Should 1 spot be awarded, Athletico Madrid are much more deserving of a Champions League place than Spurs, that is undeniable. To win the Europa League is a massive achievement, not only in terms of stamina and consistent performances, which shouldn't be looked down upon. Pure and simple, you all knew what the rules were, that if did not finish 3rd, champions league was not guaranteed, your club has only itself to blame. That is the truth!
As much as i think u should have a cl place for europa winners you cant really start a cup competition without the holders imo
It's worth noting that, in the aftermath of the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, Palermo also lost out on European football - in that case, it was because they were still trying to work out who actually finished where with all the points deductions, relegations, who was in or out of the Champions League/UEFA Cup, and appeals. UEFA didn't seem to be too bothered about representation of co-efficients then. As for the Turkish co-efficient, if one of the co-efficient has been expelled why let in the next member down? Given the match-fixing scandal involved a lot of Turkish clubs included Trabzonspor - the team promoted to the CL (not Besiktas as I previously, erroneously posted) - with instances of Trabzonspor players and a technical director accepting bribes. In fact, of last season's top eight teams, only Galatasaray and Bursaspor weren't implicated in the scandal - reason enough for UEFA to slap the Turkish FA with sanctions until they get their house in order.
The great irony is that the money (£30-40m) from being in the champions league next season, will be spent by Chelsea on Modric, would have been Spurs' had they finished 3rd/Bayern won. Lose-Lose situation really.
They should have said that this year the Europa winners get a place in the CL...thus rightlycreating a place for Spurs and giving future Europa league qualifiers a little incentive to take it seriously incase such a scenario occurs again.
Treat it the same as this season. Of course it's a great competition to win but ultimately money dictates our chances of staying competitive at a high level making qualifying for the CL through the league a priority.
Pull out of the Europa League? Absolutely not. It was good for us this year. Tom Carroll the perfect example - none of us had heard of him this time last year, then he got an England U21 call up after good performances in the EL. With our current squad, we could rest our whole first team and still put out a good EL team: Cudicini Naughton Caulker Gallas Rose Sandro Livermore DosSantos Carroll Townsend Defoe But it's more likely to be something like: Cudicini Corluka Bassong Caulker Rose Fredericks Carroll Livermore Townsend Coulibaly Kane I do really want to see Coulibaly play this year.
I think the likes of huddlestone and sandro will get run outs also. Coulibaly is definately one I would like to see!
Im stuck between wanting to win it...but that means an extra 17 games next year and the best players playing in it most weeks or taking it lightly and making it obvious UEFa that we dont care and why.
I would love to win it - it's a stupidly long process but it's a european trophy and with the squad we have I think we can rotate (are you listening harry!!) enough to cope. Our fringe players make up a decent team and I look forward to seeing some more of our youth players showing what they can do. It also keeps the likes of defoe and sandro match fit when they are not getting much game time.
Al..but would you think that if our league form dips? i would also love to win it..its a big trophy regardless of the picture the money men paint...however we cant cope with it...we just cant unfortunately....we cant even cope with a Carling cup run!
I'm hoping that Trabzonspor finish third in their CL group and we get to meet them in the knock-out stages - a meeting between the two clubs that were placed in the wrong European competitions...
If we were in the CL we would of put more first team effort into the fixtures which is part of the reason we tailed off in the league once we got to the knockouts. If Harry just learns to rotate I think we can cope. I am not saying the first team should play but we can draft a couple in and out when needed at least for the home games. I would also be happy if it helps put our deadwood into the shop window and gets rid of them once and for all....
Let's just treat it as another chance to get some other players game time, like we did last season. If they produce results, good for them. If they get us far enough to have a shot at winning, go for it, it's a trophy that's worth winning. A good performance in Europe is better than no European football at all. Given some of the other teams we'll be competing with, we can show off how good a team we are. Put us in the shop window for some of the biggest European players to see
playing deadwood is not showing ambition is it to win it? this is the problem...if it is true that you want us to win it then you would not be wanting deadwood to be trying to win it..so therefore its the first team that must play? and yes if it was CL football we would play the first team....because it is more profitable on a financial basis..and therefore deemed as a worthy risk..your point only proves that it is not about trophies and glory for fans..it is about financial gain. sad but true as you know deep down.
I think our fringe/youth are good enough to get out the group stage - it didnt work this year but we were a little unlucky. If we got to last 16 i would be pushed to say lets go for it! We have plenty of players so its a case of using them wisely - not harrys strong point unfortunately! The biggest positive is we get to see some of our youth play again which i liked about the europa this year
we cant always be looking for luck to help us out AL....its not bad luck it was bad management because we took it easy in an arrogant way at home to that Greek side...and we fell flat on our arses so much that we were relying on other results going into the last group match...that is not luck...that is bad management and arrogance...and this is the fine line between success and failure..however the options are presented to us to suceed (home match against greek team..play a first team and we progress)...but we make the wrong choices...therefore suffer.... and our second string is rubbish...sound good on paper bur rubbish...cant step up to it....so for me its either take it seriously or give it time before we wimper out of the Europa again.
