No struggle, no progress

[Bws Cat 0]

A quick question to all of you pink un pedestrians... do you think we have reached the point where aiming for survival is seen as lowly?

I say this because I was having a chat with a Swansea friend of mine earlier, and he was going on about how with his teams strong finish last season in the table, they want to aim for around 9th-13th, and that survival is something they don''t need to aim for.

I think that our aims should be higher, as fans. We have now survived two seasons in, arguably, the hardest league in the world. Only little ol'' narwich! Who''d of thunk it?

Three seasons of survival seems to be the accepted yardstick for approving a club into the "Here to stay" club. But I think we''ve already subtly swished our ID card past the guards of expectation and got into that suave VIP suite. We''ve finished very strongly especially when you consider our problems with Lambert, oh that could of gone very wrong) over the last two years and under Hughton I see us staying up, and higher.

My expectation for last season was survival, before that it was survival, but now I think we can, not safely per se, but root ourselves in the Premier League and say we are here to stay.

[Redders Right Foot 22]

I don''t even think about expectations until the first game of the season when we have an idea if we''re (and everyone else) is done with transfers or not.

[Herman 11,136]

Aim low,then you won''t be disappointed.

[birchfest 401]

Id bite your hands off 17th again, its only going to get better the longer we stay up with the improved money.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

Looking at the makeup of the Prem, there are 6 teams at the top.  They are in the mix for possibly winning the league and/or getting into the CL/Europa league places, they''re not going to be fighting against relegation unless they are disastrously managed for more than one season.  These are ManU, ManC, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool.  Under David Moyes, Everton have been on the fringes of this group too, without really being part of it, questionable whether they will stay there under a new manager.

 

Below this group, no team can be viewed as safe at the start of the season.  A team may have a great season, like Newcastle last year or WBA this year, but then can be scrapping against relegation the next season.  The margins in the middle of the table are very tight.  Teams like Stoke, Fulham, Sunderland, Newcastle, would like to view themselves as safely established in the Prem, but the truth is that one bad season and some bad luck, and any of them could be relegated.  Villa obviously at risk.

 

Last year both Swansea and us reached a safe number of points quite early, but this year all it took was a bad run with some poor results, bad officials etc, and we were having to fight against relegation, while Swansea were again comfortably safe, but the points difference between us and them was actually not that big even after we lost to Villa.

 

Having said this, while next season we can''t be complacent and must not feel we''re safe from the start of the season, the question is whether we should be aiming for something higher than mere survival ?  My answer is definitely yes - having finished 11th, with a summer of stability and improving the strength of the squad coming up (I hope!), we should certainly be aiming higher.  Breaking into the top 6/7 is going to be very hard for any team that doesn''t get funded like Man C (if that''s still possible with FFP).  But we can certainly aim to be in the top 10 and safe  early in the season.

[King Klose 0]

Could HAVE.

I agree with birchfest.

[Bill 1,788]

errr, how do you aim for something higher ?what does the team actually do .... and what would they be doing if they are not aiming higher ?

[dpit 1]

Aim: to finish as far up the league as possible.

First target: make ourselves safe from relegation.

Not mutually incompatible.

[ricardo 8,041]

[quote user="BWs Cat "]A quick question to all of you pink un pedestrians... do you think we have reached the point where aiming for survival is seen as lowly?

I say this because I was having a chat with a Swansea friend of mine earlier, and he was going on about how with his teams strong finish last season in the table, [/quote]

Strong finish !!!!!!!   Hilarious

Last 12 Premier League games.Swansea       P12   W2    D3   L7     F9    A22  PTS 7Norwich       P12    W4   D3   L5     F16  A18  PTS 15

Have a word with your mate.[:D]

[Bws Cat 0]

Read again city1st. I''m talking about the fans expectations.

[Bill 1,788]

"Aim: to finish as far up the league as possible.

First target: make ourselves safe from relegation."

how do you seperate the two  ?how can you achieve the latter without contributing to the former - and pretty much visa versa ?

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

The bookies make us 4th favourites to go down. I don''t agree with that at all. I look for modest progress. With continuity of management and wise spending we should be well clear of the bottom 3. 10th would be very good progress for me, 17th would be a massive disappointment albeit live to fight another day

[ricardo 8,041]

[quote user="BWs Cat "]Read again city1st. I''m talking about the fans expectations.[/quote]I''m still waiting to hear about this "strong finish"

[Gingerpele 0]

Ricardo, by ''strong finish in the table'' surely that means the final position, not their run in. Personally I''d say ''strong finish to the season'' not ''strong finish in the table'' if I were talking about the final games.

[Bws Cat 0]

GP''s got it right ricardo.

[Bill 1,788]

the fact is BW whatever expectations and hopes many on here will have for the season there will always be the whingers and whiners, te pantwetter and the ever so ''umble all to quick to jump on any sense of ''failure'' and use it as a peg to attack the club, the players etcand sadly there will always be those niave enough to believe thse folk are City fanspersonally I expect the players to go out and give it their all to see how far u the table we can finish - something that can be affected by umteen variables .... injuries to us and them, dodgy refs decisions and even the time we play teamsbased on how we played last season, and with a strengthened team there is no reason to suspect we cannot finish inthe top half - but football is a funny old game and last season saw yet another of the vacuous cliches blown out of the water '' an established PL club'' as Newcastle, Stoke and Fulham all ''struggled''  however that is the beauty of it, you''ve got to fight hard every season, and all through the season .... there are NO targets as there is never any certainty about what points will achieve what, as with another much loved cliche the ''must have 40 points to avoid relegation'' taking another kickingstill, if we must aim higher then let it be Johnson''s boot on Suarez''s upper thigh - a bit higher there would at least be one target worth trying to hit

[ricardo 8,041]

[quote user="BWs Cat "]GP''s got it right ricardo.[/quote]Thanks for the clarification[:D]

[dpit 1]

"Aim: to finish as far up the league as possible.

First target: make ourselves safe from relegation."

how do you seperate the two ?

how can you achieve the latter without contributing to the former - and pretty much visa versa ?"

Precisely. As I said in the bit of my post you didn''t quote: Not mutually incompatible.

[Bws Cat 0]

100% agree on first point city1st.

You''re probably right about the premier league being a mixed bag of surprises, to be fair.

[dpit 1]

"there are NO targets as there is never any certainty about what points will achieve what, as with another much loved cliche the ''must have 40 points to avoid relegation'' taking another kicking"

Correct. But a target can be to achieve mathematically guaranteed safety, whilst the overall aim can remain as finishing as high as possible. Targets are benchmarks. Most companies'' aim is to make as much money as possible. many will set targets along the way to help them work towards their aim.

[Pyschic James 0]

I sense that city1st will lose something precious to him soon... something about his aura tells me this. Would you like an appointment city1st?

[Bws Cat 0]

" I sense that city1st will lose something precious to him soon... something about his aura tells me this. Would you like an appointment city1st? "

Oh f*** off.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

There''s no need to be like that pus.. Psychic James is a midget on the run from Norwich Prison. Didn''t you read it in the EEN? "Small Medium at Large".

 

 

[Pyschic James 0]

You have the taint of a corrupter, your name is eddie am i right? Or george?