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Post by roostershair on Aug 1, 2015 7:06:44 GMT
Well, could we?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 7:08:04 GMT
Not a prayer
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Post by roostershair on Aug 1, 2015 7:27:20 GMT
Thanx for clearing that up for me clyde
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Aug 1, 2015 7:27:39 GMT
I think 7th is probably our upper limit at the moment. But, if we got into Europe via a cup (or via 7th place) then we MIGHT be able to attract even better players to push on to challenge for 5th or 6th.
I'm hoping for something between 7th and 10th this season with a cup final (or even a cup win) as a bonus.
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Post by foster on Aug 1, 2015 7:29:55 GMT
Nope
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Post by roostershair on Aug 1, 2015 7:32:14 GMT
I think 7th is probably our upper limit at the moment. But, if we got into Europe via a cup (or via 7th place) then we MIGHT be able to attract even better players to push on to challenge for 5th or 6th. I'm hoping for something between 7th and 10th this season with a cup final (or even a cup win) as a bonus. I'd take that no problem!!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 7:54:31 GMT
Thanx for clearing that up for me clyde no probs bud. I just don't see it yet though. IMO We could kick off the season with a weaker 11 than what we finished. If we get the right signings in and strengthen the starting 11 then top 8 we could well do
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Post by sportsman on Aug 1, 2015 7:58:53 GMT
With a better solid ever present defence we'd do really well.
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Post by muglump on Aug 1, 2015 8:00:36 GMT
I think 7th is probably our upper limit at the moment. But, if we got into Europe via a cup (or via 7th place) then we MIGHT be able to attract even better players to push on to challenge for 5th or 6th. I'm hoping for something between 7th and 10th this season with a cup final (or even a cup win) as a bonus. I'd take that no problem!! and me!
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rosso
Spectator
Posts: 34
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Post by rosso on Aug 1, 2015 8:02:40 GMT
It's well known that sparky teams start off slow and end the season well I think 6th is out of reach 8th would do for me and a good cup run hopefully get to the final for a Europa league place
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Post by harryburrows on Aug 1, 2015 8:14:21 GMT
It would need a major fail again from Liverpool and Spurs . Palace , Swansea , Southampton , westbrom , Newcastle will be in our mini group as well
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Post by stokiejoe on Aug 1, 2015 8:17:42 GMT
Sixth is just out of reach unless we get the sort of luck we rarely get. It would be dependant upon others failing rather than pure merit. Seventh is possible under our own steam but we would need to avoid losing points to those we shouldn't, but that is easier said than done. Winning something and finishing within the top nine would be an achievement.
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Post by potts348 on Aug 1, 2015 8:25:07 GMT
9-10th again.... I don't think well finish above it until we get a goalscorer and unfortunately I don't think we have on right now
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Post by Sfance on Aug 1, 2015 8:26:10 GMT
Very hard to predict this year, mainly due to the relatively high possibility of injuries to the defence. I think Butland will be fine as long as he can have confidence in a consistent set up in front of him and if he gets that we can go one better than last year, but if Ryan's back starts to let him down and It turns out that Wolly has not improved over last season, then I fear we may fall back to 12th or 13th.
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Post by sheriff on Aug 1, 2015 8:32:51 GMT
Which of the top 6 would you be hoping to displace? Southampton are out of reach too. Everton's horrid relegation form in the 1st half of last season probably won't repeat itself. The London mid-table boys West Ham and Palace would be scrapping within your reach too. Swansea always get overlooked, but surprise. West Brom or Newcastle could have big seasons too and are doing some potentially good business.
In my opinion, you could finish as high as 8th (maximum), but a bottom 10 finish is easily concievable. I don't know if your squad as whole is stronger, but Nzonzi, Begovic and Moses' departure has very likely weakened your starting 11.
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Post by Sergeant Muttley on Aug 1, 2015 8:39:57 GMT
I think a lot of Stokies are getting way ahead of themselves when it comes to threads like this,Top 6 really?Lets come back into the real world and hope Shawcross's injury isn't as bad as feared because otherwise I fear a long hard season ahead.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 8:43:36 GMT
Which of the top 6 would you be hoping to displace? Southampton are out of reach too. Everton's horrid relegation form in the 1st half of last season probably won't repeat itself. The London mid-table boys West Ham and Palace would be scrapping within your reach too. Swansea always get overlooked, but surprise. West Brom or Newcastle could have big seasons too and are doing some potentially good business. In my opinion, you could finish as high as 8th (maximum), but a bottom 10 finish is easily concievable. I don't know if your squad as whole is stronger, but Nzonzi, Begovic and Moses' departure has very likely weakened your starting 11. You're opening question would be more valid if we actually thought we could break into the top six. Only the seriously mental fans amongst us could truly believe that this could happen. The rest of your post isn't far off the money,although Moses was never our player and missed the majority of the second half of the season where we picked up a lot of points. If Arnautovic hits the ground running we won't miss Moses anywhere near as much as people think. Nzonzi is likely to be the biggest miss for us this term,but we simply can't say how much yet because Van Ginkel (if he stays fit) could turn out to be a solid replacement. We will hopefully have Bojan up to full fitness early on and if Affelay settles quickly I don't see us being any weaker at all. I reckon we are in for another top ten finish and hopefully a good cup run depending on the luck of the draw. Edit: I missed your comment on Southampton first time around. They definitely aren't out of reach this season,don't forget they have the Europa League to contend with and bigger/better squads than them have struggled to cope in the past.
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Post by mattador78 on Aug 1, 2015 8:45:00 GMT
9-10th again.... I don't think well finish above it until we get a goalscorer and unfortunately I don't think we have on right now So dioufs tally in a broken season and right wing doesn't inspire confidence for you this season?
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Post by ravey123 on Aug 1, 2015 8:46:07 GMT
It is possible to finish 6th or even 5th but it needs a perfect storm of results. We cannot really finish above Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd or Man City and need at least one of Tottenham or LIverpool to underperform then ontop of that win our minileague between us, Southampton, Everton, West Ham, Swansea, Crystal Palace (possibly this year) and Newcastle. Looking back through the last few years 6th needs between 58 and 69 points (most commonly 63 or 64 are needed) - we are therefore only 10 points off from last season - question is where can we get those 10 points from.
The fitness of Ryan and Bojan and the continuing improvement of Diouf and getting our wings at full pace are critical to us improving on last season's points total.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 8:55:09 GMT
I imagine we'll be looking more at the top 6 than we will be over our shoulder.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Aug 1, 2015 8:55:38 GMT
I think a lot of Stokies are getting way ahead of themselves when it comes to threads like this,Top 6 really?Lets come back into the real world and hope Shawcross's injury isn't as bad as feared because otherwise I fear a long hard season ahead. How many Stokies are predicting a top 6 spot? Virtually none - most will be delighted with anything between 7th and 10th. So most Stokies are not getting ahead of themselves.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 8:57:48 GMT
Too many if's and but's about the squad IMHO, but we'll see.
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Post by mrcoke on Aug 1, 2015 9:10:32 GMT
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Post by onlyonesirstan on Aug 1, 2015 9:10:40 GMT
Which of the top 6 would you be hoping to displace? Southampton are out of reach too. Everton's horrid relegation form in the 1st half of last season probably won't repeat itself. The London mid-table boys West Ham and Palace would be scrapping within your reach too. Swansea always get overlooked, but surprise. West Brom or Newcastle could have big seasons too and are doing some potentially good business. In my opinion, you could finish as high as 8th (maximum), but a bottom 10 finish is easily concievable. I don't know if your squad as whole is stronger, but Nzonzi, Begovic and Moses' departure has very likely weakened your starting 11. Southampton out of reach and west ham around us! If both of them get into europa league stage, saints may slip and west ham could be in trouble.
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Post by Gods on Aug 1, 2015 9:25:26 GMT
I think you could say we will finish somewhere between 8th at the best and 14th at the worst with about 90% probability.
There won't be more than 10 points between those places in the table so it will hinge on some very narrow margins as it always does in that middle group where you can't put a sliver of paper between the quality of the squads who all have roughly the same to spend.
You can tweak it at the edges and occasionally you can screw up big style but at it's heart its a money game right?
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Post by StokeAz on Aug 1, 2015 9:26:33 GMT
Well, could we? no chance... They actually use their money!
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Post by FullerMagic on Aug 1, 2015 9:27:34 GMT
I'm hoping for 9-12th.
N'Zonzi will be a huge loss though.
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Post by sheriff on Aug 1, 2015 9:27:20 GMT
Which of the top 6 would you be hoping to displace? Southampton are out of reach too. Everton's horrid relegation form in the 1st half of last season probably won't repeat itself. The London mid-table boys West Ham and Palace would be scrapping within your reach too. Swansea always get overlooked, but surprise. West Brom or Newcastle could have big seasons too and are doing some potentially good business. In my opinion, you could finish as high as 8th (maximum), but a bottom 10 finish is easily concievable. I don't know if your squad as whole is stronger, but Nzonzi, Begovic and Moses' departure has very likely weakened your starting 11. Southampton out of reach and west ham around us! If both of them get into europa league stage, saints may slip and west ham could be in trouble. The Europa thing can be a bit of a myth. Atletico Madrid's recent success was founded on first dominating Europa footy. Sevilla had their best domestic season in a long time, despite back-to-back Europa titles. It starts with the mentality and the English clubs approach the competition as a ready-made excuse. In any case, Southampton may struggle, but I would still expect them to finish no worse than 8th.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 9:34:47 GMT
If we can replicate our away form from when Moses and Bojan were flying for a whole season then arguably we could do a Southampton but I'd be more than happy with a repeat of last seasons position with a cup run thrown in
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Post by spongebobflathead on Aug 1, 2015 9:37:36 GMT
Yeah I reckon its achievable, I personally think we will piss it !
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