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Carlisle United, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United and Crawley Town are the next set of teams to be looked at and previewed ahead of the 2020/21 EFL League Two campaign.
Carlisle United
The Cumbrians finished 18th in League Two last season and had a sub-par season compared to the 18/19 season which saw them slip down from 11th to 18th. Finding form was something that Carlisle found hard and it showed the lack of that really saw them in the lower half of the EFL League Two table.
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Transfers
With the departures of many of Carlisle’s players last season came the signings of 11 new players for the Cumbrian club. Joe Riley and Daniel Devine signed on free transfers from Bradford City with Riley filling the right-back spot and Devine more than likely going to start in midfield. The pair have struggled to find any game-time at Bradford and hopefully, a move will enable them to get some minutes into the legs.
Joshua Kayode has been loaned into the club for a second season. The Rotherham player scored three goals in five games for Carlisle United in the time he played for them before his loan was cut short due to Covid-19 but the 20-year-old has been given another chance to prove what he can do for the club with his goalscoring ability.
Magnus Norman and Paul Farman also signed for the club with the departing Adam Collin going into the non-league. Farman signs from Stevenage with the teams staying up due to Macclesfield’s misfortunes and Norman signed from Fulham as a second-choice with the 23-year-old likely to be looking up to Farman and pushing for the number one jersey.
Gime Toure, Brennan Dickenson, George Tanner, Rod McDonald and Gavin Reilly have also signed for Carlisle in the summer transfer window so far making it 11 signings for the Cumbrian club as they look to improve on their 18th place finish last season.
Targets
Carlisle United can definitely expect a change from the 18th place finish but will it be in the right direction? The signings that Chris Beech have been really good and can improve the squad especially with the departures of last season’s failing side. Players like Gethin Jones have moved to Bolton and number one goalkeeper Adam Collin has moved into the non-league game.
If the players’ gel and are able to hit the ground running and hit form especially then we may see the Cumbrian club move in the right direction and near the mid-table. Ultimately, Carlisle will finish the season steady and near the mid-table mark.
Key Player
It will be very interesting who Carlisle’s key players are. Their squad is very young most squad players not over the age of 23.
The veteran defender Byron Webster will be a key player for Carlisle’s back-line. The 33-year-old centre-back will have the partnership of new signing Rod McDonald at the back and will have young left-back and right-back either side of them. Chris Beech will be hoping that the experienced pair of centre-backs can coach the youngsters and are able to shut out teams that way.
Youth Prospect
Joshua Kayode looks like a great player for Carlisle especially with the performances he put in last season whilst a loan at the club. Hit the ground running, scored the necessary goals and then his and Carlisle’s season was cut short due to COVID-19.
The 20-year-old has a second chance to rebirth that inner finishing ability and have the chance to win games for Carlisle with his finishing touch so most likely one to keep an eye out for.
Cheltenham Town
The EFL League Two Play-off Semi-Finalists will be looking to go one better than the previous season and look to go up into League One automatically by finishing either first, second or third this season after losing 4-3 on aggregate to eventual Play-off winner Northampton Town.
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Transfers
The Robins have made six summer acquisitions up to now with most of the signings being youth signings from other Premier League U23 sides.
Andy Williams from Northampton and Liam Sercombe from Bristol Rovers are the only two players over the age of 30. Williams signed from the Cobblers left the club after their promotion to League One and has been added to the long list of strikers that Michael Duff has at his disposal.
Sercombe another midfield option for the Robins as they look to sure up the midfield as they look to go one better than the Play-Offs. Cheltenham have also added Elliot Bonds from Hull City U23’s, Joshua Griffiths from West Brom U23’s, Lewis Freestone from Brighton U23’s and Finn Azaz from West Brom U23’s.
Targets
Cheltenham fans will be looking for another strong season from their team. After achieving the Play-Offs last season they will surely want their team promoted automatically into League One and with a few more additions to potentially the defence and the midfield they could be a real threat at the top of the league.
Key Player
The Cheltenham have very key players in their side going from defence to attack. Ben Tozer will be a very important player for the Robins in defence and will be looking to keep opponent strikers out from scoring goals into their net but looking forward Reuben Reid’s goals could fire Cheltenham into League One alongside the likes of Andy Williams, Alfie May and Alex Addai.
Youth Prospect
Tom Chamberlain will be one to definitely look out for. The 18-year-old coming through Cheltenham Town’s youth system and if given the chance may shine and learn from a very experienced midfield that will guide the youngster to the top of his game.
Colchester United
The second team that bowed out of the EFL League Two Play-Off Semi-Final stage was Colchester United as they similarly to Cheltenham finished in the top seven and saw their hopes of League One football crushed by Exeter City after beating the Grecians in the first-leg Exeter were able to beat them in the second-leg and go into the final of the Play-Offs.
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Transfers
The U’s have made two signings this summer, signing Shamal George from Liverpool U23’s on a free transfer and Tommy Smith joined the club as a free agent. George will be likely looking to pick up some experience from Dean Gerken whereas Smith will likely slot into the defence straight away.
They have offloaded eight players off their books with the likes of Luke Prosser and Frank Nouble leaving for free after not extending contracts with the club. Ryan Jackson, Bailey Vose, Brandon Comley, Ethan Ross, Cameron James and Theo Robinson are the other six players that have been shown the door by Colchester after the season ended.
Targets
A realistic target for Colchester will be to fight near the top of the table but due to the departures of many of their key players, this may see them slip down the table. Colchester will finish between the 9th-15th mark but the U’s may prove everyone wrong.
Key Player
Colchester have been hit very hard in terms of player departures with some of their key players leaving the club. Courtney Senior may be a very key player for the U’s with the winger being a vital part of Colchester’s team last season. Centre-backs Tommy Smith and Tom Eastman will also be key with the pairing being the more experienced defenders in the Colchester team and combined may provide a winning formula at the JobServe Community Stadium.
Youth Prospect
Kwame Poku was a big part of the Colchester squad as he broke into the team as an 18-year-old. The now 19-year-old attacking midfielder will have a massive part to play in going forward especially providing assists for the likes of Courtney Senior and Luke Norris but will also be looking to score more goals than his five goals last season.
Crawley Town
Crawley Town were able to finish 13th in the end when the EFL League Two table was released and done through PPG. The Red Devils found themselves in a comfortable position not too far away from play-offs and not too close to the bottom of the table which saw them win 11, draw 15 and lose 11 games last season in League Two.
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Transfers
Crawley have made nine signings in the summer transfer window so far. Sam Ashford joined from Hemel Hempstead, Tony Craig and Sam Matthews from Bristol Rovers, Tyler Frost from Reading U23’s, Archie Davies from Brighton U23’s, Jake Hessenthaler from Grimsby Town, Zaid Al Hussaini as a free agent and a loanee signing of Tom McGill from Brighton U23’s.
Those arrivals were necessary as eight players departed from The People’s Pension Stadium. Ibrahim Meite, Jamie Sendles-White, Ollie Palmer, Josh Payne, Panutche Camara, Jimmy Smith, Bez Lubala and Gyliano van Velzen all left Crawley in the search of a new adventure elsewhere.
Targets
Crawley will be looking to have another mid-table finish with the ins and outs of the transfer window. Finishing in between 10-15th will be a respectable goal for the Red Devils as they prove more people wrong with their budget and the ability to stay in the division and fight for a place higher in the league standings.
Key Player
Bez Lubala and Ollie Palmer were key players last season for Crawley with the pairing being heavily involved in the team moving forward. With the duo moving away from the People’s Pension Stadium there needs to be new players to step forward and take Crawley to a new level in terms of scoring, defending and climbing up the League table.
All attention will be at Felipe Morais and Ashley Nadesan as the pair know the club being their last year and will be heavily reliant on getting Crawley up the pitch and scoring goals. Morais had an off-season last term only managing one goal for Crawley last season with Nadesan managing a respectable five goals and four assists in the limited game time that he was given.
Youth Prospect
Tyler Frost may be a key signing as a young prospect coming from the Reading U23’s. Four appearances in the Premier League 2 last season for Reading saw the 21-year-old midfielder score four goals and assist once giving himself a lot of promise and with a move to League Two maybe the next step in a good career for Frost.
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