When the Premier League fixtures were announced, a little smile went across my face.
After last seasons horror opening few fixtures, the computer had been nice to us for the upcoming campaign.
In the first 5 games, 3 would be at home, 2 against newly promoted sides and none would be against a “Big 6” team.
Even the pesimistic fan would have struggled to make a case against us getting at least 13 points from 15. The optimistic amongst us went straight in with 15 from 15.
And that is why we should not go too OTT about our start.
Yes, you can only beat what is in front of you – and teams will drop points away to Crystal Palace this season. But just 2 games in it is too early to start talking about us being in a title race.
I do not want to be a negative nancy. In fact many people have criticised me in the past for being too positive. All I try and do is be optimistically realistic.
At the time of writing (prior to Liverpool’s game), we are one of only 2 sides to get 6 points from 6. That is somehting to celebrate.
And with the next game being Bournemouth (away), we should make that 9 from 9.
Then we have a home double header against Fulham and Aston Villa. Would 15 from 15 really be an unreasonable expectation? I do not think so.
But even if we are sitting with a 100% record after 5 games, we should not get too over-hyped. We still would not have played anyone.
Sixth game in is a trip to Old Trafford which, despite their poor start, will not be easy. We know how often we have bottled it in Manchester. there is a mental block there.
For me, we will not really see what we can expect from the season until October hits.
We start with the 10th month with games at home to Tottenham and Liverpool before visiting Leeds. Manchester City then make it 3 Big 6 visitors to the Emirates in the month before another away trip to Southampton.
Finally we face Nottingham Forest at home.
A tough month where we are set to play six games. We also have 3 Europa League games in between which will make it a 9 game month.
As the winter World Cup looms, we have a couple of tricky away games in November – trips to Chelsea and Wolves. At that point the Premier League shuts down for 6 weeks.
By the time Qatar comes around, we would have played 16 games and faced every “Big 6” side, with a 50/50 split on home and away games.
I am excited about our start, and more importantly the performances on the pitch.
But we need to respect the computer has been kind to us – and continues to have been so.
Come October, we will know where we are.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 