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Would you take 4th from bottom next season now?


doggface

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I'd take 17th. I hope for better and I'm sure that the club are aiming for better. I expect Nigel, in common with other managers, will stress the importance of survival in all of his interviews for at least the first half of the season.

 

I want the club to be run with financial stability and would not want the long term future of the club to be gambled for the sake of chasing unrealistic dreams.

 

Stoke are probably a good benchmark for us. They have spent money sensibly, slowly improving their squad over the years. Obviously I don't want to see us copying their playing style.

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No , but if we don't get rid of the dead wood who struggled horribly in the Championship, probably.

 

To be fair, I don't think we really have any deadwood at our club these days.

 

Forecast and Forte are probably the only 2 you could state as current dead wood. Everyone else played a part at some stage this season, fair enough - certain players may struggle next season, but it's a bit harsh to say they're dead wood already.

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You have to bear in mind that with the transfer window the way it is Nigel only gets 1 shot ( probably too late by January) to get in the right players and decide which of the present squad will make it in the prem. bearing in mind that many were playing in league 1 a year ago. So although I think we have the potential to finish much higher I would settle for 17th in our 1st season

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As the title really...

 

I know cortese would probably have much higher aspirations which will be interesting to manage, would you take it right now if offered or are we/will be better than that?

 

Me.... Through gritted teeth, yes I would

 

I guess years of prem struggle are bred into me by now!

 

No i would not - i want better than this and I really do believe we will achieve it.

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No there are only 8 to 10 teams we cannot yet compete with assuming we make a few good signings to strengthen! However we should be able to at least

 

compete with

 

Reading

Hammers or Blackpool

QPR

Swansea

Norwich

Wigan

Stoke

Fulham

West Brom

 

Maybe

Sunderland

Aston villa

 

Unlikely

Manu

Manc

Arsenal

Spurs

Newcastle

Liverpool

Everton

 

So am hoping for a solid mid table 10 to 13 place as a good consolidation position to kick on from

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Shoot for the stars and we might just get the moon.

Too many sides want 'safety'. Where's the fun in that?

Let's not mess about, let's expect to be winners. Top 8 finish minimum and FA Cup

 

If this is a representative opinion we might be in trouble. The name of the game next season is staying up ... We've overachieved so far, with the squad we've got. 17th I'd take in a heartbeat.

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Shoot for the stars and we might just get the moon.

Too many sides want 'safety'. Where's the fun in that?

Let's not mess about, let's expect to be winners. Top 8 finish minimum and FA Cup

 

If this is a representative opinion we might be in trouble. The name of the game next season is staying up ... We've overachieved so far, with the squad we've got. 17th I'd take in a heartbeat.

 

Totally agree with this, 17th or higher would be very good.

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Shoot for the stars and we might just get the moon.

Too many sides want 'safety'. Where's the fun in that?

Let's not mess about, let's expect to be winners. Top 8 finish minimum and FA Cup

 

If this is a representative opinion we might be in trouble. The name of the game next season is staying up ... We've overachieved so far, with the squad we've got. 17th I'd take in a heartbeat.

 

How might my personal expectation mean 'we might be in trouble'? It's an opinion for goodness sake. I am a fan; that's all I am. I have no influence on team selection or the way the team plays. The title of this thread is to do with a guarantee of minimal expectation. Well, I don't want that. How sad is it to accept a 'just good enough' final position before a ball has been kicked? I expect my team to win (otherwise why go to games, why support at all?), that's the name of the game. I get disappointed if they lose. I feel good when they win. Next year I daresay we'll maybe be given the runaround by the Manchester clubs and possibly by the north London ones. I expect us however to win 14 or 15 other games minimum and pick up a few draws. I might be disappointed. So what? Rather risk that than insuring against possible disappointment by accepting the hypothetical 'guarantee' of just avoiding relegation.

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Right now, no. Would want to be top half.

 

But if we're in the bottom 5 come the last month of the season then yes. Of course. Just depends how the season goes

 

Its no good answering the question 'NO' then say but if we are struggling then yes.

I'd not be happy with 17th but if someone could guarantee me 17th now I'd bite there arm off as it would guarantee another year in the prem to build from.

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I'm sure the team will be looking for something better next season, but yes - of course I would take 17th in our first season back.

 

IMO we need to make sure we are in the Premier League for the next three seasons. If we can do that then I think we will be in a once-in-a-lifetime position to push the club forward. The new financial restrictions will be taking effect around then and I genuinely believe with the infrastructure that we have that we could become a major force. Most people would laugh at that right now, but why not? We have got one of the best youth development structures, if not the best, within English football, and we should be proud of that.

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I'm sure the team will be looking for something better next season, but yes - of course I would take 17th in our first season back.

 

IMO we need to make sure we are in the Premier League for the next three seasons. If we can do that then I think we will be in a once-in-a-lifetime position to push the club forward. The new financial restrictions will be taking effect around then and I genuinely believe with the infrastructure that we have that we could become a major force. Most people would laugh at that right now, but why not? We have got one of the best youth development structures, if not the best, within English football, and we should be proud of that.

 

Good post, I agree completely

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Its no good answering the question 'NO' then say but if we are struggling then yes.

I'd not be happy with 17th but if someone could guarantee me 17th now I'd bite there arm off as it would guarantee another year in the prem to build from.

 

oh, sorry.

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As the pundits said on Match of the Day yesterday, it must be encouraging for Southampton and Reading to see how Swansea and Norwich have fared in the Premiership since their promotions this season.

 

I see absolutely no reason to believe that we could not do at least as well as them, as it is my opinion that we are as good as they were, if not better than them at the point where they gained promotion.

 

Neither of them broke the bank with extra players before they began their Premiership campaigns and with a little bit of fine-tuning we could do the same. Adkins is as good a manager as Norwich's and Swansea's, so there is no area where they have any sort of advantage over us, on the contrary, if anything our financial situation could give us the edge.

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I've had fun over the last 7 years. The Championship doesn't fill me with the dread it did in 2005. Even if we go straight back down, we will go down wealthy, and in a good position to press on.

 

We shouldn't shy away from offering bigger contracts, but we should ensure that there are good relegation clauses imbedded into them - I want all new contracts to include a 50% reduction in wage clause for any relegation.

 

Would I take finishing 4th from bottom now? As relegation doesn't worry me, no.. I'd rather we risked a bit more, and aimed a bit higher.

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If we stick to our principles, and continue to play football the right way I see no reason we cannot continue to prosper. Would I take 17th now, yes but I think with 3/4 good signings then we can easily do what Swansea & Norwich have done. Aim for the stars if we fall a little short then no problem.

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I've had fun over the last 7 years. The Championship doesn't fill me with the dread it did in 2005. Even if we go straight back down, we will go down wealthy, and in a good position to press on.

 

We shouldn't shy away from offering bigger contracts, but we should ensure that there are good relegation clauses imbedded into them - I want all new contracts to include a 50% reduction in wage clause for any relegation.

 

Would I take finishing 4th from bottom now? As relegation doesn't worry me, no.. I'd rather we risked a bit more, and aimed a bit higher.

 

Yep, agree very much with this. The bottom half of the Premier League has been filled with mediocrity for a number of years; that Swansea and Norwich have done so well is testament to the fact that they actually gave it a go and went for victories instead of the typical park the bus approach.

 

There's really not a great deal between 10th place and 20th place in the Premier League. I think we need to strengthen quite a bit this summer to be good enough, but I also think we will do that, and as a consequence should be aiming for mid-table as a form of consolidation.

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