Saint_Tony

What's so bad about people dreaming about getting in the Champions League? Sure, it's a bit delusional, but it's not as bad as some of our supposed fans on here who would rather be in Sunderland's position this season. How's that working out for them?

Looks like Carroll's put himself right back in contention tonight. Would be gutted if Rickie isn't on the plane.

He'll play it safe and overload the squad with central midfielders like Lampard and only take 4 strikers. Complete waste of time

Even if he gets to the 20 goal mark, I don't think Roy will have space for him in the final 23 unless Welbeck gets injured.

This will sound harsh, but with the amount of chances he misses, he should have a lot more goals. Easily our most improved player this season, and the way he's been playing there's no reason he can't get to the 20 goal mark

Of course he's going, we have to accept it

I'd say around 100 million, we're that far off still. I have to agree with Barry though. We're only 3 places off but the difference in overall squad strength is still massive. It's very difficult though to anticipate what will happen regarding transfers and spending in the summer.

It really is difficult to tell isn't it? Not sure I can see KL and Ralph splashing the cash. I think Shaw's gone, but we might be able to hold on to some of the others

Sadly in this day and age it does simply just come down to money. Ok, Rickie saying top 4 as an aim is a bit stupid, but then so is trying to claim we will make a world beating side from a team full of academy products. I think a figure of £100 million would only be enough to make us top 6 candidates. £200 million and only then would we be buying players good enough to challenge at the top. That's just the way it is. I think it's fair to say we're all in the dark over the owner and Chairman's plans for the summer, it is difficult to tell whether or not we will be splashing the cash. Add in the uncertainty of several of our best players staying or leaving, and things really could go either way. We might push on, but more likely go the same way that Swansea have this season. I'd be disappointed if we don't invest heavily though, we should get around £25-£30 million to Shaw who I think is a certainty to leave, plus £10 million for Osvaldo.

Never accept 2nd best, isn't that right Glasgow? Aiming for 4th shows a real lack of ambition, especially for a side with a lot of players linked to the top sides

Glasgow you predicted 10th, so is the team not exceeding your expectations? Has it been a successful season?

Allardyce is getting a bit annoying, he talks about Carroll and the World Cup every press conference. To be fair you could argue that Crouch is more deserving of a spot than he is

He looked good in the cup game, think he's the sort of player we could develop, similarly to J Rod. Burnley look like they're promoted, but 8-10 million should do the job, far less of a gamble than Osvaldo IMO

Think you got your percentages a bit. I would estimate that at least 60% predicted 9th-12th, with a few going for 7th or 8th. 65% 5th to 8th? Few deluded posters on here but not that many. If it bothers you that much, go and support Chelsea, they've got a decent record against the top 10

Maybe he's a member on here?! Anyone registered as Danish Saint? Can't believe how worked up some of you are getting over this! Quite funny that he posted it on twitter

I think there's a lack of leadership on the pitch as well as on the touchline. MP often seems to be quiet on the sidelines when things aren't going our way. We have a youngish side, and perhaps need a bit of experience to add some mental toughness

If we want to get to a level where we can challenge even for a top 6 spot, we'd need to get rid of the likes Guly, Jos, Yoshida, JWP, Gazza and bringing in real quality whilst upgrading on the likes of Lambert, Fonte and Boruc You're talking £50-£100 million of investment. Plus trying to hold on to the likes of Lallana and Shaw. Put it simply, we are a long, long way from getting to the 'next level'

In all fairness, if all of our players are as good as many on here say, why aren't we higher in the league? Still don't get the hype around JWP, he's a Championship player at best. It's all well and good trying to play a team of young English players, but it's ridiculous to assume every young player we give a game too e.g. Chambers, Reed, JWP, Gallagher are going to be good enough for us in the future, as they're not

Nor me. This is all getting a bit boring, too many people keep trying to pick holes and discover stats to tell us what a supposedly poor side we are. If we started winning against most of the top 10 sides we'd be challenging for the title, that's not going to happen is it.

You have to admire the way he has performed since his England debut, which was disappointing even by his own admission. I still don't think he'll be on the plane but I can see him scoring another 4/5 goals this season. That would make him difficult for Roy to ignore

The thing is we are where we are because we have about the 8th/9th best squad in the league. 'MoPo' is doing a decent enough job . Would another manager with our squad finish any higher than say, 8th? Unlikely I would think.The thing is, what are people's expectations? It seems like a lot of posters on here find it hard to understand that even with the side we have, we are going to lose a fair few games over a season. The problem is so many people expect too much, I'm realistic about what we can achieve. I'm ****ed off about what happened today, but it's not the end of the world, we're used to this sort of thing. A managerial change simply isn't necessary, nor is it likely to change our fortunes a lot

Awful. We took Spurs too lightly after going 2-0 up. Draw a big blue line under that one and move on. Another forum meltdown to come so won't bother reading the rest of the thread.Nothing more to say

Yeah they got to a cup final. No one will ever remember the season we finished 8th

8th is a bit boring, would much rather be in Sunderland's position in 18th.

What about his poor win percentage? Surely not good enough for a top side?