Roger Moore scores: glass a third full

I must admit, I looked at Norwich this weekend and thought 'there but for the grace of God goes us'. When we finished last year having won just six games and with confidence lower than a rattle-snake’s backside, I wasn’t looking forward to this season one iota, I really wasn’t. And worse, I simply couldn’t understand the logic of all those who thought this league would be a cakewalk.

You see, for years, promoted teams have started seasons flying and relegated teams have struggled. We only need look at our near neighbours and their first few months in the Premiership, and Wigan’s astounding run this year for evidence of the former. And as for the latter, Manchester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest are classic examples of clubs who have simply forgotten how to win. My big fear was that we were also on that slippery slope.

Our old mate James Beattie said it perfectly this weekend on the back of his winner against Middlesborough – “winning is a habit” he said, “And so is losing.” And like any habits, they can be hard to break.

So, going into this season, I could see just one priority – stop the rot.

On the first day of the season an old mate called me up. A die-hard QPR fan, he warned me that ‘anyone can beat anyone’ in this league. Clearly that message wasn’t delivered to Neil Warnock, and Steve Coppell chose not to listen. But apart from those two, he seems to have been proved right. It really isn’t unlike the Premiership last year; the top few dominating and the rest walking a fine line between play-off and relegation battle.

We’re in the mix is about all we can say about our league position, and we’re in a berth that has delivered more than its fair share of promoted clubs in recent times. Now I hate mediocrity but I really do believe we have to be satisfied with this – not ecstatic, perhaps just a little uncomfortable and with our eyes fixed firmly upwards. The key for me is that we’ve only lost two games – contrast that with the past few seasons, albeit at a higher level.

Overall, the quality of football we’re playing is better than the hoof and hope that dominated our every waking moment last season. We’ve uncovered some good footballers in Belmadi and Hajto, Koswoski looks a potential threat and our explosive new front-man, Theo Walcott, is progressing like a Bullet Train through Tokyo. We try to play football. We sometimes lack the guile and creativity to break teams down, but even Jose couldn’t jump-start the Tottenham team bus parked across the Stamford Bridge.

But above all else, we’ve done the one thing we needed to do – we genuinely have stopped the rot