European Qualification

[Tsunami]

CM has said that this is a long term venture & both he & SA have both said they aim to get NUFC back into europe but that this may take time. CM has said that (sensible) money is available but both he & SA have also said that we have struggled with quality signings due to the lack of european football.

 

Chicken & Egg?

 

So, how important is it for us to secure a place in europe? If we succeed the inference is that players will be easier to attract & if we fail then by the same reasoning we will again be struggling. Of course it may make no difference whatsoever.

 

IMO, I think it is very important. It will show clear progress & a club that is going in the right direction. It would give impetus to new signings & optimism to supporters. It would bring a smile to all of our faces.

 

CM is clearly working hard on the infrastructure of the business but it is on the field that the business will fail or succeed. Would another season (or two) be all that detrimental to progress & how much would it harm our ability to challenge those clubs above us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rocksammy]

cement top 10 and improve from there, be greatfull for anything better, dont be shocked with anything less but if everyone supports the team positivly im sure well see better than expected results

[Cronky]

For me, it's the Champions League that counts. I can do without the UEFA cup, which strikes me as quite a hard slog for the chance of winning a second-tier competition. The winner is forgotten within a year.

 

I'd like to know what the players think of the UEFA cup. It must be very disruptive, with all these long flights to Eastern Europe etc. I can't see that the likes of playing Skonko Riga really improves them as players.

[Martin Lol]

For me, it's the Champions League that counts. I can do without the UEFA cup, which strikes me as quite a hard slog for the chance of winning a second-tier competition. The winner is forgotten within a year.

 

I'd like to know what the players think of the UEFA cup. It must be very disruptive, with all these long flights to Eastern Europe etc. I can't see that the likes of playing Skonko Riga really improves them as players.

 

But competing in the Uefa Cup raises the profile of the club which in turn attracts the better quality players who can take the club into the CL.  European competition is very important imho.

[Mowen]

Good point Jol. Regular Waffa Cup football will raise your profile and sent out a signal that you're consistently one of the better clubs in the land - and hence not too far from CL football. In the position that Spurs are now, having come 5th two years in a row, they could convince players who should be going for CL footy that they will be the final piece in the jigsaw to take them there.

[Guest alex]

Also, by competing the Uefa Cup we'd be in a 'winable' tournament. Not saying we would win it, obviously but it would be fantastic for the club if we did and I think it's the height of arrogance to dismiss it from an NUFC point of view.

[JJ7]

I don't really care for the UEFA Cup much, but we need it to attract better players. Sam has already told how hard it is to get good players in without European football. I would hope we are still in with a chance of qualification for Europe come the last few fixtures of the season.

[Baggio]

Mort is trying to keep expectations down and the pressure off Allardyce.

 

 

[ChrisJbarnes]

cement top 10 and improve from there, be greatfull for anything better, dont be shocked with anything less but if everyone supports the team positivly im sure well see better than expected results

 

i agree entirely. its too much to expect a team previously in freefall to get a european finish the next season with a completely new squad, manager and board

[chicago_shearer]

European football of any kind is important.  I don't think it's unrealistic to expect that the players we've got can at least secure an Intertoto place (which is essentially UEFA Cup 1st Round).

[NSG]

Not essential, but very important to the future ambitions of the club.

[Cronky]

Good point Jol. Regular Waffa Cup football will raise your profile and sent out a signal that you're consistently one of the better clubs in the land - and hence not too far from CL football. In the position that Spurs are now, having come 5th two years in a row, they could convince players who should be going for CL footy that they will be the final piece in the jigsaw to take them there.

 

Well, this is the usual line of argument. From a financial point of view, it may be important to the Board, and it's a boost to the club's fans, in that it gives the mid-table teams something to aim for. But I'm sceptical about whether it really does attract the top players. If they're not going for the big four, then they seem to end up with the big clubs who pay the most and who stand most chance of getting into the Champions League the following year - Spurs, West Ham, Villa and ourselves. I can't envisage that many players are falling over themselves to play UEFA cup football with Everton and Bolton.

 

The managers themselves (and not just in this country) show what they really think by fielding under-strength teams. In fact, we even had a manager last year (Steve Coppell) who was hoping his team wouldn't qualify.

[Tsunami]

The uefa cup thing is a strange one. It used to be a bloody good competition which was ruined by the CL. It is still a very important cup yet managers play weakened teams so that they can play their best 11 for the PL; to qualify for the uefa cup. Madness.

 

Play the best side you can & try & win the damn thing. You'd have to go some to reach a CL position & if you miss out on a uefa spot any weakened team selection (in uefa cup games) suggests you aint bothered about it in the first place.

 

Teams rarely play weakened sides in the CL yet the same teams tend to qualify for CL year in year out.

 

Can you imagine saying to a potential signing "hey we are in the uefa cup & hope to be pushing for a CL spot next season"

 

Player: "great, who are we playing in the uefa cup"

 

Manager: "some shite from eastern europe; but don't worry you'll not be picked"

 

Player: "fanatistic I love european nights"

[STM]

I think we will make 7th this year, which will be a marked improvement on last year. Most importantly i want to see some good performances and a solid back four.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I think if we significantly improve our goals conceded tally from last season, we will make it into the UEFA almost by default. I think we're looking more healthy when it comes to scoring goals, so keep a few more out and we should pick up a lot more points, especially against lesser teams that we rolled over against under Souness and Roeder.

[Guest SeattleToon]

With all our new signings, I would be very disappointed if we did not qualify for Europe next year. In fact, with Arsenal losing Henry, Reyes, and Ljungberg, and Spurs doing nothing except overpaying for Darren Bent when they already have three good strikers, I see no reason why we cannot make a strong push for 4th place and the last Champion's League spot. Top to bottom, we now have just as much quality and depth as both Arsenal and Spurs, and with Big Sam in the dugout, we certainly should be able to give them a run for their money.

[Guest 22bnw]

Europe is a maybe if we are consistent, if we only make Europe because we win our last 5 games having being shocking the rest of the season, then it won't be a success.

 

I think we should aim for a top ten finish this season and then aim for Europe in the next.

 

As long as we steadily improve and become more consistent (especially in defence) I'll be happy.

[brummie]

The UEFA cup is nice, but ultimately worthless, since the format was tampered with and bastardised to suit the CL clubs.

[ChezGiven]

Mort is trying to keep expectations down and the pressure off Allardyce.

 

 

I'd like to think that was the case. Is that a hunch or based on a quote? Either way, i'm inclined to believe you.

[Guest cupiddstunt]

I am not a pessimist but c'mon lets get a grip, to date 7 new faces and probably more before the window closes, that is more than half a team and they might not gel straight off.  So if we finish in the top half of the league I will be happy and accept that, in the top 8 then brill that is an improvement of five places, can't be bad and will attract better players.  O0

 

So we deepen the squad and build for the following season, pick up some better players and another couple of places and we are knocking on the door of CL games. 

 

Again raising the profile of the club and attracting better players, we are then seen as serious contenders

 

Not wanting to piss on the bonfire like but don’t forget there are other clubs like Spuds and others out there that are working towards the same end, and I think they might be a little ahead of us at this moment in time.  :(

 

So I would be more than happy to be well into the top half of the league come the end of the season, Sam talks about a five year plan and anything like picking up a couple of places a season puts us firmly in the CL and pushing for the top slot in that time frame, but just remember the four in the CL slots are also team building so it is not going to be a walk over, but it is really starting to look damd good just now.  :celb:

 

[Decky]

Its simple, we need to get into Europe to progress as a club in regards to the players we have. I mean by rights with our squad atm we should be in Europe. We have a good manager now and prob the best set up we have had in YEARS.

[Baggio]

Mort is trying to keep expectations down and the pressure off Allardyce.

 

 

I'd like to think that was the case. Is that a hunch or based on a quote? Either way, i'm inclined to believe you.

 

Just a hunch, I think with all of the change at the club Mort is doing his best just to steady the ship, he probably wants Europe and if they spend money on a left back and a right back then I think he'll expect it, it doesn't really benefit anyone by telling the press that though.

[BlufPurdi]

It's not as vital as some people pretend. We've got a manager than can build a team, we've got to allow him to do that. If we wanted someone that could buy a team, or, indeed, produce a CL team out of nowhere, then we'd need another manager. It's high time, we as NUFC fans started acting responsibly. We're always after someone's head. We used to pretend it was years worth of stuff that got us to this point, but the daggers were out for Mort as recently as this week.

 

If we got a Euro place this year, that would be fucking amazing. It's not out of our reach, by any means, but to expect it, in the face of some serious investment from other teams is nothing other than thick. Progression is what we need, not a the UEFA so we can sign the another aging Patrick Kluivert clone.

 

I voted 'Quite Important', for the record.

[ChezGiven]

Mort is trying to keep expectations down and the pressure off Allardyce.

 

 

I'd like to think that was the case. Is that a hunch or based on a quote? Either way, i'm inclined to believe you.

 

Just a hunch, I think with all of the change at the club Mort is doing his best just to steady the ship, he probably wants Europe and if they spend money on a left back and a right back then I think he'll expect it, it doesn't really benefit anyone by telling the press that though.

 

I really cant wait for the season to start now and its been a while since i had any sense of anticipation about a coming season. Only then will we really know if the lads coming in are good enough to get us into europe.

 

However, i think Mort has played this pre-season really well, our expectations are our biggest downfall at times and he hasnt come out with any easy PR to appease the unrest and seems to have supported Sam in his efforts. I think a top class RB would complete the picture for this season too. My hope is that if Sam repeats his feats with Bolton and gets our squad to over-perform that will mean he releases funds next year that could mean breaking the top 4.

[merlin]

The CL is the one that really sells a club to top players, but the UEFA is better than nothing and as MJ said, it DOES raise a club's profile.

 

In our case, it would be a sign of the right sort of progress - if anyone doubts that, just imagine how you would feel if , by some fluke, the Mackems made the UEFA & we didn't......esp if we were both in the market for the same player....