http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Euro...t-ask-Fulham/story-21452257-detail/story.html A good read as always from Brad Rial. Seems Fulham did well in the Premier League games directly after a Europa game, which is a surprise. I'll be at the home games but cant manage away games in Europe. Saying that I'm gonna miss the first two games as I'm on holiday, so if we crash out...... Hull City have a European adventure to look forward to. Or do they? Brad Rial looks at the experience of other Premier League teams who took on the daunting schedule of the Europa League and the old UEFA Cup. With the draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League taking place on Friday, the 2014-15 campaign all of a sudden seems very close to starting for Hull City. The heartbreaking FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal only seems like yesterday and for some fans, the enormity of that marvellous run to Wembley is still to hit home. But when Cityâs name is drawn out of the hat to face some side from Moldova, Azerbaijan or Estonia next week, it may just about start to sink in. The glorious thing about Cityâs upcoming European adventure is that no-one really knows what to expect. Sure, the likes of Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Allan McGregor, among others, have played in Champions League matches in front of packed out stadia, but for supporters of little old Hull City, such wonders are yet to be experienced. The cynics out there will state that the Europa League is a poisoned chalice, a hiding to nothing, and a competition that Steve Bruce and his men could really do without. âWhy bother with the likes of Ferencvaros, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Sligo Rovers when weâve got Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United visiting the KC every other week?â they cry. But thatâs the beauty of the competition. Thatâs what makes it all the more exciting, that feeling of heading into the unknown. There have been a number of teams â of similar stature to City â over the years that have embraced the Europa League. Both Middlesbrough and Fulham have reached the final of the competition in the last decade. Fulham, like City will at the end of the month, started their adventure in the third qualifying round at the home of the European powerhouse that is FK Vetra (a Lithuanian side, as if you needed telling) in July 2009. Iâm sure none of the Cottagers fans that travelled that day would have envisaged the remarkable run that would follow, even if they did head home in buoyant mood following a comfortable 3-0 win. They went on to cruise through to the group stages with a win in the play-off against Amkar Perm of Russia. The common view held amongst football fans in this country is that a team tends to struggle in the match immediately after a midweek European fixture. The âhangover affectâ is often cited as the reason a team loses just a few days after their exploits in Europe. As far as Fulham were concerned, no such hangover existed. They played 17 Europa League games in total (almost half a season in itself) and they actually won more league games immediately after a European match than they lost (six wins, five defeats and five draws). The Thursday-Sunday turnover is a notoriously difficult situation to manage, but Roy Hodgsonâs men showed no signs of fatigue when it came to the Premier League. The fact that Fulham were handed a fairly kind group travel-wise probably helped their cause. They faced trips to Roma, Basel and Sofia â three places that wonât exactly have proved jetlag inducing. Compared to Spursâ group last year of Anzhi Makhachkala (Russia), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) and Tromso (Norway), Fulhamâs draw looks all the more favourable. In the first half of the season, Fulhamâs Premier League performances certainly didnât seem to suffer as a direct result of their involvement in the Europa League. They only lost five league games before Christmas, though that figure more than doubled (to 12) after. After finishing second in the group and qualifying for the knockout round, the Cottagers almost seemed to prioritise the Europa League during the second half of the season as they knew that they were never really in any danger of being relegated. Sure, they picked up enough Premier League points to ensure a respectable finish of twelfth place was assured, but their European run was the main focus of their attention. Towards the end of the season, Hodgson started resting players for Premier League matches, something that City used to their advantage when beating Fulham 2-0 in March in what proved to be Iain Dowieâs only win as Tigers boss. As much as City fans would love this to be case for them, it is unlikely that the Tigers will find themselves in a position where the Premier League becomes a distraction. That said, you could argue that that was the case towards the end of last season, as the FA Cup run took hold. Fulham also managed a decent FA Cup run in 2009-10, even if they did only have to face Swindon Town, Accrington Stanley and Notts County before eventually being knocked out in a quarter-final replay by Spurs. This only serves as another case in point that the Europa League isnât as restrictive as itâs made out to be. The Europa League is much maligned by supporters, managers and players alike, but ask any Fulham fan what their most memorable season is and the 2009-10 will surely be the one that immediately springs to mind. They knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg en route to the final and whoâs to say that City canât produce some moments like that of their own? Comparisons can be drawn with the Middlesbrough side of 2005-06 here, too. They defeated Stuttgart, Roma, Basel and Steaua Bucharest on their way to the final, where they were ultimately well beaten, 4-0, by Sevilla. But both Boro and Fulham fans will have nothing but fond memories of their Europa League runs. Fulhamâs famous comeback win against European giants Juve may never be repeated, and Boro themselves had some miraculous turnarounds on the road to the final. Both clubs now find themselves in the Championship, and fans of the two sides will undoubtedly cite their respective runs to European finals as the highlights of their stays in the Premier League. Stoke and Swansea, two more clubs of a similar size to the Tigers, have also shown that the Europa League is more than manageable alongside a Premier League campaign. It is a competition that is often viewed as the ugly sister of the Champions League, but the Europa League is a fantastic tournament in its own right. English clubs have shown that, if it is treated with respect and not disdain, it can reward you with success. If Steve Bruce and Hull City embrace the Europa League then who knows, the final in Warsaw on May 27 may not be as distant as it appears right now
Not sure i get the relevance though of looking at the past as a gauge to what goes on in the future with football. Edit- it is lazy journalism of the highest order
Steve Bruce has got some decisions to make but it's all about assessing the bigger picture at any given time. Early qualifying rounds you can afford to play a strong team; essentially it becomes part of pre-season warm-up. We should progress but if we don't then we have had competitive games in preparation for the Premier League campaign. Win,win. Early group games we will be trying to get a good start in the Premier League and so that has to take priority. Strong team for Sunday, not Thursday, with key players not making two eight hour flights for away games. However, for a home game against a stronger group team, he might chose to play more first team regulars. If we make the knockout stages then obviously our place in the League dictates our approach. Fighting relegation? Then Europa league is irrelevant. Mid-table security? Then go for it.
I always want to say that it's not a bad thing, but every team that earns Europe, ends up struggling the next Season. Laudrup lost his job last Season as Swansea were in Europe and had a bad Season, Newcastle had a shocking Season with Europe too, and then obviously Fulham never recovered from theirs. I would take 17th if offered now anyway. Premier League survival should be priority and we would be fighting for our lives this Season anyway so Europe might not make any difference apart from one or two more injuries or something along them lines.
The Europa League is a real pain for me. Sunday fixtures change the way I attend matches as I have to drive back after the game and the whole match day experience for me centres around having a couple of pints with my mates and the pre match banter. BUT!!!! The fixtures mean that we have to build a better squad and as I see it the investment will pay off. I also will try to get to as many away matches as I can afford and I really would like to have a few trips to distant lands. The whole experience for me is just an added buzz and just like last seasons FA cup run, I cannot see us the supporters losing out, as for having to fight relegation, who knows what the season holds, do the pundits have us down for a bottom three yet?
No it isn't it's a dream come true for us older fans We could go down without Europa League football. To many people buy into the claptrap spouted by media punters What's the point of a team if they don't compete at these levels when it comes around and believe that the Prem league is life itself and nothing else matters
Priority should be Europa league. This club will probably never see competition of the like again. It's worth risking relegation. Be easier to get back to the premier league than it would be to ever compete in Europe again,specially now runners up don't get to qualify. Finish top 5 or win a cup is the only way.
I'd really like to think we have more potential than Fulham, otherwise you might as well say we are the same as Leyton Orient or Brentford. They are small London clubs competing against all the big ones there.
The europa league, although maybe a little pointless, is a fantastic achievement from our club and a challenge we should be taking seriously. As a football club we should be looking to win every game. Yes the premier league should take priority but every player worked their arse off to get there last season, and for us to take it lightly is pretty disrespectful to them.
I’m hoping that the fact we’d played two competitive UEFA Cup games before we play QPR will give us a good advantage for the opening fixture. Although we never seem to win down there.
No, they've scrapped that now, you have to win either cup outright, get a high league position or hope to God we top the fair play league and England qualify for a place (which we never do because they almost always go to Scandinavian countries, because they apparently don't tackle up there). What's more interesting, I think, is that the winners of the Europa League this year qualify for the Champions League (either at the play off round or the group stage), which is a fantastic incentive for any club to go on and win it. We're always talking about City becoming self sustaining, well a big Champions League pay out (you get about 800k for each match you win!) would certainly help.
Isn't it the last year of the current CL/EL tv deals? If it is, history tells us those amounts will be even larger next year. There's also a big fat paycheck just for competing in the competition, never mind winning a single bloody game.
We could just piss away the fa cup and play our development squad there. Then it wouldnt be many extra games due to the Europa League.
same view as the debate on the fa cup run last year for me.. i want us to try our best to win it and what happens in the league happens... i want to be able to tell ,my grandchildren about the time City shocked the world and won a european trophy, not 25 stories of how we finsihed 15th -17th in the premier league.
I have to agree with DJ (PS I have missed the regular links to Ashbee's stunner against Torquay). I won't remain in two years time five years at 17th in the PL and remember them glorious days but i would remember getting to a semi final of a European trophy and getting to an FA Cup final. I
The Leagues our bread and butter as a great manager once said. Huh just 17th every year!!!! As though thats easy to do and doesnt involve some fantastic games
