The ambitions of the club amount to staying in the Premiership. So 17th is success, anything above is a bonus.
If I had to make a deal with the devil which allowed us the certainty of 17th for the next 20 years ( and Prem football), then I;d take it.
BTW, if it takes Allardyce football to achieve it, so be it.
As for the Cups, simply an irrelevant sideshow.