Such is the new positive energy dripping through every pore of Huddersfield Town since David Wagner's arrival, it didn't raise many eyebrows when Harry Bunn, and then Joe Lolley, both spoke of ending 2015/16 in the top half of the Championship table - if not the top ten.
Town haven't finished in the top half of English football's second tier for 16 years, when the goals of Clyde Wijnhard fired them to eighth in the then Division One.
Wagner, then a youngster of 28, was plying his trade with SV Darmstadt 98 while his future club was scaling heights that the vast majority of those eligible for £69 season tickets next term haven't experienced in their lifetimes.
Seven wins under the new boss, as well as increased fitness and more enjoyable football, have seen the players and fans look up the table, rather than eyeing the relegation places below with trepidation and the occasional bead of sweat.
However, with the promise of spring and marginally less wind and rain comes March, and with it a distinctly challenging run of fixtures that will tell us exactly where Town can dream of finishing this season - and no doubt reveal to Wagner just where his team currently stands against the division's elite.
The next few games? Derby (a), Reading (h), Burnley (h), followed by a pair of Yorkshire Derbies in succession, away to Leeds before a home clash with Sheffield Wednesday to round off the month.
And April Fools' Day doesn't bring an end to it either, with a trip to Middlesbrough followed by the visit of Hull within five days of each other.
The toughest of runs awaits.
Under Wagner, there is hope - if not expectation. The manager has recorded extremely impressive wins away at Birmingham last November , and more recently away at Nottingham Forest, bringing their 13-game unbeaten streak in the league to an end with a crash.
The win against Wolves two Saturday's ago and the draw at Loftus Road over Christmas are more feathers in his cap.
However, the fixture list has certainly not presented him with a run like this during his tenure to date.
Town are currently on 39 points, exactly ten points clear of Rotherham in 22nd, but nine points behind Preston, who currently occupy 10th place.
Last season, the number of points required to finish 10th was 63, while it was 60 points for 12th, and a place in the top half. That's 21 points for Town to make up during the final 12 games of the campaign, or in other words - seven wins between now and May.
And yet the next seven games will have even the most optimistic of supporters looking through their fingers anxiously.
It doesn't help that Jonathan Hogg could be out for 6-8 weeks , and if it is at the longer end of that spectrum then he will only be back for the very tail end of the campaign. Philip Billing still has two games of his suspension to serve while Emyr Huws and Sean Scannell aren't expected back before the international break.
It says everything about the mood in the camp and a dressing room re-invigorated by the passion and intelligence of their new chief that they are setting such targets. However, Wagner has repeatedly insisted he isn't interested in setting any arbitrary goal for this season.
It is easy to think he has an eye on next. He speaks of his long-term project with Town - even if he won't answer specifics beyond the next game. He is still trying to hone this squad and already has his eye on the missing pieces.
With a summer of spending, a full pre-season with his players, youngsters improving under his guidance and a stadium buoyed by £179 adult seasoncards, it's easy to imagine he's looking forward to July.
There is a lot of football to be played by then, and a strong finish to this term would set Town up properly for a powerful attempt at climbing the next rung of football's increasingly slippery ladder.
The next seven games will tell us a lot about where Town will finish this season.
But they will also tell David Wagner even more about his squad's standing, where it needs strengthening and exactly how much work needs to be done to get Town moving towards a place in the play-off picture, rather than merely avoiding relegation.
