Will we ever break into top 6 again?

This regime? You make it sound like Pardew is letting you down. I think the opposite, you shot up the league like a rat up a drain pipe.

If you mean Ashley then you may have a point. You need to build on your excellent start, otherwise others will catch up.

 

I'm asking if we can ever achieve it under this regime and their policy. Not saying it could take 2-3 years but I am saying can we achieve it with Ashley in charge.

 

We're 3 points from 6th, it wouldn't massively surprise me if we make it into the top 6 again this season. Reaching third wasn't done by beating top sides, it was done by beating those around us while the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal slipped up. I'm not predicting a top 6 finish, but its not by any means outside the realms of possibility. Obviously Januarys important.

 

This. If we had maintained our form then we'd be in the champions league spots, which is totally punching above our current weight. If by some miracle we had been lucky with injuries and kept our squad, and maintained our form, and finished in the CL, we would have been totally above our reach.

There's no way we would have coped with the pressure with our current squad, and there's no way Mike Ashley would spend 50-60 million to buy us a squad that would be able to compete in that position.

We had a great start to the season, but our injuries have piled up to bring the squad back down to earth. The top 8 is where we should aim for, and that would be a cracking season.

If some of our players and fans aren't happy with that then they can **** off.

 

Of course you can - providing you invest.

 

Well, like I said in one of my earlier posts, if we'd had the losses spread out throughout the games we've played so far I don't think people would be so negative. It's just the fact that the poor results so far have all been in one big lump makes it harder for people to be positive about it. Our current form is about as bad as the bottom 3, so I think it's natural for most people to look at that and think we're in trouble. It's not so much that losing games is a surprise, just that it's a bit of a downer to lose so many in recent games. That's true regardless of what happened earlier in the season, but probably moreso if you'd been on an unbeaten run.

 

We're not on the same level as anyone in the top 6 and we're not going to get the investment from Ashley to break into the top 6.

 

I hope I'm not being too pessimistic but I think that it's this season or never... Pool, Arsenal , Chelsea and Spurs are going to spend big next season especially if the Financial rules are being introduced. We just have to hope that Pool have their usual season blip and maybe we'll nick them the 6th place ...
Also even if we finish 7th, I think that we can still make it to the UEFA if the Top 6 make it to the FA CUP finals and win the League Cup ...

 

Well why is it such a massive disappointment anyway?

What we should aim to to do is finish in the top 8 and perhaps try and go far in the Europa League or make more of a cup run.

It will take us years and years to try and reach the heights of any of the teams in the top 6. It's not a big deal for me. 7th place is a very good finish.

What we should aim to do in my opinion, is try and add depth to the squad so that we can compete in other competitions, and maintain a strong top 8 finish.

 

I wasn't saying that I'm disappointed but that the rift between the top teams and the rest is always increasing .... I'm still very happy the way our season has gone so far ...

 

I would be chuffed with a top 8 finish, top 7 and I'd be ecstatic. Look at the teams above us now, they're likely to have the top 6 because they're better than we are and have far more depth. If we can keep hold of 7th this season it would be an incredible improvement on 12th last year and the Championship the year before that.

 

At least you have given me a laugh for the New Year. We dont stand a cat in hells chance of getting in the top six with our current board.

 

If we finished 8th for the next three seasons I'd be happy. We need consistency for a few years. I wouldn't want to finish 7th this year, 12th next year, 10th the year after.

We need to build slowly and make ourselves a regular top half side.

 

no chance under MA and DL. No chance in hell. More likely to be relegated than to be reasonably successful sadly

 

Who the **** are you tell fans to **** off, fans have a right not to be happy at something especially if they feel the team isnt reaching the expectations (even if the expectations are totally unrealistic.

 

We have no depth to our squad to be honest, we can't cope with injuries or suspensions at all, I know he's a cult figure but you have players like Sammy who, lets be honest, aren't good enough for The Premier League yet, however we can't afford to loan him out such is our wafer thin squad. 7th is a good position to be in at the minute, to be honest we should be higher; we've deserved more points in a few games, I think that's pretty amazing when you see the squads in the top 6, the fact we're so close to pushing them. If we invested, we could nick a 6th place finish, if not then no, but I do think we're the best of the rest (barring stupid amount of injuries etc). I don't see why we shouldn't finish 7th, yes maybe I'm aiming too high, but I'd be disappointed with just consolidating in all honesty and ending up around 12th, because we're better than that, Pardew and his staff deserve immense credit for that.

 

chaps im hoping to finish above sunderland and i will be happy ha ,but realistically top ten i will be pleased