Its difficult to say Dave as we stand right now to be honest..
If we take the question two different ways to an extent.
What do i deem at the end of 13/14 as satifactory progress after them being here over 3 years?
Honestly after they took us over in 2010 i didnt expect it to take as long as it has to get us back to where we belong, and in hindsight the longer you stay away from the top 4 the harder it is to get back there.. Had we managed to get back in immediately with a touch of luck, which again looking back was never going to happen with that arl owl c**t ruining the hard work of the previous 4-5 years, but had we struck back straight away when we had that spine of the squad at that point of Reina, Carra, Agger, Macherano, Gerrard, Torres etc when they were at the peak of their powers and then added to those riches then as ive said a million times, their way of running the club may well have been seen,
by myself included as brilliant, having the ability to add to that squad with
what we generate, including CL revenue and not starting over with a squad, we may not have slipped back as far as we have.. Imagine that squad without servicing debt and having the ability to throw 35-40m a season on 1-2 players who would walk over hot coals to come to a side with that quality ofplayer that had been in 2 CL finals in the previous 5 seasons..
F**k it makes me dizzy wondering where we could have gone.. Alas we didnt and we have slipped back..
Missed out in getting back straight away we then started to lose the depth of that squad to already well established CL teams and we then found out that replacing those without the pull of the CL difficult and our squad quality in comparison to those above us has slipped season on season to us now finding ourselves where we currently are,
looking up enviously.
The mistakes made in the early days by FSG added to the issues, we lacked them having the knowledge to get us back straight away, we lacked a real football man at the top of the club to make the right decisions and we had a bumbling idiot picking the side..
So here we are 3 and a bit years on.. What 4 seasons out of the CL, the prospect of losing our star player for those reasons.. So what do i expect from next season? What is acceptable at theend of four and a half years of their ownership?
We
must be challenging for that top 4 place again, its an absolute must, we have to give it a real go, and if im honest there is one place open in that top four as we stand right now towards the end of July.. City/Chelsea/Utd have the top 3 places for me, leaving us Arsenal and Spurs to be pushing for that last spot
which is why whatever we do, whatever they offer we cannot sell Luis Suarez to Arsenal, if we do that we could be kissing goodbye to the chance to get it, he is a wonderful player,
if maybe a bit of a cock at times and if they get him they will almost certainly improve, and we will, even if we spend the money, may well go the other way with the new signings having needing time to replace Suarez and his impact on the side..
Its that important to me that Arsenal dont get Suarez.. I think Wenger knows this as well, he could have had Higuain for less money who im sure would score goals in the premier league but he knows if he nabs Suarez he immediately weakens a rival for top4..
For me we still need to spend this summer anyway, no matter what happens with Suarez, we still need to get the Chequebook out on 4-5 players, and if Luis goes another on top of that..
Look at our options, bearing in mind we have no Europe this season so dont need as deep a squad.
For me our starting line up looks something like this
There will be slight alterations with tactics and formations but essentially that..
So if we look at depth
Obviously there can be slight alterations to that but if you look at the "second 11" then i think Hendo will be used deeper, as will Alberto from the bits ive seen of him, which is why i dont think the gaffer is looking for a new holding midfielder, i think he wants to see if Lucas can get back to his pre injury best before deciding, and i think he will use Hendo as his rotation in parts of the season..
I also think that Skrtel will still leave and that a new CB will come in and depending on his level he may go into the starting team with Toure dropping into the rotation.. With Cissokho looking like coming in he will be rotation with Enrique for Left back, Kelly i think will cover Rb and Wisdom as the 4th cb..
Going further forward i actually think that Sterling and Ibe will share minutes rather than both be certain rotations.. Downing will still be in there as a wide option..
So still to bring in
Cissokho
Cb to replace Skrtel
A wide man option
Id like a new ressie keeper
Striker if Luis leaves
The Cb and the wide man could well be "marque" signings knocking Toure and Aspas to rotation if we think and hold true to the "improve the starting 11" comments.
So a squad resembling this..
Do i think that can get us in the top 4? It will have us challenging if we play like the second part of last season, we would have genuine depth, still maybe not of the quality of those above us but the better players dont guarentee anything, we need to get on a roll and stick together..
But we cannot sell Luis to Arsenal.
In answer to your question Dave? What do i expect? We are below my expectations where we are right now.. But frm where we are, forget any expectations fr cups within this, they are a bonus.. I expect us to be right in the fight for 4th and i hope and expect us to be back in it. But that will mean we need a strong end to the window as well to hit the ground running with additional quality..