Quote from: Toronto Villa on May 19, 2021, 02:07:29 PMI would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.For you or the owners?If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.
I would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.
Quote from: Hockley Lion on May 19, 2021, 12:22:27 PMSmith. League position doesn't lie and with Jack injured so long I think it's a good position.You're correct that league position doesn't lie. Leeds are 8th in their first season back.
Smith. League position doesn't lie and with Jack injured so long I think it's a good position.
Quote from: Risso on May 19, 2021, 12:47:31 PMQuote from: Dave P on May 19, 2021, 12:27:58 PMPeople are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough. Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.Sheffield United spent big to build on last season. Brewster was over £20m, Ramsdale was over £18m and Oliver Burke was nearly £6m. Leeds will need to spend £100m at least to improve on this season whereas I think we have a squad that should be higher but we'll spend £100m+ as well.Granted, this doesn't add much to the 'Is Dean Smith a good coach' debate. I'm just saying that Bielsa and Smith still need to prove themselves as top Premier League managers long term. Wilder fell from the wayside somewhat.
Quote from: Dave P on May 19, 2021, 12:27:58 PMPeople are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough. Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.
People are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.
Quote from: Dave P on May 19, 2021, 01:48:05 PMQuote from: Risso on May 19, 2021, 12:47:31 PMQuote from: Dave P on May 19, 2021, 12:27:58 PMPeople are saying the same things about Bielsa now that they were saying about Chris Wilder last season.Completely different. Wilder did brilliantly to extract every last bit of value out of his squad in their first year back, but there's only so far you can take a Championship squad before spending big. He was hung out to dry a bit this year by his board, with their only real acquisitions being a replacement goalie and a mostly untried kid up front. Not surprisingly it wasn't nearly enough. Leeds have got enough good young players to have another successful season next year, and I would think that they'll add to the squad as well.Sheffield United spent big to build on last season. Brewster was over £20m, Ramsdale was over £18m and Oliver Burke was nearly £6m. Leeds will need to spend £100m at least to improve on this season whereas I think we have a squad that should be higher but we'll spend £100m+ as well.Granted, this doesn't add much to the 'Is Dean Smith a good coach' debate. I'm just saying that Bielsa and Smith still need to prove themselves as top Premier League managers long term. Wilder fell from the wayside somewhat.As an aside, Leeds spent around £100m last summer, so their success has come as a 'build' on their promotion squad: it's not all homegrown.
It does feel like some people have the perception that our owners - being as rich as they are - are demanding to see Chelsea and Man City style turnarounds from the club we were three years ago. I don't think they are, just progress towards that level.What people forget is that both Man City and Chelsea got to do their first few years of that transformation without any financial fair play restrictions. Man City were spending about £150m a year on players for three years before the FFP regulations came in (for comparison our entire turnover was about £80m in those days). In City's first 12 months, they bought five players over £25m - and that's at the prices paid 12 years ago. That's a level of spending we're trying to achieve today, over a decade later. And it STILL took City three years to go from mid-table to winning a title.The point I'm making is that I have no doubt whatsoever that our owners are ambitious, but I am also very confident that they appreciate the environment we're now competing in, and that throwing a couple of hundred million at a team does not guarantee you instant success. But it should guarantee you progress.I think they'll be disappointed the way the season has petered out after such a bright start (as we all are), but I also think they'll chalk the season up as 'progress' before demanding similar improvement again next season.
Quote from: Drummond on May 19, 2021, 02:13:08 PMQuote from: Toronto Villa on May 19, 2021, 02:07:29 PMI would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.For you or the owners?If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa. I would imagine if the owners of this team who have spent hundreds of millions since acquiring the club, saving it from extinction, buying 12 players in year one or whatever it was, spending north of 100m last summer and will l likely exceed that again this summer will want to finish 10th (which is going to be "progress" considering where we will finish this season) if you really want to be particular. I would also like to think Jack Grealish didn't sign on again, sacrificing a move to a side that will actually compete for everything so he can carry on playing mid table PL football while almost all his new international mates are playing European competition. So my guess is that the owners will want to see us have a real good go at qualifying for one of those spots next season. I don't think that is unreasonable for them or for us supporters.
Quote from: Drummond on May 19, 2021, 02:13:08 PMQuote from: Toronto Villa on May 19, 2021, 02:07:29 PMI would say qualifying for the Europa is a must next season.For you or the owners?If we finish 7th that's still progression and may well not be enough for Europa.Yep, I agree - in a way we've done the 'easy' part of the Premier League, which is getting to mid table. But if you look above us in the table, you've maybe got Leeds & West Ham who may well drop off next season, but after that there's a big ramp up in quality. You've got Arsenal/Everton/Spurs all battling for 6th, then five clubs (Manc City, Manc Utd, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool) who I really don't think it's reasonable to expect us to outperform next season.I dunno - I definitely think we need to target Europe next season, but I'm not sure qualification is a completely make-or-break situation. If we start pulling ahead of Everton and Arsenal, I'll be pretty chuffed even if we don't get in to Europe.
I do hope this envisaged summer investment materialises because if Dean only buys 2 or 3 players then a few expectations will have to revised downwards.