I want Europa league so I can go on a really epic away day somewhere, I was a skint student last time we were in Europa league so couldn't take advantage. Somewhere Eastern bloc and shady would be pretty cool!
When we win one of those cups you mention (could be in May), having concentrated so hard on them, do we then withdraw from the Europa League?
Don't change your season ticket then fella, as the bloke sat behind you travels to Europe with work regularly... If its driveable you can hop in
Mauricio would, but, as he said, that is his view not the club. he'd probably just play the u16s then curse as they went through round after round
I don't get this. I understand what you are saying, but what is our progress then? We skip straight to champions league? Will that not wreck our squad? The truth is that the teams who we have seen fail from here so far, haven't prepared properly. It would be a test of the owners as we would need a much big and stronger squad.
Yes if we got to play Dutch, French, Portugese & Swedish clubs. No as more than likely, we'd get to Polish, Croatian & Russian clubs. But overall, no. It's a pointless competition.
Concrete our top 8 status without going 6th? Not much margin for error in that one. All you can do as a club is try to win every game you are in, if you end up in the Europa league then so be it.
If we qualified the club would have to decide whether to treat it seriously or just use it as a training ground and get knocked out early. Reality is if we want to progress we need to up our profile around Europe by competing on that stage.
Wait until we've got a squad that can take it, before we try it. We might do that and pull in 8 or 9 players over the summer (if we qualify this year), but I'd not exactly expect that.
A lot of the arguments above apply equally to CL though don't they? How many games in Europa against number of games in CL? I agree it is a bit of mickey mouse competition and clearly MP does not rate it highly (like CL) but like most on here I bet he would still embrace the challenge if we qualified.
Yeah, I'd like it. Of course, any dolt would prefer Champions League, but Europa is a good measuring stick, to see where a club needs to be. So many clubs fail in the domestic league while prospering in the Europa. That can't happen if this club has proper ambition.
I voted "no". It is a ridiculous tournament featuring all those not good enough to really be in Europe. They need to change the format to straight knockout as it used to be. Surely they must notice the half-empty stadia etc. (Who are "they"?) That said, it would be great to win the FA Cup so if we have to be in it, play those not regularly featuring in the 1st team. It will give them good match practice and not expose the 1st team to the excessive travel or extra games. If we get knocked out early, who cares!? That way we wouldn't need to strengthen specifically for Europe.
I voted no but not yet would be a better answer. I think our squad is too small even without European games so I definitely think getting into the Europa League would be a case of one step forward leading to two steps back next season. As Dan has said, we'd need to bring in something like 8 or 9 players in the summer to have a deep enough squad. That level of transfer activity is unlikely to be sanctioned and would also be a big risk in itself.
It's a bit chicken and egg though. What happens if you being in that number and you don't qualify? I thi k it is a very tricky part of the progression. We are 2pys from 7th place and so if we finish 7th, 8th, 9th, progression means Europa league. If we win the cup this year or next, it means Europa league. Down the 36 made a great point above by saying we keep progressing by trying to win more and more games; that takes you wherever it takes you and you have to react. Imagine we were a factory making stuff. We can make 100 things a year and we currently are on track to make 80 this year when we have a chance to get an order for 50. Do we not take the order becaus we can't cope with capacity? That's a very basic analogy, but it is where we are. We are right on the fringe now of real progression; this season has been great, exciting and fun. Now we find out if we really want to progress. I want to win the FA cup now. Is someone going to wake up the day after we have won and say ****, wish that hasn't happened? The club will have to then decide what it wants next if that happens. Anyone can plan on how they want to progress and have a strategy for that, but very few, if any, follow that plan. It is all about being able to react and adapt to where your plan has taken you. TSS will say that you can point the boat in a direction, check the wind and the tide, plan your route, but when you are out sailing the boat anything can change.
Lff, I agree about the status of the tournament, but it is what it is. May I ask how you see our progression panning out, without the Europa involvement? straight to Champions League? same issues but better teams.
My opinion on this is yes I would love european football but not this season/next. I feel we need to invest in the summer as we don't have a squad that could deal with both European/Cups and Premiership, just look at the likes of Swansea. Invest this summer, build a squad next season have another decent stint and go for that european spot. It would give the team time to bond and gel with new players.
Europe would take a massive hit on our squad, unless we buy about 7 players at the end of the season. I want to get into it but not just yet.
