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Last chance gone for Europe?
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It was always a longshot anyway us being able to make the Europa League via our league placing as it was always going to require a massive effort and huge luck to finish sixth. However, the FA Cup results and the semi final draw today means that the only league berth available is for finishing fifth and that looks way beyond us.
Andy Riley, Posted 13/03/2011 at 19:23:48
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Mind you, the transfer window's going to be about as much fun as Bolton away too.
What a shit season.
Talk about wishful thinking!
Jesus, I'm looking for 42-44 points and hoping that there'll be three teams EVEN worse than us.
Sure that defines me as a glass half empty type and I probably am, but fuck me, looking for Europe?
To me that doesn't define you as glass half FULL type, it defines you as a running about in your bills holding a glass of your own piss, while white-coated fellers with large nets chase you...type
A glass half wibble-wibble-wibble type..if you will
Seriously, have you been watching Everton this season?
Every game is a lottery (with about the same odds of winning).
I don't give a shite what is or isn't mathematically 'possible', what ON THE EVIDENCE is PROBABLE is somewhere between 8th and 15th which, once again, makes us sort of PL extras (we WERE there but...nobody really noticed us).
Oh and we get to do this aaaaall again next year.
As Paulie Wanuts said "And on it goes this thing of ours"
After last season, there was so much hope but we have been found wanting at all levels and big changes are needed. If we cannot afford the big stars then a lot of research and scouting has to be done before next season to bring in some quality loan players to merge with the few class players that we have.
We should sell off the dead weight and I mean the players we have had around for some time who most discerning Evertonians are well aware of. We need midfielders who are quick and strong and who can pass a ball.
This season we have lost so many battles in midfield and that reflects on the support for the back four and the offensive players who struggle for scoring opportunities because of poor approach play. If Moyes is kept on then he has to look at a whole new strategy as it is blatantly obvious his policies over the last 9 years have not been good enough.
When will people put things into perspective? We simply are not good enough. 8th to 10th is where we're likely to finish. I don't mind people being optimistic but seriously, there has got to be some realism at the same time.
We don't have a squad good enough to cope with domestic competitions let alone any more! Lunacy!
Have to stew for another week.
As for Europe? We'll have an even smaller squad next season so it's a blessing were not in Europe. If someone offered me 40 points for next season now I'd snap their hand off.
I guess it's that same blind naivety that makes Europe seem still in reach, for some (including myself, last week). After Brum and the FA Cup results/draw it does now look out of reach. But the aim still has to be to finish as high as possible ? and at the moment we're moving upwards in the table ? not downwards. COYB
I reckon that's what the RS will be praying for. Wouldn't it be great to see them not being in Europe and see how that affects their finances and players after the Ladyboy leaving and the clown likely to follow him.
To be honest, if we actually do pull our fingers out enough to finish 6th, that'd at least show some improvement over where we're at now so we might have something to smile about, Europe or not....
On Liverpool qualifying, when Birmingham won the League Cup the papers were saying they were going to be disqualified from playing in Europe because of their finances! Similar sort of thing with Portsmouth last year, remember, Liverpool didn't qualify for the Europa League, they are only in it because Portsmouth got kicked out!
I think this season has demonstrated how utterly shite Premier League football is. Man Utd have a very average squad yet look like they'll canter to their record league title. We've been crap for the most part but will still finish top half. That means there is a hell of a lot of shit below us in the league (most of whom we've failed to beat).
So get safe in the league and then play like pussies to make sure we don't get another booking until the seasons end and ...Ta Daaaah
Jesus, I can't believe I am reduced to looking at that as a qualification source.
Awful season
Redistribution rules: A Europa League place is vacated when a team qualifies for both the Champions League and the Europa League, or qualifies for the Europa League by more than one method. When a place is vacated, it is redistributed within the national association by the following rules
When the domestic cup winners (considered as the "highest-placed" qualifiers within the national association) also qualify for the Champions League, their Europa League place is vacated, and the remaining Europa League qualifiers are moved up one place, with the final place (with the earliest starting round) taken by the domestic cup runners-up, provided they do not already qualify for the Champions League or the Europa League. Otherwise, this place is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.When the domestic cup winners also qualify for the Europa League through league position, their place through the league position is vacated, and the Europa League qualifiers that finish lower in the league are moved up one place, with the final place taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.
A place vacated by the League Cup winners is taken by the highest-placed league finishers that have not yet qualified for the Europa League.
A Fair Play place is taken by the highest-ranked team in the domestic Fair Play table that has not yet qualified for the Champions League or the Europa League.
Not sure how fair play works but we had no entrants this year, aren't they taken from countries at random or something?
I would say that our only real chance is for either Bolton or Man City to win the cup (preferably Bolton) AND finish 5th, then the spot should drop to 6th. Imagine pipping the Shite to this spot (on the big assumption that they dont win the bloody thing ? then I'm sure they'd take the last spot).
At only 5 points behind them, I can't allow myself to throw in the towel, no matter how depressing this season has been. Surely we all crave European nights at Goodison. My only European experience was away at Benfica and I wanna be back in the competition. Maybe I'm just a gluton for punishment. I just think it's better to be in Europe if we possibly can.
Don't tell me it would generate needed funds ? it wouldn't, it's not the Champions League... Or would help us attract players; it wouldn't. We can't afford anyone!
Let's face it, top flight football is all about cash. You either have a mega rich benefactor who will underwrite your debt, or you have a ground that generates £Ms on a match day (eg, The Emirates). We have neither. This is our lot until we get one of the above... In the meantime, we have to hope we hold on to the few good players that we have and stay in the Premier League until the club's financial predicament improves.
Depressing, isn't it...! I love European nights at Goodison and the opportunity to win a trophy gets the blood pumping, but I do not believe it would do the club any good in the long run. We just don't have a big enough squad. Remember Ipswich Town's great run in Europe a few years ago? Ended up relegated. I fear that, due to the club's financial plight, if we went down (God forbid), we could end up like Sheffield Wed or Leeds Utd...
The undertone of what you are saying though is that we should not want Everton to finish higher than 7th or win a domestic trophy until we get a new ground or a sugar daddy.
I find that altogether more depressing than having a small squad in Europe and I think to compare us to Ipswich is slightly unrealistic.
Surely to finish as high as possible and try as hard as we can in the cups is the only reason we are all here. Surely this is also the best way to attract a benefactor and keep existing and potential players motivated to play for us.
I cannot accept that anything other than the very best league position possible is what we should strive for and, at joint 6th in the Premier League form table, there is no reason not to go for it.
I am not sugar-coating this nightmare season, I just want us to win every game and play in every competition for as long as we can. If we don't, then what is the point?
You are right. To finish as high as we can and win cups is the reason we are all here, and exactly what I want for our club. That is why it is depressing that you need money to not only achieve this, but sustain it. The days of a club like Everton, Villa, Nottingham Forest etc producing a squad of players and a Manager that all mature at the same time and have a chance of winning trophies domestically and in Europe are gone. As soon as a club like us starts generating a decent squad, or has exciting young talent coming through, then the likes of United, Chelsea & Man City start circling... Therefore, we need to ensure we remain in the top flight until our financial position improves.
The link with Ipswich was not meant to compare them to us as a club, but to show what could happen when a small squad is distracted by European football and does not concentrate on securing its future in the Premier League.
That doesn't mean I would not be delighted if, by some miracle, we did qualify for Europe and it does not mean I don't want us to win trophies. All I am saying is, based on the way we have played this season and the small squad we will have going into next season, would it be for the best?
We will make more money from ticket revenues, the brand being promoted and by finishing higher in the Premiership. A European campaign can be beneficial or detrimental to league form admittedly but there's always the hope it might be the former. Remember that tidy run we went on after Larissa?
Lastly, it puts us in the shop window for potential investors.
Therefore I'd rather spend the summer months knowing we are there than not.
England gets three places in the Europa League, Birmingham already have one of them for winning the Carling Cup.
What happens with the following nightmare scenario. Bolton finish 5th and get to the Cup Final, so they have place No 2 We finish 6th in the league above the shite and get place No 3 but the shite somehow win the Europa League. Do both us and the shite then qualify, or do we lose out to them again as they would qualify as winners?
Presumably the same ones who figured a top four slot was little more than a shoe in way back in August.
Now we cling to the Fair Play League or the poor man's Inter Toto Cup!!
Is it any wonder the kopites laugh at us???
DM assembled the team he could and it looked a good one. Except when they realized he expected them to challenge for Honors. They it was, and remains, tails between the legs. Never seen a dog sprint with its tail that way and catch anything.
Players win games. SAF, Moyes, and any other are NOT tactical geniuses. None are. Moyes did what he could and here we are. Shit, Arteta tucked his tail as soon as he got the contract. Look now that we're out, suddenly he's playing better.
Sheeeeeeeeit. Landon might miss sitters, but he's an arrogant little prick. That's what he brought to the Club and everyone noticed, even if they couldn't put a word to it. That's the type of fellow we're missing. Unfortunately, that arrogant bastard is usually a predator. 29 games in sitting at 0 goal differential. Billionnaire-less my ass. £30 million-missing is our problem. This team is missing the on-field leader.
Which means in your example case there would be 4 teams from England eligible.
Don't get me wrong ? if I was given £100 to bet on whether Everton would finish in a Europa spot or not, I would bet firmly against. (I personally think the only chance would be Man City slipping to 5th and winning the cup.)
Do I think we have had some shockingly bad perfomances (usually against poor opposition) devoid of effort, craft, motivation and guile? ? Yes;
Have we lost only twice so far to top 6 opposition, yielding 12 points from a possible 27? ? Yes;
Do I think maybe Moyes has taken us as far as he can? ? Maybe;
Do I think Kenwright is a prick who needs to leave in order for this club to have any serious chance of sustained success? ? Yes;
Do I think we need a shake-up of the playing staff? ? Yes;
Do I think we are shit? ? No, I think we are on balance the 9th best performing team in the PL who are 5 points behind 6th;
Do I think we can finish 5th? ? No, never have;
Do I think we could beat the Shite to 6th? ? Hell, yes;
Would I be happy if this resulted in a Europa spot? ? Yes!!!
I understand the frustration, the depression, the infuriation, the sense of no hope, no future. I understand that 6th and a scrape into Europe is not upholding our motto.
What I don't understand is why some have given up on the season with 27 points to play for, surely that is as anti our motto as can be?
Shame on you people who have such a negative outlook.
I am sure it was Bolton who went down instead of us, because wasn't it Chelsea who beat them and we stayed up on goal difference? My memory is fast fading from back then... lol!
19 games for any cup is ridiculous but even more so for a squad our size; if it was Champions League, it's worth a gamble but not for the Europa this time out.
You also say we can't finish 5th, but we can 6th? Umm.... if we where on that type of form to hit 6th, then you'd have to think 5th would also be possible too.
The league this season is very competitive, and despite us being 5 points off the Europa, there is nothing right now that says we can't qualify for it. Teams are dropping points all over the place ? as long as we pick ours up and make a charge then anything can happen.
But as has been the case this season, we can't even win 3 on the bounce, lol!
For two things we already know: He had no pace, and missed far too many chances.
Now the thing is, I have no idea which position Moyes really brought him in for. Was it really for the wing, or central Midfield or to shove him up top? I think he expected to shove him up top, saw him in training and decided against it, and put him on the wing.
He is a good player, but I am not sure how well he would really fare in the Premier League, season to season. I guess that's Moyesey's thought too. I always thought that the price tag of £11M was way over the top for a typical average player and, let's not forget, age is not on his side.
I have two main problems with this chain of thought however:
A) How much do you think as a club we should try to avoid the evil Europa with our 'threadbare' squad? ? ie, early exits from Cups, intentional mid-table positioning or boycotting after qualification?
B) Do you believe that our 'threadbare' squad could handle or challenge in the Champions League? If not, do you really believe that 4th place is going to immediately bring the affordibility and attractiveness for the quality and quantity of payers we do require? If not is even CL worth the gamble?
If the answer to A) is "better to avoid" and the answer to B) is "no we couldn't handle it" then we may as well all stay at home and keep quiet until the mystery billionaire agrees to 'invest' (not buy) in a club not for sale.
I cannot subscribe to this point of view and, until Bill Gates comes knocking, I hope we fight fight fight, punch above our weight, whatever you want to call it. I hope we win as many games as we can and qualify for as many competitions as we can.
With regards to 5th, I think it's far less achievable to catch Spurs 11 points clear than it is to catch Liverpool 5 points clear. I'm sure most would agree?
When I said 'I Never did' think we could achieve 5th, I meant since Christmas as I too was one of the 'idiots' that felt 4th was a realistic TARGET. Not a 'shoe-in' but a target ? and I don't apologise for that.
The midfield is now woefully inept and getting points will be very difficult as many teams around us in the table are thinking the same thoughts about sneaking into Europe. Yes, we have yet another home game this week but what have we done at home this season but disappoint?
We have to hope that a fully fit Cahill may grab some important goals to give us an edge in some of the remaining games.
We brought in diddly shite is what I'm gettin at.
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1 Posted 13/03/2011 at 20:15:50
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