Saints have made a great start to the season, but for all their exploits they still stand only sixth in the table, highlighting just how hard it is to break into the upper echelons of the Premier League.

There isn't a Saints fan alive who could be disappointed about the start we have made to the 2013/14 season, if you had asked any one of us before a ball was kicked whether we would have been happy with 11 points out of our first 6 games and the answer would have been unanimous.

Back in the summer there had been a lot of talk about moving on to that next level and even of challenging for a Champions League spot and Saints current league position after such a great start highlights just what a tough proposition getting into the Champions League spots actually is, indeed as it stands at the moment Saints aren't even in a Europa League spot.

Their are no surprises ahead of us either, all five clubs are well established top 7 sides, in fact when you consider that the two Manchester clubs are yet to hit top form, then the job ahead looks even harder, getting to sixth spot will actually be a doddle compared to keeping ourselves there over the next few months.

This is not to be negative, but to perhaps put things in perspective and consider just what success will be over the coming months, although it would be nice, I cant see Manchester United or City staying behind us for that long, they have the squads to start winning games and to be blunt if they aren't they will spend big in January.

I therefore consider that success for Saints will be to finish 8th, yes above that would be nice and could well be achievable, but I wouldn't put much money on it at this point in time.

If we can end the season in 8th that will be a great achievement for the club, it will be a step forward and will enable us to start trying to attract higher calibre players, its a lot easy to do so when you can show them a league table with you sat in 8th than it is in 14th, we have to accept that realistically there are 7 clubs who are ahead of us in terms of quality of squad, experience and where they are now in terms of development, Everton for instance who as I see as a natural achievable target to overtake come the end of the season have also made a good start and their starting position at the start of the season in terms of the aforementioned quality of squad etc is ahead of us.

So our real task this season now is to keep ahead of the chasing pack, make sure that it is Saints who are the Club who can achieve 8th this season and not the likes of Swansea & West Brom as it was last, if we can do that then you never know we might just cause a shock and haul Everton back and finish 7th, then next season with good key signings we will be in a better position than we were at the start of the season and a top 6 finish could be within our realistic aims.

Its fine to talk about next levels and European qualification, but we also have to consider how far we have to go to achieve that aim and just how well embedded the squads of the top 7 clubs actually are.

So as I mentioned in the headline, the fact that we have had this start and are still only sixth, a position that under normal circumstances wont even get us into the Europa league, actually highlights just how good the clubs at the top of this league are and how hard it will be to finish above them on a regular basis, you can do all the right things as a club, but you cant build a quality squad overnight, Saints have taken some great steps forward already this season, they can take more, but 8th in the league in the final table should be viewed as success and not disappointment, if we do things properly there will be plenty of seasons to come where perhaps 8th is viewed as disappointing.

Photo: Action Images

davepid added 12:26 - Oct 2 Nic, if we had beaten Wigan , QPR and Sunderland at home we would have finished 8 th last season . That's why the Palace result was so satisfying: we saw off a poorer side in the way the top successful clubs do.
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bstokesaint added 12:32 - Oct 2 I actually made bets on us winning the league W/O the top 6 and finishing inside the top 6 before the season started. I didn't get a particularly good price on either which shows you how far we've come. Gone are the days when the bookies see us nothing more than perennial relegation fodder. My top 6 bet was the real outside bet. I have never viewed Liverpool or Spurs as title contenders and was half hoping one of them might have a below par season and allow us in. After the first game of the season I even thought Arsenal may struggle this term.. I realise how ludicrous this may all sound to a supporter of another club or a pundit who can't see past Big Club Syndrome, but when I look at a team like Liverpool's I ask the question who would I swap? Without going through on a player for player basis here, I can think of no more than 3 or 4. Ask Phil Thompson and he’d probably say 9 or 10!! My other bet I feel is a realistic return. I think we have a better team than Everton who as you say Nick look the most likely contender for 7th place. We can continue to do exactly what we’re doing, beat Everton at ours and not lose at theirs and we’ll achieve that 7th place. I still think we’re cruising in a middle gear. Yes, we’re defending well, but when we hit top form upfront and we start scoring more goals as well I reckon we’ll be witnessing the best season I’ve seen in my 25 years following the club.

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SaintNick added 12:58 - Oct 2 I don't doubt any of this I think we can have a great season, but teams like Liverpool are still ahead of us, to be blunt Sturridge and Suarez will outscore Osvaldo & Lambert
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Dazzler73 added 13:42 - Oct 2 bstokesaint... '25 years following the club'............so whom did you support during your youth then???? :-D
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montecristo added 14:21 - Oct 2 how we do over the next three games should set the pattern for the rest of the season, if we get to Xmas anywhere near champions league expext Saints to strengthen again for the final push and maybe get another midfielder and a winger in. As things stand, I dont see a threat coming from West Brom or controversially Man U this season, the main contenders are already out front. Arsenal may not be equipped to cope with serious injuries to first teamers,Man City have a new manager who make take a season to bed in ,Spurs have a great shot, but Chelsea seem to have problems.. Saints therefore have a great chance of getting into the top four and may even achieve this this weekend, fingers crossed.

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SaintNick added 14:48 - Oct 2 Im afraid I cant see us finishing ahead of either Utd or City whatever the situation
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slynch added 19:17 - Oct 2 What about the 1984 situation?
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felly1 added 19:27 - Oct 2 The quality is there, I think what might let us down is experience at this level when you compare us to teams like Everton who have been doing the business year in year out.
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SaintDownUnder added 05:10 - Oct 3 I think this debate in terms of league position is more helpful if you look at the points required rather than the position itself - for example last year WBA finished in 8th on 49 points, Liverpool in 7th were on 61 points, Spurs who finished in 5th and made Europe were on 72points, you needed 73 points to get a top 4 position.........thats quite a gap. Lets put this into perspective last season Saints finsihed on 41 points. There is encouragement for saints this year in that I think the league is more competative and so teams will take points off each other and (I think) this will result in lower required points totals for top 6 or top 4 finish. Also saints are defensively tight, organised and actually are set up well to play the bigger teams who will actually come at us and potetially leave us space in behind to hurt them (we did this well at the back end of last season). Its the CPL's, SUN, WBA's, AVL's, HUL's, CAR's where we need to win games not draw and we've been a mixed bag so far. I love the momentum and direction we have but jumping from 41 points to 65+ points in one season is quite an ask.

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slynch added 11:23 - Oct 3 The maths shows if Saints continue the way they have in the first six games they will get 66 points.
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bstokesaint added 21:51 - Oct 3 Dazzler, watched my first Saints game at the Dell when I was 10. Never been anyone else! Agree that 60+ points is a big ask given we've still to play Arsenal, Spurs, Chelski and the Manchester clubs. I love Montecristo's Man U comment though. I feared I'd be shot down for saying the same thing but without SAF they're a pretty ordinary prospect. They're in for a bumpy ride under Moyes. The thing I find most interesting is people said they wouldn't win anything with kids, but don't we have the youngest or second youngest team in the EPL? Could Chambers, Shaw, Clyne, JRod and JWP be the next biggest names in international football too?

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