Predictions...

If this post has a European feel to it, it's because I'm writing from the heart of Europe – Paris to be precise. Imagine me in a James Richardson-esque pose outside a suarve cafe with a cappucino and a giant ice cream sunday. Or not, if you prefer.

Me?

Anyway, the season starts properly on Saturday, and I shall be away for the first three games (although I have found an Irish pub with Setanta which has agreed to show the Oxford match, hurrah). I don't really like making predictions as they usually come back to bite you in the arse, but one thing I feel I can say with confidence is that we won't be involved in a relegation scrap this season.

Why's that I hear you ask? Well firstly you just have to look at the squad to see that its stronger and better balanced than this time last year. We have an excellent keeper for this level, who hasn't yet shown himself to be a tosser (hello Paul), and we've finally got shot of the defensive liability that was Andy Duncan. In midfield there's now a good mix of muscle (Brown) and guile (Convery), and up front Boylan looks full of goals.

Despite his many failings, by the end of last season JQ had made us fairly hard to break down, and if he can continue to instill this kind of mentality into this years team, I don't doubt the holy grail of mid-table mediocrity is attainable.

Anything more than that will depend on us having a fair bit of luck throughout the season. While we do seem to have a better balance than last year, we still lack right sided players and a direct replacement for Danny Brown. Duncan may be gone but Gavin Hoyte has looked shaky in pre-season and could take over his mantle of defensive weak link (although to be fair I thought he improved as pre-season went on). And then of course there's the usual problem of scoring goals – any significant injury to Boylan would be disastrous, although the signing of Leo Fortune-West and his giant elbows could be an astute one. I would certainly rather have him on our team than playing against us, despite his advancing years.

So by my reckoning promotion is still a little way out of reach, but hopefully we can progress this season on and off the pitch. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I'll be keeping an ear on Saturdays match from this side of the channel, hoping we don't make it a trio of opening day 1-0 defeats. Once more, I won't be holding my breath.