Paolo Di Canio reckons we are on our way to Europe after delivering a hugely positive view of the Hammers squad this season.
He believes that we are ahead of the likes of Wolves and Leicester City in terms of quality and claims we have the best outside the top six.
PDC of course bleeds claret and blue and there is probably more than a bit of optimism attached to his comments which appear on the club’s official website, where he makes it clear we should be aiming for a Europa League spot this season.
And the truth probably is that nothing less will do for the board at this stage of proceedings with their most highly paid manager and backroom team ever entering their second season.
A move up to say eighth place would hardly be acceptable given the money spent because the investment is aimed at the next level, defined by most as European football.
PDC declared: “With more consistency during the season, we can have a fantastic season because, after the top six, I think West Ham is the team with the best quality and talent.
“And when you have Pellegrini in his second year, he knows exactly the environment here and he is happy with the squad because he has said that he has got two players for each position.
“So, we have all the things to do well. And I hope we can go back into Europe next year and qualify for the Europa League.
Teams that finished above us last season then invest more than us and the board think finishing below them again is failure? Of course 7th is a possibility but hearing things like ‘nothing less will do’ is unrealistic.
Also having two players in each position means very little when they’re both crap.
I would be happy with an 8th place finish. You’re right on the cusp of Europe, and would give us another summer transfer window to strengthen at LB and holding midfielder, someone to work in partnership with young Declan. I guess it could be argued that if we finish 7th this season we’ll still have the summer window to strengthen (plus the attraction of European football). I just fear growing too fast. Look at Burnley last year: 7th to relegation battle. They didn’t have the squad depth to handle the grueling schedule that comes along with playing Thursday nights, all over the continent.
Lets see how we feel after the Brighton game
Having been spanked by the defending & probably this seasons champions, we need to wait to get a fair assessment of where we stand for this season.
We should have a better idea at the end of Aug when we will have played one of the newcomers, a team of similar standing to ourselves in Watford & one of the so-called lesser sides in Brighton. We will also have an indication of the potential of the rest of the league.
I still think it was amazing when Billic took us to 7th on his first season with no money.Funny how that works.