View from the opposition - Port Vale

Dreadful! Much was expected of our signings last summer but none of them delivered, except Marc Richards in the closing weeks of the season, when his goals came too late to save us. Martin Foyle left early in the season and Lee Sinnott replaced him but obviously didn't rate much of the squad and struggled to establish his way of playing. Losing to Chasetown in the Cup was probably the lowest point, but you only have to look at the league table to know what sort of a season we had. We're grateful that Luton went into administration - otherwise we would have finished 8 points adrift at the bottom.

Has your club's Summer activities lived up to expectations?

The wage bill has had to come down and there's been a huge turnaround in the squad. Few fans shed tears about most of the players who've moved on, except George Pilkington who has been our best defender in recent times but even he was poor last season. Sinnott seems to have brought in some young and hungry players but only time will tell if they can gel. Louis Dodds is highly regarded by Lincoln fans from his loan spell there, Anthony Griffith is the ball-winner we need in midfield, we've added height at the back in John McCombe and a leader in Sam Stockley. The signs are encouraging.

I think we'll be disappointed if we don't make the play-offs. Lee Sinnott has a track record of three promotions in four years, albeit at non-league level with Farsley Celtic, but it shows he knows how to get a team promoted.

Play-offs again. I was impressed with Rochdale when I saw them last season, although Dave Perkins is a big loss. Keith Hill certainly seems to know what he's doing and he finally seems to have broken the inferiority complex that has hampered Rochdale for so long.