Moore: We are ready and don’t fear anyone

Aug 8 2007 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

THE common consensus among the managers of the 24 League One clubs at the start of the 2006/07 season was that a dozen of their number had the potential to be promoted.

One summer later, as Tranmere prepare to embark upon the 2007/8 a campaign, manager Ronnie Moore suggests at least two thirds of the teams in the division have their eyes on the Championship this time around.

“There are probably 16 to 18 teams in the division thinking they have a chance of making the play-offs at the very least,” Moore says.

It is easy to see why the managers predict another unpredictable race in League One.

No-one has forgotten that the 2006/07 champions, Scunthorpe, were the bookmakers’ favourites for relegation this time last year. Nor that Nottingham Forest, the most powerful club in the division in terms of wealth and resources – and inevitably the bookmakers’ favourites to go up – failed at the play-off stage.

And while another strongly fancied big city club – Bristol City – went up in second place, the third promotion spot was claimed by Blackpool, who came out of the pack of mid-priced runners with a late surge into the play-offs.

It is remembered too, that in 2005/06 the automatically promoted clubs, Southend and Colchester, were similarly unfancied.

Few people anticipated Luton Town’s surge to the League One title in 2004/05.

The joy of Leagues One and Two is that they are wide open.

Unlike the Premiership, in which only the four wealthiest clubs start with a realistic chance of winning the title, spending power is not the dominant factor in determining success in League One.

Old-fashioned footballing virtues such as good management, team-blending, productive youth development policies, shrewd scouting, dressing-room spirit and club harmony retain a high value in the lower divisions, constantly refreshing the competition.

Meanwhile in the top flight, the overwhelming financial clout that gives Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool the ability to massively outspend their rivals and buy up the best talent from the world marketplace diminishes the rest of the teams in the division to the role of also-rans, concerned first and foremost with clinging on to their seat on the Premiership gravy train.

The days when less fashionable clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Aston Villa and Leeds United could snatch the title from under the noses of the established giants are long gone.

You have to drop a division or two to find those kinds of surprises.

Even in League One, the bookmakers’ pre-season odds invariably reflect the size and spending power of the clubs and the value of summer signings.

Leeds were the bookmakers favourites until the Football League imposed a 15 -point penalty – which is subject to an appeal to be heard tomorrow – for the club’s failure to comply with insolvency regulations.

The likelihood is that Leeds, Tranmere’s opening-day opponents this weekend, will start with some kind of points deduction, making promotion a long-odds target.

Forest, the strong favourites, again look equipped for automatic promotion, having captured the former Celtic captain Neil Lennon and spent £1.5 million on Yeovil midfielders Aaron Davies and Chris Cohen plus defenders Kevin Wilson from Preston and Matt Lockwood from Leyton Orient.

Swansea City sold striker Lee Trundle to Bristol City but allowed manager Roberto Martinez to sign reinforcements including Guillem Bauza Mayol from Espanyol and the highly rated Liverpool reserve winger Paul Anderson.

Southend, relegated after one season in the Championship, have lost a striker in Freddie Eastwood but signed another prolific non-League goalscorer in Charlie MacDonald. Doncaster Rovers’ signings include Bournemouth front man James Hayter for a club record £200,000 and Oldham’s highly-regarded midfielder Richie Wellens.

As for Tranmere, they can be found in the middle of the betting at around 20-1 for the title, depending upon the bookmaker. It is a better price than could be found for Scunthorpe this time last year.

Moore said: “I don’t think there will be many weak teams in the division this season. Some have spent quite a bit of money on players, like Doncaster. But spending money in this division is no guarantee of getting promoted.

“Is very difficult to predict who will go up this year. But hopefully it can be us. I think we can be as good as anyone in the division. I certainly don’t fear anybody.”

Moore is confident his squad is better balanced than last season when a lack of cover in the defensive positions fatally undermined Tranmere’s promotion challenge in the final third of the campaign.

Having held a place in the top six until the end of February, Rovers fell away in the final two months, finishing in mid-table.

Moore’s a summer recruits include goalkeeper Danny Coyne (from Burnley), defenders Ben Chorley (from MK Dons), Antony Kay (Barnsley) and midfielder Adnan Ahmed from Huddersfield.

Moore added: “I’m going into this season full of hope that we have a stronger squad than last season and can be a match for anybody.

“We have more depth in the right areas and we have looked solid at the back in training and in the pre-season games.

“Hopefully we can take that through into the league games.”