Guest Post by Banjo
I’ve been thinking….
There is much talk on the blogs that Slaven needs to be given time and that provided we see attractive football then a mid table finish and a cup run will be sufficient. I don’t buy that at all. We get criticised for our lack of ambition and lack of positivity at West Ham, well here’s some ambition and some positivity, we should go into next season aiming for a top 6 finish and a cup win and certainly expect top 8 and a shot at a cup.
The above is a minimum expectation of Spurs, Everton and Liverpool so let’s have the same expectations as them for heavens sake. We should always have higher expectations than Stoke, Swansea and Palace, and probably Southampton too (where do you think they are aiming for next season?)
Slaven WILL get the support he needs. To suggest that those that supported Sam for his tenure will turn on Slaven first opportunity completely misses the point. They supported Sam because they support the manager and their club. That’s what they (we) do so Slaven will get the same treatment from them. Those that hated Sam from day one will support Slaven because, well because he isn’t Sam. There will be those fans that will turn on him if the football isn’t flowing and if we are dicing with the bottom 3 come the new year but I don’t think that’s a likely scenario and he will certainly be given more time than many.
Why should we be aiming for a top 6 finish? I have 4 arguments;
1) the Boleyn factor. Some already have us winning all 19 home matches in the Premiership! So that’s 57 points then, couple of decent away performances and we are Champions League! But seriously, because the place will be hopping. 12th man and some.
2) the Slav factor. The ground will be full of Slavs army, Super Slav and He’s one of our own. It won’t quite be the PDC effect but it won’t be far off. On top of that he is the 53rd best manager in the world and Sam was 113th so he’s twice as good, right?
3) the Sam factor. Sorry folks! Sam has laid good foundations for Slav. We are in a far better place now than we were when he joined. Promotion and 3 mid table finishes and a squad that contains value and talent. Adrian, jenkinson, Creswell, Tonks, Reid, Sakho, Valencia, AC, Kouyate, are all £10M – £25M players. Add Obaing and potentially Song to that and a couple more big signings and a couple of promising youth players in Reece and Oxford and what’s not to like about that squad?
4) the we are on the up factor. We really are people. There are only 3 clubs out of our reach just now in my view when you factor in the OS and they are Chelsea, City and United, in that order. Arsenal are going to be the 4th side in the distance, although I think they are catchable, but Liverpool and Spurs are definitely catchable as are, of course, Everton and Southampton. We just need to get our shite together!
I expect our nett spend this year to be £30M and quite possibly more. Over the last 5 years only Chelsea, City and United have significantly exceeded that. Spurs, Liverpool and Southampton have had big spends as a result of selling Bale, Suarez and, well, half a team in the case of Southampton! Our average nett spend compares favourably with our piers and with the OS we will narrow that gap. I could cut and paste the nett spends of those clubs but I will make a mess of it. Some years these clubs have had minus nett spends due to selling on their stars!
So there you go ladies and gentlemen of the blog, I give you my case for us aiming higher. The fans need to aim higher, forget all the fading of your dreams, think positive, Sullivan and his board certainly are, he is in the top 6 camp, and I can’t imagine for one moment Slav is thinking mid table, can you?
COYI’s