This is exactly the problem.
Unless they show significant improvement, good players are going to bypass them and they'll stay a mediocre team. They've still got a lot of players to cycle out of their current team, which will mean some big gaps in their list in years to come.
It makes sense to lure some big names, but they are offering some huge contracts and still being rejected. It makes sense in the current situation, but it'll be troubling in a few years when they should be making a push up the ladder. Even when they were a decent mid-table team they struggled to attract talent and mostly went after older players looking for a big final contract.
Still haven't shown they can produce elite talent, apart from a few guns, but to be fair they haven't had the luxury of early selections.
A lot of players to cycle out?
Swallow, Gibson, Thompson and Waite.
Swallow: A slow poorly skilled inside mid ATM. Dumont has replaced him.
Gibson: A very average midfielder with average skills, easily replaceable.
Thompson: Vickers-Willis, McKay and Neilson, his replacements are already getting games.
Waite: Wood and Durdin are handy replacements.
Outside mids and class, that is the only real gap for the next few years.