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Last season 86 points would have been enough to clinch second place. With six**** matches left we need another 29 points to achieve that total so...just supposing we make it to the ‘promised land’ this time around...how many of the current squad are actually good enough for the Premiership?
You're right
Oops wrong poster - they do sound the same 😁😁😁
Lol...cruel...even by your standards.Quote:
Originally Posted by roger_ramjet
Individually I think a few are good enough for the PL, the problem is that collectively they probably wouldn't hack it.Quote:
Originally Posted by ramAnag
Carson, Wisdom, Ledley, Thorne and Vydra would be comfortable I think
Keogh and Davies possibly individually but not together. Weimann, Anya and Lawrence all capable. Huddlestone might still be a decent squad player.
Nugent, Jerome, Johnson, Olson, Baird & Martin - either a touch too old or have tried it and not shone
Forsyth, Bennett, Hanson not good enough.
We would need a minimum of 6 new faces and probably nearer ten to give the squad depth.
I watch some PL games and the gap between that and the championship is a big one.
Not a lot to disagree with there, although with some of the contracts the players have we may have to 'make do'Quote:
Originally Posted by ManxRam
I think that's the reason Rowett isn't spending daft money on players, he'll need that cash to buy quality players if we go up! One thing I will guarantee is if we do go up Keogh will still be captain and that would be fine by me.
I asked the question because I’d come to much the same conclusion as you, Manx...especially over the 6-10 bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by ManxRam
Isn’t that realistically going to cost a minimum of £50m, plus wages, which I know is chicken feed to the top clubs but seems an awful lot to little old us.
Don’t think we can ‘make do’ Andy, we tried that about ten years ago and we’re still in ‘recovery’.
So...to those who understand all the big numbers...I know clubs like Stoke, Swansea and WBA have done it...so it must be possible but, without a billionaire owner, will we be able to manage the squad improvements needed to keep us competitive?
Quite possibly we will ramAnag. Why? Next season will see us get £120M+ as opposed to the tuppence halfpenny we will get this season. Add to that Mel's half a billion and we are quite likely in a far better position than those you mentioned plus BHA and Huddersfield and maybe even Palace. Certainly on an equal footing with Leicester, Soton and others. We will be behind Burnley, not on spending power but because we would be a couple of building years behind Dyche's squad.Quote:
Originally Posted by ramAnag
The model seems pretty clear, tried and tested. Bring in about 5-6 over the summer when you get promoted and try to be the fourth least crap team in the division for the first season. Build from there steadily, hpoe that gravity doesn't pull you back down, have the summer off, repeat.Quote:
Originally Posted by ramAnag
Without wanting to tempt fate, you can say Soton and Stoke have done it but the two teams that have really succeeded are Bournemouth and Burnley. Both might are well capable of beating anyone on their day.
Give or take a tweak I think we're OK at the back, fair in midfield but would need some real help up front. We've got nobody that is capable of consistently breaking down a Prem defence. The trouble is that this is where the ticket price gets spendy. Unless you can do like WBA and loan in a rising star such as Lukaku you are playing a lottery - as Huddersfield have found out with Ince.
But, as the Wolf says in Pulp Fiction, let's not starting sucking each others Richards just yet awhile. There's a fair bit of football still to play.