Ins: Jamie McAllister
(Bristol City), Reuben Reid & Keanu Marsh-Brown (Oldham Athletic), James
Hayter (Doncaster Rovers) Marek Stech (West Ham United), Sam Foley (Newport
County), Rohan Ince (Chelsea) Loan, Lewis Young & Byron Webster (Northampton
Town), Nathan Ralph (Peterborough United), Gozie Ugwu (Reading) Loan
Outs: Paul Huntington
(Preston North End), Andrew Williams (SwindonTown), Bondz N’gala (Stevenage), Billy
Gibson (Cambridge United), Kieran Agard (Rotherham United)
Torquay United:
Ins: Ryan Jarvis
(Walsall), Craig Easton (Unattached), Michael
Poke (Brighton & Hove Albion), Thomas Cruise (Arsenal), Billy Bodin (SwindonTown),
Aaron Downes (Chesterfield)
Outs: Bobby Olejnik (Peterborough United), Mark Ellis (Crewe Alexandra), Eunan
O’Kane (AFC Bournemouth, Lathaniel Rowe-Turner (LutonTown), Ed Palmer (Kettering Town)
ExeterCity:
Ins: Pat Baldwin
(Southend United), Craig Woodman (Brentford), Kevin Amankwaah (Rochdale), Jamie
Cureton (Leyton Orient), Matt Oakley (Leicester City), Arron Davies
(Northampton Town), Tommy Doherty (Bath City)
Outs: Daniel Nardiello
& David Noble (Rotherham United), Troy Archibald-Henville (Swindon Town),
Richard Logan (Wycombe Wanderers), Lenny Pidgeley (Newport County), James Dunne
(Stevenage), Billy Jones (Cheltenham Town), Callum Goss (Manchester United),
Callum McNish (Braintree Town), Tom Nicholls (Hereford United) Loan
Plymouth Argyle:
Ins: Paris Cowan-Hall
(Woking), Jamie Lowry (Chesterfield), Rene Gilmartin (Watford), Andres Gurreri (Burton
Albion), Rhys Griffiths (Port Talbot Town), Johnny Gorman (Wolves) Loan,
Outs: Damien Johnson (FleetwoodTown),
Luke Daley (LincolnCity), Simon Walton (Hartlepool
United)
For the first time in
over ten years, all three of Devon’s professional sides, ExeterCity,
Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle, will be playing in the same League as each
other.
Each club has
experienced ups and downs during that time. The Pilgrims have won two
promotions (2002 & 2004) and back-to-back relegations (2010 & 2011),
coupled with a financial meltdown which saw the club’s players and staff go
unpaid during a lengthy spell in Administration.
Torquay United have
both enjoyed promotions from League Two and both have experienced relegations
from the Football League before making glorious returns via the Play-Offs.
Now all three side’s
have different ambitions going into the 2012-13 campaign.
After missing out in
the Play-Off Semi-Finals last season, Torquay United will be looking to go one
better this time around.
Following the
departures of Bobby Olejnik, Mark Ellis and Eunan O’Kane, moves which have
earned the Gulls £555,000, manager Martin Ling has moved to bring in Billy
Bodin, for £70,000 from Swindon Town, Ryan Jarvis, Craig Easton, Thomas Cruise,
Michael Poke and Aaron Downes.
Overachievement is a
word that has been used to describe Torquay’s achievements in recent seasons,
they have finished 7th and 5th in the last two campaigns
and were still in with a shout of automatic promotion up until the final day of
the 2011-12 season.
However, if the Gulls
can unearth a 25-30-a-season combination between a forward roster that includes
Rene Howe, Jarvis and Bodin, probably the best collection of strikers seen at
Plainmoor since the automatic promotion winning side of 2004-when then manager
Leroy Rosenior could have called upon David Graham, Jo Kuffour and Martin
Gritton-then Torquay could be set for another Play-Off challenge.
Following their
relegation last term-after finishing 8th in League One the season
before-Paul Tisdale is facing a rebuilding job at St James Park after seeing a
number of his star performers, including Daniel Nardiello, David Noble and Troy
Archibald Henville to name but a few, leave the Grecians.
Nevertheless, Tisdale
has developed a fine reputation for developing young players in recent years and
it would not be a huge shock to see midfielder Liam Sercombe follow in the footsteps
of Dean Moxey, George Friend and Dan Seaborne and leave St James Park for
bigger things this season.
In future years, he
could be joined on the list by Scott Bennett and Elliot Frear.
A mid-table finish
looks most likely for the Grecians at this stage, who have also added plenty of
know how to their squad in the shape of Kevin Amankwaah, Craig Woodman and the
returning Matt Oakley and Jamie Cureton.
Meanwhile, Plymouth
Argyle manager Carl Fletcher will be looking to continue the rebuilding job he
started last season after taking over from Peter Reid. At the time of his
initial appointment, the Pilgrims only had one point to their name and were
still in Administration.
At this point Fletcher
himself had been set to lead the players on strike after they were forced to
defer their wages during the lengthy Administration process, which was finally
resolved in October last year when James Brent completed his takeover of the
club.
During the close
season, the Pilgrims said goodbye to captain Simon Walton who returned north to
sign for Hartlepool United. He has since been replaced as captain by
experienced defender Darren Purse.
Other new arrivals
Newquay born midfielder Jamie Lowry, striker Paris Cowan-Hall, Andres Gurreri,
the first South America player ever to sign for the Pilgrims, goalkeeper Rene
Gilmartin, Rhys Griffiths, a fireman who has topped the League of Wales scoring
charts for the last seven years and loanee midfielder Johnny Gorman.
With Purse, Frenchman
Maxime Blanchard and Curtis Nelson to choose from in the centre of defence, the
Pilgrims are likely to be a difficult side to beat, especially at Home Park,
but the main target for Fletcher will be to continue to build solid foundations
to help the Pilgrims move forward in the future.
Youngsters Luke Young
and Matt Lecointe will also be looking to continue to build on the promise they
both showed last season.
If you were to turn
the clock back ten years, Gary Johnson was plotting YeovilTown’s
promotion to the Football League after winning the FA Trophy in 2002.
Fast forward to 2012
and Johnson, who returned to HuishPark to succeed Terry
Skiverton midway through last season, has assembled a squad which contains a
mixture of youth and experience.
In strikers James
Hayter and Reuben Reid, the Glovers have a strike partnership which is capable
of scoring goals in League One. Reid has led a somewhat journeyman career since
he left Plymouth Argyle in 2008 with a career that has seen him take in spells
at Rotherham United, West Bromwich Albion and Oldham Athletic amongst others.
However, a hat-trick
against the Pilgrims in the Glovers’ 5-0 win over the Devon side illustrates
that the Bristol born, but Somerset educated (he is a former pupil of Millfield
School), has the potential to fill left by the departure of last season’s
leading scorer, Andrew Williams, to Swindon Town.
Elsewhere, the Glovers
have also acquired their first full-time number one choice keeper since 2009 in
the form of Czech Marek Stech, who was one of several on loan custodians used
by Yeovil last season, who joined the club permanently following his release by
West Ham.
Loan signings Rohan
Ince and Gozie Ugwu, signed from Chelsea and Reading respectively, will
be looking to draw inspiration from some of the Glovers previous short term
signings in recent seasons, such as Steven Caulker, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend
and Shaun MacDonald.
One person who will be
looking to make a big impression this season is Johnson himself.
Since he first left HuishPark
in 2006 to take charge of BristolCity, who he guided to
the brink of the Premiership in 2008, Johnson has had a mixed career.
His spell at Ashton
Gate, which included a promotion from League One in 2007, was followed by
indifferent spells at Peterborough United and NorthamptonTown,
but, since returning to the West Country, Johnson has reminded the football
world that he is still a canny operation in the lower leagues.
In recent seasons, the
Glovers have found themselves competing against a number of ‘fallen giants’,
such as Leeds United, Leicester City, Norwich City, Charlton Athletic,
Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday.
However, this season,
Npower League One will be a more level playing field as the only clubs fitting
the aforementioned criteria being Sheffield United; last season’s losing
Play-Off finalists, CoventryCity and Portsmouth.
Though due to Portsmouth’s
current financial troubles, they are not expected to be amongst the division’s
front-runners.
This could open up
opportunities for smaller clubs like Yeovil to challenge for a top half finish,
or depending on form and injuries, they could emulate the achievements of their
2006-07 side who, under the guidance of Russell Slade, reached the Play-Off
final.
Carl Fletcher's reward for steering Plymouth Argyle to victory over Portsmouth in the Capital One Cup is a trip to Burnley in the second round and a chance to pit his managerial wits against his ex Bournemouth teammate Eddie Howe.
The Pilgrims defeated Portsmouth 3-0 with goals from Johnny Gorman, Paris Cowan-Hall and Nick Chadwick which ensured their passage into the next round.
Both Fletcher and Howe played together for the Cherries at the turn of the century and this connection proved useful to Fletcher last season when he brought Alex MacDonald to Home Park on loan from the Clarets.
Yeovil Town also joined the Pilgrims in the next round as they defeated fellow League One side Colchester United 3-0 at Huish Park. Defender Richard Hinds bagged a brace before Keanu Marsh-Brown added a third.
The Glovers will play host to Premiership side West Bromwich Albion in round two, a tie that will see new signing Reuben Reid face one of his former clubs.
Exeter City and Torquay United both exited the competition as they both succumbed to home defeats at hands of Championship opposition.
The Grecians were beaten 2-1 by Exeter City in a game that saw former City starlet Dean Moxey return to face his former club and Torquay went down 4-0 against a highly fancied Leicester City at Plainmoor.
Torquay United will have to make do without the services of summer signing Billy Bodin for their opening competitive fixture of the season after he was selected in the Wales Under-21 squad to face Armenia.
Bodin, who joined the Gulls from Swindon Town for £70,000 during the close season, will miss Torquay's Capital One Cup clash with Leicester City next Tuesday before returning to the Gulls squad for their opening league encounter at Fleetwood Town.
Gulls boss Martin Ling was disappointed to lose Billy's services, especially after he scored the equalising goal in Torquay's 1-1 draw with Premier League side Stoke City on Monday night, which marked the opening of Bristow's Bench.
“He will be away from Sunday to Wednesday and that’s why he only played half-hour against Stoke and he will do the same at Weston-super-Mare on Friday." said Ling.
“It is a little bit disappointing to lose him, especially when you look at the goal against Stoke and some of his touches were very good, but he will be ready for the league campaign at Fleetwood.”
If selected, Bodin will become the second contracted Torquay United player to play Wales Under-21's after Alex Lawless, who was selected in February 2006.
The qualfier will be played at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground on 15th August 2012 and the full squad is as follows:
Plymouth Argyle manager Carl Fletcher has moved to strengthen his squad ahead of the 2012-13 season with the signings of striker Rhys Griffiths and midfielder Johnny Gorman.
Welshman Griffiths, 32, has been on trial at Home Park during the close season from League of Wales side Port Talbot and is putting his career as a firefighter on hold in a bid to have one last shot at playing in the Football League.
Prior to his move to the Pilgrims, he had topped the scoring charts in the Welsh Premier League side for seven seasons in a row, firstly for Port Talbot and then for six years running with Llanelli.
Gorman, 19, who has won nine caps for Northern Ireland, joins on a youth loan from Wolves until January 6th 2013, following in the footsteps of Ashley Hemmings, who came to Home Park on loan from Wolves last season.
He also joins a number of Northern Ireland internationals who have represented the Pilgrims in recent seasons, including Tony Capaldi, Damien Johnson, Rory Patterson and current squad member Warren Feeney.
Despite only making one senior for Wolves, Gorman made his Northern Ireland debut on 26th May 2010 in a friendly against Turkey and made his competitive debut later that year against Slovenia in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
His sole senior appearance for Wolves came last March when he made a substitute appearance again Norwich City in the Premier League.
Despite Team GB's exit on penalties from the Men's Olympic Football tournament, former Yeovil Town loanee Steven Caulker will be hoping his displays in the heart of their defence haven't gone unnoticed by new Spurs manager Andre Villas Boas.
Caulker, 20, who spent last season on loan in the Premiership with Swansea City, was ever present for Stuart Pearce's side in the competition in a team which also featured his former Swans' teammates Joe Allen, Neil Taylor and ex-Plymouth Argyle loanee, Scott Sinclair.
Just as in his 44 league appearances for Yeovil during the 2009-10 season, when, as an 17 to 18 year-old, he never gave the impression to the Huish Park faithful that they were watching a teenager in action, his performances for Team GB didn't equate to that of a player barely in his twenties appearing in his first major tournament.
The next challenge awaiting Caulker will be to build on his performances at Old Trafford, Wembley and the Millennium Stadium during Spurs' pre-season training ahead of the start of the 2012-13 season on August 18th.
This is when he will be looking to convince AVB that he is a better bet in the centre of the Spurs defence than Jan Vertonghen, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul or William Gallas.
Time will tell whether Caulker gets the nod or not, but he has agreed a new contract which will keep him at White Hart Lane until 2016, which indicates AVB could be prepared to give him the chance to fill the boots of the recently retired Ledley King.
