27.6.99.

You get your kicks,
On Route 66.

by Peter Gilbert.

As I'm sure you are all aware the new fixture list is out and glancing through it doesn't fill me with the same anxiety that it did three years ago when we were re-invented as a proper football team.I am not advocating complacency but a little realistic optimism is called for I think.

The 99/00 season gets off to our traditional difficult start and it has our usual 'fizzle out' finish waiting for us. Strangely we seem to relish early big time fixtures and struggle with mediocre opponents from April onwards, surely we can erradicate our springtime malaise.

Looking at The Premiership for next season it is possible to group our opponents into quite distinct categories:

GROUP A - The Big Time
This is the group of probable title contenders:We took 3 points(it should have been 6) last season so why not 3 this year?
Man Utd
Arsenal
Chelsea
We upset all this lot last season;we let Man Utd the eventual champs. off the hook at Old Trafford but they mesmorised us at home. Arsenal were very fortunate to scramble a draw at Filbert Street but our poor defending/goalkeeping saw them overwhelm us at Highbury. Chelsea beat us at home in a ding dong game that could have gone either way and of course we had our famous draw(and grown men cried in pain) at Stamford Bridge.

GROUP B - The Pretenders
Leeds Utd
Aston Villa
Liverpool
We did famously well against this lot last season amassing 11 points from the fixtures. They all hate playing against us,they think it should be a formality but we have the habit of giving them a bloody nose.

GROUP C - Money for Nothing
Newcastle Utd
Everton
Derby
Tottenham
Middlesborough
West Ham
Sheffield Wednesday
This lot have spent a fortune but they are really mediocre, they are inconsistent full of foreigners on huge contracts, they flatter themselves enormously but rarely come up with the goods.This is the group where we can really capitalise and we should take at least three points from them all this time round which is a total of 21.

GROUP D- The Fighters (Teams like us)
Coventry
Sunderland
Wimbledon
If you don't respect teams like this they'll dump you out of any game but with care we can beat them at least once and trawl 9 points.

GROUP E- The Dross
Southampton.
Only one team in this category this year and for some reason we only seem to beat them once, so 3 points then.

GROUP F - Surprise Package
Bradford
Watford
Graham Taylor's teams are always hard to beat but in their present form they lack true quality.As for Bradford,they'll be full of fire and pride but we don't meet them at home until our last home match of the season by which time they'll be relegated or we'll be flying high.I anticipate 4 points from this group.

Total so far = 51 points.

This is rather depressing and mediocre really but it doesn't have to be 51 as we only have to win our home games regularly,play well in the spring and another 15 points from five extra wins at least sees us move upto 66 points which is far more in line with our capabilities and should secure a place in Europe.

If you look at Leicester City objectively we are a top six premiership side by virtue of the fact that we have finished in the top ten for the last three seasons and have appeared in two major finals winning one of them and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
We have a good squad already and an excellent manager. If we added a goal scorer, another goalkeeper and a quick centre back to our resources then we would be a formidable force indeed.

Target for Leicester City for season 1999 - 2000 is 66 POINTS.

I think I have already outlined just how possible this is.