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Season Predictions - Where Will We Finish


Gemmel

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My prediction of 12th is based on us making more signings and everything that I think will happen between now and the end of the season... don't see much point making a prediction based on how things are at this exact moment in time when it is obvious we're trying to make more signings.

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Just checked back on the other predictions thread as I wasn't entirely sure what I said.

 

I plumped for 9-14th, saying I didn't think much would separate those places. As it stands I'd probably still say about there. Having Forster & boruc should help. Another CB and I think the first XI is looking in reasonably good shape. Still a little worried on depth, though that was an issue last year and it still didn't end too bad then. The keeper situation was the biggest killer imo.

 

So yeah, slightly worse off than last year, but I don't see us getting relegated.

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There are in reality three separate mini-leagues in The Prem. The top five, and just possibly Spurs and Everton fighting for Europe, then seven or eight fighting for the middle places, and the relegation league.

As long as we're in the middle league this season I don't much mind.

If we're being honest then our ambition is normally sixth to tenth. To break into the top league would require huge ambition and investment on the part of the owner and a stadium enlargement, as much as I'd like to see it happen I doubt it will.

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However, big caveat, we are 2-3 injuries away from a disaster (e.g. Pelle, Fonte (!) Tadic)

 

Agree, we have a decent starting X1 but we are not many injuries away from having to field a back 4 of Clyne, Hoovield, Yoshida and Targett.

 

We were very lucky with injuries last season, I think it has lulled many into thinking we are better than we are. Injuries are always a major factor in clubs the size as ours in this league.

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I think people underestimate just how astonishingly bad you have to be to get relegated.

 

In 2005 we had a team with Bernard, Delap, Lundekvam and Davenport in the back four and still came within 30 minutes of staying up. I'm not sure why Yoshida has suddenly been branded crap just because Lovren replaced him. He was a very competent centre half in our first season up, probably the best of the three and easily better than Claus or Davenport were.

 

I can't really put forward an argument for this team being worse than the one that finished 14th in our first season. Shaw and Chambers weren't ready then and Lallana was ineffective. Bertrand is stronger than Fox and now we have Wanyama and Forster.

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I can't really put forward an argument for this team being worse than the one that finished 14th in our first season.

 

Save yourself the bother - most of these judgements aren't based on any subjective analysis, just an emotional gut reaction to all that has happened in the last few months.

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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.

 

Great post Becks

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We wont start very well due to squad upheaval, which is understandable really but eventually we will begin grinding out results. It looks like the brand of football that Koeman wants to play IMO wont make us as consistantly competetive as we were under Poch however it will arguably be more exciting with quicker transitions.

 

We will take a few beatings I expect but I also expect the odd scalp

 

Think we will finish around 12th or 13th. Potentially a decent cup run in there.

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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.

 

That's because most of them have no idea we've even sold anyone.

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I can see Newcastle, Stoke and Swansea making ground on us and possibly overtaking us.

 

Would I rather be West Ham, Villa, West Brom, Sunderland or one of the promoted clubs? Probably not and I expect us to add a couple more quality players. It seems clear we were prepared to drop around 15 mill on Rojo.

 

So I reckon 10-12th.

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I normally break the league down into sets of five. I think we may drop from the second five into the third, but would be amazed if we are in the bottom five. My sets are: manure, citeh, arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool; spuds, everton, stoke, toon and us; west ham, hull, Swansea, qpr and palace; west brom, villa, burnley, Leicester and Sunderland.

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There are in reality three separate mini-leagues in The Prem. The top five, and just possibly Spurs and Everton fighting for Europe, then seven or eight fighting for the middle places, and the relegation league.

As long as we're in the middle league this season I don't much mind.

If we're being honest then our ambition is normally sixth to tenth. To break into the top league would require huge ambition and investment on the part of the owner and a stadium enlargement, as much as I'd like to see it happen I doubt it will.

 

this

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Biggest plus is GK department. As long as Boruc stays the situation is excellent, hopefully no more shipping lots of points because our first choice keeper is out. Big Ron should let the two of them battle it out for no 1, both are more than adequate.

 

Strikeforce is thin, a lot rides on Pelle's shoulders. IMO he looks a good player but we won't really know how he reacts to the prem untill the season starts. Tadic and Taider are going to need to chip in with their fair share of goals to support him.

 

I don't think the team will miss Lambert or Lallana as much as many fans think as Lambert was going to be more peripheral (still a legend though) and IMO Tadic will be the equal of Lallana, maybe even slightly better.

 

Defence is weaker, cohesion is going to take time and we have sold some very good players, however as said GK is stronger so that will help soften the blow. Also big Vic was out for big chunks of last season, if he can stay fit then he'll be a big shield for the defence and really help out.

 

Talking of cohesion we've also lost our want-aways (Morgan excepted) and the disruptive influence of Osvaldo so hopefully behind the scenes the morale will pick up quickly with a squad full of players that want to be here.

 

We won't go down but I don't think things will be as exciting as last season.

 

10-14th.

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I went for a points total on this thread last season (55) so I was pretty close and that would have got us higher than 8th in a lot of seasons.

 

This season I am going to lower the points total as I think it will take us time to settle, but I am going to go for 45 points, comfortably safe in the end.

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I went for a points total on this thread last season (55) so I was pretty close and that would have got us higher than 8th in a lot of seasons.

 

This season I am going to lower the points total as I think it will take us time to settle, but I am going to go for 45 points, comfortably safe in the end.

 

Isn't 42 points the de facto limit for being safe, if that is the case then 45 points is not "comfortably safe", that sounds like "having to win the last 2 games to be safe" safe

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Isn't 42 points the de facto limit for being safe, if that is the case then 45 points is not "comfortably safe", that sounds like "having to win the last 2 games to be safe" safe

 

It depends how bad he thinks the bottom three will be. Burnley are down, surely? That leaves two spaces left - if he thinks there will be two other very bad teams then 45 points could be 10 more points than the bottom three could muster and would be comfortably safe.

 

Right now I don't think anything to do with our season will be comfortable but I sure hope it is.

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Until we know what squad we have its impossible to say, especially as every team will probably make more signings.

 

I would say I am encouraged with the players we have brought in of late, but am also well aware that we still haven't replaced the goals we have lost from the team, haven't accounted for not having Jay for the first 15 or so games at least, and are still weak at centre back - a very key position in the PL.

 

If we sort those then no reason we can't have a good season, but time will tell. However, the pundits suggesting we will be in the bottom three are underestimating us - which probably suits fine.

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8th again. With one more CB signing which looks almost done and assuming one more striker I don't think we are much worse (if at all) than last year as a squad and don't see anyone that finished below us strengthening sufficiently to think they'll do any better.

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Right now to me we appear to be weaker than last season everywhere except in net. We've got Morgan sulking and Cork seemingly in limbo. Jrod likely out for half the season too. Last season i was confident of a top half finish before kick off, whilst this season that seems a fanciful prospect.

 

My prognosis is that we'll be flirting with relegation zone at times this season but emerge a safe low mid-table,14 etc.

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Isn't 42 points the de facto limit for being safe, if that is the case then 45 points is not "comfortably safe", that sounds like "having to win the last 2 games to be safe" safe

 

In the last 10 seasons 45 points would have got you anywhere between 11th (last season) and 14th. I am sure most people would feel comfortable with that.

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What an awful coupl eof months, manager left, 6 players, loan replacements and now paying over the top for players like Long. I do like him but feel he isn't as good as Rickie and costing three times as much. Remy was £8.5 million so how is Long worth £12 million??

I do hope the new players gel and we have something to shout about but players like Rojo and Caulker seem to have ignored us and it's a pity we couldn't secure somenody of that calibre.

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What an awful coupl eof months, manager left, 6 players, loan replacements and now paying over the top for players like Long. I do like him but feel he isn't as good as Rickie and costing three times as much. Remy was £8.5 million so how is Long worth £12 million??

I do hope the new players gel and we have something to shout about but players like Rojo and Caulker seem to have ignored us and it's a pity we couldn't secure somenody of that calibre.

 

I wish people would stop quoting the Remy fee, it's a pointless comparison. If we wanted Remy, he would cost £15-16m

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