How many do we need?

At the start of the season most of us were happy with the squad we had. As it turned out, we've performed better than most of us could have expected. However, we've found out that our squad actually was nowhere near big enough to achieve more than 8th this season and bearing in mind we went out of both cups early. So now we know.

Realistically we aren't going to gatecrash the top 7 any time soon. You'd expect teams like Newcastle to have a better season next year and teams like Southampton will splash probably splash the cash a bit. So how many players do we need to cement our place in the top 10 again next and have a better go in the cup competitions?

We're fine in goal and Myhill's contract suggets he will be back-up next season.

Defence- Hopefully Popov at LB. I quite like Jones. Good at getting forward and decent distribution. However, a good RB needed to provide better competition. Dawson will have a part to play but will Olsson be here next season? Will Tamas? Might need an extra CB if one of these goes.

Midfield- Odemwingie and Thomas likely to be shipped off, leaving Brunt our only natural winger. Think we'll need at least 2 wingers with pace, maybe 3. We also need to find some cover for Yacob/Mulumbu.

Forwards- Lukaku going. Fortune likely to go. I like Long. His goal ratio isn't bad at all, however keeping him fit for 30+ games a season might be a problem. So another genuine quality striker will be needed. Dont think we need more than 3 strikers, if 4-5-1 is the way we are going. I'd be happy to have Berahino as 4th choice if needed.

So I ended up with: LB (Popov), CB (maybe) DM, 2-3 wingers and a striker. Not sure how much this will set us back. Last season we brought in Foster, Yacob, Lukaku, Popov for an outlay of £4m. Might need to spend a bit more this summer.