They’ve shedded favourites tag…but will Clyde finally make it up?

After last season’s miserable ninth-placed finish, Clyde find themselves in the unusual position of not being market favourites to win Ladbrokes League 2 this season. But could this be the year the 4/1 Bully Wee finally take the title?

New manager Jim Chapman – who arrived from Annan Athletic in the off-season – certainly has a strong record at this level.

The experienced boss led Dumbarton to their fourth-tier title in 2008-09, and went on to impress at Annan, helping the Galabankies to a third-placed finish last term with very modest resources at his disposal.

Chapman’s popularity at Galabank has also allowed him to cherry-pick the best of the Black and Golds’ squad this summer, luring no less than six of the Borders’ club’s key players to Broadwood.

Not only does that add the quality of guys like high-scoring midfielder Darren Ramsay and reliable goalkeeper Blair Currie, but also adds a core of guys who already have a good understanding of both one another’s game and Chapman’s methods.

Having also retained vital cogs like David Goodwillie and David Gormley, this looks (on paper at least) a stronger squad than the one the Bully Wee began last season with.

And while it’s very early days in 2017-18, Clyde looked highly impressive in their first League Cup game, as they faced – you guessed it! – Annan, with the hosts dominating in a 2-1 victory at Broadwood on Saturday.

They’ve certainly got a good home record on their side, as well. Despite a dismal away record last term, Clyde had the fifth-best home record in League 2, collecting just a point less on their own patch than eventual champions Arbroath managed.

Add to that the fact that this year’s market favourites Peterhead (7/4) have bottled two serious promotion pushes in the past three seasons, and there’s a strong argument that finally, this is Clyde’s time to return to end their seven-year wait for League 1 football.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing