Quote Originally Posted by es***red52 View Post
Say no more, get ya money out now! COYR.

8/1
8-1 you're right but only for play-offs. Slightly higher for. 2nd spot around 9 or 10-1. 14-1 for the title.

In fact it's what I've been saying all along.
Stoke favourites around 3-1 thereabouts for promotion followed by WBA and Swansea. Of last season's teams, Boro head the list.

So even if we take the bookies confidence, playoffs are really our best hope. And we all know about them. It's a long season and first you have to reach it and then 3 tough games await. And it doesn't always go to plan.

Maybe of the 3, Stoke, WBA and Swansea, 1 or 2 might falter but it's a stretch to claim we are the natural successors.
Hull and Villa should still have some parachute money.
Except for the complete overhaul of our side and a definite improvement in defense under Karanka, it remains to be seen if we can rise.
True some of the buys look tantalising and we should see some good results but 46 games is a long haul.

Can they click? Can they acclinatise? Will we escape our injury jinx? Will Karanka be afforded time if initial results run askew?

Can we score goals and eke out difficult 1-0 wins from customary draws? Can we turn the City Ground into a fortress? Can we avoid too many defeare on the road to grounds where we traditionally flop - Brammall Lane, Hillsborough, Riverside, Elland Road and Pride Park?

There's a whole lot more ifs than the joys of hope and expectation that greet us in a new season.

It'll be a welcome surprise if we can answer positively to most of those questions and make it a memorable season.
But even then, there's another gap from memorable to successful.

The only logical conclusion is:
Have hopes and expectations but just the same, don't risk your money by betting on us.