Part three of our 2022/23 League Two predictions is now online as we head closer towards the start of the season.

*Disclaimer* - This is nothing more than two Dale fans’ opinions based on probably not a great deal. Anyone kicking off with these will be ignored, and probably laughed at.

LEYTON ORIENT

Chaff — 8th

A lot of people seem to fancy Orient this season and I think there’s reasonable justification for that. Richie Wellens is a manager I rate, and I think the squad on paper looks decent with two strikers who know where the net is in Harry Smith and Aaron Drinan and they’ve also added Lincoln winger Theo Archibald and Hull midfielder George Moncur to their ranks. I think a playoff push is likely.

AtThePeake — 4th

It seemed that Orient's win over us back in March kickstarted a decent end to the season for them and in Richie Wellens they do of course have a former League Two winner as manager from his spell at Swindon Town. Their squad seems to be in pretty much the same shape as it was last season and if they can bring through the togetherness that saw them much improved in the latter stages of last season into the new one, then they'll be a force this season based on those results from March onwards.

MANSFIELD TOWN

Chaff — 3rd

Another team that are well fancied this season and I think they’ll go up automatically this season. They are without two key men from last season in Manchester United keeper Nathan Bishop and Newcastle midfielder Matty Longstaff who were both on loan but they have brought in Hiram Boateng from MK and Will Swann and Christy Pym from Nottingham Forest and Peterborough respectively on loan as well as having a strong squad already there with the likes of Rhys Oats, Oli Hawkins and Stephen McLoughlin.

AtThePeake — 2nd

Mansfield appear to be one of the teams in people's promotion thoughts every summer, but I think this might finally be their year. After two struggling seasons, they reached the play-offs last season, so it seems just a case of tinkering with the formula rather than wholesale changes. Hiram Boateng and Christy Pym are excellent additions and they appear to have cut loose a lot of the deadwood from their squad, so I can see their strong core of players in a smaller squad being difficult to beat this year.

NEWPORT COUNTY

Chaff — 6th

I think Newport will have another decent season and that’s despite losing the league’s top scorer Dom Telford. They’ve brought in my number one choice for centre back in Declan Drysdale from Coventry who I think is a really good signing and a host of other decent looking signings such as Aaron Wildig from Morecambe, Omar Bogle from Hartlepool and Offrande Zanzala from Barrow. I think playoffs again for them.

AtThePeake — 9th

Although they'll be without Dom Telford this year, I still see this Newport side as a very capable one on paper, although perhaps lacking the quality of those teams I can see breaking into the play-offs. In Declan Drysdale and Sam Bowen, they've signed players who could be developed into sellable assets, while the likes of Omar Bogle and Aaron Wildig could be terrific additions at this level if James Rowberry manages them correctly.

NORTHAMPTON TOWN

Chaff — 2nd

I think Northampton look set to put last season behind them and go up this season. Danny Hylton was an eye-opening signing and the thought of him lining up alongside Sam Hoskins will put fear in most League One defences. Defensively they look sound too. I just expect them to be in and around the title picture all season.

AtThePeake — 3rd

I know a lot of people are backing the disappointment of last season to linger for Northampton but I think they'll get over that heartbreak quite quickly simply by virtue of their strong squad Liam Roberts and Fraser Horsfall are clearly big losses, but I'm impressed by all of their transfer business (particularly Danny Hylton who featured regularly for Luton in the Championship last term), which is no surprise given that Graham Carr is involved in their scouting team. Jon Brady is a manager that players appear to enjoy playing for, too.

ROCHDALE

Chaff — 13th

I think we’re in for a better season than last season and although some would disagree, here are my reasons. Recruitment has been much more planned out it seems. We lacked experience and leadership last season, so we’ve reacted by bringing in Richard O’Donnell, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Toumani Diagouraga and we have Ian Henderson back! We’ve also got a couple of very highly rated youngsters on loan in Ben Nelson from Leicester and Femi Seriki from Sheff Utd. Oh, and we have Ian Henderson back. Robbie Stockdale has a years’ experience behind him now and will have learnt an awful lot in that time, about the club, the division, the squad. Oh, and we have Ian Henderson back!

AtThePeake — 18th

I have to admit I'm not particularly being sucked in by the pre-season optimism from Dale fans at the moment. While I think we've addressed some issues in the squad in terms of finishing ability, experience and (finally) a holding midfielder, I think this squad might lack creativity, I worry about the strength in depth in defence in particular, and I still have no idea what Robbie Stockdale's preferred style of play is. I have to admit, at this point in time I see relegation battle as a much more likely outcome than the play-offs

SALFORD CITY

Chaff — 7th

Feels almost routine now to see Salford highly fancied but fall short. They’ll go into the season as joint second favourite and I’ve not overly sure why anymore. They have an inexperienced manager in Neil Wood and a squad that hasn’t seen massive improvement over the summer. Granted they have a squad that looks good on paper and they’ve had a year to gel as a team so I think they’ll get in the playoffs but I don’t see them as front runners.

AtThePeake — 10th

After another middling season last time around and a relatively underwhelming transfer window by their standards, I'm surprised the bookmakers still have Salford finishing so high this season. The ability in their squad is obvious and no doubt plenty of research has gone into relatively unknown new signings like Stevie Mallan and Elliot Simoes but Neil Wood will take some time to get used to being in the hotseat for the first time, although you do feel that he'll be afforded more time than most by Neville and company as a former Manchester United coach and trainee.

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