EFL League Two Preview 2020/21- Newport County, Oldham Athletic, Port Vale and Salford City

Newport County, Oldham Athletic, Port Vale and Salford City are the next set of teams to be looked at and previewed ahead of the 2020/21 EFL League Two campaign.

Newport County

Newport County went backward last season from the previous season which saw them lose out in the Play-Off Final to Tranmere Rovers in extra-time. The Welsh outfit finished 14th last season in League Two which is another respectable finish in the League as they were a comfortable mid-table team last season.
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Transfers

Newport haven’t had much money to spend this summer with the current situation draining money out of clubs and seeing clubs struggle in the current climate.

The Welsh team have managed to lure Ryan Taylor from Plymouth Argyle, David Longe-King from St Albans, Saikou Janneh from Bristol City U23’s on loan and Liam Sheppard from Forest Green Rovers.

Jamille Matt, Momodou Touray, Corey Whitely and Marvel Ekpiteta were all shipped out of the club either on loan or as a free transfer with Mark O’Brien retiring and Dominic Poleon alongside Jay Faulston released and left without a club.

Targets

Most Newport fans will obviously be looking to improve after a 14th place finish in the previous season but will be looking at the club and the current climate as we are in the middle of a global pandemic.

The club’s funds are very limited and need to be used very wisely with that in mind the small Newport squad may not cut it in the second half of the league season but most fans would expect the Welsh outfit to finish in the middle of the pack between 9th and 13th.

Key Players

The midfield pairing of Joss Labadie and Josh Sheehan have been instrumental in the Newport midfield for the last couple of seasons.

Labadie has been at the club since October 2018 with Sheehan at the club since January 2018 after signing for the Welsh club from Swansea U23’s.

Last season was a bit lackluster in the midfield with the pairing really not having much to do with a combined five goals and three assists between the pair. They’ll be hoping with a much smaller squad and under the guidance of Michael Flynn, they are able to return to top form and hit the ground running from minute one.

Youth Prospect

Tristan Abrahams joined Newport in the summer of 2019 and the now 21-year-old managed to hit the ground running from his first appearance for Newport. 33 appearances in League Two last season for Abrahams as he managed to score four goals and provide three assists as he looks to be the striker that will be getting the most game time next season.

Abrahams has a lot on his shoulders especially if he is chosen week in week out for Newport but hopefully, he can cope with the pressure and score goals for Newport and potentially hit double figures this season for the club that are putting an immense amount of faith in.

Oldham Athletic

Oldham find themselves in a lot of trouble on and off the field with financial trouble looming over the club and potential consequences for not paying players on time could see the club in a lot of trouble and bigger downfall after finishing 19th last season.
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Transfers

First of all, Oldham have invested into a new manager with Harry Kewell now the man at the helm. Ben Garrity, Ian Lawlor and Bobby Grant were all signed on loan from Blackpool, Doncaster Rovers and Wrexham respectively.

Kyle Jameson signed from Fylde, Jordan Barnett signed from Pontefract, Davis Keillor-Dunn signed from Wrexham, Sido Jombati signed from Wycombe, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson signed from Manchester United, Callum Whelan signed from Watford U23’s, Conor McAnely signed from Fleetwood Town and Carl Piergianni signed from Salford City.

Oldham have released 12 players in the process as they look to balance out the wage bill and especially the amount they spend on new players coming in for a transfer fee.

Targets

Oldham will, of course, be looking to improve from an abysmal season last term and an improvement on a 19th place finish will hopefully boost the Latics.

We have to keep in mind that Oldham could be hit with potential troubles after financial woes at the club which hopefully can be solved very soon.

With the right guidance and stability in managerial decisions, the Latics could have a good season but any trouble could see Oldham struggle to stay up with a relegation battle looming a finish between 15-20th would be good for Oldham.

Key Player

Carl Piergianni and David Wheater will be the key men for Oldham as the two defenders created a stellar defence last season when Piergianni was on loan.

Now with Piergianni a permanent signing the two defenders will be able to combine together again and look to complement each other’s traits and creating stability in the back-line being the two more experienced defenders in the Oldham setup.

Youth Prospect

It feels like Tom Hamer has been in the Oldham squad forever but he is only 20-years-old and has been at Oldham for two seasons. The right-back will be looking to get some guidance from Sido Jombati as the pair will be looking to battle for the place of starting right-back but with the right guidance and the correct amount of game time, he may blossom into a flying right-back.

Port Vale

Port Vale had a very strong season in the 19/20 campaign finishing eighth in the League Two table only a point away from Northampton Town who occupied the final Play-Off place as the Cobblers managed to go up in League One after beating Exeter in the Play-Off Final.
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Transfers

The Valiants have managed to sign Devante Rodney from Salford City, Zak Mills from Oldham, Danny Whitehead from Salford, Theo Robinson from Southend United, David Fitzpatrick from Macclesfield Town and Dino Visser from Crewe Alexandra

Among the departing players were ex-Mansfield Town midfielder Will Atkinson and the now retiring Danny Pugh meaning Port Vale were able to keep a hold of their more precious players and adding more quality to a promotion pushing team.

Targets

Port Vale will be looking to improve on their eighth-place finish like every team is looking to do go one step higher in the new season. With the addition of Theo Robinson and other key players, the Valiants will be looking to push for the Play-Offs and realistically may finish between 6th-9th this season and that is if they find the right formula with Tom Pope and Theo Robinson but also sharpen up defensively.

Key Player

The strike force of Tom Pope and Theo Robinson may be pivotal in Port Vale’s season. Pope will get the help he needs in capturing his goal-scoring form after scoring only six goals last season whereas Robinson was able to get double digits in the League for Colchester and whilst he was on loan with the U’s he found the back of the net 11 times in League Two.

Youth Prospect

In an ageing squad, Port Vale only have two real youngsters in their ranks. 19-year-old defender Ryan Campbell-Gordon and 20-year-old winger Alex Hurst. Both of the players have been sent out on loan the previous season but may establish themselves as substitutes if injury worries hit the team. It is very unlikely they will hit the ground running but if given a chance they will need to pounce on it and take it.

Salford City

Salford City finished in the top half of the table finishing 1th in League Two in their first season in professional football. They weren’t far off from Play-Offs in their first season in the Football League only missing out by eight points in the end.
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Transfers

A lot of business has happened at Salford City with seven new players coming in and 14 players on their way out of the Peninsula Stadium.

Ian Henderson signed from Rochdale, Jordan Turnbull from Salford City, Tom Clarke from Preston North End, Jordan Lowe from Bolton, Luke Burgess from Wigan U23’s, Vaclav Hladky from St Mirren, Ashley Hunter from Fleetwood and Dan Gardner as a free agent signing.

Craig Conway, Scott Wiseman, Devante Rodney, Kieran Glynn, Michael O’Connor, Mark Shelton, Danny Whitehead, Nathan Pond, Chris Neal, Kyle Letheren, Carl Piergianni, Josh Askew and James Jones all departed the club as manager Graham Alexander looked to do a mass clear out getting in fresh blood looking to fight for the badge.

Targets

Salford’s aspirations will be to prove doubters wrong and be up near the top of the table again after spending big on players they have bought in but stabilised the situation with the departures they made. Salford may be a shock team and could sneak into the Play-Offs and would happily take a finish between 7th-11th.

Key Player

Looking forward, Salford are looking very strong. A player that may be key for Salford could be ex-Manchester United youngster James Wilson.

The now 24-year-old signed for the club last season and was only able to get five games in the League. Two goals and one assist in that time is a good return for the forward and if used well and efficiently with a more experienced set of shoulders next to him may see the player blossom as he moves up the forward rankings at Salford.

Youth Prospect

The only U21 player in the Salford City side is Brandon Thomas-Asante. The left-winger played 20 games in the League last season and was involved in ten goals (six goals and four assists). His time was limited for a youngster but get even less game-time as he has new signing Ashley Hunter and Bruno Andrade to contend with for the starting left-winger position.

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