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Season Predictions - Where Will We Finish

Gemmel

By Gemmel,
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Gemmel

Gemmel

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I'm not sure I have a clue as to where I think we will finish, the squad will change between now and the transfer deadline (At least I hope it will), but based on "Hope", current players and transfers targets I'm going for 12th.

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Saint86

Saint86

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At the moment we will struggle. Spunked 10m on a keeper when the positions that really needed work were the wings, attack and CB... If we don't get a quality CB and Attacking Mid in soon then I think we will struggle for goals and be in deep doo doo very quickly.

 

Realistically, this team will need time to gel, we have our easiest games first and there is a high chance these will get wasted by poor team cohesion. Then we'll struggle with the second batch of games against the top teams.

 

Nothing what so ever to be optimistic about other than the hope that the next 3 weeks will see us sign some actual quality and won't see morgan leaving... That and the kit makes us look like Sunderland when viewed from a distance...

 

Fingers crossed that Koeman really is a good manager, because it all hangs on him atm..

 

Current squad - 18th-16th

 

Couple of decent signings - 10th to 15th..

 

Can't see us even presenting an illusion of chasing the top 8 this year... not with this squad anyway.

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Lighthouse

Lighthouse

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Posted

With 2 new CBs, winger and striker - 12th.

 

How did you work that out?

 

I would say our squad is marginally weaker than last year, simply because we haven't replaced Lovren yet. You have a very pessimistic view on our new signings if you think signing four more will still make us weaker than last year.

 

How many of the people predicting relegation would honestly swap our squad for Burnley, QPR, West Brom, Leicester, Sunderland, Palace, Villa or Swansea?

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Batman

Batman

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How did you work that out?

 

I would say our squad is marginally weaker than last year, simply because we haven't replaced Lovren yet. You have a very pessimistic view on our new signings if you think signing four more will still make us weaker than last year.

 

How many of the people predicting relegation would honestly swap our squad for Burnley, QPR, West Brom, Leicester, Sunderland, Palace, Villa or Swansea?

 

if only football was played by the squad strength on paper

what if pelle is anotehr altidore?

and we fail to get anyone of note in?

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Saint86

Saint86

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How did you work that out?

 

I would say our squad is marginally weaker than last year, simply because we haven't replaced Lovren yet. You have a very pessimistic view on our new signings if you think signing four more will still make us weaker than last year.

 

How many of the people predicting relegation would honestly swap our squad for Burnley, QPR, West Brom, Leicester, Sunderland, Palace, Villa or Swansea?

 

 

Opening day squad vs Last seasons first 11

 

GK - Boruc vs Boruc :scared:

LB - Shaw vs Bertrand :(

RB - Clyne vs Clyne :)

CB - Fonte vs Fonte

CB - Lovren vs Yoshida :mcinnes:

 

CM - Wanyama vs Wanyama :)

CM - Morgan vs Cork/Taider:mcinnes:

CM - Davis vs Davis :)

AM - Lallana vs Isgrove :mcinnes: FFS!

AM - JayRod vs Tadic maybe hope on this one

FW - Lambert vs Pelle :mcinnes:

 

And we have almost no depth what soever this year.

 

Prem level players on the bench, ramirez, cork/Taider, JWP, Forster - No striker, No CB, No decent winger...all key roles under 4-3-3...

 

Our squad is not good, first 11 is passable, squad depth is currently god awful, and it wasn't great last year!

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FloridaMarlin

FloridaMarlin

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The question which will determine where we finish is: "How much have the teams below us improved in quality form last season, in relation to our squad."

 

It might well that in terms of like-for-like replacement, our first 14-15 might arguably be stronger than last season.

 

But what have those around us added?

 

Newcastle have been quite busy in the market and after struggling without Cabaye last season, and losing Debuchy, they look stronger and have made some decent signings.

 

Hull have also made some good signings, but are they of top quality? Will they enhance the squad, or merely underpin it?

 

Elsewhere, I'm not seeing vast improvements on the other squads outside the top six in what looks, to be honest, a pretty average-to-poor Premier League.

 

Of course, no team is too good to go down and Saints biggest enemy may not be lack of quality, but complacency, although I can't see Koeman letting this creep in.

 

I'm not as downcast as I was a couple of weeks ago when I feared for our chances. Not because Saints have suddenly signed a couple of players, but because when I look at the rest of the PL, I don't see too many teams who have improved enough to overhaul us.

 

Our ambition again, will be to finish as high as we can in the Premier League's 'second division' outside of the top five (six if you want to include Spuds, seven if you want to throw Neverton in the mix) and I'm confident we can take enough points off the other clubs in the mini-division to survive comfortably.

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Batman

Batman

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So to assume anything is a bit daft.

 

He might be crap or brilliant, as might other club's signings. Previous good players may continue or fall away. Bony won't necessarily keep being good. Benteke had a poor patch, Michu lost form, got injured then disappeared. Changes all the time.

 

I base my prediction on there being plenty of talent left at Saints, Rodriguez to come back in, plenty to spend this month and/or January, and what I believe to be pretty weak side in the bottom half.

 

I also realise that if Leicester or Burnley win a game in the first 3 people will make predictions of them being comfortable etc. I bet at least 8 teams look nailed on for relegation at some point.

 

indeed.

my prediction is based on the number of first team players we are churning (with more to follow I feel)

and (right now) the appalling squad depth we have

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Lighthouse

Lighthouse

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Posted
Opening day squad vs Last seasons first 11

 

GK - Boruc vs Boruc :scared:

LB - Shaw vs Bertrand :(

RB - Clyne vs Clyne :)

CB - Fonte vs Fonte

CB - Lovren vs Yoshida :mcinnes:

 

CM - Wanyama vs Wanyama :)

CM - Morgan vs Cork/Taider:mcinnes:

CM - Davis vs Davis :)

AM - Lallana vs Isgrove :mcinnes: FFS!

AM - JayRod vs Tadic maybe hope on this one

FW - Lambert vs Pelle :mcinnes:

 

And we have almost no depth what soever this year.

 

Prem level players on the bench, ramirez, cork/Taider, JWP, Forster - No striker, No CB, No decent winger...all key roles under 4-3-3...

 

Our squad is not good, first 11 is passable, squad depth is currently god awful, and it wasn't great last year!

 

We aren't as good as last year yet but 18th?

 

We are far stronger between the posts. Unless Boruc and Forster both get injured at the same time, we will not have to sit through another Gazza performance this season. I've no idea what's going on with Morgan but as far as I can tell he is a Saints player and will feature next season.

 

I don't see why Lambert vs Pelle is a facepalm. Lambert needed replacing anyway and put in some terrible performances last year when he just looked knackered. I can't where you got Lallana vs. Isgrove from. He wont be starting ahead of either JWP or Taider.

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aintforever

aintforever

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Posted

I'm a bit more confident but still fear relegation. Our squad is wafer thin and teams that are unsettled behind the scenes tend to be effected on the pitch.

 

We don't know if our manager is good enough. We don't know if our signings are good enough. We don't know the effect of this summers disaster will be on morale. We don't know who else wants to leave but are just keeping quiet.

 

We are starting this season with a new chairman, new manager and new team - so many uncertainties anything could happen.

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Batman

Batman

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So who, in your opinion, is the only team in the Premier League worse than us?

 

there a fair few on paper

but then on paper, norwich had a far stronger squad than palace

 

I feel on paper we have a decent squad

but when you factor in the churn of players and staff with the uncertainties on how new players will settle, I think we are in real danger of going down

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Beckenham Saint

Beckenham Saint

Posted
Posted (edited)

Mid-to lower Mid-table. Think we'll finish around 10th / 12th. Season of transition while new players bed in and a new style is put in place. I don't think we will be in any real danger of relegation as we have a good manager in place, and our new players look like good acquisitions. We have a very good starting XI and we have decent youth coming through, but as we all know, we just need depth.

 

We need a solid addition at the back, and we need either another striker as an alternative option to Pelle or we need a sort of second striker to pick up all the balls he will knock down as he is clearly very accomplished in the air. If we have those, I can see us pushing the top half.

 

This year we are stronger between the posts, weaker in the central defence but our first choice full backs are both very good so no problems there (it's just the cover we need to worry about, but the club are clearly looking into that.) Midfield we are arguably stronger than last year, especially with the addition of Taider who looks like a really good player (he came from Inter Milan though, so of course he would!) Tadic looks like a good buy and Ramirez has impressed me in his appearances this pre-season, as has Wanyama. We are a bit light up top, but am sure we will add another player there and Rodriguez will be a boost when he returns.

 

I am so much more excited for this season than last year. Didn't overly warm to Pochettino and was never Lallana's biggest fan, so I'm pleased in a way that he's not there so everyone can stop creaming their sheets every time he does a Cruyff Turn! He lost the ball more than any other player in the league last year, a stat that is often over looked. Shaw not the biggest loss in the world considering he never got a goal or assist and Bertrand is perfectly capable of defending well and has a bit more experience. If we replace Lovren well then we will do OK at the back. We are back to a defence that kept us up the year before last, so I'm not overly concerned with those, but obviously if we want to push on again we will need better quality, both next to Fonte and on the bench.

 

Can't wait for this season and am feeling rather optimistic about the coming campaign.

Edited by Beckenham Saint
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SNSUN

SNSUN

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Posted

Still too early for this, 2nd September after the dust has settled is when it should be done...

 

...That said, we can speculate. As it stands with the squad as it is, we will struggle, finishing possibly 14th to 17th, possibly surprising people with luck behind us as high as, say, 12th. But we all know signings will still be made, and some of the links have been very positive. With the right signings, we could we finish as high as we did last season.

 

This season is transitional for us though, I'll be happy with 14th or higher, meaning we've done no worse than in the season after promotion.

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TwoPints

TwoPints

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Posted

I run a football competition at work where part of the deal is to predict where each team will finish. Of the entries in so far, no one has predicted that Saints we'll finish lower than 12th and most have said top ten and that's from fans of all different clubs.

 

Personally, I'm going for 10th.

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RobM

RobM

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9th.

 

We might not be much stronger, but I don't see all last years competition for the 12th - 8th spots improving significantly either. We finished comfortably last year, this year will be tighter but not much different overall.

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Lighthouse

Lighthouse

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there a fair few on paper

but then on paper, norwich had a far stronger squad than palace

 

I feel on paper we have a decent squad

but when you factor in the churn of players and staff with the uncertainties on how new players will settle, I think we are in real danger of going down

 

So basically you have no idea what's going to happen but you're going to assume it will go horribly wrong.

 

FWIW the bookies have us down as being around 9th

 

http://www.justbookies.com/premier-league-odds/?gclid=CMWz7qKei8ACFSTMtAodNEsAsg

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Batman

Batman

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So basically you have no idea what's going to happen but you're going to assume it will go horribly wrong.

 

FWIW the bookies have us down as being around 9th

 

http://www.justbookies.com/premier-league-odds/?gclid=CMWz7qKei8ACFSTMtAodNEsAsg

you say "you" as if that is unique to me

 

none of us have an idea. I have explained why I have us down to struggle badly

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