Some of the chat in the hun thread got me thinking about this. So by hopes I mean what do we all think will represent a successful season for 25/26? 

Obviously we have the excitement of euro football till at least December to look forward to.  Personally I would prefer to go into the conference league as I think we would have a great chance of getting out of the group.  Also obviously though the Thursday Sunday fixture list is gruelling and in the past 3 seasons both ourselves and Hearts have struggled domestically as a result.  I would personally see remaining competitive in the league (by that I mean staying in the hunt for 3rd) whilst not humiliating ourselves in Europe would represent a successful first half of the season.  If we could get out of the group in Europe even more so. 

 

It does raise the question of whether or not we should give the league cup our all.  Of course we all want to be competitive in the cup comps but with hindsight you could argue getting to the the LC final in Robsons euro season was a distraction we didn't need.   Depending on how the fixture list is looking I would probably be at peace fielding weakened sides in LC the first couple of rounds we play in 2bh. 

 

The second half of the season is probably a little more straightforward. If we assume that even at best we will likely be out of Europe by the end of February then you have to be looking for a very strong finish to the domestic campaign.  

 

An acceptable season for me would be

Finish in a European spot, be competitive in Europe and at least one trip to hampden. 

A good season would be. 

Finish in a euro spot, get out of the group stage and 2 trips to Hampden (I.E get to a final) 

A great season would be finish 3rd, get out of the group and 2 trips to Hampden. 

A best we could hope for season (imo anyway) would be finish 3rd, get out of the group and win the first knockout stage, win a cup. 

Thoughts? 

For me, Europe is more important than finishing third next season. Obviously you want to finish as high as possible, but without the guaranteed group stage place, third is not as big a carrot. 

Europe provides a big chance for us to earn significant funds, it's a shop window if we're selling players (and we are a selling club), it's a showcase to others to come and play for us, and it's a chance for us to grow our own coefficient (the club one) to help our seeding in future.

All the players say that getting European football was a big thing to them. Palaversa, Polvara and Clarkson in particular were vocal about it. It's why Knoester and Tobers came here. It's a stage we should be on more often and it's a shame that after this season it'll be more of a challenge to make the groups.

If it's the Europa League we reach, then being competitive likely represents a good campaign. If it's the Conference League, we could still end up with a horrible draw, but there is more possibility of progressing beyond Christmas (should be noted Hearts' group was particularly easy, doesn't necessarily mean we'll get as "lucky").

 

I think if we finished fourth, did well in Europe, and as ever give the cups a good go, then that's a decent season.

If we were top three, made the knockouts in Europe, and claimed another cup, then it's time to start designing the Jimmy Thelin statue.

Winning the fucking lot 

It's what we're there for 😉

21 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Winning the fucking lot 

It's what we're there for 😉

Beat me to it. 

I hope we finish ahead of Steven Pressley's crack Dundee outfit.

13 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

I hope we finish ahead of Steven Pressley's crack Dundee outfit.

Actually initially thought you had added an extra letter to the adjective used.

Maybe you meant it, maybe you didn't.

Works either way 😉