12 months ago, everyone was remarking at how strong League 1 was. Sunderland, Portsmouth, Barnsley, Charlton, Peterborough all looked good for promotion whilst other big clubs were involved such as Bradford who, in games with Sunderland, smashed the EFL record not just League 1. 12 weeks ago we were lauding the division for how strong it was as Luton took the title to the final game and relegation involved almost all clubs not involved in a promotion battle!
It's very different now. I did see a team that will run away with it although Sunderland should. Bury are on minus 12 points looking likely to go bust as they have a side but not the money to be able to play matches. Bolton are also on minus 12. They seemingly do have the money to play games but not the players. On Saturday, away at Wycombe, they had 3 contracted players available who had not trained nor played any pre-season games. They fielded 8 debutantes, 2 of which were signed an hour before kick off. In that context, only losing 2-0 was decent although they managed no shots on target and had 3 overall (to Wycombe's 25). They also failed to win a corner but did have a large share of possession. The Gills are due to play both sides in the next 5 league games.
How these clubs can get in such a mess is a mystery. How can a club be allowed to compete in a professional match having not trained or played games all summer? Bury have a team and HAVE played pre-season games so if this doesn't prove it's all about money when players are at risk of serious injury then nothing will.