Football Season Guide

It has been a summer of change for Cheltenham Town following relegation from League One last season. The Robins were unable to recover from the dreadful start they made under Wade Elliott and despite the best efforts of successor Darrell Clarke, they fell short in their attempts to avoid the drop. They would probably have been safe had Clarke been in charge from the start. Clarke was then tempted by a better off and has taken over at League One Barnsley. Michael Flynn has been appointed as his successor despite a desperately poor spell in charge of neighbours Swindon Town. It follows a change in management structure with Gary Johnson above Flynn in the Director of Football role. As is often the case following relegation, the Robins have had to cash in on their better players with centre-back Lewis Freestone, midfielder Elliot Bonds and strikers Aidan Keena and Rob Street all leaving for fees. Several other regular starters have also left on frees including goalkeeper Luke Southwood, centre-back Sean Long, midfielder Liam Sercombe and striker George Lloyd. Flynn has had to rebuild the squad almost from scratch and it is the usual collection of journeymen pros, talented young loanees and potential non-league gems. It’s clearly going to take time for them all to gel. The return of goalkeeper Owen Evans feels like a backwards step, whilst bad luck has also struck with midfield playmaker Luke Young, signed from Wrexham, set to miss the start of the season through injury. Further additions are both likely and needed for a season that already promises to be a real challenge.