That's a key observation for me too.
The irony is that the constant churn of players, to avoid contracts running down, has actually served us well since we returned to the premier league. The goal to have more players on longer term contracts has possibly backfired. The aim was to achieve stability but stability could actually be our enemy... For 'stability' read 'complacency'... (Cue the "told you so" brigade...)
The previous churn of players actually keeps everyone on their toes (from the boardroom to the players) and keeps things fresh rather than stale.
Les, Krueger and co obviously see stability as a good thing....but perhaps it was the 'instability' that was keeping us competitive all along...?
(Caveat: just thinking out loud so I could be talking a load of old tosh )