Saints are once again playing catch up due to a poor start.

Of course we know that the opening games under Alan Pardew this season were poor, whilst our memories are fresh we will remember the reasons behind the low points tally and the turmoil in the Club, in ten years time that will be forgotten and a future generation will assume that Pardew was sacked for the poor start to the season.

Whatever the reason the reality was that with after the debacle that was Dean Wilkins in charge, Nigel Adkins joined a club with only 4 points from 5 games and that wasnt even relegation form, it could be said that like his predecessor Adkins was starting his Saints tenure way behind the rest of the field, in Pardews case it was a ten point deduction, in Adkins the fact he was around 7- 8 points behind our rivas for promotion.

But that task hasnt really got any easier in the seven games since, those games have yielded 11 points, at first glance that seems fairly decent but thats an average of only 1.57 per game.

Last season the second automatic spot was achieved on 86 points, a 1.87 average and Huddersfield got into the final play off spot on 80, an average of 1.74, if we are to even make the play offs we have a lot to do.

Taking last seasons points totals as the measurement and of course we have no way of knowing how accurate they will be come the final day, Adkins started at SMS needing 76 points from 41 games to make the play offs, thats an average of 1.85 per game, the size of Adkins task just to make the play offs means virtual automatic promotion form, which in turn means there is little room for slip ups.

With 34 games remaining to reach that magical 80 point target Saints have to get 65 points which is an average of 1.91 per game a tall order in that it means winning your home games and getting at least a draw away from home.

Of course this isnt an exact science but the message is simple and plain, we have to start winning games and remain unbeaten and we have to keep doing that for long periods, if we do we will soon start to march up the table, but the task is hard and is getting harder not easier.

As we stand if we continue with our 1.57 point ratio for the remaining 34 games it will give us another 53 points for a grand total of 64, that would have scraped us into the top 10 but as we have proved, would leave us a long way short of even a play off spot, given that even the lowest total needed for that sixth position over the years has been around 74.

This emphasises the fact that Nigel Adkins has to start improving the team and fast, we dont have the time to indulge players woefully out of form for much longer. 

Photo: Action Images

Spot51 added 10:23 - Oct 21 Harsh but fair FFS.
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sholingred added 11:00 - Oct 21 I can see us staying in this division as the same excuses are reeled out after we lose,the defending at Hudderfield was shocking,players un marked and free to take shots at our goal,then players saying we will learn from this,and then doing it again,Adkins seems a nice guy,but he needs to kick ass,or we will be div 3 again next season.
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kcaj1164retsof added 12:30 - Oct 21 A non-league team, below conference level, that I follow the progess of, had a new millionaire owner. They brought in good players on excellent contracts, built great training facilities and had things like training camps in Spain etc. Sad to report that 5 years later they are still in the same division, the money changed nothing. The owner concluded that for some reason the 'better' players and improved back - up that the money bought just didn't bring the expected success to the club - reasons unknown I do hope and pray that we are not going to see a repeat of that at Southampton, Perhaps we might worry slightly though, that a season and a bit in, the money spent so far does not seem to be giving us the scenarios that we thought it would 14 or so months ago. We can only keep the faith and trust that it all comes good sooner rather than later, or unthinkably, never!

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A1079 added 12:31 - Oct 21 I am starting to resign myself to another season in this division though not entirely given up and the period between now and Christmas will help determine whether we can mount a serious challenge for promotion. But you are right, we cannot afford any more slip ups and we cannot afford to be generous. What annoys me more is that year in and year out, for as long as I can remember and certainly since McMenemy days we have had poor starts to seasons. This has been due largely to poor pre-season and turmoil on and off the pitch at the end of a season, during the break and at the start of the new season instead of concentrating on building a team and getting homed and ready for the new season challenge ahead. Until we can rid ourselves of this annual agony our prospects will always be affected. I have faith in Adkins but I do fear he has an uphill task ahead of him. I am not convinced we have the players for the fight, even if technically they are good (and that is a moot point).

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Stripes added 14:05 - Oct 21 we have 10 points from the last 5 games, 3 wins 1 draw 1 defeat, average 2 points per game. There are 3 home games (including peterborough) and 2 away in the next 5 so we have to see that sort of return again or we'll be further off the pace
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st_bangkok added 05:56 - Oct 22 I would sort of concur with stripes above that whilst indeed NA has 11 from 7, the average is on the rise. If we can take 7 points from the next three games this picture will be different. It is a hard ask yes, but not as hard as last season at this stage for sure. I think it is a little too early to start worrying to this extent. Naarch fans would agree with that.
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