Looks like we won't be in the Europa Cup next season after all, after Fergie's behaviour following nani's red card has moved the Premier League down the Respect Fair Play table: http://www.clubcall.com/southampton/ferguson-scotches-saints-euro-hopes-1578041.html Personally I am pleased. This would be much too soon for a developing squad and would interfere with our preseason plans.
The fact that Fergie was fined for not talking to the media highlights a really big problem with the game, in my opinion, and I can't believe people are just accepting it. I know he had an obligation to speak to them after the game, but that should not be the case. The media has far too much power in football.
Agree. We're not ready for Europa League just yet. Unfortunately, this season, it's been proven to have a negative impact on player fatigue anyway. As lamballana points out - Just look at Newcastle against Sunderland last weekend, the whole team were knackered - hence the result!
Wigan are in it next year, so one team who will struggle, if a decent Newcastle side do this much. Wouldn't want to be in it yet, our squad is not large enough - with strength.
Quite something to be seriously talking about European competion, however we get there, when we're only in our first PL season. I'm as confident as I've ever been that we will get a taste of Europe on the back of our footbal skills within a handful of years.
Especially not through the Fair Play qualification...unless I'm very much mistaken, teams gaining a FP spot enter in the first qualifying round, which means an exceedingly-disruptive home/away tie in early July. Even if it's against the Lichtensteiner runner-up or some such, no thanks.
Yes, I agree with you, Joe. I think it's also typical that Fergie makes a move and it reflects on all PL clubs, when really it should just reflect on his. Of course, one would have thought the distinction could surely be made in the rules. In any case, I think getting into Europe is a double edged sword and we're better off getting into it when we're good and ready. The commitment has brought Newcastle close to flirting with relegation and their squad was initially ready for the extra competition.
Wigan have got a conundrum next year, regardless of whether they stay up or not. They are basically guaranteed a spot in the Europa League but have nowhere near the squad to be able to handle it, and the financial rewards of the Europa League are minimal and certainly not enough to cover the outlay required to bulk up their squad to an adequate level. So they're either going to have to make some possibly risky financial moves, get completely embarrassed in the Europa League or have their league standings suffer from playing their first team in the EL. Uefa really need to incentivise the Europa League because at this point it's just floating around on the border between a running joke and a complete hindrance.
The advanatge that Wigan have is that, even if they go down, they'll play in Europe next season. This might be an incentive for a veteran player in the twilight of their career to join them, who might not have joined them otherwise.
