As I am writing, the new season is only hours away. We've had a mixed bag of pre-season friendlies, with good performances against Newcastle and Blackpool, and average at best against Queens and 'Boro. I would say that on balance I am comfortably optimistic for the coming season. So, my prediction? I still think we'll be pushing for a play-off place. There are good teams in this tier, as we found last season, but we're building on good foundations both on and off the pitch.
Now, talking about teams, there has been the close-season machinations involving Leeds United. They went into adminstration last season at the point when it appeared they were to be relegated anyway. Over the coming weeks there were various deals and meetings, but the upshot of it all was that they did not exit administration in the manner approved/expected by the Football League in advance of the new season and were therefore eventually given a 15 point deduction for the coming season. As much as we may not like this sort of thing (as fans) the fact is that "rules are rules" and all the League club chairs had agreed on the rules and punishments. Sometimes these things work to a team's advantage (Jimmy Glass) and sometimes not (Leeds and Rotherham). End of story......?
This season I am going to try and make it to more away games than previously, and to aid with this I am investing in a camper-van. I've not got it yet, but I am expecting to have it before the end of September. So if you see a van with a Cumbrian Separatist's flag, you know who it is.....unless it is my brother's car, because he has a flag too!
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