I don't think there was a world of difference between them tbh. Koeman had us in 7th as well.
All the money going around is actually reducing the inequality in the league, and not just amongst the bottom 14 clubs either. We need to stop acting like the top 6 are on a different planet to us. Arsenal, United and Chelsea are all shadows of their former selves, and we are more than capable of spending our money better than they spend theirs, and competing with them in the league next season.
I can't understand why we would ever be setting ourselves the target of doing just as crap as the last two seasons.
But I think Silva has done a lot to improve us imo - and this is from someone who was papping himself at one point, wondering where the next win was going to come from and if we could even defend!
1) In conjunction with Brands, the signings have been superb.
2) The football has been much better on the whole - Although you could say that shouldn't be difficult after Allardyce
3) The players that were already here have shown vast improvements in areas of their games. Keane, DCL, Sigurdsson, Coleman, Gana, Schneiderlin to name a few - though I fear Walcott and Tosun are beyond help. This is down to our players actually being coached for once.
4) We are actually playing a system other than 4-5-1 - which whatever our respective managers might have called it, is what we've played since 2004.
5) We are showing a mix between possession based movement of the ball and getting it forward quickly into good areas - which we've all been crying out for for years.
6) We have actually started to beat the 'big' clubs again.
7) We have put in our best 2 derby performances for years.
8) There is a real togetherness and team spirit amongst the players again.
9) Even when we were going through our terrible run, the players never simply downed tools and stopped playing for the manager - how often can we say that in football these days?
10) We came through an incredibly difficult patch to improve massively.
11) Unlike any of our previous managers (Moyes included) he seems willing to try new things and actually learn from his mistakes.
12) Case in point - our defence now looks totally solid.
13) He has grown into the role of Everton manager and even though he can sometimes be difficult to understand, many of his answers and actions over the last few months have been both classy and brilliant.
14) Silva has never tried to talk down expectation- without resorting to hyperbole either.
15) The players seem to have really bought into what it means to play for this club - which is vitally important as I thought we were losing this.
16) He didn't have most of his signings available to him at the start of the season, but by the end when they were up to speed, we look good.
17) He doesn't have a proper striker - but has still found a system that works.
18) He has rebuilt the bond between fans and players and the atmosphere at Goodison has improved- enormous credit also goes to the Originals and every one else involved here.
19) We have more points than last season.
20) With the level of mess inherited, it could easily have taken 3 or 4 years just to get back to the level we are currently at - he has seriously arrested a potential disaster in the making!