From now to next May your expectations

[sfx412]

Whoever gets the managers job isn't going to find it easy are they. The club if not in turmoil is very unsettled from the fans upwards, leaving the new man a hard PR excercise as well as all the usual stuff of getting to know your squad, changing all the football related stuff to your liking.
I don't feel the squad are good enough to maintain matters whilst the changes are instigated and I'd expect at least a season for the new man to adjust all and sundry, so I'm hoping for a top 10 finish and top 6 at best.
I can't see a flurry of transfers in in January maybe a few will leave, I can't see a dramatic change in style of play either initially just consolidation, building a sound base and the hope of an outside chance of a European qualification.
Good luck to whoever Randy appoints, he deserves at least this season or whats left of it to see how smart a choice it proves.

[Lucky Eddie]

Two derby defeats would be my prediction.

[Guy M]

More deliberately negative, sh*t-stirring crap from a poster whose username is a mix of letters and numbers would be my prediction.

[not3bad]

Win the League Cup, FA Cup, Premier, Chamionship, Leagues 1 and 2.  Get admitted to the Champions Leaguue cos we are cool and win that as well.  Sign Billy the Fish as goalkeeper.

[LeeB]

I expect Malcolm's knife will be in Gerard's back before the Christmas decorations come down.

[Irish villain]

I expect a decent top eight finish and a good cup run as we lay the ground work for a forward move in the season to follow.

[Chris Smith]

I expect that the new manager will be able to at least match the old one as I read a zillion times on here that getting top 6 was relatively easy. O'Leary did it too, so it's no great achievement.

I don't really expect that, but those were the markers thrown down by MON's harshest critics.

[dave.woodhall]

I expect 'certain people' to continue to twist facts to suit themselves and the legacy of the Blessed Martin.

[pablopicasso_10]

on a serious note, i would personally think that this season will be a transitional write off and for me, top ten would be welcomed... anything more, will be a bonus...

next season however, will be the acid test... the new managers transfer window, the new managers team, and an interesting time for the board in terms of backing the new manager...

[darren woolley]

I also think a top 8 finish and maybe a cup.

[Concrete John]

I think our expectations of whoever the new manager is should be based on him and NOT the old one.  Love him or hate him, Martin's gone now and we need to move on.

I feel the players are there to have a more than decent season.  The new man will want to change certain things and he'll be looking to evaluate the squad, so I'd be expecting to see us hovering somewhere between 6th-9th until Jan, but the key is to stay within striking distance, say 6 points, of the Euro places and most importantly 4th.  Then it's a matter of what funds he's given and what he can do with them in the difficult Jan window.  Get that right and our goals are higher, get it wrong and that 6th-9th place is where we stay.

[serbentoflight]

Top 8 finish, good run on one of the cups, some dodgy local derby results and a win at man Utd.

[Pete3206]

I expect nothing less than a domestic treble.

[Chris Smith]

I expect 'certain people' to continue to twist facts to suit themselves and the legacy of the Blessed Martin.

.
So now having a different opinion is twisting facts is it?

It's a cold hard fact that O'Neill finishing 6th was downplayed by some on here as a not much of an achievement. My view is that it was not as good as I'd hoped but all that we could expect given the amount spent and where we were when he took over. The new bloke will start from a much stronger position and, given the right backing, we should expect to see repeat challenges for the top 4 and the cups.

[JJ-AV]

Top 8 and hopefully a good draw in the cup.

Hopefully 4 points (atleast) off Small Heath and one or two decent additions in January, and to shift Beye, Davies, Sidwell and Heskey off the wage bill, and probably Carew and Friedel too. Giving Houllier the entire Summer to spend the Milner+Gardner money as well as the rest raised in order to build his squad.