It was totally serious. Of course we weren't going to make play offs, but if Bloom hired Hughton just to keep us up I'd be shocked. There's a whole bunch of other stuff to prepare us for a push next season (which must have been on TB's agenda) such as making some sort of progress and slowly...
1. How do you know that was the objective? I imagine it was a little more comprehensive than that?
2. Has he saved our season or has the collective uselessness of 3 other teams done that?
3. Seeing as you know, what is his objective for next season?