My prediction, for what it's worth. We'll do just fine this season. My reasoning is that we've done pretty much what we did last summer and we did OK then. This conversation happens every September and it's been incorrect in its conclusions for a long time.
Now there is something else worth mentioning. When I'm in a casino and red has come up nine times on the trot, I watch people backing black with a sigh. Do they really think the ball knows it's due a black?
As it happens though, I also despair of people who back red, convinced there's a pattern. What they can't see is that it's random.
However, and I've argued this more than enough, I don't see what we do as in any way related to luck. We do well buying in players not because we're lucky but because we know how to look and we buy players who can't go straight to "top" clubs because "top" clubs can't afford bad signings; their fans revolt far too quickly. We (most of us) are a more patient bunch and we can get through the period where Mané always took on one man too many in his early games. We can see what's there and we wait. EDIT: except the bloke near me who will end up dumped in the Itchen one dark night.
So, we have a way of spotting players with potential (not 100% of the time but enough) and we offer them a route to riches. And, for a few years we have players playing for us who are much better than would normally play for a provincial club like us. Perhaps, rather than despairing that Mané left, we should rejoice that we had him in the first place. We will become a destination but until then, we can use players on their way up (and I say "up" with a cynical sneer).
Long may it continue. This is how we'll build a sustainable way into the top four without having to be bought by dirty money, money that can vanish as quickly as it appears.
Vin