'Baptism of Fire' v 'Eased in Gently'

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,820]

I know we've all seen the leaked fixtures which say we're away at Spurs first, but there are always these leaks and they're usually bogus.

So would we be happy with a few difficult games against the big six early on, or would we prefer an easier August against teams who should be in the bottom half?

Personally, I'd prefer an easier start. A couple of hidings against a Liverpool or a Man City in August could damage confidence and would also see us in the relegation zone early playing catch up.

This means we'd likely have the bigger sides towards the end of the season, but hopefully that wouldn't matter if we already have the points on the board and even if we are still scrapping for points, there's a chance the big boys could be prioritising Europe around that time if they're still in it.

What about you lot?

[BroadstairsR 2,163]

The best chance of getting a point against the big boys is hitting them when they are cold, imo.

 

Once they get warmed up there is usually no stopping them.

[king canary 7,605]

For me its important to have runs of more winnable games with the bigger teams spaced out. Difficult to build momentum otherwise.

[glory.win or die. 270]

It shouldn't really matter over a season but I tend to think it's more important who your final games are against.  Psychologically at least if you finish with easier games the pressure should be lower throughout the season.

[Surfer 1,547]

If we start with Spurs away I think that would be great. Beat them and be joint top would do nicely. 

[king canary 7,605]

6 minutes ago, glory.win or die. said:

It shouldn't really matter over a season but I tend to think it's more important who your final games are against.  Psychologically at least if you finish with easier games the pressure should be lower throughout the season.

I remember the run in at the end of the season Hughton got sacked- it basically made our season 34 games long as they way we were playing that season we knew those final 4 games were unlikely to bring in anything and it had a psychological affect. 

[BobLoz3 492]

11 minutes ago, king canary said:

For me its important to have runs of more winnable games with the bigger teams spaced out. Difficult to build momentum otherwise.

Yeah I agree with this. It's true that you often see bizarre or unexpected results at the start of a season so why not take on a "big boy" first hey?

Got to play them all at some point or another.

[Fuzzar 1,702]

Just to save Lakey the trouble...

IMO we need fear nobody in this division, so the order in which we play them doesn't matter IMO. We're going to win the league anyway, if not even better so bring it on!

[Half Ar5ed Hipster 82]

A mix, as I like to sit on the fence. Saying that, a tough run of 2-3 fixtures means we might catch a bigger club napping or still on the beach and will reduce the 'fear affect' as KC mentions above if there's a horrible run at the end. But on the flipside getting tonked 4-0 3 times in a row by the usual suspects won't be a great building block either.

I'm edged towards getting the really tough games in first though, just to get them out of the way with.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

Get a tricky game out of the way early and you never know we may pinch a bonus result or if we still perform well confidence could be taken from it so I wouldn't mind getting Spurs away first up.

[CanaryChris 146]

Didn't we tonk the gunners on their pumpkin patch in game 1 of that amazing 92.93 season? Bring em on!

Edited June 12, 2019 by CanaryChris

[Well b back 3,203]

Harry Kane never scores in August 

[......and Smith must score. 1,342]

1 minute ago, Well b back said:

Harry Kane never scores in August 

He got that monkey off his back last season.

Agree with the OP that it’s best to get a few points on the board early doors. We’re notoriously poor starters so if we get a couple of mullerings straight away I doubt that would do much for confidence levels.

The reality is we’ll get beat in most if not all our ‘ top six ‘ games so something a little gentler for me please.

[Petriix 2,835]

We need to win at least 10 games. The majority of these will be our home games against bottom half teams. I think the timing of these fixtures will have a significant impact on the success (or not) of our season. On balance, I think I would prefer not to have one of these should win games right away. I think we might surprise one or two of the big teams early in the season and would prefer to start with a couple of games where any points would be seen as a bonus and the pressure is off.

[East Rider 549]

If we get Spuds away as our first game they, will be rubbing their hands in glee......Easy first game of the season in the brand new stadium and with a chance to rack up a hatful of goals and 3 points.

What's not to like? Unless of course they play really well and manage to hold Norwich to a draw

 

 

[CANARYKING 637]

Be good to be at home last game for a change