Saints Can Look At Top Six Finish After A Solid Start To Season. Monday, 23rd Oct 2017 10:53 Saturday's game against West Bromwich Albion marked the quater way mark in the season, or as near as you can get, our tenth place position suggests that this season can still turn out to be a good one. Even the most ardent Saints supporter would not claim that this has been a great start to our season, however it has been a solid if unspectacular one. There are a few reasons for that, another change of manager hasn't helped, but he has had to contend with a difficult start to his reign with his best player sat on the touchlines for the opening four League games and the attendant issues that have surrounded the club in this affair. So a little leeway should be given to Mauricio Pellegrino when assessing his start at St Mary's, indeed no manager should be judged on their opening 9 games at a club, there is too much chopping and changing in the Premier League these days, it rarely improves things that much as Crystal Palace are finding out. But there is plenty of hope out there for Saints fans about the rest of this season, whilst people rave about Watford & Huddersfield's start to the season, it should be noted that we are only 3 points behind the Hornets and ahead of the Yorkshire club on goal difference, indeed if we had drawn with Watford at St Mary's then we would be above them now and in 7th place. Of course that is all if's and but's, however it does show just how compressed this league is at present and how near we are to being able to not only finish in the top ten for a 5th season running, but perhaps even replicate our sixth place showing of a couple of years ago. Currently we sit only 4 points behind Chelsea in 4th, but realistically our aim is to firstly secure that 7th spot and then hope that Liverpool continue to lose games and try and overhaul them for sixth, that will be a big ask but given how this season has started not an unrealistic one. As mentioned the likes of Watford, Huddersfield, Burnley and even Newcastle have started well and we have not been consistent, but we are still in and amongst them, if we can find that spark and reignite our form then there is no reason why we cannot replicate that 2015/16 season finish. That season is now looked upon as one that was utra entertaining, but the perception is a lot different to the reality, we spent much of that season in the same type of form we are in now, short bursts of wins followed by games where we should really have done better. After 9 games that season we had 13 points, only one more than we have now, after 29 games we had 41 points, that was an average of 1.4 points per game, not that far removed from our ratio so far this season. At the end of that season we won 7 out of the last 9, surging into 6th spot, but we shouldn't let that end of season flourish paint the rest of that year in a far rosier light than it actually was. We need to do what we did back ten for most of the season and that is keep rinding out results and keep ourselves in the top ten and on the coat tails of the top six. The cause for optimism is the fact that we sit right in amongst the pack after all our trials and tribulations and without finding our form, if we can do that then we will not have a problem this season. The one lesson that we are constantly reminded of but which so many fail to learn is that of patience, even Saturday's win over West Brom was a lesson in never giving up until the final whistle, especially when there is so little in the game. The pattern of the last three seasons starts including this one has been roughly the same, average starts followed by a surge in the second half of the season, that is what we have to look for this term, form is temporary, class is permanent and if we keep grinding out results as we did on Saturday then we keep ourselves in the mixer and when we find form it will push us forward. I think we have been spoiled over the past 8 years, in our resurgence back up the leagues, some supporters became used to year on year improvement, they assumed that every year would be better than the last, the truth is that it could be said that we have improved year on year, although last term was the first in those 8 years we droppd back a place, a Wembley Cup Final was proof that the progress was still happening. The reality is that a plateau was always going to be reached, once we hit 7th place it would be very hard to get higher due to the much much greater financial strength of those big six clubs, not to mention the likes of Everton and now Newcastle who potentially have much bigger support and income than ourselves. Everton are a classic case of where the Premier League is going wrong, the clubs that think that money can make up for infrastructure and planning ultimately do not achieve their goals as the likes of Aston Villa, Leeds and even Sunderland are all finding out down in the Championship. Those that panic at every blip often find themselves just lurching from one crisis to another and paying the price. It may be difficult for some fans to accept, but it cannot be great every week, every month or even every season, there are always going to be blips, we are always going to have the issue of players wanting to go to bigger clubs, we have to deal with it and use it to our advantage, as we have done, yes I would prefer to see players stay longer, but I would still have rather have had Lovren for 1 season, Aderweireld for 1 season and Van Dijk for two good ones, than having Yoshida in the team in their place for those four seasons. No disrespect to Yoshida who has been a true club stalwart, but our standards have risen and have done so because we have used those players to our own ends as much as they have used us. So patience is the name of the game, give this manager time to show he has what it takes, stay behind the team as we did on Saturday and there is every chance that this season could be as good as the last ones. Sixth place is a good target, Everton were considered the favourites for this spot if a big six team failed, but they are in disarray, Liverpool likewise, we have to do what we do these days and quietly get on with things and surprise teams when we pop up from seemingly nowhere. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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