The glazers would do that for you.
Minimum Bar for Continuity in Ole's Third Full Season
- Thread starter Raveneye
- Start date
We got Fernandes in last year and it was only him that turned our fortunes around to finish 3rd, so dont get that.
As of now City and Chelsea are favourite, we are at best 3rd favourite to win the league.
Be in the title race till the very end (i.e not just as math possibility), and win at least one cup. If we end up losing the semis or the final again, I'll lose faith in him.
Title challenge. Last 8 of CL
Being miles off 1st even if we’re miles ahead of 3rd wouldn’t be considered a title challenge
Being miles off 1st even if we’re miles ahead of 3rd wouldn’t be considered a title challenge
Maybe he should just go out in the 4th round to avoid this malarkey.
I honestly think some people would prefer that.
More points than last season.
Quarters in the champs league.
Quarters in the champs league.
Prove he can win something, get further in CL and a sustained challenge in the PL.
We got him before that summer. We needed to add to him and we didn't. Hence, we stood still.
Or maybe he should go on and win it? He's been given sufficient backing now to go win things. LVG and Mourinho had both won things with us at this point.
The team is at a good point, and now need to push on. This top 4 mentality is even more sickening. No squad except City can be deemed 'perfect' and we can't use this excuse anymore.
This squad is now easily good enough to reach the CL semis at least, and second place in the league along with a domestic cup.
What if City win all? Does that mean Ole hasn't done a good job? We're not the best squad in any competition so why are we saying we should win one of them.
The continued progress of the squad from the mess he inherited should be all that matters. That progress seems obvious to me and I'm grateful we have such a talented manager at the helm.
I'm much happier where we are now with Ole than I ever was under Louis or Jose, even without the crappy trophies.
Don't you think we're much better now than when he took the job? Just look at the squad we have now, compared to the one he inherited.
For me it's pretty simple. Progression. What does that mean? An improvement in our team cohesion and general patterns of play. Opening teams up more often who come to defend. More points, more goals, less goals conceded. Getting through to the CL knockout stages. Of course a trophy would be amazing but we are not favourites for the trophies we really want and anything can happen in cup competitions. That's about it really.
In other words Arsenal of late under Wenger?
Yeah, the post Wenger years have really helped that case, haven't they?
Few people saying progress so in the PL progress means winning it. I think the way things are top 3 should be minimum and at least a domestic trophy. CL we should be able to advance to the SF/QF stage as a minimum depending on the draw of cause!
Finishing 2nd place and within 5 points of the winners is the bare, bare minimum. A strong title challenge is expected.
Anything less than 2nd and there must be a trophy win with it...
Anything less than 2nd and there must be a trophy win with it...
The problem with that is City might get 100 points and I don't see Utd ever getting that many, I think if Utd get over 80 points it'll be progress, I just hope 80 points isn't 5th place.
For me Title challenge and trophy.
For the club Top 4. I don't see Ole getting let go as long as he makes top 4.
Also we have to make it out if our CL group at minimum.
For the club Top 4. I don't see Ole getting let go as long as he makes top 4.
Also we have to make it out if our CL group at minimum.
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Hahaha well said.
PL: Second
CL: QF
One title
CL: QF
One title
I agree that we are much better than a couple of years ago, and that we seem to finally have a decent recruitment strategy.
My point is that a manager who is good at rebuilding a squad and man management need not necessarily be the best tactically and at winning things. While Ole has done a good job on the rebuild, he hasn't done much to suggest he can 'overperform' with the squad and lead the club to trophies.
While it's totally understandable with one or two matches, his history in the high pressure matches like semifinals and finals isn't great. We seem to play well when we are the underdogs, but have issues when we are expected to win.
Just really to visibly see progress. Winning the league or a trophy would be fantastic but if he doesn’t then not going to hang him out to dry unless he doesn’t make top 4.
I’d happily accept a proper push of challenging for the title. I still however think this team is probably another season away from that as it needs time to come together and certain people within need to refine their roles within the squad.
I’d happily accept a proper push of challenging for the title. I still however think this team is probably another season away from that as it needs time to come together and certain people within need to refine their roles within the squad.
Neither it did for us after SAF.
Don’t understand why posters find posts like this so hard to comprehend.
Teams overachieve every season, whilst we spend copious amounts & have better players than a number of opponents we have recently lost to while people make excuses in some race to the bottom.
At some point you need to be winning those games.
Progress isn’t linear, we could plate ‘better’ & finish lower in the league this season, tangible signs of success are in winning things. People hanging their hat on league position alone really aren’t doing our managers any favours.
Agreed, the fact is we still have a poor midfield and Ole isn't as good or experienced as the managers at the other big 3 clubs, I think a reality check is needed in regards to the bar people are setting for Ole, performances are where we need to judge the improvement.
I’ve been a massive Ole supporter till now but this is letting him off far too easily. He has built possibly the strongest first team in the league and needs to have pressure on to deliver the big silverware. We have to believe that he can compete and beat the teams around us otherwise we might as well sack him now. That’s not unreasonable at all.
A good 5+ points more than last season, some kind of trophy, and a good showing in the 1/4 finals of the CL would be good enough for me. It's a lot of new elements to integrate into the team, it will take some adjustment and time, but short of that and I would see it as a failure for Ole.
These same arguments excuses could be made for multiple teams we’ve lost too in key games of late.
This isn’t anti nor pro OgS, if the argument is always ‘we don’t have the best [insert position, player etc. here]’ then we may as well pack up as a club.
We have more than enough to be managed competitively.
If the problem is, as you say, OgS isn’t as good as the other 3 then yes a reality check is needed. . .
I don't think he has the strongest first team, our midfield is weak and our main hope for goals is hit and miss with injuries and at 34 might not be able to play twice a week, only in defense would I say we have the best with our back 4. On top of that Ole simply hasn't shown anything to suggest he's on the level of the 3 coaches he's facing for the PL title. I find myself having patience with Ole because he's the first manager in 7 years that hasn't made watching us a misery and doesn't fill the aura of the club with bad energy, we also have a lot of young talent that can grow within this set up.
It matters when it comes to amassing more points than teams with less team holes and better manager's, I just don't see any manager putting a realistic title challenge in with our midfield.
By that logic there’s no point starting the season & we should just rely on your assessment of team strength for league positions.
I’m not in particular disagreement with your assessment of our midfield, but by simply boiling it down to amassing points in the league it ignores the multiple other competitions & performances.
The ‘best’ teams don’t always win a competition so to say before a ball is kicked it’s acceptable not to challenge despite our strengths in other areas really isn’t fair; we play Citeh, Pool & Chelsea [I assume those are the teams you’re on about] 6 games a season so we’re contesting from an advantage most other games.
I don’t expect us to win the league this year but I also see we have [on paper] a top class back 4, some thrilling forward players & some individuals in midfield that are exceptional [despite the drawback of that unit].
Would you say that Chelsea under Frank were capable of winning the UCL? I think it’s unfair to say this team has no hope, OgS has the tools to manufacture something this season & I hope he does.
The concept of the thread is what is acceptable for Ole this season, I think top 4 and improved performances are it in terms of a fair expectation, anything else is a bonus. Could we win a domestic cup? Sure, but the CL is out of reach imo and I can't see a sustained PL challenge with this current team, midfield is crucial and we simply haven't addressed it, and our only proven Striker is 34 and injury prone, those are significant issues.
What I think we need to see is an improvement in how we play, with less reliance on the counter and better use of possession, that would be a significant progression in my view, I don't see progression purely in terms of a trophy or league challenge.
Finish minimum 3rd in PL and get to QF of CL. Dont care about domestic cups at all.
We just finished second and have added two genuine world class players, and people are predicting 3rd or 4th at best 
If we had Tuchel or Klopp in charge of this squad the expectation would be a lot higher. I think the reason the bar is being lowered is because it's Ole and deep down most here know he's not good enough. So the bar has to be lowered to a level that Ole can reach.
If we had Tuchel or Klopp in charge of this squad the expectation would be a lot higher. I think the reason the bar is being lowered is because it's Ole and deep down most here know he's not good enough. So the bar has to be lowered to a level that Ole can reach.Wholeheartedly agree with the bolded. Although I wouldn’t call it significant, it’s imperative at this point.
We could go back & forth for hours about the rest but again I simply don’t accept an argument that your team must be the ‘best’ in an area when the majority of your games are against teams you are better than in that area. Defensively for example, we should expect a marked statistical improvement this season.
Given the amount of time Ole has been in charge I'd agree, we've been much too patchy and without a definitive style of play for too long.
I didn't say we needed to be the best in the area, but at least up to par with the teams we are expected to compete with, we have a world class back 4, a good but inconsistent attack with an aging, injury prone spearhead and a mid table midfield, that’s an uphill battle when you look at the 3 teams we are competing with.
This is my expectation as well. Sometimes it felt like we didnt have a plan if the opponent played in a certain way. I want this to improve, and I guess it to a large extent is Ole who need to take the next step in his development.
I also want to improve the organisation at setpieces, both offensive and defensive.
I think we’ll do decently in the league and mount some sort of a challenge within 5-8 points of the eventual winners.
But we may suffer in the later stages of the cups or in any instance where Ole’s big game management is put to the test.
But we may suffer in the later stages of the cups or in any instance where Ole’s big game management is put to the test.
1. Win something
2. Be in serious race for Premier League
3. Be in serious race for Champions League
2. Be in serious race for Premier League
3. Be in serious race for Champions League
That's it.