Relegated Luton Town along with Millwall and Colin Calderwood’s Nottingham Forest come into focus in Part Five of the League One preview.
Luton Town
Nickname: The Hatters
Ground: Kenilworth Road
Capacity: 9,975
Manager: Kevin Blackwell
KEY PLAYERS: Former Cobbler Sam Parkin will be looking to score the goals to get Luton back into the Championship at the first attempt. Paul Peschisolido has also signed from Derby and his experience could be valuable. Elsewhere, Ahmet Brkovic and new signing from Ipswich, Darren Currie can provide fire power from midfield.
TRANSFERS IN: Paul Peschisolido (Derby) FREE, David Edwards (Shrewsbury) FREE, Alan Goodall (Rochdale) FREE, Darren Currie (Ipswich) FREE
TRANSFERS OUT: Warren Feeney (Cardiff) FREE, Peter Holmes (Rotherham) FREE, Russell Perrett (Bournemouth) FREE, Michael Leary (Barnet) FREE, Adam Boyd (Orient) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Zach Barrett, Dean Brill, Marlon Beresford
DEFENDERS: Ed Asafu-Adjaye, Leon Barnett, Chris Coyne, Sol Davis, Lewis Emmanuel, Kevin Foley, Alan Goodall, Marcus Heikkinnen, Paul Underwood
MIDFIELD: David Bell, Ahmet Brkovic, Darren Currie, David Edwards, Richard Langley, Steven O’Leary, Steve Robinson, Matthew Spring
FORWARDS: Sam Parkin, Paul Peschisolido, Calvin Andrew, Drew Talbot
LAST SEASON: Luton got off to a good start to their season with victories over Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday before tasting their first defeat at Norwich. The League Cup took them to the third round where they were beaten by Everton convincingly at Goodison Park.
Back in the league, the Hatters went on an awful run of seven straight defeats including reverses at Ipswich, Preston and Southampton that led to their fall down the Championship table.
Manager Mike Newell was in the news for sexist remarks directed at the referee’s assistant Amy Rayner following the club’s 3-2 home defeat to QPR. Newell’s future was in doubt from the moment he hit the headlines with his comments and, coupled with bad form, led to his departure in March.
Kevin Blackwell took over and his first game was a 0-0 draw at Burnley. Despite that point, Blackwell couldn’t turn the form around and four defeats in a row condemned the Hatters to the drop.
Millwall
Nickname: The Lions
Ground: The New Den
Capacity:20,146
Manager: Willie Donachie
KEY PLAYERS: Millwall will be looking to improve on last seasons’ mid-table finish and the experience of players such as Richard Shaw, Neal Ardley and Darren Byfield could be vital. Gary Alexandra has signed from London rivals Leyton Orient and will be hoping to bring his scoring record across the capital with him.
TRANSFERS IN: Gary Alexandra (Orient) FREE, Danny Spiller (Gillingham) FREE, Scott Barron (Ipswich) FREE, Andy Frampton (Brentford) FREE, Ryan Smith (Derby) £150,000
TRANSFERS OUT: Adam Cottrell (Welling) FREE, Tony Craig (Crystal Palace) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Lenny Pidgeley, Chris Day, Preston Edwards
DEFENDERS: Andy Frampton, Paul Robinson, Zak Whitbread, Alan Dunne, Scott Barron, Richard Shaw, Andrew Callaghan
MIDFIELD: Danny Senda, Danny Spiller, Ryan Smith, Chris Hackett, Dave Brammer, Ali Fuseini, Neal Ardley, Marvin Williams
FORWARDS: Gary Alexandra, Neil Harris, Darren Byfield, Tom Brighton, Ben May,
LAST SEASON: Millwall turned their season around after a disastrous first stage of their 2006/07 campaign.
An early hammering, 5-1, at Chesterfield wouldn’t have been great for confidence and the Lions remained in trouble in the opening months. September included a 1-0 home defeat by the Cobblers as loanee Mitchell Cole grabbed the only goal. Nigel Spackman was sacked following that defeat and Willie Donachie was installed as the new boss.
Donachie led ‘Wall to ten points from his first four games in charge before a dip in form meant that they remained in trouble over Chistmas. A fine start to the new year including 4-1 wins over Brentford and Gillingham and a 4-0 victory against Rotherham set them up nicely for a move in the right direction as 2007 kicked in.
Wins over Yeovil, Chesterfield and Oldham gave them a brief glimpse of the playoffs but a heavy home defeat to Leyton Orient (2-5) brought them right back down to earth. The playoffs were just out of reach in the end and the Lions finished the season in 10th place.
Nottingham Forest
Nickname: Reds
Ground: The City Ground
Capacity: 30,602
Manager: Colin Calderwood
KEY PLAYERS: Colin Calderwood has spent a lot of time in the transfer market this summer and the biggest capture was Neil Lennon who joins the club from Celtic. The front line will again be promising a lot at the City Ground with Nathan Tyson, Grant Holt, Junior Agogo and Aaron Davies all a threat. Luke Chambers will be hoping for more first team action in his first full season with the club while Kris Commons’ ability in midfield makes him one of the most dangerous players in the league.
TRANSFERS IN: Neil Lennon (Celtic) FREE, Matt Lockwood (Orient) FREE, Aaron Davies (Yeovil) FREE, Chris Cohen (Yeovil) FREE, Kelvin Wilson (Preston) £300,000
TRANSFERS OUT: Gary Holt (Wycombe) FREE, Jack Lester (Chesterfield) FREE, John Thompson (Oldham) FREE, Spencer Weir-Daley (Notts County) FREE, John Curtis (QPR) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Paul Smith, Dale Roberts
DEFENDERS: Kelvin Wilson, Luke Chambers, Matt Lockwood, Wes Morgan, Ian Breckin, James Perch, Chris Cohen, Alan Power, Brendon Maloney, Julian Bennett
MIDFIELD: Kris Commons, Felix Bastians, Sammy Clingan, Lewis McGugan, Neil Lennon,
FORWARDS: Nathan Tyson, Junior Agogo, Grant Holt, Scott Dobie, Aaron Davies
LAST SEASON: Forest were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion and began their season in style, winning six of their opening seven games before suffering their first defeat at home to Oldham Athletic.
Their first home defeat came live on Sky Sports as they were hammered by future champions Scunthorpe United 4-0 at the City Ground. They bounced back though and won their next four games. Forest remained in a strong position for automatic promotion until a mid-season dip in form allowed Scunthorpe to run away with top spot and Bristol City to overtake them in second place.
A final day of the season draw with Crewe Alexandra wasn’t enough for them to get back into the top two and Forest had to settle for a place in the playoffs where they would face Yeovil Town. They won the first leg at Huish Park 2-0 and it seemed like a formality by the time the teams met again in the second leg at the City Ground. But Yeovil fought back brilliantly and won 3-1 in 90 minutes before incredibly finishing the job in extra time, eventually running out 5-2 victors and 5-4 aggregate winners!
So Forest again face a season in League One and it’ll be a nervous time for our friend Mr Calderwood as he must surely get it right this time!
Luton TownNickname: The Hatters
Ground: Kenilworth Road
Capacity: 9,975
Manager: Kevin Blackwell
KEY PLAYERS: Former Cobbler Sam Parkin will be looking to score the goals to get Luton back into the Championship at the first attempt. Paul Peschisolido has also signed from Derby and his experience could be valuable. Elsewhere, Ahmet Brkovic and new signing from Ipswich, Darren Currie can provide fire power from midfield.
TRANSFERS IN: Paul Peschisolido (Derby) FREE, David Edwards (Shrewsbury) FREE, Alan Goodall (Rochdale) FREE, Darren Currie (Ipswich) FREE
TRANSFERS OUT: Warren Feeney (Cardiff) FREE, Peter Holmes (Rotherham) FREE, Russell Perrett (Bournemouth) FREE, Michael Leary (Barnet) FREE, Adam Boyd (Orient) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Zach Barrett, Dean Brill, Marlon Beresford
DEFENDERS: Ed Asafu-Adjaye, Leon Barnett, Chris Coyne, Sol Davis, Lewis Emmanuel, Kevin Foley, Alan Goodall, Marcus Heikkinnen, Paul Underwood
MIDFIELD: David Bell, Ahmet Brkovic, Darren Currie, David Edwards, Richard Langley, Steven O’Leary, Steve Robinson, Matthew Spring
FORWARDS: Sam Parkin, Paul Peschisolido, Calvin Andrew, Drew Talbot
LAST SEASON: Luton got off to a good start to their season with victories over Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday before tasting their first defeat at Norwich. The League Cup took them to the third round where they were beaten by Everton convincingly at Goodison Park.
Back in the league, the Hatters went on an awful run of seven straight defeats including reverses at Ipswich, Preston and Southampton that led to their fall down the Championship table.
Manager Mike Newell was in the news for sexist remarks directed at the referee’s assistant Amy Rayner following the club’s 3-2 home defeat to QPR. Newell’s future was in doubt from the moment he hit the headlines with his comments and, coupled with bad form, led to his departure in March.
Kevin Blackwell took over and his first game was a 0-0 draw at Burnley. Despite that point, Blackwell couldn’t turn the form around and four defeats in a row condemned the Hatters to the drop.
MillwallNickname: The Lions
Ground: The New Den
Capacity:20,146
Manager: Willie Donachie
KEY PLAYERS: Millwall will be looking to improve on last seasons’ mid-table finish and the experience of players such as Richard Shaw, Neal Ardley and Darren Byfield could be vital. Gary Alexandra has signed from London rivals Leyton Orient and will be hoping to bring his scoring record across the capital with him.
TRANSFERS IN: Gary Alexandra (Orient) FREE, Danny Spiller (Gillingham) FREE, Scott Barron (Ipswich) FREE, Andy Frampton (Brentford) FREE, Ryan Smith (Derby) £150,000
TRANSFERS OUT: Adam Cottrell (Welling) FREE, Tony Craig (Crystal Palace) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Lenny Pidgeley, Chris Day, Preston Edwards
DEFENDERS: Andy Frampton, Paul Robinson, Zak Whitbread, Alan Dunne, Scott Barron, Richard Shaw, Andrew Callaghan
MIDFIELD: Danny Senda, Danny Spiller, Ryan Smith, Chris Hackett, Dave Brammer, Ali Fuseini, Neal Ardley, Marvin Williams
FORWARDS: Gary Alexandra, Neil Harris, Darren Byfield, Tom Brighton, Ben May,
LAST SEASON: Millwall turned their season around after a disastrous first stage of their 2006/07 campaign.
An early hammering, 5-1, at Chesterfield wouldn’t have been great for confidence and the Lions remained in trouble in the opening months. September included a 1-0 home defeat by the Cobblers as loanee Mitchell Cole grabbed the only goal. Nigel Spackman was sacked following that defeat and Willie Donachie was installed as the new boss.
Donachie led ‘Wall to ten points from his first four games in charge before a dip in form meant that they remained in trouble over Chistmas. A fine start to the new year including 4-1 wins over Brentford and Gillingham and a 4-0 victory against Rotherham set them up nicely for a move in the right direction as 2007 kicked in.
Wins over Yeovil, Chesterfield and Oldham gave them a brief glimpse of the playoffs but a heavy home defeat to Leyton Orient (2-5) brought them right back down to earth. The playoffs were just out of reach in the end and the Lions finished the season in 10th place.
Nottingham ForestNickname: Reds
Ground: The City Ground
Capacity: 30,602
Manager: Colin Calderwood
KEY PLAYERS: Colin Calderwood has spent a lot of time in the transfer market this summer and the biggest capture was Neil Lennon who joins the club from Celtic. The front line will again be promising a lot at the City Ground with Nathan Tyson, Grant Holt, Junior Agogo and Aaron Davies all a threat. Luke Chambers will be hoping for more first team action in his first full season with the club while Kris Commons’ ability in midfield makes him one of the most dangerous players in the league.
TRANSFERS IN: Neil Lennon (Celtic) FREE, Matt Lockwood (Orient) FREE, Aaron Davies (Yeovil) FREE, Chris Cohen (Yeovil) FREE, Kelvin Wilson (Preston) £300,000
TRANSFERS OUT: Gary Holt (Wycombe) FREE, Jack Lester (Chesterfield) FREE, John Thompson (Oldham) FREE, Spencer Weir-Daley (Notts County) FREE, John Curtis (QPR) FREE
SQUAD:
GOALKEEPERS: Paul Smith, Dale Roberts
DEFENDERS: Kelvin Wilson, Luke Chambers, Matt Lockwood, Wes Morgan, Ian Breckin, James Perch, Chris Cohen, Alan Power, Brendon Maloney, Julian Bennett
MIDFIELD: Kris Commons, Felix Bastians, Sammy Clingan, Lewis McGugan, Neil Lennon,
FORWARDS: Nathan Tyson, Junior Agogo, Grant Holt, Scott Dobie, Aaron Davies
LAST SEASON: Forest were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion and began their season in style, winning six of their opening seven games before suffering their first defeat at home to Oldham Athletic.
Their first home defeat came live on Sky Sports as they were hammered by future champions Scunthorpe United 4-0 at the City Ground. They bounced back though and won their next four games. Forest remained in a strong position for automatic promotion until a mid-season dip in form allowed Scunthorpe to run away with top spot and Bristol City to overtake them in second place.
A final day of the season draw with Crewe Alexandra wasn’t enough for them to get back into the top two and Forest had to settle for a place in the playoffs where they would face Yeovil Town. They won the first leg at Huish Park 2-0 and it seemed like a formality by the time the teams met again in the second leg at the City Ground. But Yeovil fought back brilliantly and won 3-1 in 90 minutes before incredibly finishing the job in extra time, eventually running out 5-2 victors and 5-4 aggregate winners!
So Forest again face a season in League One and it’ll be a nervous time for our friend Mr Calderwood as he must surely get it right this time!
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