Matt Taylor has insisted that he expects League One to be "massively" more competitive next season based on the teams that have secured automatic promotion from League Two and which sides are currently in the Championship relegation dogfight. However, the Bristol Rovers manager is welcoming of the idea of a stronger division.
Already we've seen Taylor's former side Rotherham United's relegation back to the third tier confirmed with the Millers replacing Leam Richardson with Stevenage boss Steve Evans ahead of the summer. Meanwhile Stockport County, Wrexham and Mansfield Town have clinched the three automatic promotion places in League Two.
Rotherham are certainly what you would call yo-yo specialists having secured promotion at the first time of asking in their last four seasons in the third tier while the two other sides from the Championship that join them are expected to be giants at this level.
Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City, Stoke City, Queen's Park Rangers, Plymouth Argyle, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall are all separated by just six points with three games remaining while the seventh team to come into League One will be decided via the League Two play-offs.
Asked if he believes the league will be stronger next season, Taylor declared: "Massively. Rotherham are down. Always strong in League One. Whoever else comes down from the Championship will be the strongest teams to start next season at our level and the three that are already up from League Two, incredibly strong. Not just in terms of club but financially backed as well and then you're looking at one more.
"So there's probably six teams who will make it stronger straight away and possibly a seventh so in terms of where we are in the reckoning, there are discussions to be had in relation to that. But what an exciting time and what a good league to look forward to."
Going into this campaign there was plenty of talk regarding the strength of the division being weaker compared to previous years with two of the clubs coming down from the Championship in Wigan Athletic and Reading starting the season on points deductions while three excellent sides in Plymouth, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday were promoted. Even with Leyton Orient, Stevenage, Northampton Town and Carlisle United coming up from League Two, there wasn't widespread confidence that three of those sides would go on to have the impressive campaigns that they have had.
In terms of teams in this year's crop, Portsmouth's promotion as league winners was confirmed on Tuesday night while Carlisle's relegation has been confirmed for a couple of weeks now. Fleetwood Town appear to be all-but relegated while it seems to be a battle between Cheltenham Town, Cheltenham Town, Cambridge United and Cambridge United to avoid being in the two remaining places come next Saturday.
It also looks as though Derby County will be the other side that join Pompey in the automatic promotion places with the Rams able to seal their return to the Championship this weekend with a win at Cambridge and other results going their way but Bolton Wanderers and Rovers' opponents this weekend Peterborough United are still in the hunt.
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Stockport and Wrexham, particularly the latter, are expected to be strongly backed financially and thus the Gas are certainly going to have major competition in the transfer market this summer as all 24 eventual sides look to construct as strong a squad as possible within their means. Of course, for Rovers that will likely involve a major overhaul of players with the club expected to be extremely busy in the recruitment department.
The club's hierarchy set out a target of reaching the Championship within three years and will no doubt be disappointed that Rovers were unable to threaten a potential play-off push as much as they would have liked but, with the teams that look set to be in the third tier next season, maintaining competitiveness and an upward trajectory in the league table will certainly be a tricky task.
For some, that could be a daunting prospect but Taylor has insisted that the Gas just have to get on with it, admitting: "We are all going for the same players. There's a pool of players out there and you want the best ones but I guess that's part and parcel of football.
"So we've just got to know where we are, know where we're starting and know where we want to finish. But it's certainly, not a hindrance, but the competition is the market you're working in. You can't moan about it and people will always scowl a little bit towards the Wrexham's and possibly the Stockport's of the world but these teams were in non-league. Fantastic for those clubs to be out of non-league and into the Football League and then going through it.
"But then obviously they'll make the market and the competition and the levels stronger next season, of course they will. And they will be looking up as opposed to down so it should be a league to get excited about and certainly not to moan about if we've not got the strongest budget in the world. Let's just get on with it and see where it takes us."
