7th

[Khalekan]

I think we will get at least a point at Burnley, they dont generally blow anybody away and we should be able to contain them.

Stoke are RANK, another point there at least IMO and we "mostly" seem to do ok against City, think we could get a few points from those games, anything from 6 or more.

Yip.

I fancy us to take something off’ve City.....we normally do well against them at home.

And I am expecting an upturn in the away form from here on in so maybe four points at Watford and Burnley.

The only game I worry about as a certain no pointer is the obvious one......but no doubt I will change my mind in the weeks leading up to it

From the position we are in right now I think we have a great chance to finish 7th again.

 

[Khalekan]

Would 7th place get usual europa spot?

Yes....provided the two cups are won by teams finishing in the top six. One of which is already guaranteed.

That was how we got Europe this season.

But if a team lower than 7th wins the F.A. Cup then no, there is no 7th Place Trophy

 

[Saint Domingo]

Why are people on here trying to convince people we could still go down? Anyone with a brain can see that of course there’s a mathematical possibility but the probability is ridiculously low based on us getting less than probably three points out of 12 games. The constant negativity on here is ridiculous but ‘fans’ going out their way to try and prove why relegation could happen is utterly bizarre.

 

[PeregrineT]

Good question, Perry.

In the old days of the UEFA Cup, a team had to be top flight in their own country in order to play in it.

I think it is different now.

Were Wigan not in the Championship when they played in the EL a few years ago, following their F.A. Cup win and relegation “double”?

In fact, they must have been.

Good point on Wigan, though muddles it that they were in the premier league when they won the Europa spot. But yeah, my impression is that it doesnt matter the league, though I remember that being different in the past.

 

[blue to the bone]

Erm?

I'd rather not bet on us failing to pick up 6 points from 11 games, none of which are away to the top 6. You'd be better off burning your money.

I was been sarcastic

 

[Khalekan]

Good point on Wigan, though muddles it that they were in the premier league when they won the Europa spot. But yeah, my impression is that it doesnt matter the league, though I remember that being different in the past.

Another rule they had right up until the mid 70s was that two teams from the same City coukd not compete in the UEFA Cup......probably a hangover from the original aim of that trophy when it was called the Inter Cities Fairs Cup.

We lost out on at least one occasion when we finished high enough to qualify but the RS were a place above us.

 

[barneygumble]

Has anyone covered what happens if we do end up with Europa League?

Because of the new CL policy, every round you get knocked out in qualifiers drop down, we'd actually start a round earlier in the 2nd Qualifying round. So that'd be 6 games alone just to get into the group. Is it worth it?

Should we have a player in our team make the world cup final (Possible Funes Mori at best surely), it'd be an 11 day turn around fun.

 

[Brisan123]

What would need to happen so 7th place gets allocated a european spot?

One of the top 4 wins a cup?

2 teams in the top six must win Carabao and FA cups

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Hopefully we finish 8th and completely reshape the squad in the summer and perform a lot better next season than we did this time round. Then, aim for top four but accept top seven again. Slow progression is the name of the game. Finishing in Europa, revamping the squad, starting pre-season early, being knackered by time domestic season starts would be a nightmare.

 

[PeregrineT]

I think people are way underestimating the importance of Europa, and overestimating its impact. The reason we failed out this year was not because its that hard, it was because of horrible player acquisition and tactics. An england B team from a top club should have no problem moving through group stages.

The fact is if we dont have Europe there will be many better players who WILL NOT come here. We will have to settle for dross. It massively hurts recruitment. And when it comes to the qualification games, we saw how we cruised through that even with a terrible squad. We can play the youngsters who wont be the main starters next season. A team of backups would look like that of Stek/Robles, Kenny, Holgate/Keane, Funes Mori, Baines, Beni, Rooney, Lookman/Onyekuru Klaassen, Bolasie, Sandro/Niasse

Sure, we may sell a couple of those, but that lets a couple of other better players, or players up from U-23 get some valuable experience. Lets face it, with a better manager, we should only need to play some better players for 2-3 matches to make it past the group stage, hardly a drain on the season. A successful move through the group to the knockout round would be all we would need to set up a good foundation for the next season.

 

[Zezti]

I think people are way underestimating the importance of Europa, and overestimating its impact. The reason we failed out this year was not because its that hard, it was because of horrible player acquisition and tactics. An england B team from a top club should have no problem moving through group stages.

True. The team was so different to last season, had no idea what to do, couldn't work together and looked a horrible mess.
If we got Europa again next season, we need to keep with mostly the same squad we finished with and bed new signings in slowly. Otherwise it will be another mess and will be torn apart by minnows across Europe again.

 

[Khalekan]

I think people are way underestimating the importance of Europa, and overestimating its impact. The reason we failed out this year was not because its that hard, it was because of horrible player acquisition and tactics. An england B team from a top club should have no problem moving through group stages.

The fact is if we dont have Europe there will be many better players who WILL NOT come here. We will have to settle for dross. It massively hurts recruitment. And when it comes to the qualification games, we saw how we cruised through that even with a terrible squad. We can play the youngsters who wont be the main starters next season. A team of backups would look like that of Stek/Robles, Kenny, Holgate/Keane, Funes Mori, Baines, Beni, Rooney, Lookman/Onyekuru Klaassen, Bolasie, Sandro/Niasse

Sure, we may sell a couple of those, but that lets a couple of other better players, or players up from U-23 get some valuable experience. Lets face it, with a better manager, we should only need to play some better players for 2-3 matches to make it past the group stage, hardly a drain on the season. A successful move through the group to the knockout round would be all we would need to set up a good foundation for the next season.

Top post, Perry

 

[Khalekan]

2 teams in the top six must win Carabao and FA cups

And the Caraboo is a done deal.

Just need the remaining big guns to be kept apart until the semi final stage then the Europa hunt is proper on