Realistically with this squad where should we be in the league

14th

The squad is not as good or as deep as last season - Flint, Braithwaite, Downing, Besic, Mikel, Hugill and Randolph were generally better than we brought in this season. The squad salary bill had to come down this summer and it did. We are at a disadvantage to some clubs because our squad is unbalanced financially from contracts agreed in 2017.
 
Top half looking up. We shouldn't be looking down. Give it a few weeks on current form and up will be the only direction to look but for the wrong reasons.

Where we were after our good run over Xmas is about where I think we should be with the players we have. Even though we have been rubbish we have a squad of players that have all been good, consistent performers at this level and above at times plus a few promising youngsters. We have paid a lot of money for a lot of the squad because they are capable. The fact that they aren't performing isn't because they are suddenly not very good but because they are not being well managed (by the current and the previous managers we've had).
 
Not a fan of Pulis or his football, but I said last season that I thought Gibson was relying on his vast experience to get us up and that he did extremely well with an imbalanced squad.
It's very hard to judge Woodgate and his managerial ability because I think a lot of managers would have struggled with this squad, it being bereft of real creativity.
An exceptional manager might have it in the playoffs, but the vast majority would still have only have got it into mid-table.
Blaming our lot on Woodgate is missing the bigger issues I think.

Pulis might have done ok with an unbalanced squad, but he's not exactly blameless for it being unbalanced in the first place is he? He had £20m+ to sort it out and spent it on centre midfielders and defenders.

This current squad should be mid-table. No experience on the coaching staff and Woodgate's arrogant insistence that he doesn't need any is one of the many reasons we are where we are.
 
Comfortably top half. Probably battling for a play off spot as a minimum. This squad is much better than what people give it credit for especially when you look at what a lot of these players have done elsewhere.
 
I honestly don't know as all we're seeing are really **** runs of form or the blip that was a winning run.
It's as mixed up as the formations/teams being put out on a match to match basis.
 
High end of the bottom half. Around 10th-15th.

Pulis left an absolute shambolic, unbalanced squad, however, there are certainly a good dozen squads on paper in the league that are worse than our squad.

Woodgate isn't getting the best out of the squad at the moment.
 
Injuries have had a massive impact. To lose Ayala and Fry has put us at risk of relegation. Regardless of how much players cost or what wage they are on we have no god given right to be in this division. Sunderland went down with a ton of talented players on massive wages. Stoke are in a similar position (as them and us). This league does not lie and it doesn't suffer fools gladly. If you're not putting in the graft, working every angle and putting everything into each game from the top to the bottom THIS LEAGUE WILL CHEW YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT
 
We should be 10th - 14th in my opinion.

We've lost Besic, Mikel, Downing, Braithwaite and Hugill but these are players who were inconsistent for us last season - I don't think any of them are great misses.
 
Slow plodding midfielders, ineffective forwards, poor signings - if we set up like Pulis, probably 10th. Trying to play the way he has with this squad we are probably where we should be. The table doesn’t lie.
 
If you give Warnock the job at the start of the season or beg Houghton to come over, this squad would be top 8.
I'm going to go out on a limb... If I were managing this squad we would be top 14. 🤣
 
I think those that are saying pushing for play offs are being optimistic given what went out and what came in over the summer, our main problem last season was a lack of goals we did nothing to address that shortfall in the summer and from what I’ve seen of Nmecha he’s not added anything to our goal threat, the Roberts injury is one of those things but we have taken on players who have not contributed anything to the first team at all.

Under Karanka and Pulis we had a style of play and a preferred 11, with Woodgate, like Monk, we have neither, and that lack of stability is a massive problem.
 
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