As people read this post I can imagine the howls of anguish at this post.

I have to say that the lack of ambition in the title is for someone like me quite startling. I could shout and shout over what the title does suggest but the times have changed in the past 12-18 months and we have to adjust to it. I have long held the belief that Mcleish is a stop gap manager and it will be interesting to see the transfer moved that occurs this winter.

Basically I think that the aim for this season is clear but they would never state it. The aim is to get rid of most of the higher waged players and to survive in the PL, it is as simple as that. It is the ultimate transitional season for the club. It could even be that Mcleish is only here for that purpose and may leave in the summer for a new manager who has much more room to work with.

If you look at the table it is clear that you will not go down on 39 points as Blues did last season. for that to happen it would take Wigan for example to get another 25 points or Bolton another 27 and that will not happen. If the number of points to avoid relegation is more than 34 I would be shocked. Given that we have 20 now I see now way we will not get another 14-16 points and thus that is the risk we are now taking. I understand it is a risk many fans (if not all) would rather not take but there is a gap this season to take the risk outlined.