There's a phrase that goes something like 'if you do what you've always done, then expect to get what you've always got'.
I'm all for this CL ambition, bravado or not, it creates a very positive vibe about the club that will spread around Europe. If you have the ambition, and the resources to backup your efforts to make it happen, then it's possible. NC is clearly looking to improve this club year on year. Anything less than improvement, and by that I mean league placing, would be seen as a failure.
If you're finishing 10th every season and you have the resources to make changes, then not doing so should not be an option. Why settle? Look at stoke. They've finished mid table for a number of seasons now, but why haven't they pushed on, why haven't they improved? Have they accepted their lot? Do they not think they could get a better manger than pulis? Do they have the resources? If NC was there, he'd have had pulis out I'm sure, obviously depending on resources.
Of course, making changes does not guarantee improved performance, but not making changes does pretty much guarantee the same performance, re the quote above. A squad and a manager can reach a level, their level. Once reached, you need to find personnel capable of reaching the next level. Poch in for Adkins.
It's an amazing time to be a saints fan; I don't think we'll be looking to become another mid table also ran. Top, top players will want to join a team that is at least threatening the top 4, which, realistically, would be 5th, 6th and 7th.
Onwards and upwards.