Yes I will be the first to step up and moan that Wigan were more interested in the Cup than premier league survival (no matter how hard it would have been on the final day for them). But that aside did we really expect anything less?
At the beginning of the season I said I would by happy with a top 6 finish. This is happy taking the feelings out of it, looking at it with a footballing mind, not happy overall. Looking back at what has happened to us this season we cannot and should not be moaning.
Firstly our squad is a lot smaller (as I had mentioned in a previous article) and we lost 2 major assets (Modric and VDV) and had sold off pretty much all of our strikers (fringe or not we needed them). In the summer Levy appointed AVB as the new manager. So for a new manager to come in, change everything, but was not given the funds needed to replace the above losses, is it any surprise that we have not moved forward?
Going back to January we made a major mistakes again. Every season I point out that in January we desperately needed to recruit and we had failed miserably to do so. If we handled our business completely in the summer we would not have to buy in January though! Whether it is that Lewis did not make the funds available or that Levy couldn't pull his finger out I don't know, but either way we had loan opportunities (such as Lisandro Lopez) which we spurned.
Now that Lewis and Levy have seen what AVB can do with the team they have made the decision that it is right to back him in the summer.
Now this is all linking back to what the fans reaction was last night. Many supposed fans harped on that we should cash in on Bale or that he now wants to leave as Champions League football is not in place. Interestingly enough they have forgotten that AVB had a message passed down from Lewis and Levy that Bale will not be leaving in the summer and that a new contract is on the table. The contract is being delayed to soften the blow if we do not achieve champions league (so sources say).
Bale has said he wants to stay, but in the future he may like the idea of moving abroad. Bale has quizzed Levy as to the ambition of the club and now Bale is happy with how things are progressing and how things are expected to unfold come the summer.
Bale is staying, we are not "cashing in on him" and it would be suicide to do so (at this point in time). It’s not as if Levy would invest all that money back into the team! And then talks of Man Utd swapping Rooney and cash for Bale! Don't make me laugh another stupid comment. Why would you want to strengthen a team that we beat comprehensively at theirs and should have beaten at ours? Talk about narrow minded cynics! No true fan would be happy to lose any of our good players let alone our best!
Anyway I digress. To all those non believers or fans bemoaning that we underperformed this season......... ARE YOU MAD?
We have a youthful team and they will be better next season and the much needed additions will strengthen the team and make us a top 4 contender. Yes it will be difficult to achieve this without champions league (which is not all out the window yet), but no one would have thought that we would have landed VDV so there you go.
The whole point of this article is to tell those moaning to be realistic, to tell those saying to sell Bale to basically SHUT UP and to remind all fans out there, this is our team and we should support the effort that has got us this far. Believe in them, respect them, but respect your club. Consistent Champions League is not a easy thing to get when there are 4 teams that have been in place for a while. Only City have bought their way in there and we certainly are not looking to buy our way in there, so its all about earning your place. We are almost there just one last push is needed.
Trust in the club and the rest will follow!
COYS
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