Peterborough in League 1

Peterborough United were relegated to League 1 after defeat to Crystal Palace on the last game of the season and will be hoping to bounce back.

Some will say that they were unlucky because they finished the season in fantastic form but at the bottom of the Championship a lot of teams were playing well and if it was Barnsley or Sheffield Wednesday that went down then they would have been unfortunate so Peterborough were relegated when in most other seasons they would have stayed up but three teams do have to go down. Darren Ferguson is in his second spell in charge of the club and this relegation really hasn’t helped his CV at all and although he does have two promotions to his name he still hasn’t proved that he can keep a team in the Championship and challenge for promotion to the top flight which makes me think that he will not get any higher in his managerial career. However he has never really had the funds to work with and maybe if he was at a bigger club then things may be different but his time at Preston North End also was not successful but I do think he is the man to lead them back into the Championship.

One thing that has been guaranteed over the years from the teams was excitement and this must be good for the attacking players but it does not make it easy for the defenders and goalkeeper Robert Olejnik found it tough in his first season in the Championship and I thought when they signed him he may not have been good enough. His performances were ok and I feel he will come back stronger now and there is a very good chance he will be the best goalkeeper in League 1 next year.

Their midfield did also lose something when George Boyd joined Hull City on loan part way through the season and they did seem to lack a little bit of creativity but there is still some talent in there. I think Grant McCann is a decent player and they will be hoping they can keep hold of him although there will be a few Championship teams interested in him. Another player that they have to try and keep hold of is Tommy Rowe who has been linked with Leeds United recently and will be a big loss if he left the club.

Rowe scored five times last season

They will also have to replace striker Dwight Gayle who looks as though he will also leave with Crystal Palace being his most likely destination. But if they can get a decent transfer fee from him then they will be able to improve their options upfront as well as a few other areas of the pitch. Lee Tomlin could also be leaving and although he isn’t that prolific, he does chip in with enough goals to be vital to Peterborough. Tyrone Barnett someone that they signed for over a million pound has been largely disappointing but if he gets given the chance in League 1 he could be the man to lead them to promotion.

Tomlin signed for Peterborough in 2010