Season Preview 2005/06

Last updated : 04 August 2005 By Andy Beill
YOUR PLAYERS
Ones to watch: who'll shine this season?
We're hoping new signing Steve McPhee will stick a fair few goals away, the finisher up front we missed sometimes last season. Hopefully our stars of the last couple of seasons - Stuart Elliott, Nick Barmby, Leon Cort, Andy Dawson, Ben Burgess - will also be able to make the step up.

Boo-boy: who'll get stick from the fans?
Not many fans will be happy if Marc Joseph gets picked ahead of other defenders. Kevin Ellison and Craig Fagan, who have only been at the club for a few months, may also see the crowd turn on them if they start the season in poor form.

YOUR PROSPECTS
How do you think the season will go? Has the summer spending been good? Do you back the manager?
We haven't made any extravagant buys but we have signed players for areas of the team where we needed them. We don't really know much about the players Peter Taylor has brought in, but we have faith in him to get it right after he took us to two successive promotions. A season consolidating our place in this division will be a realistic aim for him and for the fans.

PREDICTIONS
Where will your side finish?
We'll be happy to push for a mid-table position. We should have the squad and the resources to stay clear of relegation.

Who'll win the title?
Norwich have kept most of their Premiership squad and could score a lot of goals. We'll be expecting the ex-Premiership teams to be leading the way in the promotion chase, with Ipswich and Crystal Palace likely contenders.

Who's going down?
We don't know this league very well so at the risk of being naive we wouldn't expect clubs like Brighton or Crewe to be threats to us.

HATE FIGURE
Who'll be your top hate-figure at another club?
Sheffield Wednesday's Steve MacLean isn't popular with our fans. In his time at Scunthorpe he made a few enemies with us after a penalty incident, and followed that with a 'Klinsmann dive' celebration in another game.