London Calling....

If you are old enough to remember when EVERY London Derby was met with trepidation, whether it was Charlton or Chelsea, West Ham or Wimbledon, we just did not do very well...

In fact our record was appalling through the 90's...

I lost count the amount of times we'd play really well against Chelsea & then Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink would fall over a blade of grass and we would be gallant losers...

But...

Recently, we seemed to have bucked the trend... the last few years have seen wins (yes wins) over Chelsea and Arsenal, a win at the Emirates, sadly no win at Stamford Bridge (yet) since the Titanic went down.. sorry, that was Anfield. 

So as we are on the eve of another (yes I am loathed to call it a North London Derby) London Derby, one that we are led to believe is of gargantuan proportions, I thought I would have a look back over the last 10 years and see how we have progressed against all of our nearest and dearest...

You will see the figures split by season, by opponent and by home & away and there are some interesting (interesting if you wear an anorak like me) patterns that emerge...

For instance, Monday night's opponents West Ham, despite 'Lasagnagate' we have a fantastic record against them... In fact, gutting as that game was, it is one of only two defeats to that lot in the last 14 games!!

Season by Season Record (with home & away splits):

As you would expect, we are a lot stronger at home and getting stronger, if you look at the 5 year splits, we are almost unbeatable at home... but what do I know, they say form goes out of the window in local Derbies!!!

5 year Splits: 2003-2008 & 2008-2013

The contrast is incredible, almost doubling the amount of PPG away from home and just one loss (Chelsea this season) at home in the last 5 years...


v Clubs Record (with home & away split):

Yes the numbers against Chelsea and Arsenal are bad (or worse), but they are improving, there are not just round 'zero's' in the Win column anymore...

Season's like the current one, with 6 London clubs in the Premier League and 10 London Derbies (that's over a quarter of the season) it is the results in these games that may yet decide the CL places!!

So hold onto your hats... we have 3 to play starting with a minor little matter this Sunday... 7pts from the 3 remaining Derbies should see us home (in my humble opinion)...

COYS