Saints are ten points off what I feel will be the safety target for the season and that could see us needing as little as two wins from our final dozen games.
Saints win against Manchester City was a big win, but we shouldnt allow it to blur our vision and shift our focus from our target for the season and that is staying up with games to spare, to do this we need to get over and above 37 points as quickly as possible and that means getting another ten points on the table.
This doesnt sount too hard when you think about it, but you then have to look what we have done so far this season and quantify it, its a very doable target but plen ty of teams have blown it from our position and complacency could be our biggest enemy, perhaps not in the squad but certainly in the fans where some now see us looking at a top ten finish judging by message boards I have seen.
Ultimately I think that is a step too far for this season, last season Fulham were 9th with 52 points and West Brom just behind them on 47, to get that number we would be looking at five wins minimum plus four draws leaving margin of error for only 3 defeats, thats a very hefty task for any team let alone our good selves.
So we need to remain focussed on what our task for this season is and that is to stay in the Premier League as mentioned that might need as little as two wins if they are against the right teams aligned with a number of draws.
But one point to consider in getting these wins is that of our last 12 games, 9 of them are against teams above us, and when you consider that in todays league table we have only beaten one team all season from those we are behind, that being City on Saturday, the task is far from easy to get those ten points, we need to be focused and playing to our strengths.
The first job is to get over the 30 point mark and be in the home straight with the finishing line in sight, if we do that then the job will be a lot easier, only a few weeks ago certain teams looked out of sight from us after a couple of wins, now we have reeled the likes of Sunderland, Norwich Fulham and even West ham to within one win of catching, now we need just to squeeze that accelerater pedal and put in a shift ourselves.
Ideally we would win at Newcastle and then follow that up by beating QPR, but that may be a little too much to ask even though its extremely doable, come through both those games unbeaten though and thats a big step, win at least one of them and its even bigger and will set us up for a big programme in March where we have 3 home games and only one away, its all about keeping an average up in these next five games of at least a point a game, do that as a minimum and we will be well set up for April where we start with a trip to Reading.
This article though has been about looking at minimums rather than what we are well capable of doing, therefore it shouldnt be seen as negative, lets achieve our short term aims and then worry about the end of the season, there is no reason why we shouldnt get at least 6 or 7 points in those five games and if we do that will set us up nicely for the final run in where Spurs away in the final seven is the only truly difficult task on paper at least.
Perhaps we wont get anywhere near Nicola Cortese's aspiratins for the season come the final day, but we are a step closer to achieving his longer term hopes, thios season though a good target to aim for is the 15th place with 43 points that Wigan achieved last year if we do that then Im sure that will have matched most Saints supporters hopes.