Last season Bury started off badly, turned into a very decent side before then falling away again before eventually avoiding relegation, although that was never really a realistic outcome for them.

The thing that surprised me most was that they were unfortunate not to beat us at Gigg Lane, but that would only up their home wins last season to 5. How the hell can a side only win 4 games at home in a season and avoid relegation? It seems illogical.

Bury's tactics last season did seem to revolve around longball punts to Andy Bishop. This could have been a reason for their collapse down the table, and with new additions to the management system at Gigg Lane, there is a high chance that the long balls will increase.

Since then the format at Gigg Lane has changed a bit, with Keith Alexander being appointed as Director of Football and seemingly making every single decision about who to sign, which coaches to bring in and virtually every decisiion a manager would do. This has lead many people to speculate that Chris Casper's days in the Gigg Lane hotseat are numbered, and the odds of Keith Alexander being the manager by the time we visit Gigg Lane in October are currently standing at 9/1 with one bookmakers in Lincoln. Infact, you can get odds as low as 4/1 for Casper to be the first manager sacked in League 2.

Vitally for Bury, a sell on clause came into effect when David Nugent moved from Preston to Portsmouth. This sum that Bury recieved from this transfer not only gives Bury a bit of money to play with in the market, but also gives the club a great chance to survive after several years of financial insecurity.

They have filled their side with a few former Lincoln players, but the most impressive signing they've made is young goalkeeper, Jim Provett. The goalkeeper was first choice at Hartlepool for a long time, keeping out Dimi Konstantopolous for a long time before a slight injury allowed the Greek keeper to stake a permanent claim.

Provett has the potential to be the division's best goalkeeper and is still very young, adding to his potential. He was voted as Hartlepool's Player of the Season in 2003/4 and was one of the main reasons they secured a playoff place when tipped for relegation.

Worryingly for Bury, in the 5 years they've been in the division they have finished each season lower than the finished the previous, with their finishing positions at 7th, 12th, 17th, 19th and 21st. If they repeat their drop of two places this season then they will be relegated to the Conference, although I highly doubt that will happen.

Bury are a difficult side to predict as in the past few years they have been impressive against some teams, and utterly dire against others, you just never know which you're going to get and this could be either a blessing or a problem.

I think Bury will have a good season by recent standards and although never troubling the playoff places, they won't even come close to the relegation zone and I think 12th is a very respectable finish for a side who have struggled in recent years.

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