Finishing 11th again would be acceptable, without a 9-0 defeat ideally, if we could mount a serious challenge for one of the cups. We'd need luck, of course, but I'd fancy Ralph to set up a team to beat anyone as a one-off* Anything higher in the table is going to require some serious investment. Our 'starting 11' is very good. But a couple of injuries and our lack of depth shows. This is always going to be a problem. How do you persuade a player who could slot in for, say ,Ward-Prowse to sit on our bench? Hopefully the academy will continue to produce.
* And before anyone asks I do mean anyone. The 4-0 at Anfield was one of our most bizarre results this year. It all hinged on two bad decisions which then opened the floodgates. Sure, Liverpool were awesome once they went 1-0 up, but there was a different result in that game on another day.