The season so far: how we compare to last yearUpdated: December 20th, 2006
It’s still early days, but a look at the stats suggests that Pearce’s side is going backwards.
After the first eight games of last season we had 14pts, 5 more than this season. But perhaps a better indicator would be to compare our points tally so far with the corresponding fixtures from last season.
While promotion and relegation make it impossible to do an exact comparison, for the purposes of these tables results against last season’s relegated clubs - Sunderland, West Brom and Birmingham - will be compared to Sheff Utd, Watford and Reading respectively.
Here’s how our season compares so far:
The next table shows where we would finish should the points totals for the rest of the season exactly match last season’s:
The final table shows which teams have got off to the most improved start to the season. So far City have won 0.375 less points per game than last season. If that form continues all season, we would finish on 32pts. In the last ten years, the eighteenth placed side has finished on 34, 33, 33, 42, 36, 34, 33, 36, 40 and 40.
No comment about Pompey’s position in the table, but I was surprised to discover Chelsea are 8pts up on their corresponding fixtures for last season.
Playing the name game
There’s been no shortage of suggestions for what CoMS could be called, should the rumours of a sponsorship deal be correct.
Mancityfans poster Robbo hopes it will be called the Eidos Stadium, but only so he can implant himself in the Lara Croft Upper Tier. Dannyd_mcfc thinks a one word name like Murrayfield would work, and helpfully suggests Hoofitupfield.
Another poster points out that the ESPN table I linked to yesterday shows NFL stadium deals that are worth more than £3m a year. My view is that the US market is far bigger than ours, and the absence of shirt advertising over there makes stadium branding more sought after.
Bearing in mind that Arsenal’s stadium sponsorship is worth less than their shirt deal, £3m would be a great deal for us.
Few fans seem bothered about a name change, just as long as a new name is reasonably dignified. For me, the stadium has already gone through three name changes - from “Main- er…Eastlands” in the first season to City of Manchester Stadium to CoMS - so anything that settles the name and brings in cash would be welcomed.
Hopefully, Man United will sell their stadium name soon. The day that Old Trafford is renamed the Kentucky Fried Chicken Bowl will be a happy one indeed.
Anyway, that’s all I’ll be writing about the sponsorship deal rumour until it’s either officially confirmed or denied.