First month's fixtures

[nw6pie]

A year ago, after a shambolic pre-season in which we didn't even know if we would have a club to support come August 3, in the first month we took 9 points out of a possible 24.

This season, the manager has praised the owners for allowing him to assemble his squad in plenty of time and we face seven games (plus an FA Cup 4th qualifying round) in the first month. (I'm assuming that even the National League won't delay the season at this late stage.)

Here are the games:

3rd
Dover Athletic (A)
7th
Altrincham (H)
10th
Barnet (H)
13th
Sutton (A)
17th
Maidenhead (H)
27th
Halifax (A)
31st
Aldershot (A)

If we're serious about being title contenders (and I thought were were until about a week ago, before our non-performances against Harrogate and York), how many points do we need to get for the first month to be considered a success?

On paper this doesn't look a particularly challenging start, with bigger tests ahead. Therefore, I'd consider anything less than 18 points disappointing if we're aiming for top spot, and 15 if we're aiming for the playoffs. For what it's worth, I think we'll pick up an underwhelming 10-12 points and be stuck in midtable.

Of course, a poor start doesn't guarantee a poor season - Barrow lost six of their first nine games, before winning 11 of the next 12. But how often does that happen in football?

[countygump]

A year ago, after a shambolic pre-season in which we didn't even know if we would have a club to support come August 3, in the first month we took 9 points out of a possible 24.

This season, the manager has praised the owners for allowing him to assemble his squad in plenty of time and we face seven games (plus an FA Cup 4th qualifying round) in the first month. (I'm assuming that even the National League won't delay the season at this late stage.)

Here are the games:

3rd
Dover Athletic (A)
7th
Altrincham (H)
10th
Barnet (H)
13th
Sutton (A)
17th
Maidenhead (H)
27th
Halifax (A)
31st
Aldershot (A)

If we're serious about being title contenders (and I thought were were until about a week ago, before our non-performances against Harrogate and York), how many points do we need to get for the first month to be considered a success?

On paper this doesn't look a particularly challenging start, with bigger tests ahead. Therefore, I'd consider anything less than 18 points disappointing if we're aiming for top spot, and 15 if we're aiming for the playoffs. For what it's worth, I think we'll pick up an underwhelming 10-12 points and be stuck in midtable.

Of course, a poor start doesn't guarantee a poor season - Barrow lost six of their first nine games, before winning 11 of the next 12. But how often does that happen in football?

Anything less than 15 is unacceptable.

[upthemaggies]

A year ago, after a shambolic pre-season in which we didn't even know if we would have a club to support come August 3, in the first month we took 9 points out of a possible 24.

This season, the manager has praised the owners for allowing him to assemble his squad in plenty of time and we face seven games (plus an FA Cup 4th qualifying round) in the first month. (I'm assuming that even the National League won't delay the season at this late stage.)

Here are the games:

3rd
Dover Athletic (A)
7th
Altrincham (H)
10th
Barnet (H)
13th
Sutton (A)
17th
Maidenhead (H)
27th
Halifax (A)
31st
Aldershot (A)

If we're serious about being title contenders (and I thought were were until about a week ago, before our non-performances against Harrogate and York), how many points do we need to get for the first month to be considered a success?

On paper this doesn't look a particularly challenging start, with bigger tests ahead. Therefore, I'd consider anything less than 18 points disappointing if we're aiming for top spot, and 15 if we're aiming for the playoffs. For what it's worth, I think we'll pick up an underwhelming 10-12 points and be stuck in midtable.

Of course, a poor start doesn't guarantee a poor season - Barrow lost six of their first nine games, before winning 11 of the next 12. But how often does that happen in football?

Woking also proves a fantastic start, 7 wins from their opening 8, doesn't even guarantee play offs.

For those seven fixtures listed, the average final position last season of those clubs is 13th (not counting Alty, who were a league below, they'd pull it lower in pyramid terms). So you could say we're facing a bottom half standard collection of opponents for the opening month.

[nw6pie]

Woking also proves a fantastic start, 7 wins from their opening 8, doesn't even guarantee play offs.

For those seven fixtures listed, the average final position last season of those clubs is 13th (not counting Alty, who were a league below, they'd pull it lower in pyramid terms). So you could say we're facing a bottom half standard collection of opponents for the opening month.

We had that weird habit of struggling against teams in the lower reaches last season, so the fact we're playing so-called lesser lights should give us an indication of whether we're better prepared this season. Wasn't too encouraged by Ardley's description of York as a "top 12" National League side yesterday, as if we shouldn't be surprised that they stuffed us at home.

Just the mention of "Alty" made me listen to "The Robbins Aren't Bobbins" again - definitely be playing that one again in tribute to Frank Sidebottom on the 7th.