Bradford and Shrewsbury will be up there at the business end of things in League Two

English Football League / David Artell / 15 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

David Artell of Morecambe Town tells us about any comings and goings at his club and gives us some insight into who can achieve promotion from League Two

Like most managers, our gaffer Sammy McIlroy, has been busy recruiting players for what we hope will be another successful League 2 campaign. The nucleus of the squad has been kept together with the exception of Garry Thompson, who has moved onto Scunthorpe after rejecting a new deal. As one of our best performers last season he felt that, at 27, he should grab the chance to play at a higher level as he might not get many more opportunities. I'm sure his electric pace will frighten full backs in League 1 too.

There's also speculation that our star player, Carl Baker, might be leaving with Stockport having three bids rejected, the latest being £180,000. Unlike some clubs at our level, Morecambe is financially stable and secure so is in no rush to sell unless the board's valuation is met. Other clubs might have to sell to balance the books but because of the superb financial management of the club we can (hopefully) hang onto our best players.

The new signings have settled in well (which isn't hard as the team spirit is fantastic!) although they haven't performed the customary 'new signing song' yet. I suppose out of all our new signings the most is expected of Diarmuid O'Carroll, mainly because he was signed from Celtic. Having trained with him for over a week now I think our gaffer could have pulled of a masterstroke as he looks like he could get a hatful of goals this season. Not many people had heard of Carl Baker this time last year so hopefully Diarmuid can have the same impact.

Moving onto other teams in League 2 and I for me it's no surprise to see Bradford as League 2 favourites. I think they could well have 'bottomed out' last season and with their big following they could possibly achieve promotion.

I also think that Shrewsbury could have a successful season having brought in a number of players of a high calibre such as Matt Jackson, who has played at a higher level for a number of years. There is also the new strike force of Grant Holt, who was bought for £170,000 and Richard Walker who will prove a real threat for most defences as they have a proven track record at League 2 level.

After a rather disappointing season by their standards they now have a manager in Paul Simpson who has had pervious success at this level with Carlisle. I also think the 'regular' promotion candidates such as Darlington, Wycombe and Chesterfield will be in with a shout. With their big budgets it will be interesting to see which team has spent their money wisely.

Out of the teams that came down, Gillingham and Port Vale have the best chance of going straight back up as Bournemouth are struggling financially but their troubles pale into insignificance compared to Luton's.

Luton will be praying that they get off to a good start to give them a slight chance of surviving and clawing back the 30 point penalty they have been given and hope that at least two teams have an awful season Their plight serves as a warning to all other clubs that the authorities will severely penalise any financial mismanagement and at the same time try and stamp out any underhand transfer dealings.

Both Rotherham and Bournemouth could come to Luton's rescue as they could face financial penalties themselves, although neither penalty will be as severe as Luton's. One thing's for sure; there will be many twists and turns before May 2nd and although the first ten games will not necessarily determine the teams gaining promotion, they will certainly go a long way to tell us which teams will be in the mix when it comes to the crunch.