Come on, Jeff Stelling!

I CAN'T sleep. Can't think straight. I've developed a worrying twitch above my left eye.
I find I am getting snappy for no logical reason.
At work, my fingers work relentlessly on twitter, google, the Gas website.
I need a sign.
People around me can sense my edginess. They are playing on it.
The Saints fan who sits alongside me starts the ball rolling.
"I've got on Bristol City for promotion at 13-2," he says.
"Who're you with? I fancy them, too," says the bloke across the table.
"Yeah, we're all on them," adds another betting junkie from the far side of the room.
They must feel like Torres does when presented with an open goal.
A Cardiff City mate sends me a tweet in sympathy.
"They've got no chance mate. Coppell is a gd manager but they are a poor team (James and Maynard apart) we smashed em 6-0 at Ashton!"
I point this out to the baiting hordes.
"Has the transfer window shut yet?" asks one.
"Well ... no, not yet."
"So in theory David James joining Bristol (he says that deliberately) could encourage other big names to join them. It is what they call a seminal signing."
I can't disagree.
But this isn't about City and Steve Coppell, David James or whoever they may sign.
This is about the Gas.
It is about Paul Trollope. The boss.
The man we trust above all others.
He tells us he has got it right. He has brought in signings that are Championship quality.
They will make the team better than last season.
He will employ different tactics, too. He has a plan A, a plan B, a plan C.
And reading this I think: Where can it go wrong?

I so want to believe him, but there are minor little fears niggling at the back of my mind.
There's no Steve Elliott, our stalwart of seasons past, the steady hand in the centre of defence.
And we have still found no replacement for Rickie Lambert, the prolific striker we sold to Southampton at the start of last season and who came back to haunt us - no more so than in our 5-1 thrashing at the Mem towards the end of the campaign just gone.
Plus the goalkeeper we signed on loan for this season lasted barely a week before injuring his back, but at least we now have Mikkel Andersen, the giant Dane who did so well for us previously, back from Reading on a month's loan.

But still... the new players all say we are aiming for promotion, confident we have the right players on board. So who am I to argue?
Well, last week I spent a lot of my time compiling the ins and outs for various rivals.
And, lo and behold, they have all made signings, too. And they are all confident they have got the right players in.
For goodness sake, local rivals Swindon have just signed two players from Celtic, the Scottish giants. Well, actually, Celtic have been pretty hopeless lately and these two lads couldn't even get into their team.
So I'm not worried about Swindon.
Still, there is Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Charlton, Huddersfield, Brighton, MK Dons, Peterborough, Plymouth and Notts County to worry about before you even look into the merits of improving Exeter plus Oldham and their new boss.
And if I am truly honest I have heard very little of the players that we have signed other than from Trolls, who says he has fought off stiff competition for all of them.
I am... err... convinced.

So roll on Saturday.
I'd love to be at Peterborough to see this new team click into action, take the League by storm, thrash the lives out of opposition just relegated from the Championship and now managed by the former City boss Gary Johnson.
Unfortunately I'll be at work.
The tension will build until 3pm when I will be transfixed by every squeak, sigh, laugh and groan eminating from frontman Jeff Stelling and his team on Sky Sports.
I'll be supremely confident that this will be the Gas's season.
And I will erase from my memory the opening day of last season, a 2-1 home defeat to Leyton Orient... or 2008/09, a 3-2 home defeat by Carlisle United, or even the 2006-07 season... a 4-1 away defeat at, wait for it, Peterborough.
And even if the result goes the wrong way I will still find a silver lining. In fact, I already have it prepared.
When the betting boys turn around to crow because Bristol City have got off to a flyer and Rovers have crashed I'll just say, "I think it's a good omen. We lost at London Road 4-1 on the first day four seasons ago and went on to win the League Two play-off final at Wembley."