[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The problem, as ever, is that there'll be no return on investment for the people pumping the money in. The extra money you get for finishing, say, 8th as opposed to 17th wouldn't justify the amounts you'd have to spend on players to accomplish that. The Europa League actually loses most clubs money when they participate, and the pot for winning it is laughably small (I think a couple of million last time I checked).

The ONLY way a club can make big money and get their owners a significant return on investment is by qualifying for the Champions League, which is why it's the holy grail for clubs like Southampton (and, in the past, Villa, Newcastle, Leeds, etc). It's also damn-near impossible to achieve.

Hate to rain on the parade where new ownership's concerned, but unless the new guys are devoted Albion fans prepared to burn money just to create an enjoyable/watchable team for all us supporters, I don't see their priority being anything other than remaining in the Premier League and slowly maturing their initial investment.