The level of expectation has never been higher....

[unique 434]

....thanks to the quality of signings so far this season.

Hughton and McNally must take plenty of plaudits for the squad accrued so far, with perhaps just one or two signings remaining to complete.

Optimism for the PL season ahead could not be greater.

So has Hughton''s recruitment drive earned him a lengthy crack of the whip, or does a failure to gel the attacking players over the first half of the season, allied to an unhealthy league position, justify a parting of the ways?

[Highland Canary 76]

The expectation is undoubtedly high. But I would argue it was higher in our European season following our top league finish of the season before.

[CodeNameCanary 0]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]The expectation is undoubtedly high. But I would argue it was higher in our European season following our top league finish of the season before.[/quote]

Agreed, finishing 3rd I remember expecting us to challenge again for the title back in the 90''s

But yes, expectations are indeed high. I''m expecting us to finish comfortably above the bottom 3 this season.

[Salopian 1]

I think that we must at last forget the fairly defensive approach of 2012-13. He inherited a squad that was going to struggle, (was this why PL left?), quickly identified that the most pressing need was to bolster up the defence - he signed Turner, Bassong Whittaker, Tettey and Garrido on a fairly limited budget. His brief was to maintain our Premiership status, and that he did, even if it was not always fully entertaining.

 

So I really think, that he achieved what was asked of him. He knew that our strikers were not good enough, once he had seen them pre-season, but there was a limited budget and managers do not usually like to sell good strikers in August or January, except at huge price.

 

It will be time, I suggest, to judge him in about eight months time. I hope that we hit the ground running, but with so many new players, and perhaps one or two more to arrive later, he has a massive problem to weld existing players and new ones into a cohesive unit. The start could be low key, even disappointing, but that is not the time to get on his back or further demoralise the players.

[Brightside 0]

We''ve made some great signings but I don''t think this means highest ever expectations. As last year Hughton will be tasked with keeping us up as an absolute minimum. Like we saw last year McNally is happy to ride the storm when things are not going great which was exactly the right thing to do. I think Hughton will be given a whole season whatever happens.

Things are looking great and this is the most confident I have been about a season since promotion.

[Sussexyellow 55]

Expectations are high, so perhaps a good time to get our feet back on the ground.

Yes the squad has improved probably well beyond our expectations. But lets not kid ourselves it is still going to be hard. 

We need to remember what we achieved over the last couple of years finishing above clubs that had much stronger squads than us. Others will be similarly setting out to over achieve. We can take absolutely nothing for granted.

We may also need to show some patience. With the number of new signings we have it will take time for the new players to settle and gel, and for Hoots to work out how best to play them.

OTBC

[Morisons Prozac 0]

Ill be happy as long as we are playing exciting football and remaining around 12-8 for the season.

[peateabee 0]

We''ve been spoilt in recent seasons, its pretty much been success on success - quite remarkable really. And to be fair, with our ambition in this transfer window we''re doing all we can to put ourselves in a position where that cycle can continue. HOWEVER, there are no guarantees. Often increased hopes and expectations can lead to supporters growing frustrated and angry very quickly if those raised expectations are not instantly met. I hope the supporters of this club always retain a reasonable level of patience with the team, and realise things will not always go our way, all the time. The beginning of this season might be a test of that - We all know that there is always the possibility that bringing in lots of new faces can mean a slow start to a campaign if everything doesn''t instantly gel. IF that happens I hope the supporters reaction is to urge them on to better things rather than quickly turn on the team. It may make all the difference.

Having said all that. Europe here we come!

[Bill 1,788]

[quote user="Salopian"]

I think that we must at last forget the fairly defensive approach of 2012-13. He inherited a squad that was going to struggle, (was this why PL left?), quickly identified that the most pressing need was to bolster up the defence - he signed Turner, Bassong Whittaker, Tettey and Garrido on a fairly limited budget. His brief was to maintain our Premiership status, and that he did, even if it was not always fully entertaining.

 

So I really think, that he achieved what was asked of him. He knew that our strikers were not good enough, once he had seen them pre-season, but there was a limited budget and managers do not usually like to sell good strikers in August or January, except at huge price.

 

It will be time, I suggest, to judge him in about eight months time. I hope that we hit the ground running, but with so many new players, and perhaps one or two more to arrive later, he has a massive problem to weld existing players and new ones into a cohesive unit. The start could be low key, even disappointing, but that is not the time to get on his back or further demoralise the players.

[/quote]That makes little sense.If Hughton was able to "bolster up the defence" why would Lambert have not been able to ?"His brief was to "maintain our Premiership status", as if there could be a brief NOT to maintain our Premiership status."but with so many new players"  so many ? Garrido is not new, Nash will not figure barring an injury so hardly counts  - which leaves us 5 new players.  Rather less than joined in the previous two seasons."he has a massive problem to weld existing players and new ones into a cohesive unit."  These are professional footballers who are being askedto do what their job is, something most have been doing since their early teens. if it is likely to affect their performance then why not with other squads ?

If these expectations are based on the quality of players signed, what expectations did some fans have before these signings ? Did they not think that with an extra £20m TV money and a healthy amount of prize money, plus the money no longer needed to pay the debt we would not be signing these type of players ? that as far as the club are concerned is no mote than business as usual.Full steam ahead - as many points as possible, just as the previous two seasons.

[Alan_Grey 0]

The level of signings we''ve made (caveat: how good they really are remains to be seen) is exactly in line with what I expected us to do. What is interesting is that some "big" clubs have not responded to the huge increase in TV money by making record breaking signings of their own. Perhaps something to do with their levels of debt compared to ours......

[Bill 1,788]

there is another month to go still

[paul moy 235]

Well, my expectations this coming season are nothing more than survival. If we set our expectations too high we are likely to be disappointed and also put undue pressure on management and players.  I would however like a great season but in no way expect it.

[Yellow Shirt 17]

Expectations seem a little unrealistically high in a lot of threads.

Our squad looks much better than 12 months ago and I don''t expect to see the close run thing of last season again this year but top half would be a huge achievement and I expect us to be somewhere 12-14th this year.

Last years final position was not reflective of our season if we are brutally honest and owed a lot to one good run and two teams with nothing to play for at just the right time.

We could easily have gone down or finished 16-17th and so a 12-14th without being in much danger after Jan would actually in many ways seem to be an acceptable improvement to me.

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]The level of signings we''ve made (caveat: how good they really are remains to be seen) is exactly in line with what I expected us to do. What is interesting is that some "big" clubs have not responded to the huge increase in TV money by making record breaking signings of their own. Perhaps something to do with their levels of debt compared to ours......[/quote]

 

I don''t think so. We are less than half way through the transfer window, and this summer with the top clubs there are some possible mega-deals upon which all sorts of other deals would be dependent. Is Bale staying or going? Whither Suarez? Rooney? I would be very surprised, for example, if Arsenal don''t smash their record fee. Ditto Spurs if Bale goes.

[Bill 1,788]

"Last years final position was not reflective of our season if we are

brutally honest and owed a lot to one good run and two teams with

nothing to play for at just the right time"eh !  ! !it reflected the number of points we achieved ............. we is pretty much how every league also works outconversely we only finished where we did because of that one bad run, and playing teams with something to play for at the wrong time (Villa)every team has something to play, hence the same WBA pulling back a fee goals against Man Utd in the last game"We could easily have gone down"yes, take off those "two teams with nothing to play for at just the right time." and we would have gone down ?  Shame the table says otherwise.

[BOO 0]

Expectations are high, we would appear to have brought in some very good players, lets hope that CH is able to get them to gel and achieve the type of team spirit that has served us so well over recent seasons.

[Alan_Grey 0]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]The level of signings we''ve made (caveat: how good they really are remains to be seen) is exactly in line with what I expected us to do. What is interesting is that some "big" clubs have not responded to the huge increase in TV money by making record breaking signings of their own. Perhaps something to do with their levels of debt compared to ours......[/quote]

 

I don''t think so. We are less than half way through the transfer window, and this summer with the top clubs there are some possible mega-deals upon which all sorts of other deals would be dependent. Is Bale staying or going? Whither Suarez? Rooney? I would be very surprised, for example, if Arsenal don''t smash their record fee. Ditto Spurs if Bale goes.

[/quote]

I''d be very surprised if some of those huge deals don''t happen, too. I''ll also watch with interest how the transfer totals stack up for every club, especially our mid-table rivals!

[smooth 114]

My expectations are that we should be well equipped to beat all three promoted clubs home and away. We have a professional approach now, unlike a plucky promoted team who do hang on at times.

With every club spending, our performances and players we had last year still here I certainly do not see much of an improvement in the table.

I just would likelyto see us dominate at times, play with more conviction and actually compete in every game. We have added quality that I hope lifts the established players here. As I do think with a summer window in 2014 we will have a hughtons first 11 with all genuine quality players. We are still building but so is Swansea, Southampton... Hate to say it west ham

So league table to be safe at the end of the year, performance to raise as we have higher quality players allowing us to play a better style with individual brilliance. I hope we write a lot more positive headlines with the quality odour football and individual performances.

We all know the end of the season will be critical, we can make it less critical by performing throughout the season. I would also like us to beat the promoted teams home and away. Finally improve our away record and maintain our home form, I was at reading away last year and it was the worst professional game I have ever seen.

[BOO 0]

And we do want to see some ambition smooth, I am with you all the way!

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

[quote user="paul moy"]Well, my expectations this coming season are nothing more than survival. If we set our expectations too high we are likely to be disappointed and also put undue pressure on management and players.  I would however like a great season but in no way expect it. [/quote]Agreed.Give me survival now!

[Herman 9,700]

With all the signings and the guys already here I think we can aim for higher than mere survival and it is achievable.

[BOO 0]

Our ambition should be top half and a trip to Wembly Herman, how are you keeping! Ashes series has been fantastic so far!

[Herman 9,700]

Been good. First test cracking. Second too easy.

I''ll be happy with the first page of the tables. Eleven plus!

[BOO 0]

Agree with that. Ashes test too easy, who would have conceived that, but true!

[BarclayCanary (Former HDDH) 0]

The level may be higher but we need to make sure we dont get on the players backs too early if we do get to a slow start but hopefully we will hit the ground running