyler Walker comes through. Tylers dad is Des, you'll never beat Des Walker.

Biggest weakness?
So many here. Injuries to start with. 2 of our best players Gardner and Reid cant play more than half a season it would appear. That's more than Kelvin Wilson i guess, but slightly less the Fryatt. On top of this we have an owner who sacks managers about every 6 months, and a supporter base who are not patient. Oh, we also have FFP penalties, and are probably on the way to being the worst run team in the country. Thank god for Leeds United though they might be better placed than us at the end of this season. I have a feeling that Forest is going to go bust, big time.

Biggest Strengths?
We do have some good players, and some youth coming through. If we stay injury free, we have a very good squad, that should finish top 6. If we stay injury free..........

Player you hope will do well?
Ben Osbourne, predicted he would break into the team last season, and he ended up being our best midfielder.