During the blog's summer hiatus, as well as taking a much-needed break from writing, I was keeping myself ticking over thinking of new ideas for features. The loss of chalkboard data that accompanied relegation from the Premier League forced my hand when it came to how matches are reviewed - the Seaside Strategy series of posts were consigned to the past.
The replacement template for match reports would become my 'Four Thoughts on...' series, in which four key themes are picked out to analyse each game. Until now, the reason for settling on the number four has been a little unclear, with one reader, almost angrily, commenting "Why does it always have to be four thoughts? Why do you never have three thoughts, or five?".
The answer, dear reader, should now be a little more transparent upon reading the title of this post and the somewhat unsubtle wordplay therein. It was always my intention that I would expand my coverage by both previewing and reviewing as many fixtures as possible, but for a variety of reasons it has taken until now to launch 'Forethoughts'.
It is hoped this will become a regular feature, and kicking it off is a preview of Saturday's home fixture against Crystal Palace...
