21st in the League

[GavlarClaret]

VK's mentality is that we are the club in 21st position in England - not top of the championship about to be crowned champions

This has got me thinking about where VK/AP see us being in 12-24 months.

I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself when I state I'm looking forward to our return to the Premier League being one where we push to qualify for Europe in some capacity - and also not publicly talking about relegation or us constantly being the underdogs

Where do you see them taking us?

[Hibsclaret]

To infinity and beyond

[fatboy47]

VK's mentality is that we are the club in 21st position in England - not top of the championship about to be crowned champions

This has got me thinking about where VK/AP see us being in 12-24 months.

I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself when I state I'm looking forward to our return to the Premier League being one where we push to qualify for Europe in some capacity - and also not publicly talking about relegation or us constantly being the underdogs

Where do you see them taking us?

Hard to say really.
You have to suspect that VK isn't here to be scratting around aiming purely for PL survival and that if that looks to be all there is he'll get another gig very quickly.
I hope there's a plan to somehow build a very competitive Prem side..and tbh it looks to be taking shape already.
I'm optimistic..looking for top 8...and I haven't a Scrooby how they've achieved the current position. It feels a bit surreal.

[DukeOfBar]

Top half finish, Fulham & Brentford can do it. And they haven’t got VK!

[Burnley1989]

I think VK would probably be disappointed if we are only just fighting off relegation next season, that’s not to say the fans won’t be happy, he just knows what’s achievable

[RammyClaret61]

If we’re 21st, then points difference wise, we’re as near to Chelsea than Sheffield United.

[CrosspoolClarets]

VK's mentality is that we are the club in 21st position in England - not top of the championship about to be crowned champions

This has got me thinking about where VK/AP see us being in 12-24 months.

I don't think I'm getting ahead of myself when I state I'm looking forward to our return to the Premier League being one where we push to qualify for Europe in some capacity - and also not publicly talking about relegation or us constantly being the underdogs

Where do you see them taking us?

We are just 4 games away from Europe now. Though I would settle for a day out at Wembley .

[Greenmile]

I’d snap your hand off for 17th in the PL next year.

[4midable]

Top 10

[gtclaret]

Champions followed by 2 European Cups. Brian Clough mark 2

[tiger76]

I’d snap your hand off for 17th in the PL next year.

No we can do far better than 17th where's your ambition.

[Greenmile]

No we can do far better than 17th where's your ambition.

I’m generally very positive about football (what some may call a “happy clapper”) but I think some folk are getting a bit carried away and failing to account for the gulf in quality between the Championship and the PL.

I’m also not convinced that our current style of play would be hugely effective at a higher level. Eg - Norwich smashed the Championship a couple of times playing open, expansive, possession football and were swiftly found out once they were promoted.

I hope and believe VK will make the necessary adjustments to our style and personnel to make us competitive in the PL, but I’m not confident enough that this will happen in a single close season to gamble the hypothetical 17th place being offered in my previous post.

17th next season and then build from there would be more than acceptable to me, although I suspect I’ll be avoiding this place if we’re losing more often than not next season. We’ve been spoilt this season and it’s easy to support a team that wins every week, but I predict quite a few toys being thrown out of prams when (if?) we have a few bad results next season.

[RVclaret]

I’m also not convinced that our current style of play would be hugely effective at a higher level. Eg - Norwich smashed the Championship a couple of times playing open, expansive, possession football and were swiftly found out once they were promoted. .

Everyone looks at Norwich but I wouldn’t say there’s much comparison. Our manager is better, recruitment will be better and players in general are better.

Also, for every Norwich mention, why not consider Fulham this season, adjusted a few things from the one which romped the Champ playing attacking football, but still playing decent stuff and are flying. Leeds under Bielsa finished 8th in their first PL season back playing some of the most attacking football you’ll see (way more than ours).

I also think people often confuse our football with being open / not defensively secure yet our open play xG against is the lowest in the division by a decent margin.

[Greenmile]

Just to burnish my credentials as a happy clapper, here’s what I wrote on 30 December..

“My chickens have been counted. We will finish top with more than 100 points and close to 100 goals.

I’m pretty confident that my complacency will not rub off on VK and the team - mostly because they have no idea who I am.”

https://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboa ... 2&start=47

Still looking like a pretty good prediction.

[tiger76]

I’m generally very positive about football (what some may call a “happy clapper”) but I think some folk are getting a bit carried away and failing to account for the gulf in quality between the Championship and the PL.

I’m also not convinced that our current style of play would be hugely effective at a higher level. Eg - Norwich smashed the Championship a couple of times playing open, expansive, possession football and were swiftly found out once they were promoted.

I hope and believe VK will make the necessary adjustments to our style and personnel to make us competitive in the PL, but I’m not confident enough that this will happen in a single close season to gamble the hypothetical 17th place being offered in my previous post.

17th next season and then build from there would be more than acceptable to me, although I suspect I’ll be avoiding this place if we’re losing more often than not next season. We’ve been spoilt this season and it’s easy to support a team that wins every week, but I predict quite a few toys being thrown out of prams when (if?) we have a few bad results next season.

All valid points, and naturally we will need to strengthen to compete in the Prem, however even an average Bournemouth outfit have already put 21 points on the board, and we beat them handily in the cup, now you can't fully judge the gap on one game, but that result and more importantly performance levels suggests to me we can at least be mid-table with some shrewd additions this summer.

Regarding the response if or more likely when we lose a lot more next season par for the course on this board to go overboard alas.

Even during this amazing campaign there's been the odd grumble bizarrely.

Brentford have shown that you can play nice football but still be competitive at PL level, so no reason why we can't follow suit.

[Greenmile]

Everyone looks at Norwich but I wouldn’t say there’s much comparison. Our manager is better, recruitment will be better and players in general are better.

Also, for every Norwich mention, why not consider Fulham this season, adjusted a few things from the one which romped the Champ playing attacking football, but still playing decent stuff and are flying. Leeds under Bielsa finished 8th in their first PL season back playing some of the most attacking football you’ll see (way more than ours).

I also think people often confuse our football with being open / not defensively secure yet our open play xG against is the lowest in the division by a decent margin.

I didn’t mean to suggest that we play the exact same style as those Norwich sides, but we’re closer to them than, say, Sean Dyche’s Burnley (or Bielsa’s Leeds, for that matter).

And if you want to consider Fulham this season (who I would say have made significant adjustments to their style from last year, which VK may well do also, tbf), it might be worth considering the Fulham of a couple of years back, too.

To clarify, I’m not saying I think we will definitely go down again next season, just that I’d be more than happy with the “bird in the hand” of a guaranteed 17th place finish if I was offered it today.

[RVclaret]

I didn’t mean to suggest that we play the exact same style as those Norwich sides, but we’re closer to them than, say, Sean Dyche’s Burnley (or Bielsa’s Leeds, for that matter).

And if you want to consider Fulham this season (who I would say have made significant adjustments to their style from last year, which VK may well do also, tbf), it might be worth considering the Fulham of a couple of years back, too.

To clarify, I’m not saying I think we will definitely go down again next season, just that I’d be more than happy with the “bird in the hand” of a guaranteed 17th place finish if I was offered it today.

Fair points and yeah, me too on this bit.

I think the season after next the PL will enter a new TV contract cycle and with Apple/DAZN entering the picture it will likely give yet another boost to revenues.

[HiThere]

VK's mentality is that we are the club in 21st position in England - not top of the championship about to be crowned champions

When I heard him say that it came across to me that winning the Championship is only the beginning in his mind and that there's no ceiling to where he can take us next season and beyond. Almost like 21st is unfortunately the highest we can currently be and it's a long way down from where he wants us to be.

[Greenmile]

...I also think people often confuse our football with being open / not defensively secure yet our open play xG against is the lowest in the division by a decent margin.

I don’t doubt this, but surely that’s largely down to how much we control games and our possession stats - the opposition can’t score (even an xG) if they don’t have the ball - which I’m not convinced we’ll be able to pull off in the PL.

It’s a bit different from the defensively secure style we played under Dyche, which I believe was more “scalable” to playing against better opposition.

[houseboy]

I’d snap your hand off for 17th in the PL next year.

If that was our expectation I’d rather we didn’t get promoted. Every year in the PL people would come on here saying ‘17th will do for me’. It’s mind numbingly boring watching your team scratch around trying to survive all the time. I hope and expect better things this time.

[Greenmile]

If that was our expectation I’d rather we didn’t get promoted. Every year in the PL people would come on here saying ‘17th will do for me’. It’s mind numbingly boring watching your team scratch around trying to survive all the time. I hope and expect better things this time.

I think you might want to read to the end of the thread before commenting.

[clarethomer]

I too don't think VK is here to languish at the bottom of the PL but I also recall a few other things both he and Bellamy have said over the season.

- Going up this year may have been a year too soon
- This is a medium term project
- We are buying players who are prepared for both Prem/Championship.

Now you could argue and say that when the comments about this year potentially being a year too early was just managing expectations at a time where they didn't know just how well the team would perform. However, it recognises the young side we have still.

I also think that when we were buying players with both Prem/this league in mind (comments were aimed at January transfer window) then you could again interpret this to be us not wanting to get complacent but it also could have been meant that we need players to stick with us next year and beyond.

This brings me on to the medium term project comments in that I think VK knows much more about the PL and what it takes to be a winner in that league more so than he did about this league. I think he has that vision of if it doesn't work next year, he will learn from it etc and with the players he has and them developing, it wouldn't be the end of the world if we did come back down as the team understand the vision and project they signed up to.

I can see us doing well in the PL with some astute buys but I don't expect too many in Summer. I can see us getting mid table next year as much as I can see us being relegated. It's all how we start and learn.

I think there is nothing for us to fear regardless and I am hoping that I can enjoy next season in the PL more than I did in the last 2 we had.

The club seems to be moving forward for the better and I am so glad that whilst the sentiment is true, we are not talking about us being the underdogs or little old burnley anymore. We are a team who knows it takes hard work and as my neighbour keeps reminding me - this is more akin to the Burnley of old where we played attacking football with wingers etc.

Regardless of where we finish - I think we are entering the second phase of what has been a golden era over the last 10 + years.

[Tribesmen]

VK is a winner simple as that and he brings this to his side and looks higher and thus sees us as 21st

[FCBurnley]

The sky is the limit if we can keep VK. Getting him was a master stroke. Keeping him is wa harder. Enjoy him while you can

[Woodleyclaret]

Our recruitment this season has been stellar
Both our cbs signed in January look like they've played together for years
Last night particularly ,they kept Millwalls monster cb at bay

[AlargeClaret]

It’s good that VK sees the champ for exactly what it is , 2nd tier football and almost invisible to the world . The top flight is everything ,while it’s been an enjoyable romp with the 2nd rate garbage of the championship it’s all about putting your team amongst the best . That’s how VK will be ultimately be judged .

[Colburn_Claret]

It depends on the luck of the fixtures, but I see it being similar to this. We will improve as the season goes on, as players start to find their feet in the Prem.
There's a lot of unknowns such as who we retain, who we bring in, how many of our loanees sign on, but I'm more confident for next season than I have been for any of the last 5.
As for VK I don't think he has a target. From listening to his post match comments, targets are a hindrance. Once you have achieved a target then you've basically finished the business and stop. He doesn't want us to stop, he is always looking for us to get better as individuals and as a team. When the day dawns when he thinks he has taken us as far as he can, then we are likely to lose him.

[Spijed]

It depends on the luck of the fixtures, but I see it being similar to this. We will improve as the season goes on, as players start to find their feet in the Prem.
There's a lot of unknowns such as who we retain, who we bring in, how many of our loanees sign on, but I'm more confident for next season than I have been for any of the last 5.

We were in the Prem for 6 seasons, so I'm guessing you expect a European place at the very least (which we achieved in our 2nd season).

[houseboy]

I think you might want to read to the end of the thread before commenting.

Do you mean the end of the thread AFTER I commented or the end of the thread before my comment? Do you really believe that anyone reads an entire thread before replying to a comment. And if I’m replying to an individual comment why would it matter anyway? I don’t know what you do for a living bud but my life is far too busy to read every comment on a thread before I post and looking at other posts I think most people are like me.

[Greenmile]

Do you mean the end of the thread AFTER I commented or the end of the thread before my comment? Do you really believe that anyone reads an entire thread before replying to a comment. And if I’m replying to an individual comment why would it matter anyway? I don’t know what you do for a living bud but my life is far too busy to read every comment on a thread before I post and looking at other posts I think most people are like me.

My only point is that much more context was added to the comment you replied to, after I made it but before you replied.

There were only about 20 posts on the thread when you commented. Your life must indeed be pretty busy if you can’t read that much.

Maybe it’s your 6000-odd posts on here that’s taking up all your time, as opposed to what you do for a living (by comparison I’ve made less than 3000 despite registering over a year earlier than you).

I wasn’t looking for an argument (but always happy to have one, when invited ). I’ve done it myself before - commenting when only halfway through a thread only to find my point has already been addressed, or made by someone else, later on - so my advice to you was genuine.

[houseboy]

My only point is that much more context was added to the comment you replied to, after I made it but before you replied.

There were only about 20 posts on the thread when you commented. Your life must indeed be pretty busy if you can’t read that much.

Maybe it’s your 6000-odd posts on here that’s taking up all your time, as opposed to what you do for a living (by comparison I’ve made less than 3000 despite registering over a year earlier than you).

I wasn’t looking for an argument (but always happy to have one, when invited ). I’ve done it myself before - commenting when only halfway through a thread only to find my point has already been addressed, or made by someone else, later on - so my advice to you was genuine.

No argument wanted here bud and if I took your post out of context I apologise. Life’s too short to argue over stuff like this isn’t it?

[Claret53]

It shouts out that VK is a focussed, highly intelligent, and balanced character. His ability to transform the style in which the club plays and to transform the playing staff in the face of acute financial pressures suggest that he has thought long and hard about how he wants to take the club forward. It is difficult to believe that, given the position the team is now in, neither VK nor AP will have turned their minds to planning for promotion. It's an important part of management in any field that you deal with what you are faced with at the current time, but also that you plan for the future. Poor management will stagger from issue to issue, but VK and AP show every sign of having the capacity to plan forward.

[grapidianclaret]

I was filling up at a gas station when a guy asked me who I supported. I told him Burnley and he said I had his sympathies. I asked him who he supported and he said "Liverpool". I doubled up laughing. He got a little annoyed with me and said something nasty. I replied that we have a much better chance at Europe next season than his team.
Its a long shot, but this is our best chance of doing something in the cup in many, many years.
I WOULD LOVE IT!!!

[IanMcL]

Despite being an optimist, I think we have peaked and will end the season in 21st place. Can't see us getting any higher this season.

[Hipper]

Surely all it is is VK saying what every manager says where ever their team is placed, namely his team should try to do better still. He's just done it this time in a nice 'sound bite'.

[NRC]

Surely all it is is VK saying what every manager says where ever their team is placed, namely his team should try to do better still. He's just done it this time in a nice 'sound bite'.

I wouldn't say that. He provided, perhaps inadvertently, further insight into how he thinks. It wasn't a soundbite, it was an attitude of mind underpinned by an expression of expectation