Being a top 10 PL club now has to be the priority. The rest will follow hopefully. We have come a long way but need to take a step back and cement what matters most. The PL.
but I dont believe you can establish yourself as a top 10 premier league team, outside the 'big 7' chelsea arsenal liverpool man city spurs Everton man u any other teams in the top regularly fluctuate, so really it means little if you're not in the top 7
Well....it takes having a really rich owner, like Blackburn did. So it's not impossible, but isn't likely.
Usually what happens is a smaller team will have really good season and finish top 10. Loose a few players and struggle the next season.
What a sad state of affairs when mediocrity in the league is more rewarding than playing in a European cup competition.
why do you want to finish higher up the table? whats wrong with 17th? only reason to finish higher is to gain a few extra million and a spot in Europe.... oh wait we already had
Attaining top ten increases revenue, doing it regularly increases profile and the likelihood of credible investment/sponsorship, it would also increase gates and the possibility of ground development. It's another step in the stepping stones of improvement we have been following for over a hundred years. This is what winning brings, a huge disappointment when you lose. A daft mistake by our lead GK put us on the European rack, we won but lost and now we move on. A top ten finish would be very special, I don't see how anyone can belittle that.
Remember Norwich City & Villa in the UEFA Cup all those years ago? They were representing England and all the country was watching Now it's being diluted Armchair fans want Real vs Barca every week and hey ho, they're almost getting it with the Champions bloody league every season the same names, the same games more money more fixing less passion we CANNOT win the PL, we could have won the FA Cup and we had an outside chance of winning the Europa league what do we do? we concentrate on the one thing we cannot win is that our bread and butter? give me the cream
Assem Allam could put in £500 million tomorrow and still meet the FFP rules. All he has to do is buy shares rather than make loans. The Premier League provides us with the money and exposure to buy the players we need to stay there and compete for places in Europe in the future. I look at the team Steve Bruce is putting together and I start getting excited, not my usual state. We are building a young team that can consolidate our position in the Premier League. Consolidating our position gives us access to the funds needed to strengthen the team still further. Yes, last night was disappointing, yes, but showed we are still a work in progress with a few weak links. I don't see any reason why, if we can become an established premier league team over the next 10 years we cannot then follow the example of Everton. If we attract significant sponsorship or capital injections it could happen before. For me the question is do we want an invite to the table for a quick snack or to get a permanent place? Using the premier league money to build us a stronger squad which means European nights and further progression being more likely. Last night showed we weren't ready now, not that we'll never be ready.
Totally agree Obadiah, but you touched on building a young squad, so developing one from a well structured youth academy will be excellent and far more achievable with regular top ten finishes; but that's a realistic dream, right now survival is a must.
Was sorry to see you guys go out but I'm glad to see you guys care about going out. Europa League gets a bad wrap and whilst it has been bastardised in recent years to make it the CL-lite it's still a great competition to be in. With a CL place for the winner, it should help increase competition again and make it more prestigious, rather than an extremely long way to make £5mill.
I think doing well in various competitions is the key to raising our profile. The Europa League is one of the best ways to raise our profile. I accept we have to spread our players but when it was obvious that we needed to win last night we should have put out our best side. We could swap after 45 or 60 minutes if we were leading comfortably. We shouldn't throw players on in the last few minutes in a mad panic.
How many top 10 finishes does it take to increase the profile to the level of winning the Europa League? Do you honestly think Stoke's profile has increased greater than that of Europa League Champions Sevilla because they finished 9th in the PL last season? I think gates will drop as we develop into a mediocre PL side that considers a mid table finish a greater achievement than winning a trophy. You win nothing for coming 8th, 9th or 10th, there is no prize, bragging rights or prestige involved. We will not break into the top 7, we can dream about it but it won't happen. Nobody has belittled finishing 10th, for us it would be an achievement but not as greater achievement as getting to the group stages of, or finishing in the last 32/16/8/4 or even winning the Europa League. If we finish 9th & then 13th the following season will it be considered a failure? Who remembers which teams finish 8th-13th once the season has finished. The only positions that matter are 18th, 19th & 20th. It's all about surviving & taking the money. Questioning why we didn't field our strongest team in a game we needed to win to remain in Europe in our first ever qualifying season is not belittling finishing 10th, because we're now out of Europe we do not automatically finish top 10 as many would suggest. We need to take opportunities as they arise, we're Hull City & can't afford to dismiss opportunities & be flippant towards European qualification as if they'll be around again in a couple of seasons. We have three chances of getting into Europe each season. Finish top 5, win the FA Cup or win the League Cup, there's no more qualifying for coming runners up. It doesn't matter how many top 10 finishes we get, our chances of getting into Europe remains the same each season. The prize for breaking into the top 10 is not greater then the prize of winning the Europa League as Tickler suggested.
yep this is the first time I've said that Bruce got it wrong he may have thought the team he picked would beat lokeren over 2 legs and they should have but that's still a gamble Lokeren see the team sheet, they've done their homework and they note there's no Huddlestone, no England U21 Tom Ince, no Croatian WC player, Jelavic, they think "ey up we've got a chance" Southampton - last season great season didn't qualify for europe though sold all their best players should have gone for it Brucie
