6th is very achievable right now and would be a huge statement from us, getting into the top 6. Wouldn't really matter we'd slipped from 3rd, top 6 would be all the matters. 7tu decent, but wouldnt carry the jizz that goes with getting into the top 6. 8th would be pretty slow progress from 11th last year and a big fall from where we were in the league earlier.
8th would cause Howe some problems heading into next season. On paper one place, but no Europe would be a huge setback.
We played more freely when when we weren't necessarily expecting to break into the top 6 just yet. It's almost like the pressure of being in a cup final and reaching 3rd place has taken a toll. It feels like it's the high expectation that is weighing heavily on the team. There is now 'pressure' to finish strongly to secure a place in european competition, but in a way it might be better if they say "no pressure" and just focus on enjoying football again and being more free flowing, we might see better results again than if everyone is anxious about each game.
I hope Newcastle finish 9th , miss the europa league which will hold the club back for years and just keep trying the leap frog it straight into the top 4.
Data science teams being recruited? They do know that we're trying to win football games, not carry out quantum physics analysis?
Europa League is ****e tbh, wouldn't hold us back that much - teams like Leicester played their second team in it and still won matches cos the other teams were so bad. It's the kinda thing you can just have in the background then later in the season you can take it more seriously if you want to. It won't cause huge problems.
I dunno, I like it. We need to be far smarter at building a squad - we have players other teams don't even want on loan, such is the lack of quality. We need a clear-out but I don't think we've had enough scouting/intelligence in place to allow us to backfill with quality.
It just reminds me a bit of Fat Sam with his whole backroom staff of statisticians, analysts and data geeks....quite ironic really, cos with all that data available to him, "hump the ball upfield somewhere and hope for the best" was generally the game plan he got from it.
It does cause problems like .. it's like quicksand I can't think of a team that hasn't suffered with thursday Sunday... including us
We suffered last time we were in it cos Ashley refused to strengthen the squad in any way, despite us needing to play another 12+ games in that season. Apparently just buying Vernon Anita was all we needed to have a squad ready for both the league and the Europa. However even though our league form obviously suffered that season (we finished 16th or something), it just shows how bad the Europa League is that we managed to get into the quarter finals of it and nearly the semi final, despite having a crap knackered squad playing.
With a minimum of 4 first team signings in the summer we can compete on multiple fronts imho. Squad nearly has 2 decent XI's in there that can chop and rotate as needed to give you options in two games a week. GK: Pope, Dubravka, Karius RB: Trippier, Manquillo, Krafth Ashby LB: Targett, Lewis, Dummett CB: Botman, Schar, Burn Lascelles CM Bruno, Joelinton, Willock, Longstaff, Anderson RW: Gordon, Almiron LW: ASM, Murphy, Ritchie CF: Isak, Wilson For me the top half of the squad is pretty stacked bar an extra CM (or two if you loan out Anderson next year - which we should) and a LW to replace Murphy. Defensively you'd want a LB to compete with Targett and a CB to partner Botman - sell off Krafth, Manquillo, Lewis, Dummett, Ritchie and/or Murphy to create the space in the squad for new players and then you have 2 starting XI's who can compete on multiple competitions. Past that you need long term replacements for Wilson and Trippier who are both over 30 and your off to the races. 6 good quality buys needed over the next 12 months or so and Europe wouldn't be an issue and may actually keep the squad members who aren't playing week in week out fully fit and ready to play if needed in the league. EPL XI: Pope, Trippier, CB, Botman, LB, Bruno, CM, Joelinton, Gordon, LW, Isak Cup XI: Dubz, Ashby, Schar, Burn, Targett, Willock, Longstaff, Anderson, Miggy, ASM, Wilson Plus 3 extra spaces to make a 25 man squad. Drop Ashby and Anderson from the Cup XI and that's your subs bench for the league.
League form becomes an issue and its always been that way. More injuries etc more travelling and clubs just outside the top 4 don't have strong enough squads.
The whole point will be that we become a team with a bigger squad, as we continue to try and get into the top 4, but also are equipped to cope with regular European football. It won't be the horseshit we witnessed in 12/13.
For me, still quite a bit of work to be done. Need to spend better too. From your list: GK: Pope, Dubravka, Karius - Pope good enough starter. Backup decent if they stay. RB: Trippier, Manquillo, Krafth Ashby - Trippier good enough but ageing. Need better than Manq and Krafth though really. Especially as they both seem pretty injury prone recently. Ashby is young and unproven so though he may prove he has what it takes, we shouldn't be relying on that happening really. LB: Targett, Lewis, Dummett - Need a big improvement in this area so Targett becomes the solid back-up option. CB: Botman, Schar, Burn Lascelles - Need another top quality starting CB. CM Bruno, Joelinton, Willock, Longstaff, Anderson - Would be great to get a quality DM to back up Bruno and a goalscoring AM like Maddison. RW: Gordon, Almiron - These two should be backup/challengers for a new top winger. LW: ASM, Murphy, Ritchie - ASM kept to challenge a new quality winger, possibly Murphy kept for further backup in case Saint-Max continues to be injured for large chunks of time. CF: Isak, Wilson - Need a top quality, natural goalscorer to take the starting role. I'd say LB, goalscoring CM, a quality winger and a goalscoring, less injury prone Wilson replacement are the really important new arrivals we should be looking for. Need to spend wisely though, £67million on Isak and £45million on Gordon feels like about a £60million overspend on our last two signings. Hopefully they both go on to prove that wrong...
