Right then, the parade's done, the new kits been unveiled... let's start to look ahead....

[Me and my Monkey]

Top. Of course.

 

[Bigtomfu]

No way TB doesn't give CH the tools to make us competitive in the mini league that tends to sit 8th - 16th. I reckon with a fair wind and momentum we'll casually finish 14th.


Sometimes right, sometimes wrong but ALWAYS certain

 

[Peter Grummit]

Settle for 17th and beating Palace.

PG

 

[blue'n'white]

I'm not deluded enough to seriously think that we can compete with the mini league at the top of the Premier League although I'd love us to be able to do so
I'd be happy to "do a Bournemouth" and just stay in the division and get a little better each year.
15th or 16th would do me fine for next year and then build on it for the year after

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Depends who comes in.

The League will be stronger next season.

 

[Perkino]

I have a feeling it will be 15th

 

[Tooting Gull]

Be worth putting this poll out again at end of August. Recruitment (and retention) of players is the single biggest factor in where we finish.

 

[rocker959]

I voted 7th to 12th. Ever the optimist The Albion story continues.

A Cup run would be nice too!

Yes agree with this .

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I am genuinely hopeful we can survive (and that would probably involve finishing 13th to 17th). Of the teams who were relegated this season, Sunderland are a mess, Middlesbrough messed up their signings over the season and Hull had a chaotic summer with all the Bruce stuff.

I am confident we will be able to attract better players than Boro due to our scouting setup and preferable location for overseas signings. We also have a more stable manager than Karanka. Hull, similarly, I think we'll do a better job than them in terms of the summer and we finished above them last season with a weaker squad than we have now. Given that they were close to staying up, I am hopeful we'll find at least three teams to finish above (although there is no denying it will be very tough).

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I'm surprised we're that price, thought we'd be at least evens. Mind you, Sky have offered everyone as odds on, so they're playing it cautious at this stage.

Only three of twenty teams go down. Even discounting the seven who are *certain* to stay up, that still means only three of thirteen are going down. You'd expect every team to be odds on to stay up, surely?

 

[Bold Seagull]

Depends who comes in.

The League will be stronger next season.

Not sure it will be any different will it? What makes you say it will be stronger?

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

It 100% depends on who we sign.

Ask me again at the end of August.

 

[banjo]

7th just outside the playoffs.

 

[crookie]

I reckon 16th, hope we'll be higher. I don't expect us to, but just hope we don't shuffle out the trapdoor without a whimper like Boro and Sunderland.

 

[Mellotron]

A very creditable 15th. Strong start and finish, a couple of surprise results, but a pretty horrible Christmas/January period will have us looking nervous for a bit.

 

[Pavilionaire]

How many once all the deadwood, like Skalak, Norwood, Hemed, Baldock, Murphy etc, have been offloaded?

Deadwood? Do I detect a complete lack of respect for players that have just helped us achieve our highest finish in the last 34 years?

 

[oldboyroy]

will be thrilled to finish in the top 17 that's all that matters for me

 

[Stat Brother]

Deadwood? Do I detect a complete lack of respect for players that have just helped us achieve our highest finish in the last 34 years?

Blimey my sarcasmometer was way off the morning.
T'was a dig at others desperate to clean out these club servants in favour of someone shiny.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I'd love to think we'll stay up, with the togetherness and so on, but its going to be very hard. I'm trying to think of three teams that on this season's record are going to be worse than us, and its tricky. The play-off winners one would hope will go down, although Wednesday might fancy themselves to spend a lot, Reading too. Then what? Palace just seem too resilient under Allardyce, ditto Bournemouth under Howe, Burnley under Dyche. Newcastle, Saints, West Brom, West Ham, Leicester will be fine. So we've got Swansea, who seem to be finding a new lease of life under Clement but a lot depends on their recruitment, and then Watford and Stoke who perhaps are both due a downturn.

That's only a scant look, and any of those secure clubs could just do a panic sacking of Hughes or Dyche and consign them to their fate, or Leicester could see a big sell-off of their stars this summer, nevertheless, not too many teams out there that are obvious cases to struggle. It will really be down to us playing as well as we can with confidence, and utlimately, Knockaert.

 

[Mellotron]

I am genuinely hopeful we can survive (and that would probably involve finishing 13th to 17th). Of the teams who were relegated this season, Sunderland are a mess, Middlesbrough messed up their signings over the season and Hull had a chaotic summer with all the Bruce stuff.

This. You have to REALLY **** up to get relegated from this league. Look at the utter joke Palace have been for 2 seasons now. Still a Prem side.