The Europeometer™ (2023/24)

[SUPERTOON]

1 minute ago, Slim said:

I should remember by now,  what's the crack with TV matches last game of the season? Fancy watching it in town but can't see any games announced on TV?

Won’t be announced until after the penultimate round of games so they can see who had what to play for.

[Geordie Ahmed]

43 minutes ago, Gawalls said:

Genuine question - which is better in terms of making us more competitive, a good run in europa or getting knocked out early in CL? 
 

i honestly don’t know

 

 

 

CL, every time is better, the money difference is huge 

 

However, as long as you don't finish last in your CL group then worst case scenario is you end up in Europa anyway

[The Prophet]

From a finance, sponsorship and general progress of the club perspective, the Champions League is a no brainer. 

 

From a fan enjoyment perspective, we have far more chance of progressing in and even winning the Europa League. 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by The Prophet

[The College Dropout]

4 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

From a finance, sponsorship and general progress of the club, the Champions League is a no brainer. 

 

From a fan enjoyment perspective, we have far more chance of progressing in and even winning the Europa League. 

Could easily do both.

[sushimonster85]

51 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Won’t be announced until after the penultimate round of games so they can see who had what to play for.

 

Aye. Can see us being one for sure. Think there's a good chance the relegation battle is done before the last day. Ironic given how mental it seemed a couple months ago when it was basically the entire bottom half caught up in it. 

[Paully]

1 hour ago, sushimonster85 said:

 

Aye. Can see us being one for sure. Think there's a good chance the relegation battle is done before the last day. Ironic given how mental it seemed a couple months ago when it was basically the entire bottom half caught up in it. 

 

I hope we're not as that'll mean that we've won our next two!

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Paully

[Chicken Dancer]

It would be fucking mint if Liverpool won 9 games off the bounce and didn't qualify  

 

[andyc35i]

Every single pundit I’ve watched over the last few weeks (Sky, BT, ESPN, BBC) keeps saying Liverpool have no chance of closing the gap and yet they’re very much in the running. I’m still confident in us getting the points needed, but it’s never been or going to be as cut and dry as they’ve made it out to be 

[TRon]

13 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

It would be fucking mint if Liverpool won 9 games off the bounce and didn't qualify  

 

 

Especially considering they wouldn't have won a third of them without VAR intervening on their behalf for the collective good of the nation.

[TBG]

Man Utd winning at the weekend to go level with us was "Man United move closer to securing top 4", us drawing and staying in 3rd was "bottling it" apparently. 

[The College Dropout]

It’s because we have a fairly big margin for error. 
 

We have 2 home games against teams below us. We’ve only lost to 1 team below us at home. 1 of them is very tough mind. 
 

the last game is against a side that has been awful since their manager joined. 
 

If we play like we’ve played for the majority of the season. We finish in the top 4. We need serious under performance to not make it from here. 

[Keegans Export]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

From a finance, sponsorship and general progress of the club perspective, the Champions League is a no brainer. 

 

From a fan enjoyment perspective, we have far more chance of progressing in and even winning the Europa League. 

 

Obviously you're right that winning the Europa would top being in the Champions League but there's something about being in a group with the likes of Barca, Real, Inter etc that gets my juices flowing.

 

Ideal (realistic) scenario - get into the CL, get a group with two giants and one pushover, finish third, drop into the Europa & win that. 

[The Prophet]

9 hours ago, Ketsbaia said:

Fuck this bed-wetting narrative, like. It was realism in a place of delirium. An experienced team is relentlessly chasing down an inexperienced one whose defence has collapsed.

 

Either we finally, finally get help from someone (Villa), find a way to defeat a very good Brighton team or beat Chelsea who - for all their recent shite - are still capable of being final day dickheads. We shouldn't be assuming wins against anyone, as Leeds taught us.

 

Post City

 

Worried about the January transfer activity 

Worried about the attack

Worried about finishing top eight

Worried about Brighton, Villa, Brentford, Fulham and Chelsea

Worried about being called hysterical

 

Post Villa

 

Worried about Man United guaranteeing third

Worried about the defence

Worried about finishing top six

Worried about Spurs, Villa and Liverpool 

Worried about getting no more than a point v Spurs

 

Spurs was must win

Everton was must win

Southampton was a banana skin

Arsenal was must not lose

Leeds was must win

 

If you worry about enough things over a three month period and one of them comes to fruition, is it realism or is it just a self-fulfilling prophecy?

 

All kinds of folk follow football and naturally some are "glass half empty" types, that's fine. As are pre-match nerves when you're chasing a prize that feels so near, yet so far. I draw the line at calling people think for a state of mind, but at the same time engaging in a bit of immature name calling ("bed wetter") is no more or no less tedious than the constant and occasional hysterical worrying that some dabble in, regardless of our position. If you spend enough time mulling over the worst case scenario and all the ways we miss out on finishing top four, the enjoyment of what has been an absolutely exceptional season (regardless of outcome) will pass you by. 

 

Regardless of Liverpool's form, we have a massive opportunity in front of us and we deserve massive credit for putting ourselves in this position. Obviously not finishing the job will sting, given the points gap we built up over Liverpool, but I'm failing to see the need to worry when the consolation prize is fifth and Europa League football. It's hard not to enjoy the progress we've made in such a short space of time and there's plenty of highs and lows to come. 

[TRon]

13 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

It’s because we have a fairly big margin for error. 
 

We have 2 home games against teams below us. We’ve only lost to 1 team below us at home. 1 of them is very tough mind. 
 

the last game is against a side that has been awful since their manager joined. 
 

If we play like we’ve played for the majority of the season. We finish in the top 4. We need serious under performance to not make it from here. 

 

I think that's a very surface level way of looking at things. Firstly, Chelsea might have been underperforming, but they still have a squad which is brimful of high quality players. They are still capable of beating anyone bar City.

 

Secondly if we stumble now, it's not necessarily under-performance, our last 5 fixtures were always liable to provide some challenge, Leeds and Leicester were the only ones you could look at and say we should definitely win those.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Whatever belief you want is up to you, it doesn’t affect anything in any real way.
 

I just think the most important thing is for us to learn to enjoy our club competing for meaningful things and not getting overly down if we narrowly miss out. We’re still progressing at a ridiculous rate.  
 

We’re into the realms of never enjoying anything if we can’t enjoy periods like this. No expectations and massive potential, it’s the perfect scenario. 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by AyeDubbleYoo

[TRon]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Whatever belief you want it up to you, it doesn’t affect anything in any real way.
 

I just think the most important thing is for us to learn to enjoy our club competing for meaningful things and not getting overly down if we narrowly miss out. We’re still progressing at a ridiculous rate.  
 

We’re into the realms of never enjoying anything if we can’t enjoy periods like this. No expectations and massive potential, it’s the perfect scenario. 

 

In theory I do agree with this. In reality though I am absolutely bricking it for Thursday, to the extent it feels like I'll almost not be able to enjoy it at this point. But usually by the time the game comes round I'm hyped up enough to lose the nerves and get into full battle stations mode.

[mofo]

Two wins and we qualify? is that correct?

[El Prontonise]

Just now, mofo said:

Two wins and we qualify? is that correct?

 

Yes.

[KDT]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Whatever belief you want it up to you, it doesn’t affect anything in any real way.
 

I just think the most important thing is for us to learn to enjoy our club competing for meaningful things and not getting overly down if we narrowly miss out. We’re still progressing at a ridiculous rate.  
 

We’re into the realms of never enjoying anything if we can’t enjoy periods like this. No expectations and massive potential, it’s the perfect scenario. 

This is supposed to be the fun period where the side is building and we can see sustained progress over a period of probably about 2 seasons before we're serious contenders for the Champions League spots. Both unfortunately and fortunately we've progressed at a mental rate to where that period has been skipped and we're now at the every week is a cross between the highest highs and lowest lows.

 

Tactics that could have been worked on for a full season (Isak & Wilson) before Isak takes on the mantle himself as the out and out forward are now kicked out after 2 games because it's not immediately brilliant. If we do get Champions League I think the feeling around the club will continue as it is, any drop off in form will be seen as a real problem. I worry how people would react if we didn't again qualify for the Champions League in 24/25 if we're successful this time. It's something Howe, Ashworth and co will have to look at because by being so successful so quickly they've probably created some unrealistic expectations. 

[Thomson Mouse]

7 hours ago, Kanji said:

One match at a time. We play Thursday. Back and focus on your fucking club. 

 

 

 

 

 

This, so much this

[Keegans Export]

I'd say up until the World Cup I was in full "Just enjoy this" mode. The Chelsea game just before the break being the pinnacle. Then the focus was on the League Cup which was great up until the point we didn't win it, then my attention was back on the league, enjoying our response to losing the final up until Spurs/Everton when I thought "Shit, we might actually finish in the top four" and then my brain switched from enjoying it to stressing about the various permutations that would see us not finish in the top four, despite the fact that I would have snapped your hand off for 7th before the season started 

 

[High Five o]

14 minutes ago, Keegans Export said:

I'd say up until the World Cup I was in full "Just enjoy this" mode. The Chelsea game just before the break being the pinnacle. Then the focus was on the League Cup which was great up until the point we didn't win it, then my attention was back on the league, enjoying our response to losing the final up until Spurs/Everton when I thought "Shit, we might actually finish in the top four" and then my brain switched from enjoying it to stressing about the various permutations that would see us not finish in the top four, despite the fact that I would have snapped your hand off for 7th before the season started 

 

Human natur that, expectations runs wild.

 

i think everyone will be disappointed with losing out on top 4 now. But rather than worrying at this stage, we should embrace each match. If we want top 4, we have to deserve it. We have two home games, let's show the players appreciation and send them off to the break with a big fucking thank you for an insane season.

 

Let's show Brighton we ARE a CL team later this week.

[worthy]

3 minutes ago, High Five o said:

Human natur that, expectations runs wild.

 

i think everyone will be disappointed with losing out on top 4 now. But rather than worrying at this stage, we should embrace each match. If we want top 4, we have to deserve it. We have two home games, let's show the players appreciation and send them off to the break with a big fucking thank you for an insane season.

 

Let's show Brighton we ARE a CL team later this week.

Aye its all on the players to perform now that it really counts. If they want CL they will have to play at the top of their game which has happened. I hope we do grab CL cause it will open up so many doors already, but if not then it’s down to the players. We had the point gap to settle this.

[The Prophet]

A lot has been made of Longstaff's absence, so just had a look at out fixtures where he hasn't started:

 

Newcastle 2-0 Forest

Brighton 0-0 Newcastle

Newcastle 3-3 Man City 

Newcastle 1-1 Bournemouth

Newcastle 3-1 Southampton

Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal 

Leeds 2-2 Newcastle

 

Not too bad, but his more recent absence is has almost certainly been compounded by Bruno's injury.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by The Prophet

[The Prophet]

Superb this from NUFC.com:

 

"We've reached a critical moment in a season that is already an incredible success.  Some perspective as to the possible outcomes is required; from a relegation fight to a Europa League place in 12 months is pretty remarkable, even if joining the really big lads eludes us this time.

It promises to be a nervous watch, but unlike many recent seasons, it's not a fearful one."