..... to be honest, it's lost almost all of it's appeal. The way the modern game has developed the wish to play in Europe is hanging on a very thin thread. Hull will play against one of two teams in just over a week, no one knows which as it hasn't been decided. One is the Serbian side Vojvodina and the other is FK AS Trencin from Slovakia. It will most likely be a trip to Slovakia which you'd imagine would be short notice for the thousands of Tigers to arrange travel & accommodation. In reality there won't be more than a handful as the ground only holds slightly more than 4,000 with a very limited away allocation. The pitch is plastic and the ground is shared by other sports clubs which should, at least, make Hull feel at home. If Hull progress they might end up flying tens of 1000's of miles playing 10 games before the end of the year for very little reward. How many will they pull in for their first ever home game in Europe, will it sell out? Can small clubs like Sunderland & Hull really afford to be involved in minor European competitions any more?
i very much doubt it, the eufa cup seems more like a chore nowadays rather than a presteige competition, dont get me wrong, i'd like to be in it but it deffo takes its toll, its too demanding
There'll be a few lads on the Newcastle board who had a few days away in Bruges, Benfica or Bordeaux watching their club that might just disagree with you
Disagree. I would like to think with a few decent performances in Europe you would hopefully get noticed by a better class of player who wanted to be here playing for us. Thus hopefully bringing progress and success. Accepted we would need a better decent sized quality squad but surely that's what we as fans and the players should aspire to, constant improvement. Admittedly we would need a significant input of funds as well. Surely not doing anything and just stagnating away battling EPL relegation isn't the way.
We finished 16th, 2 points ahead of you know who and had a cracking time in Europe (going further than we imagined we would!)
dont get me wrong Gil, its when you get in through the back door, if manure had qualified you would not have battered an eyelid, if we had of through the league cup we'd have been looking into the abyss right know. its hard enough competing in the premiership without a european campaign staring you in the mush, dunno for a fact but its another 18 games or so on a thursday night in transalvania or some ****
It was the 12/13 season. In fairness, our league showing was woeful (suppors Smugs point really) and quite how we did not get relegated was testament to how poor the teams were below us (no offence but we were gash)
We aren't a small club but I get your drift, our priorities would be best served in the premiership until we have a strong enough squad to compete on both domestic and European fronts.
Football sold it's soul a long time ago. The only real enjoyment I get watching football is the so called lesser teams in the World Cup, chile, Colombia etc. This year for example. The champions league does nothing for me. It's all about elite teams maintaining their brand. Footballers who think more of themselves than anything in the world. The champions league has ruined our domestic league and made it less competitive. All the press talk about is the top 4. The days of a team coming from nowhere to win the league are gone. The competition for 90% of the league has gone. To be an also ran is an aim. Go back to the old days of the European cup, Uefa cup and cup winners cup and happy days, knock out rounds from the go. The big teams can go out without being guaranteed a fortune. Stop them loaning their youngsters out to other premier league teams. Stop them buying all the talent in the league and putting it in their reserves to rot just to kill the opposition. It is now money driven the media know who the money is behind and it is in their interest to force these clubs on the public. We saw this spill over into the World Cup this summer with the constant eulogising of Brazil. This is not how most of us felt. Most of us wanted Brazil to be beaten by the better teams they faced like Chile and Colombia. Football like politics has become far too comfortable for those at the top and the press who report on them are too comfortable to keep the status quo. Only the real fans can change it. We need to be more active, bring back standing, cheap football for all. If the rich want to pay £50 upwards for a match crack on but let the masses who truly love the game pay a fair price and take their kids (Sunderland is still pretty good in this regard) My one hope left was the last couple of home games last season. Not the football but the fans. It was almost like what made me become a Sunderland fan in the first place. The addiction when I was young wasn't the football at all. It was being in amongst the fans jumping up and down like idiots, singing at the top of their lungs! Think football lost a generation of dans who paid for our fathers mistakes and it became very sanitised. I'm not saying let's get violent but the jumping up and down, constant singing and passion, that's a big yes. Let's face it football isn't what it was but the crowd those last couple of games was my biggest hope.
Sorry, I wasn't clear ..... I meant in regards to the European elite brands like Chelsea & Arsenal. They're the kind of clubs they want in Europe not ignorant northerners like us, Newcastle & Hull.
what a post , so good, cement anthony, when it comes to xmas and we vote, this is mine by a mile Safc through and through [video=youtube_share;2IKLAoIS0Y0]http://youtu.be/2IKLAoIS0Y0[/video]
Can you tell I've been drinking lol! My other love is watching my son and his team play. Beats watching premier league football all day long because it's pure. It shows that as a society we skylit I'll have a community where we can all come together and support our kids. Okay some get it wrong and come and shout at their kids like they were a premier league player but most are there for the love of the game. The football played is fantasic and I'lk often watch other teams playing when my son's team are in between games. M Cement Anthony is about to open the port, log off now ha ha!
Spot on, every Fifa initiative is designed to maintain the elitism of the football brand names. Tony is also correct, football will implode unless it goes back to its working class roots. In my opinion, competitive season card pricing, all seater stadia and Sky TV are strangling the life out of football.
