Intertoto cup application.

[Robert Jarvis]

I am going to send an email to Fidel about your porn Chico.

About Naysmith did I read you right you want to persuade him to stay?

 

[chicoazul]

Nah mate. It was meant in sarcasm. I just can't get the hang of these smiley things...

 

[monty]

Stop sticking your tongue out at me Monty it is rude.

OK

 

[Latch]

We should take any opportunity to get into europe, it raises the profile of the club.

 

[monty]

I do not disagree about getting to Europe but I'd like to go fully equipped. The Intertoto is in hard the one competition that puts the greatest strain on the lads next term. I also agree that it can raise the clubs profile not that it did much last time we travelled.......................

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

Ok so lets stop a moment how would we be fully equiped. How many more players in reality would we need to have a ghost of a chance of so much football that wouldn't interfere with our main obligation of staying in the Prem.
With that begin said could BK and Moyes see the lucrative benefit of playing more by coughing up more funds for extra players. Or is it not seeing the forest for the trees bit and trying to do to much on a shoestring.Scarey though isn't it. I am torn myself I would love to venture abroad but not at the risk of a relegation battle on the home front.

I see Monty you packed your bags and got the cool shades on. So your half way convinced at least.

 

[blarg]

How many players did we need to win the league back in 86/87? Think it was 18. Didn't we play more games that season than we do now? Why would playing in UEFA Cup put an extra burden on the players, who now earn a far greater sum of money, are far fitter and stronger.

 

[Neiler]

Im all for it on two fronts really i think europe is vital to the development of the club both on and of the pitch and basicly were we want to be as a club. Beleiving also that it could be used as an incentive at present to help us in the leauge:

Thinking back to our qualification for the champions leauge one of the reasons we didnt qualify for an autamatic inclusion to the leauge (money spinning) stage was the lack of our european pedigree in recent seasons. The reason we had to play Villareal was because we had not acumalted any points in terms of the uefa ranking (seeding system) which saw us miss out autmaticly on what was basicly 20 million down the drain and drawing Villareal who if you remeber was the toughest possible draw we could have got. Had Newcastle or Liverpool finished fourth that season they would have qualified automaticly for the leauge faze due to their involvement in both Uefa and Champoins Leauge since the development of the Uefa Cup and Champions leauge in the mid ninties. As a club with a delicate finacial balance we can ill afford to pass up the oppurtunity of passing up an opurtunity to improve our European seeding and ranking if we are looking at developing both in finacial sense and being a club with ambition of qualifying and being resopectable in Europeam compition on a regular basis in the next few years. It just makes from a footbaling and finacuial sense.

Secondly and in terms of this season our application may act as an incentive to the players for the remaining leauge fixtures, as if qualifcation for the Uefa Cup is not automatic it means the on average the non international players will get a maiximum 5 week holiday, while the internationals anything from 3-4 weeks. With this in mind perhaps this may act as motivation for the players to pull out all the stops to qualify automaticly rather than have a short summer. Moyes basicly saying this is our ambition, this is the goal and its up to you to decide what way you want to acheive it.