LAURA LAWRENCE

@ YICETOR

Last season was better than expected. The big talking point is who we will sign to replace the loan players we’ve lost, and whether boss Darren Moore [ below] is the right man for the job. This season will be different because there’s much more positivity about our chances of promotion. I’m least looking forward to playing

Oxford. I don’t enjoy seeing us play against Karl Robinson teams. The thing my club really gets right is our community outreach programmes such as walking football, work with hospitals and players’ charity work. The one change I’d make would be to improving the commercial side of the club, which is notoriously rubbish.

Look out for Bailey Cadamarteri, son of Danny. The forward, 17, has signed his first professional contract with us and it’ll be good to see what he can do. The player I’d happily drive to

another club is probably none of them – the owner, on the other hand...

Our key player will be the Airdrie Pirlo, Barry Bannan [ above]. He made the League One Team of the Season and won Goal of the Season with his audacious lob against MK Dons. He’s a loyal player who wants to see better times at Hillsborough. Our most underrated player is George Byers, who got seven goals last term.

The opposition player who grinds my gears is anyone at Wycombe. Their playing style annoyed me last season. But let’s face it: they were effective.

I won’t be happy unless we’re contending for automatic promotion. Fans think our owner is better when he isn’t meddling. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is mixed. He’s genuinely one of the loveliest people in football and has built a good atmosphere around the team, but there are questions about his tactics and substitutions. If he left, he should be replaced by

Carlos Carvalhal, maybe? I’d love Nigel Pearson back at Hillsborough, but he still lives in Sheffield and has said that he wouldn’t want to manage either club, because he likes living there.

The pantomime villain will be Derby – especially when they play Wycombe.

We’ll finish 2nd.

FFT VERDICT

1ST

Expectations are often grand at Hillsborough – this season, even more so. Moore, hungry for his first managerial promotion, followed play- off defeat by re- enforcing the Owls’ spine with Will Vaulks as well as Rotherham’s Michaels, Ihiekwe and Smith. This has to be the year.