Fourth place

[RichC]

Listen I dont like playing on a Thursday and then on a Sunday but its needs must and if you cant see that then you are dumber than I thought*

* looks like Arn might have a challenger for his title

Impossible!

From a personal point of view the games on Thursday and a Sunday are a pain in the arse, agree with Craig on that point but with the FFPR coming in as much revenue coming in will be useful - have to make sure we properly prioritise the PL though and for me play the kids or players not getting much game time in the EL next season.

[topscorer]

I wasnt saying otherwise. I never said not being in europe is a bigger draw, did i?

The 'amount' of draw it has though, compared to not being in europe, isnt worth the hassle it also brings, IMO.

It's not a 'hassle', it's an opportunity and it makes the club money.

It's an opportunity to blood some young players, it could be that small difference that brings a player to us instead of somewhere else, it could be the difference between a young prospect choosing us instead of Arsenal or the Mancs where they'll only get to play reserve team football and it can give us something exciting to look forward to next April/May if we can get to the semis and finals.

A cup is a cup and I want to be winning one of them. Look at Arsenal, they haven't dropped out of the top 4 last season or this season but what have they ever won the last few years?

Would their players skip CL for one season to have an Europa Cup winners medal in their trophy cabinet? I'd say that's better than getting knocked out in the last 16 of the CL.

[Lecter]

Indeed they are the facts. The €10m figure is down to getting to the final too, isnt it? Not something you can exactly rely on, but a possibility.

Personally i dont think the €10m would make a significant difference to us, and i wouldnt be too fussed at missing out on it, if it means we avoid the other annoyances of being in the Europa League. But that's just me apparently Each to their own. Also apparently.

The €10 million is prize money and tv money for getting to the final last year, its probably a tad more this year

Again you have to add on gate receipts which I'd imagine could be quite significant

I'd say we could easily generate €8-10 million all in without getting near the final

That figure is 5% of our total revenue in 2009

Its not a minute difference by any means

[Lecter]

Impossible!

From a personal point of view the games on Thursday and a Sunday are a pain in the arse, agree with Craig on that point but with the FFPR coming in as much revenue coming in will be useful - have to make sure we properly prioritise the PL though and for me play the kids or players not getting much game time in the EL next season.

[RichC]

The €10 million is prize money and tv money for getting to the final last year, its probably a tad more this year

Again you have to add on gate receipts which I'd imagine could be quite significant

I'd say we could easily generate €8-10 million all in without getting near the final

That figure is 5% of our total revenue in 2009

Its not a minute difference by any means

5% of 2009 revenue! That certainly isn't to be passed up then.

This summer we've got to make sure we've done all we can to ensure we're in the CL again for the following season.

[James P]

When weighing up all the positives and negatives, I would rather not be in the europa league. Me. That's what I would prefer, it's MY opinion and my preference. Is that ok? Hopefully, in our democratic society, i am allowed to have that preference.

Absolutely. I for one would be prepared to fight and die for your right to be wrong.

[Craig_H]

What a cracker. A Christmas cracker, in fact.

[James P]

What a cracker. A Christmas cracker, in fact.

If we're talking about one of those classy ones that comes with a pair of nail clippers and a gold gloss effect hat, then I'll take that as a compliment.

[Craig_H]

I was talking about the standard of joke

[The Erectile Banana]

[Red_Polo]

Love to see a pie chart showing number of posts by poster in the last few pages

I'd rather we were in it than out of Europe altogether, I think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks before we even enter into the equation it's actually a trophy and one we should be chuffed about winning if we end up doing so.

[Baracus]

4th place won't happen this year. Would be interesting if Spurs made 4th and Chavs did not. What would sky call the big 4 then? The big 6?

[Rich]

Is Reina more likely to stay if we win the thing? Yes.

Are players more likely to want to join? Yes.

Kenny winning his first managerial euro cup. Brilliant.

There's great reasons to be in the competition even discounting the financial aspect.

[Darkon]

Is Reina more likely to stay if we win the thing? Yes.

Are players more likely to want to join? Yes.

Kenny winning his first managerial euro cup. Brilliant.

There's great reasons to be in the competition even discounting the financial aspect.

In our current situation we need this competition, it's our only chance of winning anything this season and judging by the current league standings it will be one of our best chances of winning something next season as well.

Succes breeds succes, and in the minds of people a EL win and a place in the competition next year will help our reputation, confidence, finances, youngsters, attractiveness etc. and it's a must for us right now.

UEFA last year paid 10m to Fulham in prize money for the second place finish and add to that gate receipt of approx 1.3m per home game, tv-revenue, sponsorship etc. and it will easily give 25-30m which will help us a lot.

We need to be in this tournament and it will be beneficial in many ways. And the tournament is still regarded well many places outside the UK.

Champions Leage > European League > no European footy at all.

[PTP]

People are expecting way too much

I never seriously thought 4th place was a go I think 5th/6th at best

Long term the club has to do better against these sort of teams but this year has been so ****ed up regarding lesser teams getting results against top teams. A decent side putting these teams to the sword week in week out would romp this league (I dont even put United in that category)

- i never thought 4th place was realistic either - in fact, start of the season I felt we were the 6th best team/squad and to finish 4th I was hoping that the lack of champions league football for us kept our important players fresh, and the added distraction of champions league would have been too much for spurs - i was then hoping that one of the other 4 imploded and we'd sneak 4th

I obviously didn't factor in the Hodgson effect.

But....considering what we have been through this season, I now think we will finish 6th without too much drama which will be a great turn around. The most important thing is that in doing so, the performances improve so that it shows what players we have and what players we want that we are improving

Plus people forget about europa league - whilst it might not mean much, it's still a trophy that we have a chance of winning - 6th place and a real go at that trophy would be a fantastic 2nd half of the season