Let's remind ourselves of how much Premier league clubs spent last summer (according to Sky):

Man U 148 mio
Villa 144.5 mio (clearly doing a Fulham)
Arsenal 138 mio
Man City 134.8 mio
Everton 118.5 mio
Spurs 100 mio plus
Leicester 91 mio
West Ham 78 mio
Newcastle 65 mio
Wolves 65 mio
Brighton 58.5mio
Soton 50 mio
Bournemouth 45.7 mio
Watford 45.5 mio
Sheffield Utd 43 mio
Chelsea 40 mio
Burnley 15 mio
PALACE 11 mio (was it really that much?)
Liverpool 4.4 mio (spent lots in previous windows)
Norwich 1.1 mio

Apart from Chelsea who sold Hazard and Morata for loadsamoney and had a transfer ban (bar the £40 mio deal previously agreed) we had the biggest surplus which, of course, was not reinvested in the squad.

How can we continue to compete?

We didnt spend 11m surely.

2.5 for Ayew (which is steal now)
Not sure on McCarthy but would not have been 8 to 9 million.
Cahill was free
Camarasa on loan
Henderson was free

Exactly,just staying in the epl is a great achievement, Roy runs a steady ship, mid table finish with a good cup run next season would do me fine! Starting the main stand would be very welcome, maybe get it cheaper when nobody"s working and companies are in the race to the bottom!

Not this crap again about him but being backed again.

Parish's biggest mistake at the moment is sticking buy that washed up dinosaur.

He's has had quality players in and barely used them. Reiedwald, Camarassa, Mayer, Sorloth all not getting a look in. AWB wouldnt have had a chance if it weren't for the fact we run out of other options.

Wickham came on, scored vs Norwich and forced an own goal v City then shipped off on loan.

A mangers biggest concern should be recruited, Roy avoids getting involved so he can have an excuse.

Pierrek contributed to the build up of the goal against Norwich then didn't get a look in again. When he got 8 minutes vs Liverpool at 4-0 down, Woy suddenly thought that he should be bought a bottle of wine for letting him have the opportunity.

We're on relegation form at the moment. If nothing changes then we will go down next season. More depressingly, we'll pay to get served up the same old s***. Roy will never change. He's got to go.

We've got the 9th highest wage bill in the league, a team of decent players who arent used to their strengths. Or tactic of sticking everyone behind the ball and hoping the Wilf does something special isn't working.

3 holding midfielders that barely make a tackle and cant pass.

1 goal from 150 corners yet he still insist 6'2 luka should take them.

We never play an early ball to Benteke, whys he never at the far post for set peice either, everyone knows that's where we are going to stick it.

There must be a correlation between lack of subs and injuries.

I won’t let the last 2 meaningless games cloud my judgement of whats been an excellent three years.

It’s not always pretty but it’s effective. Keeping Roy means guaranteed survival and gradual progress. We are hard to beat (yesterday was down to individual errors) which goes a long way.

I’m not aware of any realistic candidates who would do a much better job than Roy. Dyche perhaps, but Palace to him would feel like a sideways move.

His apparent lack of plan B and somewhat baffling selection/substations frustrate me and others, but what do any of us really know compared to Roy Hodgson? At the end of the day, the League position doesn’t lie, and we seem to be consistently punching above our weight and have been for a long time. Long may it continue with Roy at the helm.

Yes, he's not got many options but it's his 3rd season as manager so he's had enough transfer windows to make a difference yet he brings in has-beens like McCarthy with no resale value. It's not down to anyone else that we play 3 DMs in every match and nearly always only make like-for-like subs.

Watching this Liverpool v Villa game I can easily see Villa turning us over.. Especially as they have something to play for.. Shows me how embarrassing our performance at Anfield was..

Don't waste your time with jealousy. Sometimes your ahead, sometimes your behind, the race is long. But in the end it's only with yourself!!

I’m afraid that the 100% stark reality is that the only way we can play attractive/attacking football AND stay in the Premier is to have new owners who will invest hundreds of millions into the squad. The sad fact is that the only type of manager/coach that could currently dream of getting enough points for us to stay up (let alone achieve our current miraculous tally) is a wily old head like Roy, Alladyce or Pulis who can grind out results however they have to and get an aging and tiny squad (many of which are Championship standard) to overachieve on regular basis.

DeBoer was perceived as the dream ticket and we’d have been relegated by Christmas unless Roy had come in.

Bournemouth spent a fortune this season on players and will be a Championship side next season. There is no way in the world our owners will take such a risk, so the only answer is for us to pray for a sugar daddy or to accept that what we have now is the absolute best we will ever get in the current set-up and try and enjoy it.

George Courtney, the World Cup referee, everyone is looking at him. When will he blow....?

Great post 100 per cent correct

100% agree with this. We have been skating on thin ice all season. Lots of people crying and moaning about team selection and lack of subs but not one of them has come up with a better alternative.