Might be a bit premature seeing as we hope our squad will look different in four weeks' time, other teams will be thinking the same I am sure.Nonetheless the season is only a week away from starting so I have got to thinking where we might finish. Hoping it won't be a struggle again but most sensible approach would be looking at it from the bottom up, who will we be better than.The newbiesFulhamLeedsAlbionOne of these will go down, could well be two, maybe all three. It's imperative we use our extra season's experience and finish above all these lot.My tips to strugglePalaceSheff UPalace finished the season abysmally and could well carry that forward into the new season (like Watford last year). Hodgson is a wily manager but this might be the year they are in a prolonged struggle. Personally I think Sheff U will have second season syndrome and I think they'll go down with two of the promoted teams. Wilder is a genius with what he's done but I think the difference in playing budget will start to tell. So above these two as well.Relatively comfortable last season, might drop off this seasonBrightonNewcastleI think last summer I would have been confident of finishing above both these two. Newcastle in particular were a surprise. I think the fallout of another failed takeover might take its toll and hopefully Bruce will produce one of his dire runs to send them plummeting down the league. Brighton are a bit of a nothing team but were never in too much bother last year. I reckon they'll be around 15th/16th again this time. I was wrong last summer about us being better than these but I'll be right this time.More established teams we can catchBurnleySouthamptonWest HamPerhaps a bit generous to West Ham putting them in this bracket given their struggles last season but looking at their squad they really underperformed. Southampton had a great second half of the season and Ings is a quality striker. Burnley are just a really solid team, always do enough to be comfortable. Realistically this is the bracket we should be looking to finish in. One of these lot could easily drop off this season, like West Ham in season just gone, so not inconceivable we can finish above one of them. We'll have done well to finish above all three I think. "Levels"EvertonLeicesterWolvesWould dearly love the wheels to come off for Wolves but I still think they'll be better than us next season. Hopefully not for much longer. I think Leicester might have a hangover from blowing CL last season but again a bit too soon to catch them. James looks a good signing for Everton. Could be a flop but I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we finished above them next season.Snowball's chance in hellMan CityLiverpoolChelseaMan UArsenalSpursEnough said.So 10th to 13th is plausible. Maybe a bit optimistic in light of lack of transfer activity but I'm hopeful we've got some irons in the fire. The kind of season we'd have been pissed off about a decade or so ago would do just nicely now.Jack to win player of the year.
That's pretty remarkable mystic meg . Match of the day have just nominated jack for player of the year too. Next two matches vs west ham and arsenal should give us a clue as to where we will finish plus still got spurs and everton to play twice.
Two from Palace, Newcastle, West Ham and Burnley please. Should mean we're hitting a mid table spot if we can do that. Certainly won't be getting relegated as think WBA and Fulham are nailed on to be the bottom two.
Quote from: Meanwood Villa on September 05, 2020, 10:34:03 AMMight be a bit premature seeing as we hope our squad will look different in four weeks' time, other teams will be thinking the same I am sure.Nonetheless the season is only a week away from starting so I have got to thinking where we might finish. Hoping it won't be a struggle again but most sensible approach would be looking at it from the bottom up, who will we be better than.The newbiesFulhamLeedsAlbionOne of these will go down, could well be two, maybe all three. It's imperative we use our extra season's experience and finish above all these lot.My tips to strugglePalaceSheff UPalace finished the season abysmally and could well carry that forward into the new season (like Watford last year). Hodgson is a wily manager but this might be the year they are in a prolonged struggle. Personally I think Sheff U will have second season syndrome and I think they'll go down with two of the promoted teams. Wilder is a genius with what he's done but I think the difference in playing budget will start to tell. So above these two as well.Relatively comfortable last season, might drop off this seasonBrightonNewcastleI think last summer I would have been confident of finishing above both these two. Newcastle in particular were a surprise. I think the fallout of another failed takeover might take its toll and hopefully Bruce will produce one of his dire runs to send them plummeting down the league. Brighton are a bit of a nothing team but were never in too much bother last year. I reckon they'll be around 15th/16th again this time. I was wrong last summer about us being better than these but I'll be right this time.More established teams we can catchBurnleySouthamptonWest HamPerhaps a bit generous to West Ham putting them in this bracket given their struggles last season but looking at their squad they really underperformed. Southampton had a great second half of the season and Ings is a quality striker. Burnley are just a really solid team, always do enough to be comfortable. Realistically this is the bracket we should be looking to finish in. One of these lot could easily drop off this season, like West Ham in season just gone, so not inconceivable we can finish above one of them. We'll have done well to finish above all three I think. "Levels"EvertonLeicesterWolvesWould dearly love the wheels to come off for Wolves but I still think they'll be better than us next season. Hopefully not for much longer. I think Leicester might have a hangover from blowing CL last season but again a bit too soon to catch them. James looks a good signing for Everton. Could be a flop but I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we finished above them next season.Snowball's chance in hellMan CityLiverpoolChelseaMan UArsenalSpursEnough said.So 10th to 13th is plausible. Maybe a bit optimistic in light of lack of transfer activity but I'm hopeful we've got some irons in the fire. The kind of season we'd have been pissed off about a decade or so ago would do just nicely now.Jack to win player of the year. Giving this a bump at the halfway stage. I think we've done better than any of us really expected. 32 points at this stage is incredible.In terms of my original posting. I think it's fair to say we will almost certainly finish above the current bottom six (Sheff U, West Brom, Fulham, Brighton, Newcastle, Burnley).I also think we'll finish above Leeds, Palace and Wolves barring a severe decline in form. So that puts us minimum of 11th.In terms of the non "big six", our rivals are Saints, Everton, West Ham and Leicester. Saints look like they're declining in terms of results although I don't think you can write them off completely, particularly given how fortunate we were tonight. Everton and West Ham are odd in that I think they are in a false position (Everton less so than West Ham) but they probably think the same about us. Ultimately I wouldn't be too surprised if we finished above both of them but the same is true the other way round. Leicester have been far better than I anticipated. Maybe they'll blow up like they did last season, maybe they won't but I think we'll do well to finish above them.In terms of the "big six", Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have all looked vulnerable this season. Will we finish above any of them? I'd like to think we can finish above at least one of them but you can easily see all of them putting a run together and us dropping off. In summary, we're going to win the league Joking aside, I think Europe might be a stretch but right now I would be disappointed to finish below 10th. If we keep on at our points rate though, who knows?One thing I am sure of, and I was kind of joking in my OP, Jack for player of the year. What an absolute pleasure to see this lad play. Absolutely incredible player.
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Topic: Teams we'll finish above next season (Read 44347 times)
