I agree. It's really depressed me. I'd kinda been saying to myself, ok, so the squad's not as good as last year, but at least the wage bill is considerably lower to make up for the fact that the players are inferior. Now I find there's not even a silver lining.
The evidence suggests not. It's patently a worse squad than last year (especially up front) and last year we only just snuck in. And even the greatest managers can't make silk purses out of sows ears. Yes I know we've had injuries - but so have other clubs.