The Stockport County season preview 2023/24 highlights how they're the team to beat this term.
Dave Challinor’s side like to play forward early with quality, then build: it’s proven a great template in League Two, and poaching left-back Ibou Touray from Salford will only improve an already deep squad.
It's certainly ominous for the rest of the league in what looks like being another strong season for Stockport County.
Stockport County season preview 2023/24, the fan's view: Chloe Digby (@ChloeDigby)
Last season was good on balance, but defeat at Wembley was hard to take.
The big talking point is whether we can go up automatically this season. Having a year in the Football League under our belts should help.
Our key player will be striker Kyle Wootton. He suffered a serious injury at a crucial point last season and we really missed him during the run-in.
Look out for 22-year-old wing-back Ryan Rydel. His form was up and down, but he showed what he was really made of in the play-off semi-final second leg against Salford.
The thing my club really gets right is marketing just how exciting it is to be a County fan right now.
The one change I’d make would be to improve the ticket system. It causes so many issues.
The opposition player I’d love here is Carlisle midfielder Owen Moxon – he was a class act when he played against us last season.
Our most underrated player is Ryan Croasdale. To the untrained eye, he could look pretty average, but he plays a key role in our system.
The player I’d happily drive to another club is Callum Camps, who wants to stroke the ball around in midfield too much while his teammates are putting in the hard graft.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is love from the vast majority of supporters, who want to see Dave Challinor carry on his superb work, although there is a small minority of dissenting voices around Edgeley Park.
If he left, he should be replaced by Chris Wilder, though I’m not sure he would drop this far down the leagues.
The opposition player who grinds my gears is Salford striker Matt Smith. I’ve nothing personal against him, but the way that the commentators went on about him in our play-off semi-final – comparing him to Olivier Giroud – was properly embarrassing.
I’m least looking forward to playing Wrexham, purely because of all the unnecessary hype that accompanies them and their owners.
The pantomime villain will be Wrexham’s Paul Mullin, undoubtedly.
We’ll finish 2nd.
Season previews for the Premier League, League One and League Two are all available HERE
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