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Post by AlliG on May 25, 2016 18:11:50 GMT
Yes... most definitely. A nice cup run wouldn't go amiss with a top half finish. In fact, if we keep away from that bloody gravity alligator then I'll be a happy chappy. OS. Oi OS. Leave me out of this! And yes, I would.
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Post by salopstick on May 25, 2016 18:36:13 GMT
I'd take 4th from bottom now
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Post by StatesideStokie on May 25, 2016 19:14:55 GMT
9th again? Absolutely, I would take that right now. If we can avoid the sort of injury nightmare that we endured this season and improve our home form against the so-called lesser sides, we have the potential to push on again but realistically, four consecutive top ten finishes would represent a superb achievement.
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Post by ashleyscfc on May 25, 2016 20:27:37 GMT
Depends who comes in and if Hughes can stop the rot.
Hughes, Carto, Scholes and Kev Cruschniak have a big job.
Eddie Niedwicki has said, quite candidly, what we need. So if this isn't addressed some questions need to be answered.
It's going to be tough to change the balance in the squad in terms of getting that final centre back and the right mix of steel and style in the forward positions.
Like has been said I'll try To take each game as it comes and pray the performances will be better than this year. Top half would still be an outstanding achievement
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Post by robwahlmann on May 25, 2016 21:01:42 GMT
yes, with 55 points and a cup final win!
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Post by geoff321 on May 25, 2016 21:11:57 GMT
For Mark Hughes to get three 9th place finishes has been a brilliant achievement and it's possible he could go one or two better this season, my gut feeling is though that we shall see the top elite clubs open up a gap again which would be disappointing.
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Post by skip on May 25, 2016 21:14:51 GMT
For Mark Hughes to get three 9th place finishes has been a brilliant achievement and it's possible he could go one or two better this season, my gut feeling is though that we shall see the top elite clubs open up a gap again which would be disappointing. They're not elite though are they Geoff321, they're just bigger. And the more clubs that mix and match their managers and squads to secure Champions League football, the more chances of clubs doing a Chelsea like this season, say.
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Post by geoff321 on May 25, 2016 21:19:05 GMT
Call it what you like skip, bigger, richer, elite etc, providing those clubs are run properly they will take the top places, the hope is that their Chairman make mistakes something Peter Coates doesn't seem to do.
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Post by sharonbeech21 on May 25, 2016 21:22:04 GMT
Definetly i would take 9th every time and a cup would be brilliant but a top half finish in premier league would be great for me
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Post by Royal Donut on May 25, 2016 22:09:22 GMT
Simple,,,yes :-)
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Post by chrisparker on May 25, 2016 23:16:42 GMT
I would take 9th again given the same circumstances. A lot depends on what happens though: Will Arni stay? Will Diouf or Joselu blossom into a high goal scorer? Will we score more goals? Will the defence be more settled next season/ How will the likes of Chelsea, Everton, West Ham, Leicester do? The list is endless. I concluded that this season we did regress because we never replaced N'Zonzi effectively, we failed to score sufficiently, and we accumulated less points. Yes we had a lot of injuries, but the club brought in a large number of players last summer to cover that situation. On the other side of the coin, 9th place with Liverpool and Chelsea either side of us, is an achievement we have dreamed of for decades and outstanding considering the resources other clubs have. So yes I want more, I dream of winning the FA Cup, but if 9th is what we get then I happily accept it and will still be proud to be a Stokie. It's not about lack of ambition, it's about having realistic expectations. Our squad is nowhere near as good as the clubs who've finished above us (in fact it's also nowhere near as strong as Chelsea's & Everton's). Take Southampton for instance. 4 of their players (Mané, Wanyama, Davies & Van Dijk) would walk straight into the first 11 of every other team in the league. How many of our players do you reckon are good enough to play for a top 4 club? Possibly none. It would be huge ask to improve our squad to that extent in one summer.
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