Is out tomorrow morning. I wouldn’t particularly want Sunderland away on the opening day A home game would be nice, against attractive opposition like Rochdale or Barnsley.
Been looking forward to this! Although it won't make much difference in the end who we play and when, I think it is always interesting to see how easy or difficult (on paper) the beginning and end of our season looks. Which months are likely to be tough ones, where and when the midweek fixtures fall, who we are playing during the Christmas / New Year period and when we will play local rivals (sadly only Gillingham this season, rather than others closer to home). For fans who travel to lots of away games it is an important time too, as preparations can be thought about for long journeys and perhaps even time booked off work around the football calendar. For me the fixture list makes next season seem real for the first time. The past and the old season are further away, and the future feels closer. It's a time to look ahead - which is no bad thing when looking back is not always a satisfying pastime. It feels like a natural point from which to really begin counting down to Saturday August 4th. We can't have it every season but I like it when our first and / or last games are at home. These are how the first & last fixtures have come out over the past five seasons... Season .... First league fixture .......... Last league fixture (regular season) 2013-14 ... AWAY (Bournemouth) ... HOME (Blackpool) 2014-15 ... AWAY (Brentford) .......... HOME (Bournemouth) 2015-16 ... HOME (QPR) ................... HOME (Burnley) 2016-17 ... AWAY (Bury) ................... HOME (Swindon Town) 2017-18 ... HOME (Bristol Rovers) ... AWAY (Rochdale) Last season we only played a couple of our expected promotion rivals in the first three months, and Karl Robinson took full advantage amassing 30 points from our first 15 games. This season I must admit I am not expecting a flying start, bearing in mind what has been happening regarding the take-over. But we don't know the shape or strength of our future squad yet. At least in a few hours from now we will know who we face on which dates.
Indeed. They are usually still on a high from last season, as are their fans. Scunthorpe in our first league game out of the Premiership comes to mind but there are many other examples.
Every single game looks difficult. L1 defences can easily cope with Magennis and Ajose, which is what we've got. We don't even have KAG any more.
KAG is a waste of space anyway at L1 level. Ajose & Magennis are the most comical double act since Jeremy Corbyn & Diane Abbott. Perhaps we can offer the Mackems a game of 5 a side ?
