The first ten games

Given the talk of how we have cooled off in recent weeks after such a torrid start to the season, I thought it worth taking a look at just how our start this season - still considered to be exceeding pre-season expectation - compared with those in previous years.

With assistance from mcfcstats.com, the following is a breakdown of our opening ten games since we arrived back in the Premier League in 2002/03:

Season	Won	Drawn	Lost	Pts
2009/10	5	4	1	19
2008/09	4	1	5	13
2007/08	7	1	2	22
2006/07	3	3	4	12
2005/06	5	2	3	17
2004/05	3	2	5	11
2003/04	4	2	4	14
2002/03	2	2	6	8

The best start was obviously made under Sven in 2007/08, something that was totally unexpected and given the start we have made this season illustrates quite how impressive that opening was.

It is also worth noting that after the flying start, we cooled considerably, taking fourteen points from the next ten games before tailing off miserbaly over the second half of the season.

Clearly we are in a position that we have rarely been in previously, and it is a measure of the heightened expectations we now have that there is a sense of frustration at our start given the dropped points in the past three games.

Whilst the start has been important - and such a contrast to last years fitful opening - what is more important now is that we can match the opening we have had over the next ten games.

Then, we will be at the half way point of the season and if we are averaging almost two points per game, we will be in a position that we most definitely have not seen in recent times.