sparrow1988 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 10 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: We’ll be closer to relegation than Europe with our current side I’m afraid. Lot of work to be done on the first XI before we think about Europe. The irony is in 19/20 we stayed up by the skin of our teeth but were also only one game away from Europe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpotvilla Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 11 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: Why is it? Where do you think this current squad finishes? Probably between 6th & 9th. Once the pre season dust has settled we will be a much stronger squad than last season. It's the squad that matters too. Look what happened when one player dropped out last year. This will not happen now 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 9 minutes ago, pintpotvilla said: Probably between 6th & 9th. Once the pre season dust has settled we will be a much stronger squad than last season. It's the squad that matters too. Look what happened when one player dropped out last year. This will not happen now No chance. (IMO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintpotvilla Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 20 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said: No chance. (IMO) Can't see the negativity. We have improved no doubt! Just give them a couple of weeks to settle down. This is a good team 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Tommo_b said: LEEDS?? Wtf have I just read. unless u forgot...we finished behind Leeds last season friendo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 4 hours ago, alreadyexists said: I know West Ham over performed last year, but are we that much worse than their squad last year? Europe is really unlikely but it is possible Yes we are. West Ham far more balanced squad. They have a bit of everything. Power, flair and grit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 40 minutes ago, MaVilla said: unless u forgot...we finished behind Leeds last season friendo. Yeah but Leeds will struggle more second season like a lot of clubs do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 I think it's still going to be tough to finish above any of those clubs that finished above us last season. I'll also expect wolves to push more for a top half finish this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 2 hours ago, MaVilla said: unless u forgot...we finished behind Leeds last season friendo. Yeah, I know…. But I don’t see how they have strengthened, they were on a first season back bounce much like Sheffield United, personally I see them struggling this year and the notion they are contenders for Europe, baffling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow1988 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 2 hours ago, nick76 said: Yeah but Leeds will struggle more second season like a lot of clubs do. Or they improve like we did in our second season? I know they haven't strengthened much but asserting that they "will" struggle is a bit like you've seen the future. Either that or your future self found a sports almanac, travelled back in time and gave it to your younger self, in which case could you share it please? Because I'd like to make a few bob from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 50 minutes ago, Tommo_b said: Yeah, I know…. But I don’t see how they have strengthened, they were on a first season back bounce much like Sheffield United, personally I see them struggling this year and the notion they are contenders for Europe, baffling. What was said that we would need to finish above Leeds( amongst others) to qualify for Europe. Not that Leeds would get Europe and we wouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 1 hour ago, sparrow1988 said: Or they improve like we did in our second season? I know they haven't strengthened much but asserting that they "will" struggle is a bit like you've seen the future. Either that or your future self found a sports almanac, travelled back in time and gave it to your younger self, in which case could you share it please? Because I'd like to make a few bob from it. Haha my future self said he laughed at your joke posted next week, thought it was hilarious. Being serious though, it’s just my opinion but I thought they were at really at their limits last season and aside from a few players didn’t have the talent in their squad for the league position they got. Not really improving on that quality in the transfer market, imo, they will slip a bit. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdulaziz1 Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 12 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: No chance. (IMO) No chance? I’d accept it for top four and Leicester, Spurs. But other than that it’s open. You could add West Ham and Arsenal, the most threat after that comes from Brighton, then Everton. Leeds, Wolves and Brentford could go either way. But I don’t think being above those (No chance). One of our main problems since last season is that we’re trying to play 4231. That won’t work, the earlier Smith uses 433 the more benefit for our side. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 (edited) 13 hours ago, Delphinho123 said: No chance. (IMO) We do have goals in this team. Scored 4 in first two so a decent ratio so far (considering we actually haven't created much in open play) and that's with Watkins playing 0 minutes and Bailey half an hour. I'd rather have that as a work in progress team than likes of Palace and Wolves with 0 goals so far, shouldn't be finishing below either of them tbh and those two should be around top of bottom half. To spin it who are people scared of finishing above us who finished below last season? So far I'd say the obvious one is Brighton who look to have more of ruthless instinct infront of goal compared to last season with Maupay hitting a couple already. Got a couple of wins already which they didn't start of last season. Edited August 22, 2021 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 (edited) On 13/08/2021 at 22:38, Villarocker said: This past week, McGinn, Martinez, Tuanzebe and Konsa have given interviews where they've said that this season is all about getting into Europe. I think that Grealish leaving may have alarmed the owners to the fact that the best players at the club won't wait around forever to play at the highest level and they've since emphasised to the players the importance of finishing in the European places otherwise there may have to be further player changes required to try to get to where they want us to be. Hopefully, this will be the season where we reach Europe and attract even better quality players next summer. You're right, it is. Unfortunately, we still have a cluster of posters on this forum that think finishing 10th/11th/12th this season is good enough, to which they call it "progress". Anyone who dares mention finishing in the European places gets ridiculed for having "unrealistic expectations". - I think the same folk may still be stuck in the Doug Ellis era way of thinking. Edited August 23, 2021 by AvfcRigo82 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I make us two players short of a genuine push for Europe at the moment. If the front 3 gel we’ll have a fantastic attack with depth on the bench. The back 5 + Young is solid, so it’s just fixing the midfield. Upgrading Nakamba and Hourihane would do it, imo. We might have enough even with one really good DM signing to replace Marv. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 57 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said: You're right, it is. Unfortunately, we still have a cluster of posters on this forum that think finishing 10th/11th/12th this season is good enough, to which they call it "progress". Anyone who dares mention finishing in the European places gets ridiculed for having "unrealistic expectations". - I think the same folk may still be stuck in the Doug Ellis era way of thinking. I think we can qualify for Europe. I think it should be our aim. I also think it will be difficult to achieve and there's no reason why we should expect it over any other club challenging for it. I also think with the new additions and losing Jack, consolidating as a midtable team for the first time since MON was here is acceptable. Top half finish would be a good season. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 3 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I think we can qualify for Europe. I think it should be our aim. I also think it will be difficult to achieve and there's no reason why we should expect it over any other club challenging for it. I also think with the new additions and losing Jack, consolidating as a midtable team for the first time since MON was here is acceptable. Top half finish would be a good season. Yeah, spot on. In the same manner that there will be a cluster of sides who "aim to win the league" or "aim to qualify for the Champions League" or "aim to avoid being relegated". Only 1 team can win the league. Only 4 can qualify for the Champions League. Three teams HAVE to be relegated. Not every team can achieve their "aims" in a season and it doesn't necessarily mean disaster if they do indeed miss out. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I think it'll depend on injuries. If we keep the main players relatively injury free for most of the season, we have a chance at 7th and possible Europe. If we have a longer term injury to say Buendia, Bailey, Mings or Martinez, then we will struggle and finish around 10th. I can't see us finishing below 10th, that would be a failure. For 6th, we need a couple of the stronger teams to have a bad season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 On 22/08/2021 at 05:04, maqroll said: There's no way this current side qualify for Europe. We need more incoming quality signings and that's looking a dubious proposition at the moment. Do you have a crystal ball? I think we will probably come up short but a lot depends on the team gelling, injuries, form, how other teams perform as well etc. We should look for a top half finish and see where that takes up. If we come mid table it will be ok. If we end up bottom 6 that would be a disappointing season and probably the end for Deano. A good cup run would be nice as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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