This was a golden chance. I suppose all that is left is 'hope' and a large slice of luck. The phrase I coined a few years ago was 'sleepwalking to relegation'. Recently adopted by many, it is a good description of our downward trend.
Many neutrals find it odd that a team 8th last season could rapidly fall, but we know our 8th position gave a false impression in a very close and crowded mid table and really only masked problems that were building up for some time.