Football Season Guide

Northampton Town will be hoping to bounce straight back at the first attempt under new manager Dean Austin following relegation from League One last season. It was a season to forget for the Cobblers as they rarely looked like saving themselves from the drop. Justin Edinburgh was sacked before the end of August and his successor Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink feared little better. He was sacked at the start of April having lost 17 of his 37 league games in charge and Austin was appointed caretaker. They finished four points adrift of safety but Austin did enough to be appointed on a permanent two-year deal and he has set about rebuilding his squad for a challenging campaign back in League Two. He has been dealt a number of blows with centre-back Brendan Moloney rejecting the offer of a new contract and goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell leaving to sign for Bradford City. The loan duo of midfielder Matt Grimes and striker Chris Long have both returned to their parent clubs and will be big loss, especially the goals of Long, who finished as leading goalscorer. One player who will be staying is last season’s player-of-the-year Ash Taylor, whilst fellow centre-back Leon Barnett and goalkeeper David Cornell have both signed new deals this summer. Austin has paid an undisclosed fee to bring in unorthodox striker Junior Morias from Peterborough United and he could partner experienced striker Andy Williams in attack, following his arrival from Doncaster Rovers. The only other noteworthy arrival is young right-back Hakeem Odoffin and it leaves Austin still with plenty of work to do in the transfer market before it closes in the second week of August. He does still have the likes of defenders Aaron Pierre and David Buchanan and midfielders John-Joe O’Toole and Matt Crooks, who have all had outstanding previous seasons in League Two.