Yeah but you keep saying it as if it's proof that he didn't leave him short when it really suggests the exact opposite; that Silva's asked for better players and he's been given 5 lads who he doesn't think are as good as what he already had. I'm not saying he's right, I have no idea how good some of them are because I've not seen enough of them, but it's perfectly possible that Kean really isn't ready to lead the line on his own in the PL yet and Sidibe is no better than Coleman surely?
I've said since the summer, I don't think the squad is that great. It definitely shouldn't be 18th, but I agree with the OP's points that some people have a wildly inflated view of where we are at the moment, and it's not clear why. I keep seeing people in player threads saying 'Keane's dreadful, Coleman's past it, Schneiderlin's an absolute disgrace and should never be allowed into Finch Farm again, Sigurdsson's the biggest waste of money in PL history and DCL's a League One striker' and then going into the manager thread and saying 'pure disgrace that we're not in the top 4 after these fixtures lad'. It makes no sense.
Silva's management has been awful this season in my opinion. I make no excuses for him at all because I'm sick of seeing the same thing week in week out, but by the same token, I would say 8th would be a perfectly acceptable return for a manager with these players. They're just not that good.