Football Season Review

Fleetwood's season ended in a narrow play-off defeat to Bradford, but the Cod Army have to be delighted with the campaign that they have had despite that, having made the transition from a side that battled against the drop to a side that fought for direct promotion until the very last round of the campaign. The appointment of Uwe Rosler as their manager has made all the difference, as the German boss, who set the foundations for Brentford's promotion into the Championship, has transformed the Cod Army, switching to a modern 3-5-2 formation and getting them to play effective attacking football, with Fleetwood looking much better and sharper than they were a year earlier despite not changing all that much in terms of the quality of players in their squad. They have shown signs of promise since the very beginning of the season, but it took some time for Rosler to really make his mark on the side. Things really fell into place around one third into the season and Fleetwood went on an incredible eighteen-match unbeaten streak that lasted between mid November to early March, and never dropped out of the top six after that, even having hopes of finishing inside the top two. However, they had a difficult injury situation late in the season and this eventually proved to be their undoing, as Rosler had his rotation options severely limited during the hectic months of March and April, with this ultimately resulting in his players looking jaded late in the season and not being their usual selves in their play-off semi final defeat to Bradford. Despite the ultimate defeat, a great deal of progress has been made, and Fleetwood will be optimistic going into the new season providing that they manage to keep hold of their current manager, who is reportedly wanted by Norwich.

Player of the Season: David Ball