Teams we'll finish above next season

[chrisw1]

I agree that 14th is a really poor outcome.

It was fine margins in the end and but for the odd missed chance here and error there it could have been 10th or 11th.

I think I've seen enough to be reasonably positive about next season and Gerrard generally.  Some of our players excite me and with Ramsey's breakthrough, the Coutinho signing and the way Digne, Buendia and McGinn finished the season all bode well. 

But that doesn't mean we haven't underperformed with the squad at our disposal.  Man for man we are better than Southampton, Palace, Newcastle, Brentford & Brighton.  Frankly I think our squad is better than Wolves' too.  In that context, we should have done better.

[ASHTONVILLA]

Disappointing season thanks in large part to Jack fucking off when he did, and the bungled spending of the unwanted windfall. Starting off with a preseason preperation that consisted of a goodbye party in a school playing field in London didn't help. Add in a disjointed squad with new players that have mostly failed to sparkle and a managerial change midway through the season and it was never going to end well.

Next season with three strong signings to improve the spine and allow Gerrard to play 2-3 formations that don't leave us with a midfield like a sieve I think we will do a lot better. I think we end up below Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, Spurs, and Arsenal. I think we will be scrapping with Leicester, Newcastle (will spend a lot) and West Ham for a finishing place between 7th and 10th. We will finish above everyone else.

Best guess ahead of the summer transfers coming in is that we will finish 9th.

[ChicagoLion]

It is going to take 3 very good signings to change our situation significantly.
Or it’s pretty much more of the same.

[Footy-Vill]

It is going to take 3 very good signings to change our situation significantly.
Or it’s pretty much more of the same.

Where are you now with this?? I feel more moves needed though even so there's enough to finish higher than 14th.

I asking and opening the discussion as there have been significant moves by other clubs .
Liverpool and Man City over a season have to admit won't be competing with them despite that we can certainly even best them on the day.

Interesting what Newcastle , Leeds, Spurs and Arsenal are doing transfer business wise.

[nigel]

We certainly have to look at finishing above Palace, Brentford and Brighton, while Wolves and Leicester are bothe good teams, they are gettable.
Newcastle could be a bit of a wild card. They might do exceptionally well, or flop.

[andyh]

We certainly have to look at finishing above Palace, Brentford and Brighton, while Wolves and Leicester are bothe good teams, they are gettable.
Newcastle could be a bit of a wild card. They might do exceptionally well, or flop.

I think this is a really fair and honest assessment.
But, it’s really brings home where we are staring from when we  target finishing above Brentford, Brighton and Palace!

[ASHTONVILLA]

The signings thus far look good. Of course they may underwhelm or fail to settle, but are at least in the right positions and allow us to play Gerrards prefered formations better.

We have gone from having the hapless Luiz as our only option as DM, to Kamara, Nakamba and Iroegbunum fast emerging too. Defence looks stronger for the additions of Costa, Chambers and Digne. Coutinho and Buendia are both very good players. Ramsey will continue to improve. Ings and Watkins looked much better towards the end of the season, and both Archer and Davis offer something different in reserve. Bailey and Traore are both good players that injury free and a with good pre-season should offer more this season.

If we have no other signings I think we will finish top 10, and possibly as high as 8th. If we switch out Sanson and Luiz for another 'Coutinho level improvement' and add a striker better than Ings or Watkins then I can see us finishing somewhere between 6th and 8th.

Either way we will do better than last year as we have a more balanced squad, the youngsters are a year more experienced and Gerrard has a proper pre-season to get the squad playing the way he wants.

[algy]

The signings thus far look good. Of course they may underwhelm or fail to settle, but are at least in the right positions and allow us to play Gerrards prefered formations better.

We have gone from having the hapless Luiz as our only option as DM, to Kamara, Nakamba and Iroegbunum fast emerging too. Defence looks stronger for the additions of Costa, Chambers and Digne. Coutinho and Buendia are both very good players. Ramsey will continue to improve. Ings and Watkins looked much better towards the end of the season, and both Archer and Davis offer something different in reserve. Bailey and Traore are both good players that injury free and a with good pre-season should offer more this season.

If we have no other signings I think we will finish top 10, and possibly as high as 8th. If we switch out Sanson and Luiz for another 'Coutinho level improvement' and add a striker better than Ings or Watkins then I can see us finishing somewhere between 6th and 8th.

Either way we will do better than last year as we have a more balanced squad, the youngsters are a year more experienced and Gerrard has a proper pre-season to get the squad playing the way he wants.

I think that's fair. Alarm bells would be ringing if we don't finish comfortably in the top half - 8th or 9th but with a decent gap below us. 6th or 7th possible if the signings we've made over the past 18 months start firing on all cylinders (plus Watkins, who I think can do better than he did last season)

[Risso]

I think we need another couple of signings. A really top notch striker would be nice. If we stay as we are, then top 8 will be about the limit of our ambitions I think.

[chrisw1]

I genuinely think we need to finish 8th or higher next season.  Any lower and Gerrard should be at serious risk unless there's significant mitigating circumstances.

[Footy-Vill]

We can hope that West Ham, Leicester, and Wolves continue to be poor so that we can gain three league positions and overtake them. Wolves seem in decline and West Ham now seem to be stumbling under Moyes. Leicester also have perhaps reached their heights.

If we can finish higher than Palace and Brentford, who were just ahead of us in the table, we will be in ninth place as there would only be 8 teams ahead of us.
Brighton and Newcastle are teams on the ascendancy so we would be looking to compete with them for 7th place. 

That's based on current teams forms and that we expect to better than all the clubs that finished below us last season and promoted teams.

Gerrard I think alluded to our budget and size of club should be seeing us above likes of Palace and Brentford without directly name checking them.

[Footy-Vill]

I'll revise this where Villa will finish come September 24th when Gerrard and Villa has 10 matches.

Wolves and Leicester have been struggling and not sure where West Ham are at but its early to judge.

[kippaxvilla2]

At this moment in time and I’m serious Bournemouth are the only team I can see us finishing above. 

We have a tactically inept manager.  We are starting each game with ten men as the captain is a nailed on starter.  The system we play the wing backs are not good enough to make it work.  The midfield is weak.  And we are not exactly prolific scorers. 

I’ve thought of another team - Everton but as we know they never end up going down.

[Steve67]

At this moment in time and I’m serious Bournemouth are the only team I can see us finishing above. 

We have a tactically inept manager.  We are starting each game with ten men as the captain is a nailed on starter.  The system we play the wing backs are not good enough to make it work.  The midfield is weak.  And we are not exactly prolific scorers. 

I’ve thought of another team - Everton but as we know they never end up going down.

As it stands, it looks like it's going to be a long and tough season.  Hope we do some amazing business in the rest of the transfer window.

[villa for life]

Ironically and amazingly, and for all the noise, we are currently placed above where we finished last season.

But of course we haven’t played the top teams yet.