League Two 2008/9 Season Preview
It’s pretty wide open betting as to who is going to be crowned Champions of Division Two, but we have to say we are surprised by some of the teams who heading the market.
Shrewsbury Town are 8/1 (Bet365) but we can’t understand why. They finished in a lowly Eighteenth position last year and even although they look as if they have added a bit more quality to their squad, we can’t see that having a dramatic effect on their performances and they look more of a mid table team to us than title contenders. They look poor value and we think at least double those odds is a more realistic price of their chances of winning the title.
Darlington 9/1 (VCbet) have to come into the reckoning .They lost in the play-offs last year after looking as if they would gain automatic promotion. The odds are decent and they must be major players.
Bournemouth were relegated from division One last year and they did show enough towards the backend of the season to lead you to think they will be competitive at this level. They have had financial troubles off the field so they may not have the money to strengthen their squad. The 4/1 (Skybet) on them getting promotion looks a far safer bet than the 16/1 (Coral) on them winning the title.
Bradford City have got rid of thirteen players as they look to rebuild a team to challenge for the title. They’ve already brought in five new players to replace those released but they look far too skinny a price at 8/1 (Bodog) for a team who only finished tenth last season. If the new signings gel, then they could be looking at a place in the play-offs but they don’t look to be good value at the current prices on offer.
The other two clubs relegated from League One at the end of last season were Gillingham and Port Vale. Both can expect to be challengers, but we think Port Vale offer a more realistic chance of winning the title and the 21/1 (Betfair) looks tempting.
Rochdale and Wycombe both made the play-offs last year and have to enter calculations. Wycombe 12/1 (VCbet) may have to settle for the play-offs again in our opinion, but Rochdale 12/1 (Ladbrokes) have to be one of the favourites and are an inviting price.
Lincoln City seem to have made a few decent signings and they could be dark horses at 20/1 (Bodog) to lift the title. They also look a decent bet to get promotion 6/1 (Bet365).
W e do like the chances of newly promoted Aldershot at 24/1 (Betfair). They won the Blue Square Premier League quite convincingly and they showed enough quality to make you think they could do well at a higher level. The price looks very attractive and we reckon they could be worth backing each/way at 20/1 plus.
Our pick is Bournemouth with Lincoln and Aldershot as decent alternative at big prices.