Thread. Prior to a ball being kicked this season, when I wrote about my expectations for this season, I didn’t really delve into the cup competitions individually, I just spoke about the league and cup competitions in general.

My expectations for the league were that we close as much of the gap to the top points wise as we can, ahead of a title challenge next season. The gap was too big to close in one summer; it would be a step by step process back to the top.

I also wanted the club win a trophy, any trophy, for obvious reasons & the fact that it helps to build a winning culture in the squad. The sooner that happens, the better. We’ve seen what a squad that’s built a winning culture can achieve in the past, it really makes a difference

So that was before a ball was kicked this season, now let’s delve into the current season & where we’re at now. We’re currently 5 points off the top of the PL, with a game in hand. After a poor start due to the lack of a preseason, we’re now steadily working our way up the table.

Things to improve? Absolutely. But this is a young squad still developing, with areas in the squad still missing that we’re trying to cope without until they’re addressed. If we played our game in hand & won, we’d be 4th, *2 points off top*. The PL situation is fine & improving.

There is every chance that we build on last season’s league finish and close the gap to the top ahead of a title challenge next season. We’re in a solid position to be able to do that and I fully believe we will.

Cup competitions? We’re in the quarter finals of the league cup, no problems there. We have a great chance of winning that trophy this season. The FA Cup hasn’t started yet obviously. Now let’s look at the CL, the current bone of contention.

Am I absolutely devastated that we didn’t qualify for the knockouts, particularly after the start we had? Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean you decide to sack the manager because of it. Its monumentally clear to see the progress on the field despite it.

Last season against PSG, its not an unfair criticism to say we were outplayed by PSG despite getting the superb result. We were comprehensively outplayed against Barcelona. This season we outplayed PSG & very much deserved the win, annihilated Leipzig & …

even in the game against PSG that we lost, we outplayed them for the majority of the game, & if not for poor finishing the result could have been very different. The point is its clear to see the development, we’re going toe to toe with strong teams that we previously couldn’t.

The revisionism among fans about our CL campaign has been unbelievable. When we got this draw, it was labelled the group of death for a reason, so many people wrote us off & didn’t give us a chance.

What actually happened was the team just missed out on qualification in a group so many people never gave us a chance in. We were highly competitive in the group, which while isn’t enough in the long run, showing what we did against the CL finalists/semi-finalists is progress.

Are we the finished article? Absolutely not. We have plenty of things to work on. But we’re getting there, we’re making progress, & I believe it won’t be too much longer until we’re back where we need to be. The evidence is there to show the development. That will only continue…

over time and we’ll be addressing the missing areas in the squad too. You can be gutted about the CL elimination without jumping to sack the manager. When you look at the whole picture, its clear to see the great job Ole is doing with the rebuild.

That doesn’t mean we’ll never make mistakes. Everyone does. I’m not in the slightest comparing Ole to SAF, but the point is that even the greatest manager of all time did. The team will learn from these mistakes & be stronger for them.

The road back to the top was never going to be without bumps. To expect that would have been incredibly foolish. The underlying trend however is clear; we now need to have the patience while the finishing touches are applied. We’ll get there. End of thread.