Stumbled across this when I was scanning for Saints news. It's an interesting piece of number crunching, but I don't buy that last years stats are any guide to this year.. Anyone agree with me ? http://www.sportingintelligence.com...rs-saints-and-united-ease-into-season-220801/
I know this doesn't answer your question but if we have an easy start to the season then we deserve it after last year.
Having such a bad start last season could have knocked our confidence, but at least we knew we'd played the top teams once. Great to have an 'easier' start, but essential that we do well and hit the ground running (which seems to be Mauricio's style anyway). You can't overemphasise the importance of points on the board...so that a single loss doesn't look catastrophic. Nearly choked on my cornflakes a few days back when Moyes moaned about his tough start...wasn't as hard as ours and we were a promoted side without his resources. Glad he's keeping up Ferguson's whinging....wouldn't be the same without it!
Is there such a thing as an easy start.....? Not sure that there is....I agree for a team newly promoted last years was the most difficult you could imagine and yes we would have preferred to meet the big boys after we had got going. This year we still have to go for the points no matter who we're up against same as the teams we meet. True their expectations may be lower but they will still feel we are the team to beat the same as we see them. In reality then is there such a thing as an easy start...........not sure.
Although last year's start was difficult it it often the best time to play the top teams. Sometimes they will under-estimate the newly promoted teams and you can get a shock result or two. Lets face it, without RVP and sone dodgy Saints substitutions we would have deservedly beaten Man Utd and we almost pulled off an unlikely result at Man City. This year our first two games are against teams who beat us last year, WBA stuffed us twice if we're being honest. So, although on paper it looks easy, or easier anyway, the reality is that every game at this level is difficult. Still, having got the good start we definitely need to beat Sunderland, then with that momentum, who knows?
Completely agree regarding the confidence factor. As a newly promoted team last year the results of those first few games must have been hard to take for the players, especially as we played so well. This time around the confidence is already high, so although no game is easy, if this start allows us to rack up some points, it will really boost the confidence to a level that would be almost impossible to knock down..
I have these moments of clarity. Right now, I'm thinking, if we beat Sunderland we can beat Norwich, West Ham, even Liverpool. Reality, it must be said, often lets me down!
Home form (as always) is key, but I can see us getting more points away. After all, we've already got a third of last season's away wins. West Ham and Liverpool away are to be respected but not feared. The main thing is to increase the number of early goals...leaving it late makes you a hostage to fortune.
Nearly choked on my cornflakes a few days back when Moyes moaned about his tough start...wasn't as hard as ours and we were a promoted side without his resources. Glad he's keeping up Ferguson's whinging....wouldn't be the same without it![/QUOTE] couldn't agree more. what a prat!
Looking again at the start of last season, it's clear the team showed remarkable strength of character to recover from a pretty shaky start. Not only did we have to overcome the frustration of throwing away leads against both Manchester clubs, we also lost our first home game to Wigan, and got comprehensively thumped away from home by Arsenal, Everton and West Ham. It says a lot about the team, and the spirit instilled at that time by Nigel Adkins, that we recovered from a start like that. In hindsight, how important was that win at QPR (and Puncheon's goal)?
To be honest, the same could be said for playing a newly promoted team, in that they can have grossly underestimated the task before them. Clearly, if your opening games are against established front running teams then that can rightly be considered a tough start. Having said that, no games are easy, but I think that if my opening games were littered with newly promoted sides, then there might be a general acceptance that my side had been awarded an easier start. Have Saints..? In their opening 12 fixtures, Saints play Hull and Palace at home, but Liverpool, Arsenal and ManU away. Hardly easiest, I would have thought, but certainly easier than last season. Besides, you could say ManU, ManC or Chelsea have the easiest starts as they are considered to be better than everyone else anyway. It's all relative.
In a nutshell! Look at our first five games and the equivalent results last year. Won 0 drew 2 lost 3. It's never good to play a promoted side early in the season either because they will still be buoyant from the experience of promotion. That said, I've predicted 14 points from 1st six games. But that's heart speaking rather than head!
Obviously wasn't too bad to play us! But generally, you are right. Blackpool being the classic recent example.
Agree with this. Even though we played arguably some of the best teams in the Prem at the satrt of last year, the team must have been very frustrated due to playing well but still losing. As a newly promoted group of players it was the steepest learning curve they could have had. This year will be very different, bags more confidence and an "easier" start.
