We're gonna finish top half

[fatboy47]

.... Of the Prem next season.

There.... I've said it.

[Spiral]

I'd bet on that right now. Absolutely no reason we can't do what Fulham are doing this season. Might take a bit of time to adjust to the level, but eventually with a few additions to the squad (and assuming we keep Kompany) we can out-football 10 PL sides over the season. We're already out-footballing the two that'll be promoted with us, so we need just eight more teams to out-football next season. Definitely possible.

[fatboy47]

The same type of whinge-bags were around in 73..
forecasting doom and a weekly bumming in division one.... We went up and imposed ourselves from day one.

[Swizzlestick]

Some 180 from the OP considering you were thinking about having a flutter on us being relegated from the Championship and using phrases like ‘asset stripping’ regularly in the summer.

[fatboy47]

I was wrong.

[Swizzlestick]

Fair enough.

[Jimscho]

I was wrong.

Spoken like a Whitewell Bottom lad.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Certainly possible but depends who we bring in. If we get a couple of decent CMs we could be right up there

[tiger76]

Momentum is massive in football, and we're certainly on a roll right now, so if we can maintain that into next season and get a few early wins anything is possible, just look at Fulham as a prime example this season.

Big call to say we're going to come top half though without knowing who going to arrive or maybe even leave over the summer.

[RVclaret]

As ever, it all boils down to recruitment. I’m confident we have a manager good enough to get us there or thereabouts. So next question is can we find that extra sprinkle of quality needed? I will again back the manager and Pace etc, given their incredible summer just gone (and looking like Jan too) and say yes we will.

[Vegas Claret]

for us to do that we would need to add quite a bit more physicality to our side imho, sadly I think we'd get done on every other set piece as we are

[claretandy]

for us to do that we would need to add quite a bit more physicality to our side imho, sadly I think we'd get done on every other set piece as we are

Not many giants in the premier League, unlike the championship.

[Spiral]

I was thinking about the set piece thing just yesterday. The Sheffield match was a disaster, I think it was three corners that we conceded from, but since that game the first set piece goal we've conceded was the header against WBA on Friday. It's probably the weakest part of our game but it's not causing chronic pain, and a calculation can be made that having the player profile we have to play the way we do is a high net positive. If we could have players with the capability we have but they also are physically built like a Mourinho team, well, they wouldn't be here and we couldn't afford them. Imagine if Zaroury was built like, say, Rashford...he wouldn't be a Burnley player. The trick for us is to dominate the ball so much that the opposition hardly gets the chance to take a corner in the first place. We just need to level that up in the PL and dominate the ball against the twelve or thirteen teams we're likely to be competitive against.

[Vegas Claret]

Not many giants in the premier League, unlike the championship.

there are plenty of big strong lads

[CoolClaret]

for us to do that we would need to add quite a bit more physicality to our side imho, sadly I think we'd get done on every other set piece as we are

Had this debate with one of my friends earlier; if anything I think we’ll be better suited in the Prem with regards to this. There’s way less teams that put players on the goalkeeper and play a physical game.

Our biggest concern imo is getting caught out on the counter by much better players than we’ve been playing against this season

[Vegas Claret]

Had this debate with one of my friends earlier; if anything I think we’ll be better suited in the Prem with regards to this. There’s way less teams that put players on the goalkeeper and play a physical game.

Our biggest concern imo is getting caught out on the counter by much better players than we’ve been playing against this season

the good thing is our manager and his assistant know more about the PL than all of us put together, I'm sure they'll have a plan for it should we go up (we will) and it seems the board are willing to back them as much as possible

[fatboy47]

Had this debate with one of my friends earlier; if anything I think we’ll be better suited in the Prem with regards to this. There’s way less teams that put players on the goalkeeper and play a physical game.

Our biggest concern imo is getting caught out on the counter by much better players than we’ve been playing against this season

This.

With var in the Prem, if you break wind in the box you'll have your goal chalked off, let alone the obvious gormless barge on Taylor from WBA.
And Barnes goal may well have stood.
And Twines free kick would have been a pen.

So much will depend on our adapting to var.

[Claretitus]

[quote=CoolClaret post_id=2003661 time=<a href="tel:1674420515">1674420515</a> user_id=3492]
Had this debate with one of my friends earlier; if anything I think we’ll be better suited in the Prem with regards to this. There’s way less teams that put players on the goalkeeper and play a physical game.

Our biggest concern imo is getting caught out on the counter by much better players than we’ve been playing against this season

This.

With var in the Prem, if you break wind in the box you'll have your goal chalked off, let alone the obvious gormless barge on Taylor from WBA.
And Barnes goal may well have stood.
And Twines free kick would have been a pen.

Twines’ freekick wasn’t even a free kick. There was NO foul on Cullen. He kicked the ground.

[RVclaret]

This.
With var in the Prem, if you break wind in the box you'll have your goal chalked off, let alone the obvious gormless barge on Taylor from WBA.
And Barnes goal may well have stood.
And Twines free kick would have been a pen.

Twines’ freekick wasn’t even a free kick. There was NO foul on Cullen. He kicked the ground.

He got clipped before he kicked the ground. Watch the replay, it shows contact. Do you really think a player as talented as Josh Cullen would kick the ground when he has a shot on goal? In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw any player just kick the ground instead of the ball.

[No Ney Never]

Not sure about a top half finish, the standard is very high.

Arsenal, Man City, Man U, Newcastle, Tottenham, Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, Liverpool, Chelsea.

Which of those current top 10 teams are we going to be better than over the course of a season?

Then there's the likes of Villa and Palace.

I think we are showing enough now to suggest that we will finish comfortably above the relegation places, but not sure that stretches as far as the top 10, not next season.

[Spiral]

Twines’ freekick wasn’t even a free kick. There was NO foul on Cullen. He kicked the ground.

Imagine for a moment there's no ambiguity about where the incident happened, and it was clearly outside of the box, but the ref still saw a foul and blew the whistle. Imagine there's no contact, and Cullen just kicks the ground. Would VAR check whether or not what the ref saw was a foul? VAR would have told the ref Cullen kicked the ground and no foul, but if it's not a penalty check and not a red card offence and the goal is not scored before the whistle is blown, what is the basis to consult VAR? You can't let Twine score then review it any more than you can let Twine take the shot and miss then review it, so would VAR even have intervened in the PL were it a few yards further out?

[Spiral]

Not sure about a top half finish, the standard is very high.

Arsenal, Man City, Man U, Newcastle, Tottenham, Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, Liverpool, Chelsea.

Which of those current top 10 teams are we going to be better than over the course of a season?

Then there's the likes of Villa and Palace.

I think we are showing enough now to suggest that we will finish comfortably above the relegation places, but not sure that stretches as far as the top 10, not next season.

Spurs. Conte leaves, Kane leaves, bottom half team.

[Spiral]

Very real possibility also that one or even two of Brentford, Fulham and Brighton are stretched to their limit by Europe league games should they qualify. It can happen to clubs who can't carry a squad with 18-20 genuine first teamers.

[SalisburyClaret]

I can see us scoring goals in the PL but without a strengthened central midfield and keeper we’d just concede too many.

We only have to be better than 3 other teams though but top ten is way beyond our current squad is

[Rileybobs]

Seeing as 3 of our back 4 are loans, 2 of our midfielders struggled in the PL last season, and our centre forward is Rodriguez I think that’s a huge ask. Having said that, I thought we would do well to be in touch of the play-offs at this stage of the season.

Obviously how we do next season is massively dependent on recruitment. But on the evidence so far it’s safe to say that we can trust VK and the recruitment team to pull more rabbits out of hats. We have to be mindful that obtaining PL-ready players at a bargain will be much more difficult than picking up players who will cut it up in the Championship. Not least because our competitors will also be competent enough to identify these players.

One thing I can say is that we will take the game to the opposition and whilst we will no doubt get a few hidings I think we will have an enjoyable season.

[Jakubclaret]

I think we'll do well not be relegated & that's got to be the aim for sure we shouldn't be looking past that, if we thought rebuilding the team after SD & relegation was difficult for the championship this sh1t is completely different, you are asking the youth to step up a gear in unchartered territory & then you have the a decision to make on the loanees if retained subject to the parent club agreeing & also replacing the likes of AB & JC & JR who are getting on for a season in the PL. Surgery needed in some cases & the rest absolutely no idea how people will adapt in the PL is the reality.

[quoonbeatz]

Height and physicality will need addressing. Average height of a PL player is 182 cm. We have 9 outfield players over that height*; 3 of them are on loan and 4 of the others are Cork, Jay, JBG and Barnes so unlikely to be starting regularly, if they're still here. The other 2 signed in the last week or so, so we don't know how good they'll be just yet.

*obvs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

[quoonbeatz]

He got clipped before he kicked the ground. Watch the replay, it shows contact. Do you really think a player as talented as Josh Cullen would kick the ground when he has a shot on goal? In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw any player just kick the ground instead of the ball.

come on mate, loads of players as talented as josh Cullen have kicked the floor before. Loads of penalties have been given wrongly when players have just kicked the floor. Seen 3 replays from different angles and there's little to no evidence of any contact. Even if there is contact, it's a brush at most and wouldn't make you fall over like that. Neither would kicking the floor.

Not complaining as we've had numerous decisions like that given against us before.

[dermotdermot]

Top four. You heard it here first.

[RVclaret]

come on mate, loads of players as talented as josh Cullen have kicked the floor before. Loads of penalties have been given wrongly when players have just kicked the floor. Seen 3 replays from different angles and there's little to no evidence of any contact. Even if there is contact, it's a brush at most and wouldn't make you fall over like that. Neither would kicking the floor.

Not complaining as we've had numerous decisions like that given against us before.

Not for me, clear contact, clear foul.

[quoonbeatz]

Lol OK.

[Clarets4me]

I was wrong.

Fair play to you, probably the 2nd time ever I've seen someone admit this on here, and " the other place " in over 7 years !!

[blatherwickstattoos]

Agree been saying this a few months now

[fatboy47]

Fair play to you, probably the 2nd time ever I've seen someone admit this on here, and " the other place " in over 7 years !!

No choice when you're bang to rights