after watching a footy program about finishing high up in the league in order to qualify for europe, they got round to talking about an interesting point. it was discussed that some managers would rather finish in a position just below qualifying for the europa league, rather than being in it, as it means thur night football, a drain on the squad etc. and it's only worth being in it, if you actually win the damn thing, so managers seem to want champions league football or none, as the former uefa cup is not worth taking part. anyone any thoughs on this...
I can see where thos opinions come from. For me though, I would love to have some European nights at SoL. The Europa League still has some quality teams in it e.g. Roma, Juve, Porto etc. etc. Imagine seeing players the calibre of Aguero, Totti, Del Piero coing to sunderland and getting a good hiding. It also lifts the profile of the club and the mood of the fans.
Have to admit i watch the champions league whenever its on, but i never watch the Uefa Cup, i think i did for a couple of matches for boro but other than that, i tend to just miss it. If we were in it, I would watch it obviously, but would other supporters of other clubs? just seems the Champions League is where its at (cash as well) and the Uefa Cup has turned into the LDV Trophy or similar (I wouldnt even say the League Cup as thats bigger than the Uefa Cup to me.)
The Europa League is only worth being in if: 1). You have enough squad depth to cope with the extra games 2). You want to raise the clubs profile to attract better players 3). You want to win it I'd never advise a club with a thin squad going in the Europa League, because their EPL performance will suffer, especially if they're also still in the Carling Cup and FA Cup. It's a LOT of extra matches.
I think those are for the CL. Fulham reaching the final of Europa netted about €8-10 million so there is a massive disparity in potential winnings between the two.
Would love a shot at it and the sooner the better but not at the expense of EPL status.Agree totally you need a big squad full of quality.Will it be a poisoned chalice for Brum?
If you qualified for the Europa League either via finishing 5th/6th or through the cups like Brum then you would have to sacrifice a cup competition the following season such as the FA cup or even both the FA Cup & Carling cup and just play the youth team for those competitions
It seems that EUFA cup, Europa league whatever it is called has gone the way of Carling cup and for a lot of teams FA cup in this country. It's just not worth the extra hassle for clubs especially with the CL dropouts coming in at the death to contend with. If they are to make it more of an attraction to teams outside the top 5/6 in countries then don't allow the CL teams to participate, respective FAs, FIFA, EUFA all the same looking after the top section of teams and just tolerating the rest.
They are in it though and like your lot might need a point or two this time next year.Negative thought yes but still possible OT.
Aye. I'm fairly negative about their chances but with some luck and strong defensive away performances they could make it further.
I feel that there are just far too many teams in these competitions. If both competitions are to be kept, then The Champions League should be for the League Champions and the FA Cup winners: this would also give the FA Cup a much-needed boost. And the Europa Cup could be limited to the runners up and the League Cup winners. it's just down-grading both competitions by having so many teams competing in them.
FA cup easy mate, hoped we would have had a decent cup run this year as promised by the hierarchy maybe next year or next year or the year after.
Why the hell was I on the wrong page... Sorry. This is Europa: Still a fair few million if you can get reasonably far.
Totally agree and i would love a trophy at Wembley and if Birmingham can do it and Stoke get there why not us and if we play Wigan in the final we can have all the tickets as well lol
As Sunderland can't even be arsed about the FA or Carling Cups I cannot imagine them wanting to get into the Europa Cup.
