Finally making it into Europe by finishing 6th (joint 5th) and a quarter final in the FA Cup was the making of our best season to date in the Barclays Premiership. But now what happens? Is there room for improvement or have we reached the highest point and will now suddenly drop back into the battle that is Premiership survival.
Well although last season was great, the good news is I think there is still room for improvement. Jay Jay was in and out of form, still no 20-goal-a season striker along with a terrible loss of form in November and December.
Over the summer Sam Allardyce has made his transfer headache public by stating that this season has been the worst for attracting quality players. So far Big Sam has brought in much needed cover for Jussi Jaaskelainen in the experienced Ian Walker and Oman sensation Ali Al-Habsi. Abdoulaye Faye has been signed as cover for N'Gotty, Ben-Haim and Jaidi and Juanfran looks set to join from Besiktas. Jared Borgetti and last seasons loanee El-Hadji Diouf have been bought for large sums of money (for Bolton that is) to help Davies and Pedersen up front and thats about it as far as transfers go. It seems that more youth might be used this year with talented youngsters like Joey O'Brien, Ricardo Vaz Te, Jaroslaw Fojut and Johann Smith to name a few who have impressed in pre-season.
So to the forthcoming season. Is our squad better than last season? Well, on overall quality I think so but numbers wise we might be struggling. We need a left back, maybe cover in midfield and to be safe another striker but if Sam is going to trust his younger players to come up with the goods then who am I to argue!
We can improve on last season, but if we get through the early stages in the UEFA Cup then maintaining a good league position will be difficult. If we go out early then 6th has to be the target, to consolidate on what we achieved in the 2004/05 season.