10 Games in

[CordwainerBill]

10 games in , 17 points on the board, 5th in the league , 5 points behind the leaders , how are you feeling about it?

Personally, looking at the league it looks healthy and I'm happy with it, having watched most games I feel we have played some pretty poor stuff overall but barring maybe a couple of impressive performances where we showed genuine good promotion form . Although is it my imagination that the rest of the games have finished with our centre backs scampering around up front trying to salvage the game.

All told, I feel that having the ability to put points on the board and play badly is a good trait, certainly for a Cobblers manager so I'm satisfied , with a certain.........alarm.

[Deepcut Cobbler]

I reckon that we will need at least 48-50 points this season to avoid relegation...

[j20cobbler]

Seventeen points is one win or so more than I thought we'd have, and we have scored considerably more goals than i expected us to. Defensively I'm surprised we've conceeded as many as we have given CW's team recruitment and managerial experience at this level.

[DuncanSpeddingsLeftFoot]

B+

[DrillingCobbler]

Content. I rather hoped we would have pushed on quicker (we have the players) BUT with Accrington aside I'm happy. And 3 points bagged last week would have seen us averaging 2 points a game...which I expected.

I have massive belief in this squad. It's the best on paper set of players we've had since 86/87. I just want them to prove it. We are 5th but should be higher. That isn't a moan, it's a fact.

Kick on now boys. And stop dicking about!

[sbedscobb]

Best start for many years and a decent squad with depth.
We must be in the top 7 at Christmas .
 Ivan Toney is the best young player
we've ever had, Can we keep hold of him this season?

[clarkeysntfc]

Pleased with the progress since Wilder took over. Squad looks extremely talented and we have played some excellent football at times. The days of hoofball and playing for set pieces seem to be long gone.

I enjoy the pace and fluidity of the front 4 Wilder likes to deploy.

Only blot on their copy book is the tendency to drop a large aberration defensively which has cost us 3-5 points so far. I'm looking at Newport, Accrington and Shrewsbury as examples.

If we can keep a settled squad and steer clear of more injuries I am optimistic of achieving 17 points or better from the next 10 to keep us in the top 7 for Xmas. Two big games coming up will shape our form for that run though.

[j20cobbler]

Shrewsbury?

[St Edmundsbury Cobbler]

Have only managed to get to the Daggers game so far but liked what I saw.

This season is going as I expected with a mixed bag of results/performamces. Considering how poor the last 5 seasons have been, to be sat in the top 10 after 10 games is pretty much where I thought we would be.

[Alfred]

2 points ahead of schedule ......... still p1ssed at the Accrington result

Given the expectation was "hard to beat" "lack of goals" and that we have pretty much given away 50% of our goals so far this season I would say well on track.

Settle till Jan,  couple of tweeks to balance up the wage bill and the return Nicholls,  Langers and Hornby will be a welcome boost

[John]

Bit disappointed, if we're going to be Champions we need to beat teams like Accrington. Guess I'm going to have to settle for automatic. 

[WadeyCobbler]

Very satisfied with where we are and the start we have made; the best start for years. I was hoping to be in and around the top ten first half of the season but I now think the squad we have is better than just top ten. The next two games will be a good barometer of our progress and 4 points or more will be an excellent return and increase the expectation levels further.
I'm sure we'll get stronger defensively and hope the ruddy injuries clear up.

[defender]

I am pleased with our start but, we must be tighter in defense than we have been.The ability to score is better than we have for some years, so overall I for one am happy, but I'm still not convinced about our defending, if we come across teams that we can't break down, then I fear we will lose.

[clarkeysntfc]

Shrewsbury?

The goal we conceded in that game was a defensive cock up which cost us points.

[Ralap]

I'm perfectly content with where we are in the league. What I'm happy about is the standard of experienced players we now have dominating the team plus some very talented youngsters. As I've said before, I'm hoping the gelling of these players as a team starts to show itself further on in the season around or shortly after Christmas time when we can hopefully really kick on.

Having said that, if it doesn't happen this season I'll be happy knowing it's still early days in Chris Wilder's time here and next summer he will bolster an already strong squad with one or two more quality players. I'm more than happy to give him, the right man, plenty of time to get it right.

[guest1269]

I think good realistic comments here - points on the board and lots of goals without us being sensational - I think we will get better so every reason for optimism.

[Winslow Lee]

I thinks it's going to be a very tight league with everybody capable of beating each other. It's important not to over react to individual results as I'd be surprised if anybody steamrollers this division, I've been particularly underwhelmed with a lot of the supposed favourites.

[bungle]

Overall, it's been an impressive start, particularly considering the progress we've made since last season. Accrington was the only truly shocking result - the defeats at Portsmouth and Newport can be put down to the cost of doing business at this level.

The big concern for me is the injury crisis and its impact on both ends of the pitch: can the back four maintain consistency if the personnel is changing every week? Will we continue to score goals without Richards? Another worry is the fact we seem to building a midfield around two loanees - Bryom and Watson - whilst our own players are marginalised (Carter and Ravenhill). Will we be signing one or both in January or will we have to go back to the drawing board?

Anyway, we now have a run of tough games against in form opposition: away at a resurgent Wycombe, home to top-of-the-league Burton and then an always tricky visit to Cheltenham. I feel our squad is talented enough and deep enough to achieve promotion. However, whether we do it or not will depend on fitness, organisation and consistency.

 

[Zen Master]

Happy overall and could/should have been a couple of points higher.

If you factor in our extensive injury list it highlights what a solid start this is. Still in two cups as well!

[Dr Feelgood]

feelgood is feeling good...so far...