I look at this in two ways.
The Good- Since Bruce took over we have improved by three places each season I noticed that when the paper I was reading had trajectories over the past three seasons, and it was only Man City who had a better rate of improvement than us over that period (as in we've not dropped at all either). I think that's a fantastic stat, and despite the fact that we do like a good moan when times are hard (what fans don't?!) this vindicates all the work that Bruce has done, for me. Solid, rapid, quantifiable progress.
The Bad- I think anything less than a euro spot and Short will bin Bruce. A big shout, and although you may well be right safcol, I think this would be borderline ridiculous. I'd be happy with anywhere from 10 upwards. Sure, European football would be amazing and I'd love it, but we've still only been in this league a few years. I know that progress breeds expectation, but I'd love to think Short is more savvy than that. We had a plan for steady, realistic progress up the league, from relegation candidates, to mid table, to top ten, and maybe eventually Europe. Bruce has delivered season after season- 3 places a year is fantastic- and if he fails to deliver European football, there's no way we should sack him.
If he makes 7th this year and fails to make 4th the year after, would Short look at it in the same way? Top 8 = tough crowd. I'd be very happy to attack it slowly, we've waited so long since our last European games, we're in no rush!
