Just to clarify Y, when I refer to "transitional season" I am being sarcastic.
It is a cliche bandied about round these parts because as you imply, every season is becoming a "transitional season" for us.
You never know when you are having a transitional season until you can look back on one when you you have actually "transitioned" into sommat better.
And to this end I would suggest the last "transitional season" we had was 1983/84
And that is just plain disgraceful
Bobbins.
Under Moyes we "achieved" the status of being a perennial top 6 team. We would beat the teams placed 12th and below with reliable regularity, we'd usually 3 or 4 points out of six against each of the teams placed 11th to 7th, and then the rest was a shot in the dark.
Moyes left. No transition season needed, because we weren't a mess.
Martinez came in and initially did very well. BUT by the end of his second season we'd recruited some god-awful players, dropped alarmingly and become a genuine mid-table club. We would trounce the relegation fodder, split points with everyone placed 16th to 7th and get hammered by everyone 6th and above. We gave him time (the right call) and it got worse (partly because he was poop and partly because there wasn't a lot of money available to fix the problems caused by good players leaving and poor players being bought in).
Martinez got sacked. Now transition is needed, because we are a mess (hence Martinez getting chopped).
Koeman came in. First season results were pretty good: we could rely on beating everyone 14th and below, we mostly got the bulk of the points form everyone between 13th and 7th, 6th above however would dominate us. Although more money was made available, it was spent very badly - THIS IS KEY: poorly spent money usually only comes back to haunt you in future seasons.
Koeman's second season fell off the rails pretty quick and he gets the sack. At this point, we haven't recovered from the mess left by Martinez (if "recovery" means getting back to where we were under Moyes: regularly finishing 6th or 5th, pushing for fourth). If the end of Martinez left us in transition, and Koeman did not complete the transition, then we are clearly still in transition - proved by the league position and the results contributing to that position.
Allardyce comes in. If you want to argue that the arrival of Large Samuel is an indication that the club has successfully completed a period of transition and recovered back to the position Moyes had us at (finishing 6th, 5th or 4th most seasons) then you go ahead: but you would be hilariously wrong. Sam went out and panic-purchased some bobbins players to placate the portion of the fanbase who think that spending large sums of cash is a reliable indicator of "big club" status. He imposed a style of play which fair enough got us back to 8th, but was utter dirge to watch and, more importantly, is a style that will not see you climb higher than 8th nor can it even be relied upon to keep you finishing 8th year after year.
Sam therefore did NOT complete the period of transition.
Sam gets the boot, along with Walsh (who was almost as much to blame as Koeman), and Brands / Silva comes in. If you want to suggest that Brands / Silva should have completed the period of transition by now, having only come into the club last summer and having the grand total of one summer and one winter transfer window to work with, then you sir should really think about altering your diet because the endless crayon sandwiches seem to have addled your brain.
We are clearly and firmly in a period of transition. Brands will need probably two more summer windows to shift out enough overpaid / rubbish players to free up the transfer funds and wage space to purchase better players. In that period, Silva just needs to finish in the top twelve. The reason this is good enough to keep Silva on when 11th twice got Martinez sacked is because Martinez was buying awful players (Alcaraz, McGeady etc) who were in turn guaranteed to make us even worse. Silva is not buying players - Brands is. If Brands buys bad players, that isn't Silva's fault. If we all agree Brands is recruiting well but the results don't follow, then THAT is Silva's fault.
So far, Brands has made a good start. But the squad is CLEARLY not good enough to finish higher than 8th or 9th. Realistically, we should be expecting to finish 9th to 12th.
Is it good enough, long term? No.
Is it a necessary step in a three-year process of getting the club back on the right track? Absolutely.
