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Anyone not wanting Europe?

be a brilliant achievement but not going to lose any sleep if we don't get it

feel it'll be incredibly taxing on the squad and throw a spanner in the works with regards to recruitment as there's no way we were envisioning a European campaign immediately on return to the premierleague

think the conference league would be better actually as we could probably progress with a weakened team. whereas to get anywhere in the Europa league your probably looking at flogging the first team which has been seen to have a detrimental effect on many a team over the years
 

2 days off work (Thursday/ Friday)

Fly out Thursday morning, sitting in a piazza somewhere in eastern Europe in the sun, drinking cheap beer surrounded by Sunderland fans and friendly but bewildered locals, match on the evening, spend the next day having a look about and fly home Saturday morning.

I'm already there in my head
I'm nursing a semi here like.
 
Imagine if we had European games thrown into the mix at that time?
I’m not against it by the way I’d love to see us in Europe just saying we’d need a much bigger/stronger squad. I’d be happy finishing 15th and having a run in Europe no doubt about it, as long as it doesn’t put us in any danger I’d be over the moon.
My attitude towards it, is if we keep on like we are, Europe will come eventually anyway. I'm just in no major hurry to get there.

I'm as confident in the process at the club now as I've ever been, but next season will be very tough. I'd prefer to be out of Europe and see how high we can get next season (dare to dream of CL qualification?), than stretch ourselves in the Conference and wind up in a relegation battle.
 
Can't believe I'm asking this but there's a few lads in work this morning saying we shouldn't be looking to win on Sunday as if we qualify for europe it all but guarentees relegation next year...

Just wondering if anyone shares the same opinion? For me it's a no brainer, opportunities like this don't come around often and we should be snapping the hands off it.
I still think it's too soon to be promoted, we need to continue building steadily in the championship or we'll come straight back down IMO
 
I don't know the exact figures, but iirc winning the Conference League is worth about €10m I think - you'd have to spend more than that in the transfer market to pad the squad.
Of course, but there are gate revenues and other fan income to add on top of that.

The depth squad needs increasing whether we are in Europe or not, but I'd say the Confrence League allows for a shallower depth of quality compared to the Europa.
 
Unlike other clubs that have got Europe recently and struggled: Palace, Forrest, Spurs. I think our main focus next season will be making sure we stay in the league again. These other clubs have seemed to prioritise Europe at times, perhaps cos they thought they were too far away from relegation. Don’t think the club will make that mistake yet
 
Not the be all and end all for me.

I want us to win every game and finish as high up the table as possible.. if thats Europe brilliant, if its not? Well weve had a brilliant season regardless.
 
Part of me worries about it - I'm looking at Palace and Forest and thinking I'm not sure I want us to sendup at the bottom of the league.
Palace havent really been in relegation botha all season,even forest looked a far better team than Spurs and WHU.
 
Imagine getting to watch your team in Europe possibly for the first and only time with your mam, dad, brother, sisters whatever. And some on here are saying nah. :lol:
 
Part of me worries about it - I'm looking at Palace and Forest and thinking I'm not sure I want us to sendup at the bottom of the league.

Then part of me remembers me this time last year, telling the kids it's okay if we dont win the Playoff final because we'll only get beat every week in the Prem anyway.

Not one inch of me worries about qualifying, I'm looking forward to playing at the Camp Nou or the Bernabéu in a couple of years 😎
 
My attitude towards it, is if we keep on like we are, Europe will come eventually anyway. I'm just in no major hurry to get there.

I'm as confident in the process at the club now as I've ever been, but next season will be very tough. I'd prefer to be out of Europe and see how high we can get next season (dare to dream of CL qualification?), than stretch ourselves in the Conference and wind up in a relegation battle.

we could just as likely miss out on europe on sunday AND be in a relegation battle next season

or

qualify for europe on sunday AND be fighting at the top end of the table next season

i really don't think they are as closely linked as is being made out. either way, we need to improve the squad this summer. if we are in europe, then the likes of onien, wilson, mayenda, talbi, ta bi, elborg etc... will get a lot more game time, and maybe the likes of hume, brobbey, diarra and rigg who are borderline first 11 at the moment will be pushed into the european squad as new players arrive and go directly into the premier league first 11 mix.
 
The big problem is that clubs in Europe have stricter spending limits (70%) than clubs outside of it (85%). So we could finish 9th and spend more on strengthening the team, or finish 8th and end up not being able to spend as much because of the European rule. Which is fine if you're in the Champions league becuase you get a f***ing fortune. But the amount you get in the conference league isn't enough to compensate for the rule - apparently.
 
It definitely affects league form, but I'd take 17th next season if we progressed far in either the Europa or Conference League.

We won't get many opportunities to play in Europe unless we establish ourselves as a top 8 club and as you can see from other clubs, that isn't an easy feat.
 
Has any team ever qualified for Europe through the league and been relegated the season after due to the fixture congestion?

Pretty sure Wigan got relegated not long after winning the FA cup but they were pretty shit anyways weren't they ?

Forest, palace , spurs all recently played poorly in the league the season they were in Europe but not relegated
Wigan went down the season they won the Cup.
 
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