Football Season Guide

League 1

England

League 1

2016/2017

Peterborough United

In

Hayden White (def) (Bolton), Gwion Edwards (mid) (Crawley), Ryan Tafazolli (def) (Mansfield), Andrew Hughes (def) (Newport), Bradden Inman (mid) (Crewe), Matty Stevens (att) (Barnet), Paul Taylor (att) (free)

Out

Shaun Brisley (sp) (def) (Carlisle), Kyle Vassell (sp) (att) (Blackpool), Erhun Oztumer (r) (mid) (Walsall), Gabriel Zakuani (r) (def) (Northampton), Souleymane Coulibaly (sp) (att) (Kilmarnock), Jonathan Edwards (sp) (att) (Hull), Andrew Fox (sp) (def) (Stevenage), Harry Beautyman (sp) (mid) (Northampton), Luke James (sp) (att) (Bristol Rovers - loan)

Peterborough are coming from a turbulent season that saw them have two managerial changes without ever achieving the desired results, and Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony has now decided to stick with club legend Grant McCann, who ended the previous season at the helm as caretaker. They have had a busy summer, with McCann reshaping the squad in the manner which he found suitable, and some hard decisions had to be made, with the decision to allow former team mate Gabriel Zakuani to leave being a particularly difficult one. Their summer signings are a combination of previous League One experience and promise, with the likes of Gwion Edwards and Bradden Inman being particularly eye-catching, as they are both talented wide men who can created danger even against the best defences in the league. Peterborough's club philosophy is to play either 3-5-2 or a narrow 4-4-2 formation, but the arrivals of Edwards and Inman, who are both natural wingers, means that they could be looking to move away from that. None of the players who left during the summer was particularly important to their play, although the decision to allow Erhun Oztumer to leave did come as a bit of a surprise. However, the Posh definitely have a squad stronger than the one they had last time around and, with their previous campaign widely being seen as a disappointment, they will be looking to set things straight now.

Target

A top six finish will be seen as a minimum requirement and McCann will be under pressure to deliver it. However, the Posh have underachieved more often than not over the recent years and should certainly not be seen as one of the biggest favourites to go up, at least initially.