Clearly the bookies, journos and pundits would be surprised.
Finishing 9th in the table would not be failure; it would be progress.
Who said anything about being happy with 16th? Mind you, if we've got 5 games left and we're sat in 21st I'd be delighted if that's where we ended up.
And yes, I think it's perfectly reasonable not to 'expect' to get in the play offs given how often we've reached them over the past 20 years.