1) we improve by playing more risky attacking football, we win the games we would normally draw, and beat the teams in the bottom half more consistently. We regularly qualify for Champs League and enter the Big Money game. We win a cup! We sign some very tasty Europeans.
2) we remain best of the rest, between 5th-8th...sometimes it looks like we're improving, sometimes it looks like we took a little step back...but generally it's more of the same. We come close to winning a cup. Our financial situation is as-you-were. We sign some Scandinavians, one of whom turned out really good, the other one was a decent squad player, and the third fella didn't get game time.
3) we play less effective football, win less games, aren't able to step up a gear, the players seem to be less motivated. the team is too good to go down, but we find ourselves stagnating in the no-man's-land of 10th-15th season after season. The odd quarter-final run in a domestic cup is the only real highlight. We seem to be bringing in even less money than before, so our best players have left now. We generally don't sign new players much, apart from picking scraps from the lower leagues and promoting youth players.
A new dawn awaits!
