Yes, we were lucky to get fourth twice as we didn't have the ability to do that without someone else under performing. We had that happen both years we finished fourth.
Yet Woolwich Liverpool and Utd have been underachieving for the last few seasons, and we have come 5th and 6th.
How many teams needed to underperform last season?
Why not? If the same amount, or more teams are underperforming these last few years?Still was a good achievement from us, but wasn't something that should be expected to happen every year.
I´ll tell you why. Because we have also regressed.
We needed to 7pts to finish 4th last year. Stoke, Palace, WBA. Again....how much money did we need to take more than 1pt from those games.Money is the thing that matters because it lets you buy more high quality players. We can't buy as many high quality players as richer clubs. That means we can't replace stars when they leave, and need to take bigger risks when signing players.
So why did you say this:It doesn't mean we can't reach the Champion's League
We don't have the resources to build a Champion's League quality squad right now.
So we´ve improved the squad on last year, things look much better, we´ve sorted the core problems, but it would unrealistic to better last year because our wage bill is lower. You are a true mong.We were actually lucky to finish better than 9th last year, given our underlying numbers. This year, things look very different, the team are playing differently and the underlying numbers look a good deal more promising. It would still be a hell of a lucky achievement to finish better than 5th, as that would be a clear over-achievement based on the wage bill.
It wasnt a lack of money why we didnt get Berahino, or anyone for that money. We spent £50M odd, and had another 22M we were willing to spend on deadline day. Poor us.That doesn't change the fact that we're playing in a league where 5 clubs have much more money than we do, and can outpay for talent, both in terms of transfer fees and wages. That means they can get the players we can't, and can sign enough of them that when one gets injured, it's less of an issue.
Or while we have managers who dont have the ability to get us there and/or a chairman who is not fullt supporting them.It just means that most of the time, we're not going to make the top 4, until we have enough money to pay for a squad of consistent Champion's League quality.
:avbfacepalm:The money spent doesn't change that anything can happen in any given game.
But we cant compete cos of money
Yes, stuff like making it into the CL and building on that foundationThe money spent didn't matter when we beat Chelsea, lost to Stoke, beat WBA, or lost to Villa. It also didn't matter when Barcelona lost to Celta fucking Vigo last year. Stuff can happen.
What the fuck is this bollocks?But more money means more consistency. And we're consistently finishing at or just above the amount of money we're spending. If you think we should be consistently finishing better than that, you're saying that literally everyone in the footballing world is doing it wrong.
What Im saying is, we are worse off now, than we was when we were a top 4 team.
Disagree all you like. You just said its unlikely we will finish 5th. That will be par, or worse than what AVB and Tim got. Progression indeed. Cock.