Fixture List - Reading the Odds

Been using my slow morning to have a look at how our fixture list looks in terms of difficult spells, starts and run ins. Obviously at this stage of the season it's hard to know what a tricky game or a doddle will be, but I've been using the bookies odds to try and find out where our easy and nightmare runs are. Before you say anything I know the bookies are not always right especially this early on! But it is as good a scale as any.



So, I have ranked teams 1-24 based on their position in the odds to win the title. Here's the results...





8th Aug: Northampton HOME       (6th)

15th Aug: Yeovil AWAY               (13th)

18th Aug: Luton AWAY                (4th)

22nd Aug: Barnet HOME              (12th)

29th Aug: Leyton Orient AWAY     (3rd)



5th Sep: Oxford Utd HOME          (2nd)

12th Sep: Accrington HOME         (24th)

19th Sep: Plymouth AWAY          (8th)

26th Sep: Portsmouth HOME       (1st)

29th Sep: Hartlepool AWAY         (20th)



3rd Oct: Morecambe AWAY         (23rd)

10th Oct: Wycombe HOME          (10th)

17th Oct: Mansfield AWAY          (21st)

20th Oct: Notts County HOME      (11th)

24th Oct: Newport HOME            (19th)

31st Oct: Cambridge AWAY         (7th)



14th Nov: Carlisle HOME            (14th)

21st Nov: Crawley AWAY            (15th)

24th Nov: Stevenage HOME        (9th)

28th Nov: Exeter AWAY             (18th)



12th Dec: York HOME                (16th)

19th Dec: Dag & Red AWAY         (22nd)

26th Dec: Wimbledon AWAY        (17th)

28th Dec: Leyton Orient HOME     (3rd)


2nd Jan: Luton HOME                 (4th)

9th Jan: Barnet AWAY                (12th)

16th Jan: Oxford Utd AWAY         (2nd)

23rd Jan: Plymouth HOME           (8th)

30th Jan: Accrington AWAY         (24th)



6th Feb: Wimbledon HOME          (17th)

13th Feb: Portsmouth AWAY        (1st)

20th Feb: Morecambe HOME        (23rd)

27th Feb: Wycombe AWAY          (10th)


1st Mar: Hartlepool HOME           (20th)

5th Mar: Notts County AWAY       (11th)

12th Mar: Mansfield HOME          (21st)

19th Mar: Newport AWAY            (19th)

26th Mar: Cambridge HOME         (7th)

28th Mar: Carlisle AWAY             (14th)



2nd Apr: Crawley HOME             (15th)

9th Apr: Northampton AWAY       (6th)

16th Apr: Yeovil HOME               (13th)

19th Apr: Stevenage AWAY         (9th)

23rd Apr: Exeter HOME              (18th)

30th Apr: York AWAY                 (16th)



7th May: Dag & Red HOME         (22nd)




So what can we take from this? Firstly, it's a very tricky start. In our first 9 games we play 6 teams who, according to the bookies, should be fighting for at least the playoffs. Having said that, if we can ride our momentum through that bad start, things are looking a lot more favorable from October through to Christmas, and that's where I expect we'll be aiming to pick up a good run of results. We face another sticky patch around the New Year, but looking at the run in, things aren't looking too bad for picking up late points. It's also worth noting that (a little like last year) from February onwards we have a lot of home games against teams who the bookies think might be struggling, and that means picking up points, which is never a bad thing.

Let's hope for a successful season, regardless of how irrelevant all of this is!