I think we all agree that Saints have had a real tough start to the season regarding fixtures. Even if we were firing on all cylinders we would not expect to get a result against the top 5 sides who have the worlds BEST players. The result against Wigan was disappointing, it's one of those games you have to win. The overall performance was encouraging only to be trashed by basic defensive errors. Against West Ham we dominated the first half and looked very comfortable, yet again mistakes cost us the game. November will be the most important month in Saints season! This is where we really start to see if we have enough quality and leadership at the club to maintain our Premiership status. West Brom v Southampton - Mon 5 Nov The 'Baggies' have had a great start to the season with 4 wins out of 5 at home. I'd be more than happy with a point from this one but expect to lose. Southampton v Swansea - Sat 10 Nov This is a must win game and I would expect nothing less QPR v Southampton - Sat 17 Nov This is a real chance to get some valuable points. On paper they have a stronger squad but their confidence must be lower than their league standing! Southampton v Newcastle - Sun 25 Nov I expect a win here but I'd settle for a point. Southampton v Norwich - Wed 28 Nov Another must win game and depending on our previous results this month we will either be flying or looking for a new manager!! Will it be a case of remember, remember the 28th of November? It's an interesting month ahead!
It will be , I am not particularly optimistic as we have failed to beat Fulham Wigan at home . And away we employ such negative tactics we invite the opposition to swarm us .
We should be looking to win at least a couple of those, but I'd caution against pinpointing specific matches, QPR played very well against Arsenal and Norwich deservedly beat them, so they're not going to roll over for us.
Undoubtedly, our results against lower sides will be doubly important as we don't want them to gain points. Real 6 pointers. November is a very important month.
When the fixtures came out November was the month I thought we'd be able to pull ourselves up. WBA looks to be tougher than I had expected but this has to be the month we pick up a number of points. We need to be a couple of points clear of 18th by the end of the month. Hopefully 10 points gained.
My prediction is this is the make or break month , if we lose evrry game we still have time but that wont be with Adkins , Curbishley was saying you should judge at about 14 games so the Norwich one will give us a fair indication of where we are .
Looking forward to November, 3 home matches in a month is going to be a welcome football fix after the recent gap...feels like we've had the summer break all over again! Norwich under floodlights should provide a good atmosphere if we can get our noses in front.
