Atletico Supersheep Season 16 Preview

It has taken four tough seasons at the helm of “The Baa Baas” to develop it, but now manager Dave Owens has a squad and structure ready to make the step up to Division 3. They are a club which are slowly evolving into serious contenders. With one eye on the future, they are not afraid to give younger players a chance and allow the more experienced players to leave for pastures new  (with no fewer than 7 older players currently on the transfer list). A 4^th place finish to season 15 left Atletico frustrated at the thought of another season in the 4^th Division but success is surely not far away for the plucky club.

Goalkeeper

Supersheep  have a wealth of goalkeeping talent to rely on in their quest for Division 4 glory. Turkish shot stopper Oktay Erim signed for the club last season and had a very solid debut campaign. He has since firmly established himself as the clubs number one but he will be kept on his toes with both Campbell and Włodarz more than capable of filling his boots.  

Defence

A solid defence is key to any clubs success and Supersheep have a developed a very solid back four with consistent performers. Don’t expect them to leak too many goals this season. They have also a wealth of talented youth players waiting in the wings for their crack at the big time. Two to watch out for in the future are 17 year old Ryan Clancy and 16 year old Adam Moriarty. Both are highly regarded DR’s, one of which will no doubt become Adam O Connells successor to the right back slot in the very near future.

Midfield  

Quality players litter the midfield. One player deserves to be singled out though. 27 year old Cormac Griffen is the clubs real danger man.  Strength, stamina, pace, passing, crossing, finishing... he has it all! The boy simply oozes quality. A player of his ability could walk onto most D2 teams and dare I say one or two LOI sides. He will play a huge part in the clubs push for promotion.

Attack

Often choosing to play a lone striker, 21 year old Latvian Vadims Ševļakovs is regarded by many as the first choice. Signed two seasons ago, he has scored 12 goals in 45 games in his Sheep’s career thus far. Not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but he has progressed nicely in the last season or so and this year could well be the year he sets the goal scoring charts alight. But there is another FC who has the potential to steal his thunder. Gavin Magee is due back from injury in 4 games time. He is a highly gifted youngster and when fully fit he will be staking his claim to be the Sheeps top marksman.  

Atleticos B team is crammed full of youths with bucket loads of potential.  So the foundations for a very very bright future are well and truly in place. But for right now, they can take comfort in the fact that they already have a squad more than capable of competing in Division 3... the only problem is getting there. Looking around the rest of Division 4.3, I believe their wait is finally over.

If they can stay injury and suspension free for the bulk of the season, I predict they will comfortably gain promotion.

Prediction – Top 2 finish