Editorial Inquisition: Peterborough United - 12th August

My name's Chris Wilkinson, I'm 24 and work at the University of Cambridge. I run a site called 'UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database' (www.uptheposh.com).

I first went to a match in November 1994 (a rather boring 0-0 draw with Leyton Orient), but didn't start to attend regularly until 1996/97. I held a season ticket until I left for university, but having watched every home game last season I've invested in one for this year.

I don't remember anything about Fry's arrival at the club (although I have a feeling I may well have blocked it all out), the only two things I remember of 1996/97 is a) Matthew Etherington appearing as a 15 year-old and b) being relegated. A good start to my dedication.

Winning at Wembley in 2000 was a special moment, but I've no doubt that it'll be eclipsed during the next few seasons.

Despite an 3-0 opening day defeat of Rochdale and knocking Southampton out of the League Cup, we didn't start the season as well as we hoped. Things did pick up and we performed very well as an attacking side, beating Brentford 7-0 and Accrington Stanley 8-2, but defensive frailties persisted, causing rather disappointing results such as losing 3-2 at Morecambe and 1-0 at home to Macclesfield.

Nevertheless, an impressive period of form saw us win 8 games in a month and thus did well to close the gap on MK Dons, but our form in early season ultimately cost us the title. Of course second place is nothing to be disappointed of, far from it. Especially when some of the football played at London Road was the best in my time as a Posh fan.

We placed 5 players on the transfer list, and weren't able to shift any of them, with only keeper Shwan Jalal going to Bournemouth on-loan. Our two right-backs Adam Newton and Claude Gnakpa left for Brentford and Luton respectively, replaced by Wycombe's Russell Martin.

We turned Scott Rendell's loan deal from Cambridge into a permanent one, as well as taking on 3 others: Sergio Torres from Wycombe, Shaun Batt from Fisher Athletic and Paul Coutts from Highland league side Cove Rangers. We hadn't heard of the last two, but, like many of our recent signings, have impressed and look like they'll easily make the step up from non-league football.

Darren Ferguson also announced his retirement from playing, but as he's only appeared once since joining in January 2007, and that was in a friendly at Billericay, I don't think we'll miss him in that role too much!

Pre-season began with another trip to southern Spain to play in what turned out to be a rather farcical tournament. Charlton pulled out of their match with the Iranian national team due to political reasons, while Rochdale refused to play Marbella due to the quality of their pitch. The only match Posh were able to play during their time there was a hastily organised friendly against Rochdale at the team's resort.

Our first match at London Road saw the Liverpool reserve side defeated 4-1, then the team performed well against West Ham and Manchester United, the latter in the presumably now annual father-son match. The one sour note was the rather inept performance at Rushden and Diamonds (one of the two I went to, of course).

Aaron McLean took the headlines with his goal scoring exploits last season, but our other striker, Craig Mackail-Smith, and our third attacker George Boyd, who usually appears on the left wing, are our most important players. Mackail-Smith's sheer athleticism runs defences ragged, while Boyd's natural talent is responsible for creating many of our best attacking moves.

Who might Bristol City be able to exploit?

If Tommy Williams continues at left back, he's our weak link. He's made quite a few mistakes over recent weeks and has argued with his teammates on the pitch, so fingers crossed Shane Blackett will take his place. If that were the case, I'd point out our right-back problem: Russell Martin is out with injury, leaving Chris Whelpdale, to cover. He's untested in that position, been a right-winger, and I'm not convinced that a match against a strong Championship side is a suitable time to test him there.

Don't underestimate us, we beat two Championship sides last year (as well as the now Championship Nottingham Forest) and are slightly hurt after losing the opening match of the season, but I think that we'll probably lose 2-1.