I agree with the article. People also forget that were it not for lottery winner clubs like city and Chelsea we'd probably be finishing top 4 an awful lot more. Chelsea would prob still be more or less up there challenging on our level* (albeit not so dominant) and city would still be a yo yo club.
*provided they avoided the imenebt financial collapse they were facing before Roman came.
Well we were on the cusp for a few years, we finally made the breakthrough and secured a top 4 spot the same year City got their money, by the following season City's big money signings had settled and our years of hard work were all undone, we found ourselves back on the cusp as a new financially doped club took what I believe was our rightful place in the top 4.