It’s all quiet in the transfer market, with thousands of rumors but little actual action, as players wait for their contractual bonuses to be paid at the end of June, but there is one bit of excitement this week with the fixtures set to be released.
Football fans who attend games live in limbo for about four weeks of the year; when the season ends, they suddenly can’t plan anything in their lives until they know where their team will be playing on any given weekend.
Even the release of the fixtures does not allow full planning for those who support Premier League teams due to the constant changes in the fixture list for TV and some at short notice.
But on Thursday of this week, at 9 a.m., the Premier League will release its fixture list, and we will all know roughly what we will be able to do over the next 11 months, whether we will have friends over on Boxing Day or be at St Mary’s, whether we will have to take it easy on New Years Day due to a home game the next day.
Vacations will be booked for August in order to avoid missing home games, and wedding invitations will be accepted, among other things.
Instead of speculative rumors that every player has been linked with and is certain to sign with at least four clubs, we can actually discuss whether Saints will struggle early on and whether we have an easy run in come May.
We will look at key calendar dates, such as when we play the big clubs at home and when all of the popular short-away trips take place.
So mark Thursday, June 16th, 9 a.m. on your calendar as the day we all reclaim our lives.
