Top 4 or FA Cup?

Probably because Nicola neglected it and focused on the footballing side of things? Which he done pretty damn well to be fair.

 

Out of interest, how much would a team make for being part of the CL 1st round ? That would be 6 televised games.
Doubt if we could get into the last 16, although there are some dodgy teams that get in and if our group was weak then anything is pos.

 

Interesting, I forgot that the money goes up next year due to the BT deal, anyone know what it increases to for participation in the group stages? I believe it's around £30m at the moment.

 

He did well on focusing and making players feel happy. But that is not even half the stuff you have to do at a football club and also didn't have the same respect for other staff members which was also a bad thing.

 

Yeah I agree, he did get quite a lot wrong in his reign, including the commercial aspects. I'll forgive him though cos we wouldn't be where we are without him

 

I thank him for being a dick head. It's what we needed at the time. A person to not give a **** and sort out the troubles we were in. Yeah he could have done better and when he left us he did like stirring some ****. But hopefully he has moved on now like Saints have.

 

£40m to £50m for the group stages and that's not including matchday income and the potential increase in sponsorship revenue.

 

Agree entirely

 

Top 4 cos there's no way we'll get top 4 next season if we win the FA Cup this season and get put in the Europa League next season.

 

Top 4 without question. Winning the FA Cup would be great, but reaching CL would have the potential to transform our long-term prospects...and it'd also be an achievement with few if any parallels recent years. Plus, at this point it's far more likely; we're at less than 2/1 to reach the top four, versus over 20/1 to win the FA Cup.

 

I absolutely love the FA Cup, I think it's one of the greatest competitions in all of sport. Northampton Town knocking out Coventry, Hereford knocking out Newcastle, Stevenage doing the same. Then there's the finals, 1976 of course, not to mention Bob Stokoe's Sunderland, The Crazy Gang, Moneybags City 0 - 1 Wigan.

But...the thought of seeing Saints at the Bernebau, Juventus, Milan...

Living in North London, I know a good few Spurs fans. I watched some of them happily racking up the old credit cards following their team when they reached the quarters of the CL a few years back. That looked like a hell of a buzz, a once in a lifetime experience.

But then I wasn't at Wembley in 1976 either, despite being 15. Most of my life I've been feeling like I missed out there, and when we eventually did reach another FA Cup final it wasn't at Wembley.

I'd take either. I'll let fate, and Ron, decide which is the greater prize.

 

H

That's a maybe not a yes. He could still go. I wonder how the players would feel finishing 5th and cup winners. They may feel like winners.

 

The only things will add to those who seem absolutely convinced that players would definitely stay if we finish top 4, is what happens when someone offers us £25-30m and the player 100k a week. Getting in the champions league will not allow us to compete with salaries.

I still hope it happens, but just don't be kidded into thinking it will stop players leaving.

 

But once the FA Cup is over, it's over. They'll have a nice memory, but I don't think that it'd affect their future intentions.

 

Or he was spending money like there was no tomorrow ....................

 

Can we not have the 'was Cortese a force of good or was he spending us into oblivion' debate again? I mean, the financial accounts are still precisely as publicly available as ever...

 

That's a whole chunk of change, could act as a springboard

 

Their future intentions will most likely depend on their future incomes. That's why players leave, for the money, which dwarfs every other motive. I'm sure Dejan Lovren reminds himself of that every time he reads a bank statement.

 

Undoubtedly, though a massive injection of money would also allow us to raise the wages of some of our star performers (we're still damned near the bottom of the wage table as is) without any financial peril...perhaps not enough to keep everyone, but enough to remove the option clubs currently have of offering to double their wages without a second thought.

 

If it is a choice then Top 4. Teams around us have far bigger squads and are able to cope with the demands and stress. Even Chelsea will be stretched as they go for the Capitol One, FA Cup, PL title and Champions League. Tottenham and Liverpool will have to cope with three cup competitions so that will distract them from the League. Lets get top 3/4 as it might not happen again.