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Thorney issues

Image: Thorne: Still scoring goals

Skysports.com's Chris Burton talks all things League Two with Bradford City star Peter Thorne.

Bantams front-man confident ahead of curtain raiser

Middle Eastern takeovers, shock appointments, more comings and goings than you can shake a stick at and what promises to be one of the most open title races in years. What are we talking about? The Premier League, Serie A, Primera Liga? No. This summer it is all about League Two. That may be a bold statement, taking into account the Fantasy Football transfer policies of Manchester City and Real Madrid, but you have to have a sense of perspective here. Was anyone that surprised when Cristiano Ronaldo packed his Luis Vuitton suitcase for Spain, or when Carlos Tevez trudged across the Manchester divide in order to take advantage of the unfathomable riches at Eastlands? Not really. Few, though, could have predicted that the 2009/10 campaign would see Notts County emerge as one of the most talked about clubs in world football, with the fourth tier of English football rarely providing back page copy. It is fair to say that Meadow Lane has hardly been the first port of call for the Sky Sports News cameras down the years, but this summer has seen the press pack set up camp on the banks of the River Trent. The arrival of the Munto Finance group, and the subsequent appointment of former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson as the Magpies' new director of football, has seen Notts County spring to the fore, with the world's oldest Football League club enjoying a long overdue dalliance in the spotlight. It is still difficult to believe that a club who have spent much of the last decade lost in the mediocrity of the lower reaches of the football pyramid are now enjoying more column inches than many of their top flight counterparts. Quite how their new found wealth and high-profile management structure will serve them remains to be seen, but needless to say a meteoric rise through the divisions is predicted. County will not have things all their own way this season, though, as it takes more than overnight notoriety to bring about success. The likes of Shrewsbury, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Bury and Bradford will all be relishing the challenge of clipping the Magpies' wings, with the League Two title still very much up for grabs.

Crazy times

Skysports.com's Chris Burton recently caught up with Bantams striker Peter Thorne to get his opinions on the forthcoming campaign, and the 36-year-old frontman has been around long enough to know that Notts County could be knocked off their perch as quickly as they clambered onto it. "It's a bit crazy at the minute isn't," said the Mancunian frontman, who is set to go head-to-head with the Magpies on the opening day of the season. "I think it will be a good time to play them, first game. They've had some great results pre-season but when you get to that first game at home, all the pressure's on, hopefully we can go in and get a result. "You don't really know what to expect from them. Who knows how much money they will get at Christmas time if they're not in the running. Can they grab a load of money and go and get a few players? "I'm sure their circumstances are a lot different to most other teams in this league so it could be to their detriment or it could be a bonus. Who knows?" County's new-found riches will be the envy of many of their rivals, with Thorne admitting that the gap between the haves and have nots in League Two has been widened this summer. "They've made some good signings Notts County, so with those type of players coming in to League Two, it's always going to help," he said. "But then you look at the other end of it and there's a lot of teams struggling also. It's not just our (Bradford's) budget that's been cut, there's quite a few other teams. "Obviously last season there were a few teams that started with points deducted for going into administration. So have they (County) made the gap bigger or not, who knows?" As alluded to by Thorne, Bradford can only dream about the financially secure standing Notts County currently find themselves in. The Bantams, like many other teams, have been forced to implement cost-cutting exercises in order to operate on a level footing, with the sales of some of the club's top players last term putting paid to their promotion dreams. "We were favourites last year, but we have had a lot of budget cuts and lost a lot of players, so I don't think expectations are anywhere near what they were last year," he added. "We started off on fire, and we were up there all the way through the season, but we tailed off towards the end and that was disappointing. With slashing the budget and some of the higher earning players going I think that's why we dropped out." One plus for Bradford, though, has been the decision of boss Stuart McCall to stay on at Valley Parade. The Scot hinted last season that he would walk away from the club were he unable to guide them into the play-offs - a target they narrowly missed out on - but he has since been persuaded to have another crack at mounting a promotion push. "The fans went mad over that and I think everyone managed to convince him to stay," said Thorne. "We are all glad he stayed. He is obviously well loved at the club."
McCall boost
With McCall on board, and with quiet expectation that Bradford could be among the frontrunners this term, Thorne, who penned a new one-year contract in June, is now looking forward to putting the summer behind him and turning his focus to the more important matter of collecting priceless points. "I sat down at the end of the season and I think it's a challenge now, the older you get. You think I'll give it one more year and it's a challenge for yourself. I'm well up for it," he beamed. "I'm glad pre-season's over. It's been my 20th year this season and I think you just switch off these days. Your body gets used to it. I'm glad it's over now though and I'm looking forward to the start of the season." Thorne is in relaxed mood heading into the new campaign, with his penchant for surfing helping to calm his mind and body ahead of what promises to be a gruelling season. The former Stoke and Cardiff hit-man has been riding waves since he was a boy and insists he could think of no better way to spend his summer break away from the football field. "I do surf - I've been a few times to Australia and that - but not shark surfing, just normal surfing. It helps to keep the fitness up," he said. "You don't really get injured surfing, unless you go to really dangerous spots. Maybe sharks, but there's not many of them in England - not in the sea anyway!" Thorne will now be hoping Bradford can ride a crest of a wave (sorry it had to be said) to promotion glory over the coming months. There will be plenty of predators lurking below the surface, though, ready to pounce should they fall off their board, so make sure you keep your eyes and ears glued to goings on in League Two this season. If the events of the summer are anything to go by, it should be quite a ride!

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