I think we all knew going into this season it was going to be a bit tricky. All eyes were on Man City, and we knew we could keep up with them. But nobody expected Liverpool to take off this hard under Slott (not even some of their own fans). And then near the start we lost Edu and then some key players with nasty injuries. It was a combination of bad luck and poor planning.

The PL is even more competitive, and we have been treading water from an organizational perspective. Last Summer was a 'clear out' season - offloading surplus players. Unfortunately we focused too much on that and ran out of time for bringing in reinforcements. So we left ourselves very exposed to the consequences of injuries. Fewer players not only means more limited coverage options, it also means more grueling schedules and increased injury chances for the existing players.

The thing I'm probably most concerned about is this tendency to lose focus and steel in the final stretch of the season. That has to be addressed ASAP.