Definitely better than last years, we've got Swansea, Stoke, West Ham and Hull at home first time round. Last year it was Fulham and Newcastle
I never understand this way of thinking - during the season we have to play each team twice and as proven at the end of last season nothing is a given in the Premiership.
Man City must've requested 2 games against us close together to give themselves more chance of winning one of them!
Van Gaal has a much easier start than Moyes, no excuses, he's got to start with a sprint. Don't fancy Newcastle's chances of a decent start, Pardew's safe as houses though. If I was a betting man, which I am, then I'd be looking at Lambert first manager booted this season. September and October looks bleak for Villa, slim pickings.
This fixture list looks familiar, and I can see another tough season, trying to play catch up again, we need the spend wisely and get off to a good start this time arround or Gus will have a real battle to improve on last season.
i think we will be alright, fancy our chances against the big teams! give van gal a real introduction to the premier league
I just think that it is potentially more difficult to build confidence and go on a decent run when you have fixtures like this! By the time we play the 'easy' home games they could be 'must win' games! Must win games are more difficult! This theory was being proved last season, until the 'miracle'. I fear for a repeat of last season, minus the miracle!
It's a far,far better spread IMO than last season. We can't avoid playing other premiership teams during a campaign, so what's the problem? Apart from January its a good spread. We surely cant be ****ting bricks over playing WBA, QPR, Burnley, Swansea, Stoke, Southampton and Palace in our first 10 games can we? No gimmes these days but this is not an overly taxing start mind.
I get what you saying mate but if you dont mind me saying I think you are being a tad negative. Mind you have every right I suppose considering what we all had to go through last season. However on the positive side, Gus would have brought in his own players (hopefully) have a pretty decent pre-season and have them playing the way he wants them to. You could see that was beginning to happen at the end of last season. One further point I would like to make is that the likes of Man City and Man utd will be thinking oh **** we have to face the might of SAFC early on the season
I don't mind you saying! I've always been a bit of a pessimist, particularly when SAFC are involved! I admit, if we can sneak 2 or 3 home wins against the top teams and a couple of away wins before xmas then everything could look rosy for after new year and the fixture list could have gone in our favour! However I just think that it would be interesting to know from the bookies whether our odds of relegation has changed after the fixture list has come out?
I wouldn't have minded 1 or 2 more of them being at home! Like last season, success before xmas may hinge on picking up away points against teams who will finish around us! If we dont we may be playing catch up (again).
Its just that we always get the promoted teams away from home at the start of every season when it is common knowledge that this is the worst time to play them, and being five or six points down by Xmas puts you under undue pressure. There are no easy games as they say, and this is true, but surely in the name of fairness, we deserve a crack at at least one of these three at home first for a change. Will we ever get all three at home before Xmas, I doub't it, not with this system, and whoever it is who controls it .
On a positive note we will beat West Brom away and Man U at home and be top of the table after two games..
Nowt wrong with these fixtures imo ....... we beat an City, Man Utd, Chelsea etc last season. You have to play them all at some point and most of the 'difficult' ones are at home to start with. I'm already looking forward to West Brom
