Bilo

The problem is that the board won't want to sacrifice short-term success. This is actually understandable- the club is geared towards regular Premier League football in terms of its set-up and, frankly, it would only take a semi-conpetent summer for us to be very, very competitive in the promotion race. For me, 'playing the academy players' and 'short-term success' needn't be mutually exclusive if we pick the right man. Sunderland have been a good example this season with some excellent young players. A spine of Stolarczyk, Nelson and Alves with exciting young players already here such as Fatawu, Mavididi and Bilal (if he stays) makes us freakishly capable with a decent signing or two up top.

Easy like Brentford and Everton at home?

Yep. Not difficult to see it going wrong. Finish 6th this season, have to sell players due to PSR, start slowly next due to balancing UEL and PL, Marinakis sacks Nuno with Forest in 13th and brings in Dyche.

See? I've been saying all year that they're not UCL quality. Well-drilled, fit, solid and efficient, but nowhere near the quality to be where they are. A mix of good luck and indifferent form of superior teams around them. They're kicking on at exactly the time that the top teams do, while Forest's third place looks like the artificial position it so clearly was.

Is this the way to Ferencvaros? Besiktas, Maccabi, RFS....

I am semi erect.

In fairness, I don't want them in 7th. The UECL is eminently winnable for English clubs and you'd never hear the end of it. Let them have UEL and get knocked out at the quarters by Viktoria Plzen after months of struggling to cope with the squad demands.

In a sense they're doing a Leicester, just the 2021 version. And without the whole 'winning an FA Cup' part. If they could fast forward to the 2023 version and get back where they belong, that'd be great.

Good job they aren't playing away at a club brimming with confidence after making the FA Cup Final next.

A man can dream. Wondering how the weird fanboys on here who've been cheering on them on this forum are getting along now. 😂

Imagine if we choose that game as the one out of 38 to actually look like professional players. 😂

Bahahahahahahahahahaha

Exactly that. Those two clubs are absolutely huge in a way that means that any form of success attracts adulation from the fans and attention from the media that masks the lack of quality on the pitch that achieved it. The Austrian Bundesliga is actually above the SPFL in the coefficient rankings, but the reality is that the Sturm Graz or Red Bull Salzburg manager would never get the same amount of attention for winning their league as the manager of Rangers or Celtic would.

They still have a better GD than Villa to be fair, but that won't help them if Chelsea start winning.

Hilariously, Villa will knock them down to 7th if they beat Fulham on Saturday.

Awful if they concede first. Utterly dependent on being on the front foot.

Imagine if Spurs hadn't been Spurs for just one night.

Vardy would have the opportunity to end his time here in the funniest way possible.

YEEEEEESSSSS

They only need to be better than nine of the twelve SPFL clubs to guarantee some form of European football every single year, and they got to the quarters of the UEL this season. Celtic are midtable to lower end Prem quality, Rangers are upper mid Championship quality and the rest isn't even that. It wouldn't take much for Rangers to look vaguely decent in that division. It's atrocious.

Gerrumbeat.

I'm leaning towards 'question to be asked at interview' rather than a flat no right now. It's a concern, certainly. But I think even our scouting will be better than theirs.

Yes, that is a red flag. Big question to ask at interview.