Odd to hear it from a Pomponian but I think you'll get automatic - and fair play to you - I thought based on your set up that you'd be top 10 with us somewhere similar - but watching results and games I now feel that you have a very solid and well balanced team more than capable of getting out of this league at the first attempt. Us - not so sure now - we have odd flashes of quality but are lacking a real finisher and that I fear will see us lower mid table. Not as hard to write as I thought.:emoticon-0150
If we can stay clear of an injury crisis and and suspensions to key players then I really think that we will finish in the top two. The team have been turning in a consistently high level of performance for a long time now and I really can't see us having a major dip in form. The start we have had is not only good for confidence it also means that we could have a blip and still be in a very good position. Having the habit of winning instead of drawing games is an advantage in a tight league like the Championship where clubs are constantly dropping points to each other. To answer the question of a minimum position I will say top six.
The problem us older Saints fans have is that we have seen so many disappointing sequences of results over the years that it is quite hard to accept that we really are in a new era. The difference that NC & NA have made to the whole essence of the club is remarkable. Saints just don't seem to go on poor runs of results now. Nowadays the 'talk' is matched by the 'walk', and I just can't see Saints going on a damaging series of negative scores. The current ratio of 70% wins with the other 30% pretty much evenly split between draws and losses would have to go downhill significantly for us to drop too far down the table. At the beginning of the season I thought we would end up 6th to 8th as I thought we were on a par with Leeds first season up. Now I think we are at Norwich's level, and therefore would be a bit disappointed not to make the automatic promotion spots.
