Ups, downs and talking points from Peterborough United's start to the League One season

The Posh squad 2023-24. Back Row; Zak Sturge, Romoney Crichlow, Jonson Clarke-Harris, Hector Kyprianou, Nicholas Bilokapic, Ali Uzunhasanoglu (Goalkeeper Coach), Fynn Talley, Josh Knight, Emmanuel Fernandez, Malik Mothersille, Ricky-Jade Jones. Middle Row; Ryan Melton (Kitman), Matt Loades (First Team Analyst), Jadel Katongo, Ryan De Havilland, Harrison Burrows, Peter Kioso, Ephron Mason-Clark, Ronnie Edwards, Jonathan Chatfield (Head of Performance Medicine), Lewis Keeble (Head of Sports Science). Front Row; David Ajiboye, Kwame Poku, Archie Collins, Jacob Wakeling, Kieran Scarff (Assistant Manager), Darren Ferguson (Manager), Dale Tonge (First Team Coach), Joel Randall, Charlie O’Connell, Jeando Fuchs, Kai Corbett. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com

Here we assess the first nine League One games.

A DROP IN STANDARDS

You won’t need 100 points to win promotion from League One this season. You might even get up with 80, a total Posh should be able to threaten.

Zak Sturge in action for Posh. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

There is no team with the class of Ipswich Town, the power and support of Sheffield Wednesday or the home brilliance of Plymouth Argyle.

Instead we see a Portsmouth side full of journeymen on top of the table followed by a resurgent Oxford United and a host of teams with no chance of staying the course (Stevenage, Exeter, Port Vale).

Expect Derby County and Bolton Wanderers to battle for a top two spot once they get going, but the top six should be achievable for Posh given a fair following wind.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Ephron Mason-Clark in action for Posh. Photo: David Lowndes.

GIven the early Posh fixture list, and an attempt to get a very young squad up to speed it’s been a decent start to the campaign for Darren Ferguson’s men, nowithstanding the disappointment of losing in bizarre circumstances to a poor Cobblers team.

Posh can reasonably expect to see improvement in many players as the season goes on, but they don’t need goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic to follow in the footsteps of Lucas Bergstrom by ruining early promise with a series of avoidable errors. The signs have not been good lately.

They also need to solve the ‘number 10’ puzzle. Joel Randall and Ephron Mason-Clark have not succeeded when deployed in a key position and there are also doubts about the suitability of Kwame Poku and Harrison Burrows to the role.

There also appears to be no right-back cover, a problem for this Saturday with Peter Kioso suspended.

WHERE HAS THE REAL EMC GONE?

Despite comments from his chairman, it was impossible to see Ricky-Jade Jones leapfrogging Mason-Clark as first choice left winger this season.

But it could happen soon as Mason-Clark’s superb form from last season has deserted him, just as Jones has started to unsettle League One defences with his electric pace.

Mason-Clark needs to be fit, firing and scoring for Posh to succeed this season, particularly once Jonson Clarke-Harris has gone.

Darragh MacAnthony’s claim that Jones could be a free-scoring central striker is not backed up by much hard evidence. The youngster currently needs space to thrive and there’s more of it in wide areas.

STAT ATTACK

Posh have 14 points from their first nine League One matches which is good enough for eighth place.

That’s two points and two places better than the first nine games of last season.

GROWING PAINS

Posh under 21s have lost all seven of their competitive fixtures this season and Posh under 18s have won one and lost six of their seven competitive matches. There have been a couple of big beatings in there which suggests no-one will make a senior breakthrough this season.

STUBBORN BOSS

Ferguson seems reluctant to use his Chelsea and Manchester City loanees.

City man Jadel Katongo’s prospects have been harmed by the failure to sell Ronnie Edwards in August, but last Saturday’s game at Bolton was crying out for the pace and power of Chelsea’s Zak Sturge, especially late on when it was clear the one Posh tactic of constant crossing was failing.

FINANCIAL PRESSURE

It’s easy to forget in the heat of matches, but success this season might well be classed as reducing a sizeable debt level and getting a finance company off the club’s back.

The £800k Posh didn’t receive, thanks to Bristol Rovers’ admin incompetence, for the sale of Clarke-Harris in January was a blow, but MacAnthony doesn’t act or speak like a man in charge of a club sailing close to the wind financially and he still has, or should have, enormous credit in the bank for his 17 years at the London Road helm.

Big-spending Chelsea’s reported interest in signing former Posh star Ivan Toney for big bucks is of interest given a healthy sell-on fee in his Brentford contract.

THE FUTURE

January will be key to Posh as they still, understandably, seem determined to sell Edwards and Clarke-Harris.

They remain two of the most important players in the current squad so replacing them effectively won’t be easy.

Katongo may step up, but he’s untested in men’s football and Posh will hope August signings Malik Mothersille and Jacob Wakeling can ease the pain of losing a double golden boot winner.

They will increase the forward mobilty, but getting close to the goals tally of Clarke-Harris is a much bigger, and more important, challenge.