1. Were people saying it was a great footballing game? Words like hectic, mad, and groundbreaking were words I saw, it was crazy to watch, but not all at superb football.
2. They do have a long-term plan in place, and where is all this "money" you talk of? Some of the top players playing locally left because there was no cash available, certainly player payments were either small or non-existent.
3. The "long ball" point you raise is one I've seen a bit and I'm a bit surprised at. I'm not sure if it's the seemingly endless negative around WaiBOP, or whether I'm too busy writing to notice, but I don't see the likes of Lissette or Probert often launching long balls forward, and there's been plenty of positive play in games I've watched this year, it's just largely through the wings rather than tika-taka (Look what that brought them last season).
So although it's not Barcelona, I don't think it is Stoke either, and regardless of how you see it, the goals have been there for the majority of the season.