The reason for my pessimism (other than if I expect nothing and get something it'll be a bonus) is twofold. Firstly I think our squad, while promising, is paper-thin, and unless we sell there seems to be little chance of us getting in many more players, even free transfers will eat up wages. Goalkeeping position? No-one is happy, two average 'keepers, possibly we could get by with that if we had a great defence but... we look weak without the two main Paddys in the middle and McCathy at least is likely to be suspended for long periods again next season (Kisnorbo may be sold) - while CB is probably our best area overall we still don't have one that is commanding enough from corners and free kicks and can score a few as well. Left-back, while ok with Johansson (who I love) is always going to be a weak point - the only alternative is Sheehan who is very inexperienced, Stearman is good at right-back but he is still learning and from Rob's interview (last week?) in the Merc it seems as if he's not keen on him playing every game anyway, Maybury can step in but has been off-form this season so there is a question mark over him. Midfield, as we know, is our weakest area, right wing we only have an off-form Sylla, Hamill for cover, left wing we have no-one, Hamill for cover, in the centre we have Williams and Hughes who can't play together (RK says he's a 4-4-2 man) and who have both been on-and-off this season and Weso who may or may not be fit and even if he is fit will not be able to play a full season...and we have no back-up for him. Up front is another good area with Fryatt, Hume and O'Grady with Hammond and possibly de Vries as well, but if the last two are pushed out then we are short in that area as well, especially if the main two experience a drop in form.
That might be ok with some free transfers, some of the kids and a lot of luck. But RK, in his infinite wisdom, decided not to blood any of the kids at the end of the season, so they have no first team experience and therefore cannot be counted amongst the squad (they may be crap).
My second reason is that I'm still sceptical about our change in fortunes and performances. While results have been good under Kelly, performances haven't (with the exception of probably the Leeds and Reading games) which is a worry. Once we were safe we collapsed again. I'm not sure I've seen anything to suggest that those results weren't just a combination of panic and ability rather than just ability (not to take anything away from RK, he did a fantastic job). I worry that next season the players will struggle to get going, especially if we lose a few and end up in the bottom half again. The board and staff don't exactly seem to be talking of ambition and top six finishes either.
