For multiple reasons this has been a Premiership season like no other. Just 10 competing clubs, a prolonged midterm hiatus and only 11 points separating the top seven teams before the final weekend of the regular league campaign. Tight at the top with plenty of thrills and spills on the field is a collective win‑win for players, fans, television executives and sponsors.
Should the run-in follow a similar pattern and the feelgood vibe endure, it will be even better news for the English game. There is just one potential snag. As the stakes rise it is easy for ambition to become constricted and for conservatism to take over, lest one mistake undermine a coach’s entire grand design. Sport’s most tantalising equation – risk v reward – suddenly looms larger.
