We're going to score one more than you

This time last year I looked at the Glovers squad and compared it with the squad from the previous season and attempted to forecast where we would eventually end up at the end of the season. Quite clearly I knew what I was talking about as my forecast of a final position of 15th did indeed eventually come to pass, though we'll draw a veil over such comments as "An injury-free Scott Murray will score and provide goals." and "Keeping Danny Schofield was the third major bonus of the summer." Well, no-one can be right all of the time.

Here then, is my look at this season's squad (with last season's incumbents in brackets) and my thoughts as to what we can expect:

Goalkeepers: John Sullivan, Richard Martin (Alex McCarthy, Richard Martin). You've got to feel a little sorry for John Sullivan. Not only has he to follow in Alex McCarthy's footsteps, he still doesn't know if he's going to be here for more than a month, with rumours persisting that McCarthy may be on his way back to Huish Park eventually. At least, we don't know if Sullivan knows if he's going to be here for more than a month, if you see what I mean. Perhaps he does? Whatever, Sullivan's a competent enough keeper, but he's no McCarthy. This year's Martin looks to be an improvement on last year's Martin.

Fullbacks: Craig Alcock, Danny Hutchins, Nathan Smith, Nathan Jones, (Craig Alcock, Danny Hutchins, Nathan Smith, Nathan Jones. No change from last season, surprisingly. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my opinion Alcock and Smith are as good a pair of starting fullbacks in this league and we're lucky to have kept hold of both of them. We'll hopefully see a lot less of Nathan Jones on the pitch this season and it would be wonderful if Danny Hutchins was to rediscover the form and enthusiasm he showed when he first came to the club on loan from Spurs.

Central defenders: Stefan Stam, Adam Virgo, Paul Huntington, Rob Kiernan (Stefan Stam, Steven Caulker, Terrell Forbes). I've included Kiernan as a central defender but he could equally be used as a midfielder. And currently he's only here for a month anyway. As for the rest, Stam unfortunately is liable to be injured more than he plays and from what I've seen so far in the pre-season both Virgo and Huntington have two things in common: They're good in the air and susceptible to being run at with pace. It remains to be seen whether the threat they'll pose from set-pieces will be greater than their vulnerability from open play.

Central midfielders: JP Kalala, Luke Ayling, Ed Upson (Kieran Murtagh, George O'Callaghan, Ryan Mason). Both Ayling and Upson look to have bags of potential but both are very young and relatively untried. Kalala's fitness and influence will be crucial.

Wingers: Andy Williams, Cameron Stewart, Luke Freeman, Andy Welsh (Scott Murray, Aidan Downes, Danny Schofield, Andy Welsh). If there's one area we've strengthened then this is it. All four of this season's squad are exciting, attacking players and 3 of the 4 are also capable of playing up front. Really looking forward to seeing them all play this season.

Strikers: Sam Williams, Dean Bowditch, Craig Calver (Gavin Tomlin, Sam Williams, Dean Bowditch, Andre McCollin). If Bowditch can stay fit then it's not impossible to see him scoring 20 goals this season. The key phrase is 'stay fit'.

Overall then we have at the time of writing a first-team squad of 20 (assuming Richard Martin has signed some sort of contract), the same as this time last year plus around a dozen academy players. Two of the first-team squad are loanees on long-term (6-month) deals and 2 are loanees on short-term (1-month) deals.

It's evident that Skivo is setting out to build on last season's pattern of play and then some. We're going to get the ball down, out to the flanks and then into the box and there's going to be plenty of attackers in and around the box looking for the ball. I fully expect us to start most games with a back four and two holding midfielders, but after that it's anyone's guess. It could be 4-4-2, 4-2-1-3, 4-2-3-1, even 4-2-4 at times. Whatever it is, it's going to be attacking, open - maybe to open for comfort at times - and exciting.

It's one of those beautiful ironies that football often throws up that our first opponents this season are Leyton Orient, managed by former Glovers boss Russell Slade. It's often forgotten that under Slade the Glovers played some breathtaking stuff at times during his first season at Huish Park even if he came to be regarded as - at best - a pragmatic manager, someone who's first concern was to stop his opponents scoring rather than one who takes risks. Skivo is shaping up to be his exact opposite in philosophy, one of the 'we're going to score one more than you' school. As much as I admired Slade and respected the work he did at Yeovil, I'll take Skivo and his attractive and attacking style of football any day.

For what it's worth I think this time around we're going to do better than last season. Last term we won a grand total of 13 games out of 46 played and finished 15th On 53 points. We look stronger going forward this season even if marginally weaker defensively, but I think Skivo has rightly decided that attack is the best form of defence. We will finish in the top ten, but out of the play-off's. Final position: 9th. As far as cup competitions are concerned I couldn't help noticing that we are 40/1 to win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at the moment. 40/1! Say no more.