2019/20 - Minimum Requirement

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larrygobfiend said:
I guess it depends on the business we do in the summer. There are teams above us that are there to be got at. Forget about City and Liverpool, but the rest are in a bit of a weird state. Chelsea are losing Hazard and have a transfer ban, Spurs could lose their manager if they don't back him, Arsenal need a brand new defence and Utd looked absolutely wrecked and can't even offer potent new signings champions league footy.
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This.

Especially re: United & Arsenal. Arsenal are great strikers creating something out of nothing and then a bunch of guys running around behind them at random. No clue what Unai is up to. United have club rot from the Glasers on down and an obesssion with their glory days. If I’m a world class player I don’t want to go there.

I’d not be surprised if any of us, Leicester, or Wolves pushed higher than 6th.
 
GrandOldTeam said:
Interesting one isn't it?

According to Moshiri in January, 11th isn't good enough;

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/08/everton-farhad-moshiri-marco-silva

Since then, Millwall dumped us out the FA Cup and we've climbed to 8th - 4 points above 11th.

Small margins I guess...
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The Millwall loss is not necessarily a fair stick to beat anyone with - two of Millwall's three goals would have been ruled out by VAR. Not saying we played brilliantly that day by any stretch of the imagination, but they only scored one legitimate goal.
 
CRIMHEAD said:
Eh, we've had a pretty successful record in terms of deep cup runs over history. 26 semi finals, only Arsenal and Man U are higher at 29 and 28. We are also tied with Man U with the most FA Cup Finals losses with 8.

It really depends on the what the player market bears, but giving 6th and a cup a run would be a decent improvement. Winning a cup would be fantastic and not impossible.

It is going to be critical though that clubs like Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, and even Spurs makes some mistakes in the market. Wolves is a bit of a concern, but think they've been a bit fortunate. West Ham is in bad shape, don't see them turning things around any time soon. Leicster and Watford don't worry me in the long term if we have a great summer.
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Not having a dig at you specifically, because several others have posted in this thread about "decent cup runs" but....

- who remembers the semi-finalists two years later?
- who celebrates losing a final?

The ONLY good outcome in a domestic cup competition is winning it. Losing in the semi-final does more harm than good, because the extra games can lead to crowded parts of the season where a series of fixtures come thick and fast and potentially your league form suffers.

Provided Brands can somehow get rid of some of the dead wood (it's completely unrealistic to think he'll shift all of it this summer) AND bring in a couple of new signings to strengthen the first team (Gomes or similar; Zouma or similar; new starting CF), I would reckon targeting the League Cup would be a good idea - get European qualification and a trophy sorted out halfway through the season and then concentrate on finishing as high up the table as possible.

On the subject of league finishes: the place you finish matters far more than the points!
 

Tubey said:
For me it's got to be pushing 6th bare minimum, or a cup if not.

More importantly than that though, I'm looking to see our season not be completely dead by October. If it is, Silva should go.
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Agree. This season was perfectly understandable given the circumstances and he's been cut some serious slack for that reason. Assuming the club don't pull the rug from under him completely in the summer window, he now has to be expected to deliver serious progress. That doesn't mean pipping one of the likes of Watford, Leicester, Wolves to 7th and finishing 10+ behind 6th again. If that's considered progress/acceptable for his second season, we might as well not bother.
 
Another baby step forward should be the minimum requirement I think.

What I think we could do and hope for....and what hopes I might have during the season....is a different thing.

So get 10 points more at least, which should mean we are in touching distance of one or two of the top 6 and trying to grab 6th. Then go further in the cups.

Moving away from just talking of points/results though, we should finish the season even happier with many of the players performances and the way the team is working together when we attack and also when we have to sit tight and defend.

Another season to stabilise even further, improve some and then reach for something bigger in the 3rd season.
 

I think it all hinges on getting a decent goalscoring striker. If get one, then top six is just about realistic. If we don't, 7/8th is going to be the realistic target again.
 
Tree13 said:
Not having a dig at you specifically, because several others have posted in this thread about "decent cup runs" but....

- who remembers the semi-finalists two years later?
- who celebrates losing a final?
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No one celebrates those things

But getting to the latter stages of a Cup shows that you had a decent stab at winning it, which will give you further confidence in future campaigns

A good cup run isn't as great as winning the thing, but it's better than crashing out in the early rounds. It's good to have something to strive for and a target to chase. Look how directionless our season became when Millwall beat us for instance. The season was basically over. Also, a good Cup run can also improve your performances in the League, as you'll have a bounce in your step due to the success elsewhere and you can translate that momentum to the League

It's just good for morale in general. Getting to the Quarters and then the Semis is exciting, because you can see the Cup on the horizon. If you don't win it then you don't win it, but at least you can say you were genuinely in the hunt and that next year could be different with the right additions or a better draw. It's very important psychologically to do well in the Cup, especially if you have a solid League campaign too
 
with the squad we have, 7th is the minimum.

If we add some quality and those above fail to do so, we could look to 6th / 5th or even 4th. But we'd be aspiring to those places rather than them being a minimum.

I have no idea why some believe we have some sort of divine right to be in the top 6.
 
I guess I don't really know what "minimum" means. It implies if that threshold is not met there will be some sort of consequence, so... what would that be? Minimum for Silva to keep his job? Minimum or I go on strike? Minimum or we go all Grasshopper fans and make the team strip off and crawl back to their dressing room at the end of the season?

If Man U have the season I think they're gonna have we really should be finishing above them. We've become accustomed to the "Top 6" but if Man Utd and maybe Chelsea/Arsenal or even Spurs (if Poch leaves) have a bad season we should be able to close the gap and get in there.

I know it's the hope that kills you, but for the first time since maybe Martinez's first season I look at this team and I know what we are, what our spine is, how we play and, over the last few months, it's looked very good. I have faith in Brands and I'm tentatively optimistic about Silva now it's coming together.

Allardyce in by November.
 

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