Reasonable Expectations

[Zerlathon]

Although I have to share the sentiments that you all have with regards to our "business" this January, I think it's worth bearing in mind that the World Cup is in the Summer...

Well, at least it softened the blow for me anyway. :P

[Xhaka Can’t]

I expect a professional and whole hearted attempt to strengthen the squad when required. That Kallstrom signing says a lot about the way we operate. It’s like a kid handing in a sloppy piece of homework and you can tell it’s a last minute rush job. It certainly doesn’t help when Wenger complains about the transfer window each year and talks of having it scrapped. Does he have a genuine gripe with the window or are we too lazy to do the work? I think back to school days and the kids that would often put up a fuss about homework would often hand in the worst piece of work or not bother at all. It doesn’t look good. Our scouting network should be doing more to identify potential targets. We didn’t just have January. What’s stopping them from looking from as early as October?

Imagine if the players lost a match but we found out they’d been taking it easy in training, mucking around, failed to do any research on the opposition and just planned on winging it on match day. We wouldn’t accept that and we expect better from our players. The same must be applied to the scouting team and our transfer policy. It goes beyond the price tags. Something is wrong with the research, just as we saw this summer with that Luis Suarez phantom clause cock up. I hope to see an improvement next summer because it hasn’t always been this bad.

I think we will push on in the market and we will do something in the Summer. But even with what for us is an embarrassment of riches, it is money that when spent has an opportunity cost. Perhaps spending on January meant we were to be restricted from executing plans in the Summer? Who knows for sure. But we could have done more IMO.

..

[I am invisible]

Seeings how we haven't strengthened in January, my expectations for the rest of this campaign are simply that the players and the manager give it their best effort, right up until the end, even if we ultimately don't have enough to win something. If we show the same attitude and focus, and go on the same kind of consistent run that we did in the tail-end of last season, then I'll be pretty pleased with our progress as a team, even if I'm left with that feeling of what could have been if we'd done something big in January. Having said that, I do still expect us to finish AT LEAST in the top 3, and without a vast points gap between us and the winners (hopefully that'll be us though).

Again, expectations for the summer and next season are pretty simple: add the players (of sufficient quality) that we lack to the squad, start adding a bit more flair and a few more goals to the consistency and stability we've worked hard to build, for the manager to continue to show that he's willing to adapt and change if/when he has to, and to keep pushing the big spenders - I'll stop short of saying I expect a trophy, but I do expect us to be right up there from now on...

[AFC Leveller]

3rd would represent progress whichever way you look at it. However, having lead the league for about 20/24 games so far, you cant help but get your hopes up and look at the big prize as a realistic target.

However, our limitations upfront our common knowledge and the teams competing with us are stronger and have strong backs ups so for me, 2nd would be a great season and third good but disapointing.

[I am invisible]

I'm using the eventual points gap as my yardstick - anything less than winning the league will obviously be disappointing given how close we are, and how long we've led for, but if there's only something like 3-5 points between 1st and 3rd by the end of the season, then I think we can call anywhere in that top 3 a good effort (especially given the competition)...

[RomfordPele]

Not wanting to be a gloom merchant, but what if we have a dreadful February and March and slip back to 4th (Scousers would only be five behind with a win at the weekend, and have a fairly easy set of fixtures coming up). Would the consensus then be that Wenger should go at the end of the season? Or do you think a good 12 month run is enough to give him the benefit of the doubt?

[Özim]

Expectations after 8 years with nothing is for us to win something, whilst progress is great this January transfer window for me is evidence of things to come and the main reason why I think Wenger's days are most likely behind him.

Sure we've done well this season (though it has to be said our football has been comparatively dull, it's certainly not title winning football stylewise and has been efficient rather than impressive), but we need more than that, we need evidence we're actually committed to being successful and that for me involves signing players you need when you need them.

If we come 2nd/3rd this season then what? For me we'd need to strenghten and sign players in the right areas this summer, none of this last minute scramble for anything we can find as we always seem to do, planned approach for a list of players we want and deals conclude promptly.

Won't happen of course and IMO I don't see us winning anything either as I think we've missed a trick by not signing what we needed when well place in January. In the end the tough games and injuries will catch us up and we'll come unstuck as we have for as long as I can remember, not the players fault, the management for not planning for the run we knew we were going to have.

There lies the problem for me, whereas most managers will go out and find the players they think they need, we don't we sit there seemingly forever waiting for something to happen, sometime going after players who are basically never going to move and wasting weeks/months on a fruitless pursuit, we never seem to alternatives line-up.

We were top a few years back of course, arguably with a more cavalier approach, but in the end we lost our way and we didn't build on what we had, that's noone but the manager's fault IMO, due to the way he approaches the game.

[Xhaka Can’t]

That post is so lacking in context.

[Niall_Quinn]

Here's some of the shit we've had to put up with so far this season.

[Syn]

Here's some of the shit we've had to put up with so far this season.

I was thinking about that before actually - that even though our games have seemed quite dull, our goals have usually been very easy on the eye. Obviously you'd take a goal in any context but we've finished off moves in style.