Ever bullish, Andrea Radrizzani, the Leeds United chairman, sat down in front of an audience in Lisbon earlier this month to articulate his vision for the Premier League club.
'If we stay in it this year I think we can go much more than last year and go into the top six,' the Italian told Web Summit attendees last week. 'Start to renovate the stadium and continue to grow the value of this club.'
It is a rosy vision of the future. It is also one that is currently under threat by the club's form on the pitch.
Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds have not quite hit the heights that they did during last season
As things stand, the size of that 'if' is quite substantial. Marcelo Bielsa and his side have failed to build on the swashbuckling form that saw them win over the hearts and minds of many football fans during their first season back in the big time.
Their top-half finish - a widely lauded ninth place - was thoroughly merited. This season, those lofty heights haven't been quite so easy to reach.
Bielsa and his side are currently sat 15th with 11 points from 11 games - three fewer than at the same stage last season.
Once steely in their resolve, they have surrendered seven points from winning positions this season already. It would have been eight on Sunday but for the intervention of VAR to disallow Ademola Lookman's late winner for Leicester City.
It is a concerning sign for Bielsa, whose side battered teams into submission with their relentless playing style last season.
Of even more concern is the fact that their relentless nature is still there. The results, however, are not.
Chairman Andrea Radrizzani has been talking about the club's future in the league this month
Through a mixture of injury problems and an absence of luck in the final third, the Argentine finds himself with a side slipping in the wrong direction.
The signs were immediate from the opening day of the season - a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United was a shock to the system but one that has largely set the tone for a disappointing campaign to date.
Victories have come, but both have been by the odd goal against two of the league's newly promoted sides a 1-0 success against Watford and a hard-fought 2-1 win over basement boys Norwich.
Other results have given cause for alarm, such as the failure to beat a spiralling Newcastle side at St James' Park and a toothless defeat at Southampton.
Of some comfort will be the fact that the style has not changed, nor has their dominance dwindled.
Looking at the attack momentum generated in
