Expectations for Season 2015-16

[Jordinho]

I agree and hope that Rodgers loses his job, can't stand the man and also think if he gets fired he will never get another job at anything other than a mid-table side.

Despite them buying LOTS of attacking players, i still see them weak at the back which could be their achilles heel, however if they click i think they will be closer to top 4 than us.

I almost want him to stay. There's always the chance they might get someone competent to replace him.

 

[Vega]

I almost want him to stay. There's always the chance they might get someone competent to replace him.

Damn your logic. I just detest the bloke, you have arrogant managers like Mourinho fair enough, he has won plenty, but Rodgers is a smarmy, arrogant little man who thinks he is better than he is.

Plus of course the fact their fans seem to think they are still a big club.

 

[metalgear]

too early to have any expectations

 

[Craig_J]

Realistically I think we are pretty much caped at 5th place. Any higher than that is going to have to take a pretty big slip up from one of the teams above us and I don't see that happening. We also need to be careful that the teams below us don't catch up. I wouldn't under estimate Southamtpon again, I am leaning towards saying they won't do as good as last season but last season I said they'd get relegated and couldn't have been more wrong.

I also wouldn't under estimate Liverpool. They don't have the greatest of teams but neither do we. I think a lot for them depends on how they start the season, if they start well I think they'll be challenging us for 5th but if they lose a few games I can see people starting to get agitated with Rodgers. I just hope they don' sack him to soon.

Frankly, I think Pochettino is stupid for not making major signings this season. I do get the feeling we will struggle next season and Levy will blame and victimize Pochettino entirely for that.

I would also like a marquee signing but they don't tend to come around very often. Who knows, maybe on Septemeber the 1st Levy will pull something off like he did getting VDV in. One can only hope...

 

[Jurgen the German]

I almost want him to stay. There's always the chance they might get someone competent to replace him.

I think you're being unfair. He makes some buffoonish statements, but you only have to look at the way they play under him to see what effect he has. He's not a top manager, but certainly not a poor one either.

 

[Vega]

I think you're being unfair. He makes some buffoonish statements, but you only have to look at the way they play under him to see what effect he has. He's not a top manager, but certainly not a poor one either.

The real respect i have for Liverpool is that not only did they give him a contract etc. etc. they also upgraded his wife for him with a blonde scouse bird.

 

[Jurgen the German]

So no idea really, and yes I do believe we have improved the squad.


Also that is a great post Armchair Expert.

Sorry to butt in, it's not really his job to suggest who we could sign, that's what Baldini and our scouts are for, if they can't find suitable, realistic targets then we have a problem. You can't tell me that certain positions in midfield for example are not at the very least upgradable.

I'm impressed with the Alderweireld signing, don't no too much about Wimmer so will refrain from commenting just yet.

And we definitely need backup for Harry Kane, I'm afraid he will be burned out as he's the only decent striker we have. We can't go another season relying on 2-3 players to carry us goals wise.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Win a cup

5th or 6th in the league

Quick passing high-tempo pressing style of play

Big Kane/Bentaleb/Mason/Dier style breakthrough for a couple more kids (Pritchard and Alli perhaps)

 

[parklane1]

Sorry to butt in, it's not really his job to suggest who we could sign, that's what Baldini and our scouts are for, if they can't find suitable, realistic targets then we have a problem. You can't tell me that certain positions in midfield for example are not at the very least upgradable.

I'm impressed with the Alderweireld signing, don't no too much about Wimmer so will refrain from commenting just yet.

And we definitely need backup for Harry Kane, I'm afraid he will be burned out as he's the only decent striker we have. We can't go another season relying on 2-3 players to carry us goals wise.

Feel free to butt in its what forums are for, he said( I think Pochettino is stupid for not making major signings this season) I asked him who he thought we should sign that is a major signing.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Feel free to butt in its what forums are for, he said( I think Pochettino is stupid for not making major signings this season) I asked him who he thought we should sign that is a major signing.

I think at best, he is naive IF we do not sign upgrades on Mason for example, and upgrades on Ade and Soldado.

 

[parklane1]

I think at best, he is naive IF we do not sign upgrades on Mason for example, and upgrades on Ade and Soldado.

Well seeing as they are still 5 weeks? of the transfer window to go I would suggest its a bit early to start calling Poch names, don't you think?

 

[Gutter Boy]

You dont expect Liverpool to take 5th then? Just interested after all their outlay on players.

Liverpool will be a mess, as always. And they've signed lots of overpriced dross (again). I'm fairly confident we'll pip them to 5th. The chasing pack probably won't catch them though

I would just like a 20+ goal difference, when was the last time we had one of those?

Probably 1987. We've always been too inconsistent to build a big GD.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Well seeing as they are still 5 weeks? of the transfer window to go I would suggest its a bit early to start calling Poch names, don't you think?

Possibly. The signings so far have been good I would say, but when you compare the signings of those around us it doesn't really stack up. I fully accept that our budget is nowhere near as high, but we do have the money according to Levy. I'm not saying we should spend money for the sake of it, but signings similar to the likes of Stambouli are not going to cut it.

 

[NorwegianSpursFan]

Our 9-1 over Wigan must have pushed us over that in 2009/10?

Edit:
According to wikipedia we ended that season with +26 gd.

 

[Bullet]

I think the Goal Difference thing really means the difference between:

1) Fight all game tooth and nail, dominate but can't score, almost concede, snatch a goal then let one in, then fight and fight and finally score in the last 3 minutes to seal victory

2) Score after 18 mins and again after 47 mins and again after 55 mins, game over, chill out and relax, save your legs for Europe

We do way too much of 1 whilst the "top 4" do more of option 2

 

[Rorschach]

I would also like a marquee signing but they don't tend to come around very often. Who knows, maybe on Septemeber the 1st Levy will pull something off like he did getting VDV in. One can only hope...

Might be a few spares at Real if Reus ends up there. Time for Levy to dust off his black book and use the special relationship again

 

[SpurMeUp]

Depends who we sign. I think we need 2 players before we can compete at the top. A CM who can pull the strings and the whole side together. Not an easy position to fill. Then someone to add potency and options up front.

I'd be over the moon if we won the EL and finished 4th in the PL. But I expect we'll finish 5th again and fall short in the cups.

 

[Roy1983]

I'd like to see us sign some wingers with pace personally. We've made 2 decent signings in defence. I'm Pochs biggest doubter and I'm looking forward to seeing who else he brings in, gets rid of and how we end up next season. So far I can't fault him.

 

[mudshark]

I expect THE WIND to come rushing down the plain, and a FAIRY on a STRING to go over the audience. Business as usual, in other words, if not Groundhog Day.

The same top 4 in some or other order, with an annoyingly familiar-sounding list of issues remanifesting for us, followed by another 5th or 6th place finish, despite having only the league to concentrate on for the final two-and-a-half months of the season. That would be my guess. Kane's goalscoring to suffer the expected regression, with no-one else able to compensate; something along those lines. Still conceding too many.

If that sounds pessimistic, it's probably because I haven't really developed any expectations yet; there's still a definite remoteness at the moment to the idea of going again. Having said that, first-team game time for promising youth players? Breakout seasons for one or two? Perhaps. Ideally, we'd like to match them carefully, not be nervous about throwing them into the fray for fear they'll blow up, but find ourselves short of options. For that, we need the squad to be strong enough to pick and choose our moments.

You might argue we have made squad improvements, of course, although whether in relative terms is an open question. We're looking at an incomplete picture just now; trying to guess how far the pointer has dropped down the list of preferred options. We could rise higher with a following wind, but whither that happy spur? Personally, I reckon it will only happen in a parallel universe where the only other difference is Harry Redknapp referring to players as "tip-top", rather than "top, top", or the one where he always juxtaposes two adjectival synonyms instead of using the same one twice (so that Spurs are a "great, big", not a "big, big" club, and getting them into the Champions' League remains a "massive, colossal" task, not a "massive, massive" one).

I digress. If only we could find ourselves in the one where we actually sign some players with a more-than-evens chance of making that elusive difference to our starting 11, not just ones that only confirm our status as the Premier League's Bargain Hunt blues looking for a golden gavel to pin on Levy's tie.

We can but hope.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Might be a few spares at Real if Reus ends up there. Time for Levy to dust off his black book and use the special relationship again

The special relationship where Arsenal get first dibs for their players you mean?