Is it much different from your usual summer? Main difference this year is Europe, which came before you were ready, but you've looked reasonably solid since then and the signings, Sow apart, look decent enough on paper. If the boy St Clair turns out decent (and theres no reason he won't - if Chelsea had their way he'd still be there) then Sow won't be playing very much anyway - cos he's not replacing Brophy. Your loanees are still coming from a good level, you've just swapped a majority of them coming from England for majority of them coming from Italy. I'd also suggest your manager isn't a clueless dick, so I'm pretty sure he knows exactly when and how he'll use Sow before he signed him. Probably against thugs like Berra.
Losing Clarke was always going to mean a step back, it'd have been the same for any club he managed, he's simply that good at what he does. If that step back means you finish 5th instead of 3rd can you really consider it failure for a board that, before Clarke, was running a club constantly tipped for relegation?