I'll post this on here - then me and everyone else can see how right or wrong I was come the end of the season - but as we all know from last season football's a funny game.
Had a look through the teams, summer signings and pre-season and I think this league looks a lot more open than last season.
My prediction:
1 South Shields
2 Morecambe
3 Macclesfield
4 Hednesford Town
5 Brackley Town
6 Chester
7 King's Lynn Town
8 Darlington
9 Spennymoor Town
10 Oxford City
11 Buxton
12 Scarborough Athletic
13 Worksop Town
14 Merthyr Town
15 AFC Telford United
16 Harborough Town
17 Radcliffe
18 Hereford
19 Marine
20 Chorley
21 Spalding United
22 Southport
23 Hebburn Town
24 Bedford Town
South Shields would be my favourites. They were only just behind Fylde last season and I can't see them being too far away again.
Morecambe could easily win it on footballing ability and have made some very good signings, although there still seems to be enough going on off the pitch to make me slightly wary of putting them top.
Macclesfield should be up there again, while Hednesford are probably the really interesting side. Back-to-back promotions normally makes you think survival, but they seem to have plenty of ambition and are being tipped to do very well.
King's Lynn
I've probably got us higher than quite a few predictions I've seen, but I actually think Caddis has put together a pretty decent squad.
It's obviously a huge rebuild and it may take a while for everyone to settle, but bringing in players like Aaron Jones, Zak Mills, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Kwame Thomas gives us a lot more experience. There are also some younger/newer players who could turn out to be very good signings.
For me, seventh and sneaking into the play-offs is realistic.
The biggest question is probably goals. If someone can step up and score 15+ then I could easily see us finishing higher than seventh. If we struggle for goals again, then we're probably looking more towards mid-table.
Either way, I'd be very surprised if we're anywhere near the relegation battle this time.
Dark horses
Harborough are worth watching. Signing Britt Assombalonga at this level is certainly interesting and they could be much better than your average promoted side.
Oxford City are another I think could surprise a few, and Worksop are capable of having a good season if things click.
I'd also put Lynn in the dark-horse category. Going from 19th to challenging for the play-offs sounds a big jump, but with the number of changes Caddis has made I don't think last season's position tells us much about this team.
So my main calls:
Champions: South Shields
Promotion contenders: Morecambe and Macclesfield
Dark horse: Harborough
King's Lynn: 7th
Bottom four: Spalding, Southport, Hebburn and Bedford
I'm actually quite looking forward to this season. For the first time in a while it feels like we could be looking up the table rather than constantly checking what's happening below us.
Had a look through the teams, summer signings and pre-season and I think this league looks a lot more open than last season.
My prediction:
1 South Shields
2 Morecambe
3 Macclesfield
4 Hednesford Town
5 Brackley Town
6 Chester
7 King's Lynn Town
8 Darlington
9 Spennymoor Town
10 Oxford City
11 Buxton
12 Scarborough Athletic
13 Worksop Town
14 Merthyr Town
15 AFC Telford United
16 Harborough Town
17 Radcliffe
18 Hereford
19 Marine
20 Chorley
21 Spalding United
22 Southport
23 Hebburn Town
24 Bedford Town
South Shields would be my favourites. They were only just behind Fylde last season and I can't see them being too far away again.
Morecambe could easily win it on footballing ability and have made some very good signings, although there still seems to be enough going on off the pitch to make me slightly wary of putting them top.
Macclesfield should be up there again, while Hednesford are probably the really interesting side. Back-to-back promotions normally makes you think survival, but they seem to have plenty of ambition and are being tipped to do very well.
King's Lynn
I've probably got us higher than quite a few predictions I've seen, but I actually think Caddis has put together a pretty decent squad.
It's obviously a huge rebuild and it may take a while for everyone to settle, but bringing in players like Aaron Jones, Zak Mills, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Kwame Thomas gives us a lot more experience. There are also some younger/newer players who could turn out to be very good signings.
For me, seventh and sneaking into the play-offs is realistic.
The biggest question is probably goals. If someone can step up and score 15+ then I could easily see us finishing higher than seventh. If we struggle for goals again, then we're probably looking more towards mid-table.
Either way, I'd be very surprised if we're anywhere near the relegation battle this time.
Dark horses
Harborough are worth watching. Signing Britt Assombalonga at this level is certainly interesting and they could be much better than your average promoted side.
Oxford City are another I think could surprise a few, and Worksop are capable of having a good season if things click.
I'd also put Lynn in the dark-horse category. Going from 19th to challenging for the play-offs sounds a big jump, but with the number of changes Caddis has made I don't think last season's position tells us much about this team.
So my main calls:
Champions: South Shields
Promotion contenders: Morecambe and Macclesfield
Dark horse: Harborough
King's Lynn: 7th
Bottom four: Spalding, Southport, Hebburn and Bedford
I'm actually quite looking forward to this season. For the first time in a while it feels like we could be looking up the table rather than constantly checking what's happening below us.
