Winning Mentality Rolls On

After a stuttering opening weekend of the Premier League, the English domestic campaign is finally off and running and already a familiar trend has emerged across the divisions. Away from the top-flight two proverbial sleeping giants on the south coast are leading the way in the Championship and are proving how important the psychological aspect of the beautiful game really is.

Southampton and Brighton were the top two teams in League One last season and it's easy to see why. Both were metronomically consistent when it mattered. In Southampton's case it took the introduction of Nigel Adkins to arrest their early season slump and give their campaign the shot in the arm that ultimately ended in promotion. Brighton, under the guidance of Gus Poyet went from divisional relegation candidates to league champions in the space of 12 months. Even south coast rivals Bournemouth surprised many by making the League One play-offs and giving themselves a shot at back-to-back promotions

Now, with three wins from three, supporters of both Southampton and Brighton are getting used to looking up. Victories havn't been by the odd goal either: most recently Saints won 5-2 at Ipswich while the Seagulls ran out 3-1 winners at Cardiff City. Hardly results easily predicted by the bookmakers. With both sides having made very few changes to the playing staff, is the winning mentality instilled into these promotion-winning squads the key ingredient in ensuring success? The evidence certainly seems to point that way. As progressively more teams are starting to prove at the highest level, you can often win a game in your mind before winning it on the pitch.

Most famously of course the efforts of Norwich City in achieving successive promotions has seen them once again rubbing shoulders with the elite. What price both Southampton and Brighton repeating the Canaries' success...?