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Would you take a top 4 finish or win the FA Cup?

Okay, was a good question for last season, considering I replied I want both and I hadn't given up on 3rd, SWISH!

But what are out realistic minimum expectations for this season?

League:
Champions League:
League Cup:
FA Cup:

League: 4th or above (think Red Scouse will do well this year)
Champions League: 1st knockout stage pending we get a shite team in that
League Cup: 3rd round
FA Cup: Expecting a decent cup run if we go out the Champions League early so semis

I do want silver wear again, that's for sure.

League: Winner or runner-up
Champions League: first knock out stage
League Cup: silver wear (if we win the FA, I don't really care)
FA Cup: silver wear (if we win the League Cup, I don't really care)

League: 3rd or above
Champions League: good run - semis at least
League Cup: fuckit and play the Niños
FA Cup: Challenging all the way to the finals

Slim wrote:Would you take a top 4 finish or win the FA Cup?

Okay, was a good question for last season, considering I replied I want both and I hadn't given up on 3rd, SWISH!

But what are out realistic minimum expectations for this season?

League:
Champions League:
League Cup:
FA Cup:

I want second (considering we were joint second with last years team I fully expect us to be there again)
At least the semifinals
Win it
Win it.

Thought I put my own in....

League: 2nd
Champions League: Knockouts
League Cup: Leave it for the kids/fringe, think we can say fuckit on this one.
FA Cup: Win it.

Slim wrote:Thought I put my own in....

League: 2nd
Champions League: Knockouts
League Cup: Leave it for the kids/fringe, think we can say fuckit on this one.
FA Cup: Win it.

this

wanted to make sure I didn't read anyone else's before posting.

League: at least 3rd. we should look to maintain/improve. Top 4 isn't end of the world if we exceed in other areas though.
Champions League: minimum must pass the group stage
League Cup: Semi's
FA Cup: get to the final at least.


This season has to be about consolidation in terms of results. We have to start to lay down some benchmarks. We need to maintain our performance in england, for sure. I think where we will really be judged is in the chumps league, and as such I think we need to get passed the group stage AT THE VERY LEAST. after that it's a crap shoot with draws and we can revise that goal after we are in the knockouts depending on who we get.

League Cup... we have the talent to win it, but is it prudent to make it a priority when we are going to be stretched (imo) by our first chumps league campaign? I'm not so sure. I believe the Semi's are a reasonable target to lay down for a cup that has gone down in value ever since the start of the prem.

FA Cup ... The goal should be to retain it, but that is a very hard thing to do. I think the FA cup is a very important competition, no matter how other teams want to belittle it when they don't win. tasking the team with getting to the finals means that we have every chance of winning it, it's up to the players at that point.

League ... we have to equal or better our performance, simple as that.

Will the season be a failure if we finish with no trophies, but an FA cup final appearance, league semi's or final ... knockout in the chumps league and we finished 2nd? Not in my opinion. 3rd? Still a success which allows us to continue building. 4th? I think at that point you'd have to really look at why we got 4th and see where the fault lies and decide how to continue.

Do I think we have the talent to win everything under the sun? of course I do. Setting realistic goals to get the best performance out of players/manager is a different thing all together though.

For me we have to be seriously challenging for the title. We could finish third again, but have a better go at winning the league than last season and it wouldn't be a disaster.

We should be looking at the quarters in the Champions League abd going all out to defend the FA Cup and win the league cup but as we saw last year I don't think the latter is even close to a priority for Mancini.

I don't expect to win anything, but I expect to challenge for everything this season. Absolute minimum would be:

League: top 3 again
Champions League: knockouts
League Cup: semis
FA Cup: semis

Although semis in one of the Cups would be alright.

Slim wrote:Would you take a top 4 finish or win the FA Cup?

Okay, was a good question for last season, considering I replied I want both and I hadn't given up on 3rd, SWISH!

But what are out realistic minimum expectations for this season?

League:
Champions League:
League Cup:
FA Cup:

But then you lost the faith

Urgh, I swear if you are talking about "equal 2nd" I am flying to France to make you eat that silly hat.

Nah, the "it's more likely we will finish 5th and get knocked out of the FA Cup, we should get rid of Mancini" post

I feel it is my duty to keep bringing it up

I'm happy with top 3 and a good CL and FA cup run, secretly I want the league though

[quote="kinkylola"]wanted to make sure I didn't read anyone else's before posting.

League: at least 3rd. we should look to maintain/improve. Top 4 isn't end of the world if we exceed in other areas though.

MISSING OUT ON THE TOP 4 ACTUALLY IS THE END OF THE WORLD MATE - THATS ONE BIG "NO NO CANT HAPPEN" SCENARIO!

I think - given the proviso that the new signings settle in fairly quickly - that we can win the league this season. I'll be satisfied if we are challenging for it until the final few games.

League cup - who knows?

EUFA CL - Knockout stages, then who knows?

FA Cup - Will be happy if we can go on another good run but it's a cup competition so anything can happen.

All in all I expect us to approach the whole season in the same way as we ended the last one. i.e. when the chips were on the table, Mancini sent the team out to 'perform' and they responded. Anything less, from day 1 this time, will disappoint me.

Any team that has temporarily broken into the CL places hasn't stayed there for the next season. If we can do that it's a big step in terms of consistency. If we have a good run in the CL and qualify out of our group, I'll be happy with the season.

I think we can do more, but those two are plenty for me.

league 2nd (need to keep progressing)
fa cup winners
league cup quarter finals (with secound string)
champ league quarter finals (bookies have us 5th favs.)

League: 3rd at the least
Champions League: Last 16 (tho i was tempted to say Quarters i think that's a bit rich for our first year in it. Could see it happening tho for sure if things break right)
League Cup: N/A
FA Cup: Defenders of the Faith.

we need another pot to keep the ball rolling. We can't throw away the Milk Cup just in case, but it cannot be prioritized in any way, shape or form in the early days.

cheers

carl_feedthegoat wrote:

kinkylola wrote:wanted to make sure I didn't read anyone else's before posting.

League: at least 3rd. we should look to maintain/improve. Top 4 isn't end of the world if we exceed in other areas though.

MISSING OUT ON THE TOP 4 ACTUALLY IS THE END OF THE WORLD MATE - THATS ONE BIG "NO NO CANT HAPPEN" SCENARIO!

re-read that big guy. TOP 4 isn't the end of the world ... meaning if we get 4th.

kinkylola wrote:

carl_feedthegoat wrote:

kinkylola wrote:wanted to make sure I didn't read anyone else's before posting.

League: at least 3rd. we should look to maintain/improve. Top 4 isn't end of the world if we exceed in other areas though.

MISSING OUT ON THE TOP 4 ACTUALLY IS THE END OF THE WORLD MATE - THATS ONE BIG "NO NO CANT HAPPEN" SCENARIO!

re-read that big guy. TOP 4 isn't the end of the world ... meaning if we get 4th.

I got excited.