We're not financially strong enough to be demanding Europe every year. Some years, sure. Expecting it every year is a false sense of entitlement.
It should be the aim every year, and falling well off it two years on the bounce is grounds for sacking on the basis of failure in my view.
These are the only sides I'll accept finishing behind - City, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool. No one else, and that's based on finances and their recent history.
This season, Leicester will finish above us, so that's seven sides at this point that could finish above. I'll accept that. That's why I'd class 7th as a "success" at this point, as you're displacing a club that could foreseeably finish above you.
8th would be par, but after a poor season last year par is not good enough for me. I want to see progression. There's no excuse either - no Europe, no "period of transition" - nothing. So, for me, it's 7th, or it's failure. Certainly anything below 8th is total failure.