22/23 season expectations.

[gpbarr]

As is....11th > 13th

With a new forward (or if Cam proves that his potential is real) and, maybe, another midfield option....8th > 10th

No cup wins

You honestly think our squad is 11-13th  material?  A squad with the likes of Coutinho, Kamara, Digne, Carlos, Buendia, Bailey, Ramsey, McGinn should righly be finishing below the likes of Brighton, Southampton, Wolves, Newcastle and Palace?

It should......but I have my doubts that it will.

How much can Bailey be relied on ?

Same goes for Phil, to a lesser extent ?

McGinn is not the force that he was since opposition started backing off him and not 'engaging with the arse' to let him roll off them.

I've no real confidence in Ings or Watkins and I think Gerrard will try to shoehorn both into the starting lineup.

Other teams have also improved

This is where I am at, sadly pessimistic.
I just hope that I am wrong and Gerrard shows us that he is the young up coming managerial titan now he has his team and a full pre season to shape the way we play.

Me too.

Taking the claret tinted glasses off. There are 7 teams who IMO are better / who have  strengthened better than we have - Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal, United. Argumentative but I think Newcastle and West Ham will be very competitive this year too - certainly on a par with us. Then there is usually one surprise team to add into the mix. Given all that, will do well to finish 9th or 10th.

Anything more, ownership should invest in Gerrard again - will need 3-4 more big signings to think we can seriously compete with top 6.

 Anything less and Gerrard should be removed. He’s had time to convey what he wants and we need to see progression. 14th certainly would be a big failure.

[Toronto Villa]

Anything lower than 8th will be a massive disappointment. And finishing 7th/8th means we absolutely should be going all out for a cup, or both.

[chrisw1]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

[Lastfootstamper]

We have a fit and raring Phillipe Fucking Coutinho to call upon (apologies if I've misspelled his middle name there). Anything less than top four and a cup will be a letdown.

[Beard82]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

Yeah - but most of them finished above us last season

[chrisw1]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

Yeah - but most of them finished above us last season

A season where we shot well below par.  But I'm assuming you would take some of these squads above ours, so your answer to the questiion is?...

[Flin5tone]

Minimum - 10th
Aim - 7th

Reality -12th

Could all change in the coming weeks depending on signings but we obviously need to move some players on as our Head Coach pointed out our squad is too big, the worry for me is we will struggle to move them on as they aren't very good and on large salaries

[Sexual Ealing]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

I have no idea who's in those squads bar a handful of players from each. It's a lifestyle business. On that basis, I'm out.

[cdbearsfan]

Yeah, surely nobody has time to pay attention to which players silly teams like Southampton have been signing? I barely know any of our new players. Quietly confident that this will be Jordan Bowery's breakthrough season.

[SoccerHQ]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

Yeah - but most of them finished above us last season

A season where we shot well below par.  But I'm assuming you would take some of these squads above ours, so your answer to the questiion is?...

Leicester underachieved last season. Yet they still finished 8th despite getting to a europa SF (not in it this season) and countless injuries to their CBs and Vardy. So think they have a better squad than us on that evidence.

We certainly should be finishing above likes of Wolves, Palace and Brighton. They will all be weaker than 12 months ago.

Not sure on Newcastle. Ended last season in very good form but they haven't strengthened as much as I thought they would....yet.

[Beard82]

OK, for the pessimists (and yes I accept we we may underperform again) whose squad would you swap with out of Newcastle, Brighton, Southampton, Leicetser, Wolves, Palace, Brentoford, Everton and Leeds?

There may be 2-3 players max you may want from some of these teams, but who would you swap the whole squad with?  The answer will be non, unless you're nuts.

So surely if more than one of them finishes above us we must be underperforming?

Yeah - but most of them finished above us last season

A season where we shot well below par.  But I'm assuming you would take some of these squads above ours, so your answer to the questiion is?...

I would say leicester have 4 or 5 players I would love - Vardy, maddison, tieleman, barnes and n'kante.

On the flipside - does a new center back and DM solve the inconsitances that made us finish 14th?  (Im not saying it doesnt), I just think we have a lot to prove

[eamonn]

A strong balance sheet position and carbon-neutral status.




Only joking - best of the rest (7th or 8th) and a fucking cup.

[Steve67]

Anywhere between 8th and 10th but if we can bring in that other elusive midfielder, I would say that 7th might be possible. 

[cdbearsfan]

Not counting Chucky, we have seven central midfielders by my count. Really can't see us bringing any more in this summer unless at least one leaves.

[Drummond]

We've strengthened Centre Back and Defensive Midfield since the end of last season. We've added some cover at Left Back and that's it.

We need some more ins and outs.