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I have to say that anything outside top 5 with the squad we have got would be almost shocking performances unless we win one fo the cups. Breaking into top 4 has got to be the target. Winning the league is step too far though considering the the time players have had together. But if you look at rags side and compare it to ours, the only player who is considerably better than what we have got is Vidic. Other than that, on paper, we have as good if not better squad than they have. In midfield for instance we have miles better players imo. Chelsea have better and more experienced squad though. Liverpool have Gerrard and Torres but rest of the squad are average players. Arsenal have sublime midfield and good forwardline but their backline is weaker.

Rest of the times can't even be compared.

So looking at that, we should really be in the mix for Champion's League qualification. 6th spot would be huge failure.

I still think our target is top 5.....

I really think we are all underestimating how many more points we will need to break top 4. 5th is an absoulte must..... anything less than is a fail......

Top 4 would be nice, but the "typical city" part of me thinks that this may be a bit too much this season!

Id be happy with a top six finish and a day out at Wembley obviously bringing a cup back.

Slim wrote:Does anyone really think a top 4 place is out of reach?

I think if we are 'around' the top 4 even if we miss out that Hughes will have done his job, but I honestly believe we could win the title...it's a small chance, very small in fact. Even if it's a 1% chance, it's 1% more than we have had for the last 20+ years.

agree with every single word there

we do have a chance, a small chance....but a real chance (and it's more of a chance than any of the other top 4 "pretenders" over the last 8-10 years have had I have to say)

PLUS...we have a properly exciting team to watch as it tries to see how high it can jump

I think now that we have got most of the targets we were after, we are now aiming for:

Premier League Champions

And why fucking not?!?

UNDER-PROMISE, OVER-DELIVER.

Great philosophy to have in life, business and sport. One I'm pretty sure we're going to stick to.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote: I've noticed the results I'm looking for are the Sky 4's, rather than Everton and Villa, clubs that might have seemed our more natural rivals not very long ago.

I found myself rooting for Villa last night to take points off our 'rival' Liverpool. I must be dreaming of the top 4 then if i've started doing that.

GingeryBlue wrote:UNDER-PROMISE, OVER-DELIVER.

Great philosophy to have in life, business and sport. One I'm pretty sure we're going to stick to.

Yup - it's all about managing expectations. I don't expect any publicly stated increase in our target personally (for this season). UNLESS we go on a rampage up until Christmas then it would just be stating the obvious really.

saulman wrote:We will know if the "revised target" is a top 4 one, by if we end 5th and Hughes is sacked, if so then top 4 was the target and if not then top 6 was the aim.

If he lands 5th and gets sacked I'd not only be astonished, I'd be well pissed off too. 5th is a clear progression from 10th and would show that we're well on the way to cracking the top 4. It would make it much easier to attract the top players when they see the team they will be joining. I think that 5th should only be regarded as a success. Especially now that Spurs have a decent (if rather twitchy and dodgy) manager to look after their already impressive squad.

Completely agree. As long as we finish in the top 6 i'll be happy because we would have progressed and it would be the first time we've finished in the top 6 since we came 5th in 91-92.

I think the squad we have is capable of being in the top 4 but what may hold is back is them gelling together this season in terms of consistency to reach 4th or better. Definitely think that the squad is good enough though now, just a question of how quickly we can settle down and knit together as a unit, especially away from home.

6 points out 6, two wins and two clean sheets is an excellent start whilst we are still a work in progress

Two video interviews appear on the OS within a couple of days. One is the chairman and the other is probably our most high profile fan. You could say that you're getting views from both ends of the spectrum. When asked about our finish, neither of them mentions top 4 as a target and I think had they done that, the interview would have been edited so that it wasn't included.

Of course we can break into the top 4 this season. We have bought some incredible players and now have a squad that's got fantastic cover for every position...... AND we don't have to worry about European football and silly Thursday night games in the back of beyond and league fixtures shifted to Sunday. We've never been better placed to smash the top 4 in recent years.

However, just because we can do it doesn't mean we should expect it to happen. Many things can go wrong over the course of the season. Look at us 2 seasons ago with Sven in charge. We all thought we were top 4 material then until the illusion of what we were seeing was dealt a serious dose of reality. Look at Villa last season. They were on course to do it until everyone actually thought they could, (the media, the fans, their manager). They even threw away the UEFA Cup to concentrate on the league, only for their challenge to collapse spectacularly.

So yeah, of course we can do it. But will we do it? I have no idea. I'll be happy with top 6 and top 4 would be a very welcome bonus.

Mark Garrett wrote:

saulman wrote:We will know if the "revised target" is a top 4 one, by if we end 5th and Hughes is sacked, if so then top 4 was the target and if not then top 6 was the aim.

If he lands 5th and gets sacked I'd not only be astonished, I'd be well pissed off too. 5th is a clear progression from 10th and would show that we're well on the way to cracking the top 4. It would make it much easier to attract the top players when they see the team they will be joining. I think that 5th should only be regarded as a success. Especially now that Spurs have a decent (if rather twitchy and dodgy) manager to look after their already impressive squad.

Completely agree. As long as we finish in the top 6 i'll be happy because we would have progressed and it would be the first time we've finished in the top 6 since we came 5th in 91-92.

I think the squad we have is capable of being in the top 4 but what may hold is back is them gelling together this season in terms of consistency to reach 4th or better. Definitely think that the squad is good enough though now, just a question of how quickly we can settle down and knit together as a unit, especially away from home.

6 points out 6, two wins and two clean sheets is an excellent start whilst we are still a work in progress

Folks. The owners have mentioned a target, Hughes has mentioned a higher target, now the chairman has said the Sheikh has set US a target. There are various messages coming out. One message that definitely hasn't come out is that anyone gets sacked if the target isn't reached. We're assuming that will happen because we think that heads should probably roll if we don't get top 6 but there's been no mention of that by the people who matter. It's all speculation from fans & press, many of whom are already wrong in that respect as in they thought MH would be gone already or that he wouldn't choose his own players.

From what I've seen now, I recon that it's very unlikely there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target unless the team looks badly wrong. I don't think that's how the people in charge want to work. I don't think it'll be a problem anyway because we'll get top 6 but if we don't, I don't think there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target. That doesn't mean they won't be tempted by a Mourinho, Wenger etc & replace the manager anyway but if they do, it will be a considered thought out move, not a sacking for missing a points target. These guys are way way above all that. They'll review it & make a decision based on every detail.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Mark Garrett wrote:

saulman wrote:We will know if the "revised target" is a top 4 one, by if we end 5th and Hughes is sacked, if so then top 4 was the target and if not then top 6 was the aim.

If he lands 5th and gets sacked I'd not only be astonished, I'd be well pissed off too. 5th is a clear progression from 10th and would show that we're well on the way to cracking the top 4. It would make it much easier to attract the top players when they see the team they will be joining. I think that 5th should only be regarded as a success. Especially now that Spurs have a decent (if rather twitchy and dodgy) manager to look after their already impressive squad.

Completely agree. As long as we finish in the top 6 i'll be happy because we would have progressed and it would be the first time we've finished in the top 6 since we came 5th in 91-92.

I think the squad we have is capable of being in the top 4 but what may hold is back is them gelling together this season in terms of consistency to reach 4th or better. Definitely think that the squad is good enough though now, just a question of how quickly we can settle down and knit together as a unit, especially away from home.

6 points out 6, two wins and two clean sheets is an excellent start whilst we are still a work in progress

Folks. The owners have mentioned a target, Hughes has mentioned a higher target, now the chairman has said the Sheikh has set US a target. There are various messages coming out. One message that definitely hasn't come out is that anyone gets sacked if the target isn't reached. We're assuming that will happen because we think that heads should probably roll if we don't get top 6 but there's been no mention of that by the people who matter. It's all speculation from fans & press, many of whom are already wrong in that respect as in they thought MH would be gone already or that he wouldn't choose his own players.

From what I've seen now, I recon that it's very unlikely there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target unless the team looks badly wrong. I don't think that's how the people in charge want to work. I don't think it'll be a problem anyway because we'll get top 6 but if we don't, I don't think there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target. That doesn't mean they won't be tempted by a Mourinho, Wenger etc & replace the manager anyway but if they do, it will be a considered thought out move, not a sacking for missing a points target. These guys are way way above all that. They'll review it & make a decision based on every detail.

Sorry, but I disagree, no top 6 and I reckon he will be gone and rightly so.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Mark Garrett wrote:

saulman wrote:We will know if the "revised target" is a top 4 one, by if we end 5th and Hughes is sacked, if so then top 4 was the target and if not then top 6 was the aim.

If he lands 5th and gets sacked I'd not only be astonished, I'd be well pissed off too. 5th is a clear progression from 10th and would show that we're well on the way to cracking the top 4. It would make it much easier to attract the top players when they see the team they will be joining. I think that 5th should only be regarded as a success. Especially now that Spurs have a decent (if rather twitchy and dodgy) manager to look after their already impressive squad.

Completely agree. As long as we finish in the top 6 i'll be happy because we would have progressed and it would be the first time we've finished in the top 6 since we came 5th in 91-92.

I think the squad we have is capable of being in the top 4 but what may hold is back is them gelling together this season in terms of consistency to reach 4th or better. Definitely think that the squad is good enough though now, just a question of how quickly we can settle down and knit together as a unit, especially away from home.

6 points out 6, two wins and two clean sheets is an excellent start whilst we are still a work in progress

Folks. The owners have mentioned a target, Hughes has mentioned a higher target, now the chairman has said the Sheikh has set US a target. There are various messages coming out. One message that definitely hasn't come out is that anyone gets sacked if the target isn't reached. We're assuming that will happen because we think that heads should probably roll if we don't get top 6 but there's been no mention of that by the people who matter. It's all speculation from fans & press, many of whom are already wrong in that respect as in they thought MH would be gone already or that he wouldn't choose his own players.

From what I've seen now, I recon that it's very unlikely there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target unless the team looks badly wrong. I don't think that's how the people in charge want to work. I don't think it'll be a problem anyway because we'll get top 6 but if we don't, I don't think there'll be any sackings for not reaching the target. That doesn't mean they won't be tempted by a Mourinho, Wenger etc & replace the manager anyway but if they do, it will be a considered thought out move, not a sacking for missing a points target. These guys are way way above all that. They'll review it & make a decision based on every detail.

What is City's manager job now some sort of comedy job where you get unlimited amounts of money spend and yet no expectations are put on you? I sincerely hope, and believe, that our owners are ambitious men who were willing to put last season's failure behind them and give Hughes another change but I hope that failure will not be tolerated anymore.

What's the point in setting targets if there's no ultimatum behind it? There are dozens of managers in the world that would break into top 4 with quarter of billion to spend, yet some people seem to think that even after all this it's alright to finish behind Everton or whoever.

THAT is why I call some people "Hughes lovers". Developement of Manchester City seems to be little interest but just how Hughes sleeps his nights and pays mortgage of his castle. Well fuck that, top 5 or boot. Right now he is on right course.

if we can keep getting the results (without necessarily performing 100%) whilst the players are still gelling then we have as good a chance of getting top 4 as any other 'pretender'.

When these players finally click someone is getting a spanking, we've seen glimpses of it already.

However the two weeks after the international break are vital to our hopes of top 4. Arsenal then the scum will help us see how far we have come.

My 2 'at least' mission objectives would be

6/7 by xmas

be challanging for a top 4 spot at the end of april

If we miss those Hughes will be out. If we perform at that level or slightly higher, i'd imagine Hughes will have to do a fair bit of talking to keep his job.

I honestly think we'll do very well this season. The signs so far have been very positive. 2 wins, 2 clean sheets.When the Premier League settles down after 12-15 games, we'll know where we are going.

I've always felt that top 6 target was the minimum requirement for Hughes to keep his job.

It's the least thats expected but we'll really be gunning for top 4 as the genuine target.