English Non League Ante Post 08/09

[kompressaur]

Mansfield have had a take over and everyone seems happy i see jb.

THE three new owners of Mansfield Town FC were unveiled at a press conference on Friday.
And the Mansfield consortium - who bought the Stags from Keith Haslam on Thursday evening - immediately issued a rallying cry to fans and the business community.

New chairman Andy Perry - an equal partner in the buyout with long-standing fans Andy Saunders and Steve Middleton - said: "This is a boyhood dream of ours to being owning our local Football Club.

"We are looking forward to the challenges ahead and with the help and support of the local community I am sure that we can achieve our common goal – which is promotion to the Football League.

"This is a new era for the club and we hope to re-ignite relationships with the supporters and give them something to be proud of."

STAGS TAKEOVER VIDEO: It's a boyhood dream say new owners - Mansfield Chad

I dont know what to expect. Usually with deals like this the fans would even forgive them for a season of rebuilding. they can only be hoping for the best. Suppose this this could b a season too early for Mansfield

[jbgb007uk]

Its a massive shambles, the new boss says they need a season of consolidation. I do not see this as a good thing for Mansfield, now the club do not own their own ground. They will probably go to the wall now

[bromsgrovegreen]

telford best price 7-1 have signed some proven players at this level,terry fearns should be the 25 goal striker that can make the difference between automatic promotion and the play offs,gavin cowan from nuneaton a proven,quality defenderwho rob smith rates as the best defender in the league and with the likes of stuart whitehead coming back from injury they should be there or thereabouts especially if they arent decimated by injuries like they were the back end of last season

[nonleaguefootballlive]

Patric here, Editor of Non League Football Live...please note our betting menu can be situated on the main page which is linked to the betting section...so far 13 non league tipsters....the link can be found at the beginning of this thread.

Here are my tips for each of our feature leagues...

Blue Square Premier - Stevenage **
Blue Square North - Farsley Celtic **
Blue Square South - Chelmsford City ***
Ryman Premier - Sutton United (nap) **********
British Gas Premier - Halesowen Town *
Unibond Premier - Boston United **

Good Luck all

[arfajob01]

Hi Patrick, good to have you on board....

Moments ago I was writing a thread on the Dover forum..Going on about the title. I did say that I thought Sutton were the only other challengers to Dover this season. Very good call I reckon. However I think this is going to be such a tight league this season, it could go on the matches between these two sides.

Oh how much fun am I going to have with the bookies in this league. I cannot wait.

[nonleaguefootballlive]

Hi Arfa,

Thanks,

I can assure you there is lots of money to be made out of non league football, it seems that the real football leagues have become to competitive now and we are now entering an era where there are no certainties where as non league football is the best kept secret from the real moneymakers in the game.

We have an expert tipster on our site as well as a tipsters challenge for non league football only, will try and come on here to pass on any info i have.

All the best

[kompressaur]

Your more than welcome Patric and if you fancy a link exchange let me know. All members with a link exchange with TDP get to have a link to their site in their sig as well as a link from TDP.

[arfajob01]

Komp, why dont you extend the invitaton to them on thier forum.

[Frodo]

Welcome to TDP Patric, hope you'll stick around a bit and share some thoughts throughout the season.

Will the live score service be back up this season. Even with the lack of information from some clubs I thought it was a cracking service. I'd be interested to know why you like Sutton so much? Purely because I'm siding with Dover at the moment.

Anyway my big ante-post NL bet is Chelmsford. For me them and Havant deserve to be clear favourites for the Conf South. Both have more financial clout than the rest (even AFC Dons) and start the season with the best squads.

For me Chelmo have the edge, last season they won the Ryman league at a canter and the signings of Miller, Rainford and Moore stand out a mile. The latter two being key players for Dagenham in recent seasons, both are very good players at conference level let alone conf south and have football league experience (along with Miller signed from Port Vale).

Havant's big signings include Guy Butters and 3 players from last years conf south champions Lewes including top scorer Paul Booth. Butters looks a great signing on paper but a few years ago Barnet had him on loan in the conference and he was found out quite a bit.

Chelmo's manager has been there and done it before with Canvey and when you add the likes of Holmes, Berquez, Brayley and co they have more than enough talent. They've also already beaten a strong Wycombe side in a PSF.

In the Conf North I'm with the Telford shout with Southport having to go part time and needing to shed their full-time players.

Southern League I can't decide between Farnborough and Halesowen. The Unibond looks a bloody nightmare, I want to back BPA but there's some very odd stuff coming out of there. I want to back Oxford in the conference because they've made some impressive signings and look to have a good mixture of good young improving players desperate to prove a point with a couple of experienced heads around to pick them up if need be. However I'm not convinced about the depth of their squad.

[nonleaguefootballlive]

Hi guys

firstly thanks for your warming replies and of course yes lets link up, could you contact me via our contact oage and i would be happy to oblige.

Frodo, very nice and educated write up, you know your stuff....

Well i will try my best to come on here and give you my tips...

Today i put £100 on Oxford to bear Barrow although i only found out tonight Oxford played Portsmouth this evening...really bad move a few days before a big game however their stars only played 45min, Guy pulled up with a hamstring, although Portsmouth only won 2-1.

Id still have to say Oxford are worth a big punt on this one, they look a different class to Barrow who have had a rolicking in pre season...I think Barrow will be exposed big time against Oxford on Friday.

Saturday has many interesting opporunities...

Fleetwood Town take my fancy at a tidy 4/5 and this is a bet not to be missed.

Other interesting bets this weekend...

Hampton & Richmond to beat Basingstoke 11/8
Havant & Waterlooville to beat St. Albans 11/8
Worcester to beat Bognor 13/8

If your looking for a stone cold banker look no further than Harrogate Town 8/13 if you have th cash to splash, i cannot see them losing or drawing.

Id advise to watch the first round of Blue Sq Premier games on sat, id have liked to have got on Rushden at a nice 5/4 until Clare got injured and Eastbourne then beat Bromley 1-0 last week at home so they are more than capable of pulling out a result.

If you looking for a value bet then Workington may be a nice little one at 11.5 to beat reprieved Hinckley

Remember though its the first week so be careful...

I'm lumping on Oxford and Fleetwood and watching the rest until Tuesday.

Cheers all

[nonleaguefootballlive]

Frodo, the live scores service is back, bigger and better!!!!

[nonleaguefootballlive]

Oh and sutton are good because of their manager Paul Doswell, he has more contacts in nl football than most managers around and signing Gavin Heroo was huge...Dover will be good but remember they are stepping up, just as AFC Wimbledon did and as FC United will learn, you need a season in that league, Sutton have bought well and of course have a little gem in Dos Santos who turned down a move to Fulham to play 1 more year of 1st team football

[bromsgrovegreen]

i fancy farsley to beat stafford in the north,around the 2-1 mark,farsley have had a good pre season beating some league sides along the way,if they can keep andy campbell fit they should be top 6 minimum, stafford meanwhile have acompletely new side from last season,i dont rate steve bull as a manager at all although his assistant chris brindley knows the non league scene, also as mentioned halesowen should be top two in the southern prem,best side i saw at bromsgrove last season and they have strengthened pre season with the likes of mark danks from worcester,god knows what their budget is like,cant see darren caskey bothering for less than a grand can you?

[Punter]

I'm thinking of having a small bet on Crawley in the BSP again, maybe +22 on the handicap @18/1 Skybet or 4.8 on top southern club.
Any good or bad reports from there? Any positives or negatives?

They had a 6pts deduction last season that knocked them a bit. They had some very good results one week and some very bad results the next.
I know they had premiership teams looking at one or two of their players also.

Steve Evans second season in charge, do they like him down there?

[kompressaur]

There are six teams who clearly lead the way with the bookies in the race for the Blue Square Premier title this season and in my view it would be a brave man who backs any of them.

Stevenage, Torquay, Wrexham, Rushden and Diamonds, Oxford and Cambridge are the chosen six but although they are all, bar the latter, capable of mounting a promotion charge, from a betting point of view it would be sensible to leave well alone.

Cambridge have endured a close-season of upheaval, with manager Jimmy Quinn leaving what is now called the Trade Recruitment to be replaced by former Southport boss Gary Brabin.

They've also lost the likes of highly-rated centre-back Michael Morrison and midfield lynchpin Rob Wolleaston during the summer and therefore it is hard to see them achieving much more than a top-half finish.

The other five sides should be at least flirting with the play-offs, but even Nostradamus would be hard pressed to call who will be first past the post in the race for a spot in the Football League.

If you fancy a bit of value in your search for the title winner, it might be worth having a look at Kidderminster, priced at 25/1, and Crawley at 40/1 but it's a lot wiser to look at some of the other markets available for this season.

Blue Square and 888sport.com have priced up odds for a group of southern sides, who are Ebbsfleet, Grays, Crawley, Salisbury and Woking, and it is to Sussex we will go in search of value.

Crawley were hit by a nine-point penalty last season, but still managed to keep themselves well away from the drop zone and, without the deduction, they would have finished above Ebbsfleet and one point below Grays.

They have strengthened their squad this summer, with the likes of former Halifax trio Jake Wright, Lewis Killeen and Danny Forest moving south to improve what was already a decent side.

Thomas Pinault is one of the best attacking midfielders in the division and left winger Jamie Cook scored 12 goals in the second-half of last season as Crawley ended the campaign on a high.

The signing of former Bournemouth striker Steve Fletcher will add to those attacking midfield options, as the big forward will generate a real physical presence in attack that will cause plenty of defences problems.

Therefore, although it may be too early for them to make a real push for the Football League, I would certainly suggest a punt at 15/4 for Crawley to come out on top in this novel market is certainly one well worth taking.

The top newcomer sounds like an award you would get at the Brits, but it is instead the place to go as we look at the newly-promoted sides in the Blue Square Premier.

Kettering, Barrow, Lewes and Eastbourne are the new boys, and it is the one full-time side amongst them that I heavily fancy in this market.

Mark Copper's Kettering stormed to the Blue Square North title to earn their place at the top table of non-league football and they look well placed to avoid any relegation trouble this term.


The likes of John Dempster, Tom Kemp and Jean-Paul Marna all have the ability to step-up with ease and summer signings Gareth Seddon and Darren Wrack will add strength to an already strong side.

Seddon in particular looks like a very impressive acquisition. The former Bury striker has impressed during his time with Hyde and, after looking set for a move to Northwich earlier in the summer, he has now made the journey to Northamptonshire and should flourish at a higher level of football.

However, it not just the strength of the Poppies that appeals to me in this market, it is the problems that should face the other three sides looking to adapt to life in the Blue Square Premier.

Barrow, Lewes and Eastbourne are all part-time sides and that will givethem a severe disadvantage in what is now almost a fully professional league.

Last season the sides that finished in the bottom four slots in the division were all part-time, with two of them newly-promoted, and it is hard to see that changing as the new season gets under way.

Eastbourne and Barrow still have the majority of their squad that won promotion, while Lewes have undergone a major revamp over the off-season.

Steve King, who led the Rooks to the Blue Square South title last season, has left the club and has been replaced by former Brighton commercial director Kevin Keehan.

Some of the doubts over Keehan's appointment have been eased with the signings of the experienced Danny Cullip and Scott Taylor, however it still looks like it will be a tough season for the men at the Dripping Pan.

Kettering, because of their full-time status and strong squad, therefore look like the team to back in this market, and I feel they are well worth having a serious look at 6/4 with Blue Square and 888sport.com.

The four clubs that finished in the bottom four last season were, as well as being part-time; all based in the north and that provides some foreboding signs ahead of the new campaign for Barrow.

The Bluebirds produced a stunning run of form to reach the Blue Square Premier, with their new managerial duo of David Bayliss and Darren Sheridan overseeing their rise from relegation trouble to play-off final winners.

However, it would take a Herculean effort for the Cumbrian side to avoid relegation as the likes of Farsley Celtic and Droylsden proved last term.

They won't be embarrassed this season, but at odds of 15/8 with Blue Square and 88sport.com to be relegated, I would suggest you could do a lot worse than putting money on this to be a brief sojourn for the Bluebirds at the pinnacle of non-league football.

The battle to become the Blue Square Premier's top goalscorer promises to be just as hotly contested as the race for promotion to the Football League but there is still value to be had if you look in the right place.

Last season's second top scorer Steve Morison is the favourite with the bookies at 8/1 after spurning the interest of Crewe to sign a new three-year contract with Stevenage and that value is justified.

However, I would shy away from backing him, purely because of the likelihood of a potential move in the January transfer window.

Aldershot striker Jonny Dixon moved to Brighton, Rushden forward Simeon Jackson joined Gillingham and Exeter's Jamie Mackie moved across Devon to Plymouth last January after impressive starts to the season.

That sets a precedent of upward movement for the division's top strikers and therefore I would not back the likes of Morison and Ebbsfleet forward John Akinde because of the interest that is likely to come their way at the turn of the year.

That leads me to focus on players who will definitely be plying their trade in the Blue Square Premier throughout the season.

Oxford have signed former Kidderminster striker James Constable on a season-long loan from Shrewsbury and that deal can only be terminated if both clubs agree, something which I can't see the U's doing.

Constable grabbed 13 goals for the Harriers in the first-half of last season to earn his move to League Two.

However Shrewsbury's new manager Paul Simpson has signed experienced strikers Grant Holt and Richard Walker this summer to move the former Walsall forward down the pecking order at the club.

Oxford have done a canny bit of business to snap-up Constable and, at 20/1 with Sky Bet, he is a safe bet to be right in the hunt for the golden boot this season.

The other names that have leaped out at me in the battle for the top scorer award areCambridge forward Lee McEvilly, York striker Onome Sodje and Northwich's Lee Steele.



McEvilly impressed for Cambridge as they powered to the play-off final in the second-half of last term and he has a good track record at this level with Accrington in previous seasons.

However, in the last couple of years the goals seem to have dried up for the former Northern Ireland international and I think we can get slightly better value elsewhere.

Sodje struck 15 goals last season as York finished in the middle of the division last term and, on his day, he looks to have the ability to move up to a higher level.

Although he has a tendency to drift out wide at times, the former Charlton trainee is a dangerous striker and one I think is worth a small punt on at 40/1 with Blue Square and 888sport.com.


Former Brighton and Shrewsbury striker Steele is one of the main reasons Northwich are still playing in the Blue Square Premier as his goals were a key factor in Dino Maamria's side's great escape last season.

He is priced up at 66/1 in this market with Blue Square and 888sport.com and represents good value. Despite this I will keep my money in my pocket as I feel you would be better placed backing Constable and Sodje.

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