League Two Betting: "Seven weeks off of which only one was a holiday" says David Artell

English Football League / David Artell / 27 July 2009 / Leave a Comment

Back to the pages of betting.betfair.com for two columns only, Morecambe's David Artell tells us about his summer break and looking ahead to the new season.

Well here we are again, in the middle of another arduous pre-season, filled with optimism for what lies ahead. Going back to last season, which seems so long ago, we just left our play off charge a little too late but we improved on our previous season's points total so we're heading in the right direction.

Ultimately it was our start that cost us; one win in sixteen left us with a mountain to climb and we nearly did climb it with the second half of the season seeing us taste defeat only three times. I think the gaffer has realised we need to get off to a good start this year, as this pre season has been a lot harder than last year's, with a lot more physical sessions. As footballers, we tend to moan but we realise we'd rather have a couple of weeks hard graft than start the season like the last one.

At the moment we are going into games completely spent and in some games our performances have reflected that fact but it is all about fitness and getting used to any new players that you play alongside. The games are also a chance for the gaffer to look at a handful of trialists and decide whether they would improve and complement what's already at his disposal.

It was common knowledge that we needed a 20 goal a year striker (doesn't everyone!) and it was only this last week that our gaffer has hopefully plugged that gap by signing Phil Jevons. He, along with Ian Craney, have come on season long loans from Huddersfield and will hopefully score enough goals to take us into the play offs at least. After cementing ourselves in League Two our target for the coming season has to be the play offs as we are more than capable of achieving them.

I believe that most teams will have to raise their game this year and it will be harder to achieve the goals they set themselves as everyone is starting on a level playing field with no team starting with a points deduction. Some of the 'bigger teams' however might struggle as their squads have had to be trimmed due the recession and they no longer have a large squad to maintain their league position when injuries, suspensions and a loss of form occurs. Our gaffer has been used to dealing with small squads and is proactive in his approach but maybe some managers might be a little bit slow to react to problems like this. This might cost them the odd three points here or there and therefore ultimately cost them in the long run.

I think there will be a lot of transfer activity in the next couple of weeks as players are far more realistic in their wage demands and clubs realise that they are short in one or two areas and start offering contracts. Plus there's also the vast number of trialists at clubs that will gratefully accept what the club offers them.

At the end of last season when we were told we'd have nearly seven weeks break, it sounded like a long time but in reality I got about a week where I had nothing planned. My summer consisted of two weeks at Curzon Ashton FC doing my level three coaching badge along with 22 other professionals.

We now have to go away and complete fourteen tasks such as carrying out a video analysis of a match, complete a psychological profile of a player you are coaching, plus plenty of hours on the pitch coaching. After the coaching badge I had exams at university over a two week period so I was constantly revising for those. I then went on our family holiday to Majorca but could only squeeze in one week due to the exams and my eldest daughter's school holidays.

We then had a fantastic weekend in Swansea at a Premiership Manager's wedding and the three day festivities there, were enough to wow even the most seasoned party goer. After a weekend visiting friends and family in Rotherham the third of July was approaching fast. Needless to say I actually lost weight when we returned to work, although the first couple of days felt like I was towing a caravan! The season can't start quick enough for me now- here's hoping it will be a successful one.