I think a lot of people are forgetting one of Adkins' more practical catchphrases. People got very excited when we were in the top four, now people are despairing at our run of defeats and looming injury crisis. I was as frustrated as anyone by our defeat against Villa, but if you can look beyond the last week or two, the bigger picture is still looking very positive. The season's fixtures have been pretty kind to us up until recently, perhaps giving a false impression of how good we are, and now we are playing the tougher games we are being found out a bit. But our form right now isn't really indicative of where we are either, and once we get into the new year, the fixtures become kinder again (and hopefully our squad will be fitter) and our form will inevitably pick up. Until then we'll just have to take the rough with the smooth and not pay too much attention to our position in the table (or the schadenfreude of those who have been waiting for us to trip up). I predicted we'd finish 8th this season and I still think that's a realistic prospect. It was never likely we'd qualify for the champions league and now that seems obvious, but a top-half finish is a respectable aim for a team in its second season in the premier league and looking at where we've come from and where we're going, I don't think any of us, on reflection, would be disappointed with that outcome.
We are in a position of having some leeway when we hit a wall. We must win the games we can and perhaps get the odd unexpected win. This season has shown what we can be. Have to say that we mustn't get too despondent because of a few losses and a batch of injuries...may damage our chances of taking the title but we can still finish well.
Agree with most of this but I dont think it was a false impression. With our first choice team we have shown that we are top 6 standard and a match for anyone.
It was a message to all: an indication of where we want to be and where we will be before too long with a little more squad depth.
Not here to WUM guys but whilst that statement is true, it's true about a lot of teams such as ourselves (Newcastle), Everton, Southampton and maybe even Swansea. In reality to finish in the top 6 you need 18-22 players of top 6 quality and that is something that can take years to achieve. Everton appear to almost be there this season but that's only due to their two best players (Barry & Lukaku) arriving on loan deals and they won't have the money to replace them with permanent signings at the end of the season. I put you in a similar boat to us, although with your resources I do expect you to progress more than us over the coming years. For this season though I think top 10 would be a good achievement for both of our teams.
This is exactly right, football is a squad game and although we have a competitive first team, our squad isn't very deep in terms of real quality. My personal opinion is that it doesn't help that squad players like Yoshida and Cork play so rarely that when they are needed they are obviously rusty, but that's perhaps another argument. The main point is that the top 5 or 6 teams always have quality on the bench as well as on the pitch, and that's not something you can really say about us yet. As I said it's only our second season since promotion, so although players like Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin etc have stepped up impressively, it's not really realistic to expect us to have compiled a title-contending squad in that time.
I agree none of us would ever of expected top 6 this season, our start may well have put us in a false position and given us false hope, but comments from players and staff alike have built up the expectation of fans, which means the current set of results and injury worries will have made alot of fans feel a little dejected. I am one fan who is feeling a little down although not to suprised.
