Investment

[SiMamu]

Agree with all that, Si. Not sure how long Bielsa will stay though. Think he might quit if we go up. Doesn't he miss his family?

Possibly. I think he'll stay for one season in the Premiership first though. I'd want a coach with a similar ideology to replace Bielsa after that.

[kk_white]

Agree with all that, Si. Not sure how long Bielsa will stay though. Think he might quit if we go up. Doesn't he miss his family?

Possibly. I think he'll stay for one season in the Premiership first though. I'd want a coach with a similar ideology to replace Bielsa after that.

Phil Hay has repeatedly said that, although he has not heard any solid confirmation, all the noises coming from ER and MB is that if we go up, it is almost certain he will give it one season.
He has said it's a goal of his to manage in the PL, so if we go up, why would he leave to begin the project somewhere else again?
Pleeeease

[Nic]

Agree with all that, Si. Not sure how long Bielsa will stay though. Think he might quit if we go up. Doesn't he miss his family?

Possibly. I think he'll stay for one season in the Premiership first though. I'd want a coach with a similar ideology to replace Bielsa after that.

Phil Hay has repeatedly said that, although he has not heard any solid confirmation, all the noises coming from ER and MB is that if we go up, it is almost certain he will give it one season.
He has said it's a goal of his to manage in the PL, so if we go up, why would he leave to begin the project somewhere else again?
Pleeeease

Any conversation won't happen until after the season has been concluded, but if we go up Bielsa will see it as his duty to stay a season at least.

If he did what would be seen as realistic success? Survival, challenging for a eufa spot, champions league qualification?

[rigger]

Survival, plain and simple.

We've not had the benefit of parachute payments so our budget is really small compared to every other side we'll be up against.

[Mr Russell]

Top 10 would be great but I'd be happy as long as we aren't involved in a relegation dogfight.

[Wigan White]

Mid table mediocrity would be great, but I agree with Rigger in saying survival.

[DominanceUK]

I think we'd finish mud table easily, half the teams in the PL as it stands are of a very poor standard.

[rigger]

I think we'd finish mud table easily, half the teams in the PL as it stands are of a very poor standard.

I don't know.
I read an article a while ago that analysed team performances from around the major leagues over time with a specific eye on the effect of a change of manager. So various teams with manager A for a period, then with manager B and whether there was a marked upswing and for how long.
In the end, the difference was fairly negligible statistically.
That's not to say it's not worth doing at certain times, eg 8 games to avoid relegation, say.
But equally if you look at Saints, they could quite easily have sacked Ralf H after the massive defeat to Spurs, but they didn't and over time - ie the rest of the season so far - they've been proved correct and he's been rewarded with a new 4-year deal (though they could still go down, of course).

If you then think about Leeds and how MASSIVE an uplift there's been under Bielsa and for a prolonged period of two seasons I do wonder if there's anything left to squeeze from the group. Each player must have a ceiling and I would imagine the likes of Cooper, Ayling, Klich and Bamford are at theirs already so I think it would depend on whether you think we're already as good as half the EPL ?

[Barlow Boy]

I think we'd finish mud table easily, half the teams in the PL as it stands are of a very poor standard.

Agree with you here Dom, I think I mentioned it previously I have a good bet at the beginning of each season, this year it was for us to be the Top Yorkshire club in the division (which is looking good at the moment ).

I’ve already said to the lads, next season, should we be promoted, I’ll be having my money on us staying up. Other than the top 6, then say, Leicester, Everton, Wolves and maybe a couple of others, there is nothing to be that frightened of as far as I’m concerned.

[DominanceUK]

I think we'd finish mud table easily, half the teams in the PL as it stands are of a very poor standard.

I don't know.
I read an article a while ago that analysed team performances from around the major leagues over time with a specific eye on the effect of a change of manager. So various teams with manager A for a period, then with manager B and whether there was a marked upswing and for how long.
In the end, the difference was fairly negligible statistically.
That's not to say it's not worth doing at certain times, eg 8 games to avoid relegation, say.
But equally if you look at Saints, they could quite easily have sacked Ralf H after the massive defeat to Spurs, but they didn't and over time - ie the rest of the season so far - they've been proved correct and he's been rewarded with a new 4-year deal (though they could still go down, of course).

If you then think about Leeds and how MASSIVE an uplift there's been under Bielsa and for a prolonged period of two seasons I do wonder if there's anything left to squeeze from the group. Each player must have a ceiling and I would imagine the likes of Cooper, Ayling, Klich and Bamford are at theirs already so I think it would depend on whether you think we're already as good as half the EPL ?

I would say that we're as good as half of the teams in the PL based on what I've seen of the games played, Rigz. Should we go up and MB stays and we recruit well then I don't see why, under MBs coaching, that we couldn't go up a notch again in terms of quality, I agree about certain players currently being at the top of their game and unlikely to improve further. Hopefully we'll find out next season but I wouldn't be worried in the slightest. Also, I can't see clubs paying astronomical transfer fees in this window due to Covid19 which could actually help us.