Speculation End of season tally

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I thought I'd investigate the reality of being the final Europa League qualifier.

If Southampton don't win the FA Cup and we finish seventh, we'd enter the second qualifying round. First leg 26/07, second leg 02/08.

We'd then go into the third qualifying round - first leg 09/08, second leg 16/08.

We'd then go into the play off round - first leg 23/08, second leg 30/08. That's six additional matches before the end of August.

We'd then enter the group stage - six matches between Sept and Dec, then the four additional knockout rounds all the way through to the final on 29/05 in Baku (Ajerbaijan).

Win our way through those 21 games (yes, 21!) and we're back into the Champions League.

Last season, 10 additional Champions League matches almost scuppered our league season.
 
Brown Nose said:
I thought I'd investigate the reality of being the final Europa League qualifier.

If Southampton don't win the FA Cup and we finish seventh, we'd enter the second qualifying round. First leg 26/07, second leg 02/08.

We'd then go into the third qualifying round - first leg 09/08, second leg 16/08.

We'd then go into the play off round - first leg 23/08, second leg 30/08. That's six additional matches before the end of August.

We'd then enter the group stage - six matches between Sept and Dec, then the four additional knockout rounds all the way through to the final on 29/05 in Baku (Ajerbaijan).

Win our way through those 21 games (yes, 21!) and we're back into the Champions League.

Last season, 10 additional Champions League matches almost scuppered our league season.
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You can’t turn your nose up at European football. We’re little old Leicester and should be grateful of any European adventure...
 
City Fan said:
You can’t turn your nose up at European football. We’re little old Leicester and should be grateful of any European adventure...
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There are only 2 available I think, can you please tell me of the others?
 
I love the idea of us in Europe but the Europa League is a bloated mess. The third placed teams from the Champions League groups drop straight into the knockout rounds unseeded? **** right off.
 
tedfoxxx said:
I love the idea of us in Europe but the Europa League is a bloated mess. The third placed teams from the Champions League groups drop straight into the knockout rounds unseeded? **** right off.
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Completely agree.
 
Brown Nose said:
I thought I'd investigate the reality of being the final Europa League qualifier.

If Southampton don't win the FA Cup and we finish seventh, we'd enter the second qualifying round. First leg 26/07, second leg 02/08.

We'd then go into the third qualifying round - first leg 09/08, second leg 16/08.

We'd then go into the play off round - first leg 23/08, second leg 30/08. That's six additional matches before the end of August.

We'd then enter the group stage - six matches between Sept and Dec, then the four additional knockout rounds all the way through to the final on 29/05 in Baku (Ajerbaijan).

Win our way through those 21 games (yes, 21!) and we're back into the Champions League.

Last season, 10 additional Champions League matches almost scuppered our league season.
Click to expand...
No thanks. I don't think we will finish seventh anyhow. I expect Burnley to cruise into 7th and they will then face the prospect of all those games with a very small squad.
 
Please don't rewrite history. Last season wasn't 'almost scuppered' by the Champions League - on most occasions following a European tie we won the following League game, and the fact we competed so well in the latter stages was actually an inspiration for the end of the season for both players and fans. The Champions League SAVED last season from being scuppered

Last season was scuppered by a simply pathetic set of player purchases, a hopeless bloated pre-season of fannying around the world playng non competitve friendly matches, and the players not being properly prepared for the start of the season

That pre-qualification schedule might be a blessng, allowing the manager to get them properly prepared without stupid worldwide tour distractions being placed on them.

Glass half empty or glass half full, take your pick

Irrelevant as we won't make seventh
 
I've always believed that our revival last season dates from the second half in Seville, not the defenestration of Claudio hours later. I really enjoyed Musa's performance last night, too, and would love to see European football here next season - though, an away win at Burnley next week aside - it doesn't look very likely to me either.
 
homer said:
Please don't rewrite history. Last season wasn't 'almost scuppered' by the Champions League - on most occasions following a European tie we won the following League game, and the fact we competed so well in the latter stages was actually an inspiration for the end of the season for both players and fans. The Champions League SAVED last season from being scuppered

Last season was scuppered by a simply pathetic set of player purchases, a hopeless bloated pre-season of fannying around the world playng non competitve friendly matches, and the players not being properly prepared for the start of the season

That pre-qualification schedule might be a blessng, allowing the manager to get them properly prepared without stupid worldwide tour distractions being placed on them.

Glass half empty or glass half full, take your pick

Irrelevant as we won't make seventh
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I was thinking about when Ranieri expressly stated that he was prioritising the Champions League ahead of the Premier League. He chose to rest key players before European matches and I think that this led to a lot of our poor form and inability to switch focus.

Some of your points are quite right but I think that we'd need a much stronger and mature squad for it to not negatively affect our league campaign.

If Burnley qualify for the group stage, I think they would face a relegation battle. It is no coincidence that several clubs comparable to ourselves have treated the opportunity with complete disrespect.
 
Miles Away said:
Last season wasn't scuppered at all. We were in the ****ing quarterfinals of the Champions League.

I very much want us to qualify for Europe and legitimately can't understand why fans don't.

Shrugs.
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Because they have been totally ruined by our league success and have written off, are too young to remember or have forgotten many, many years of wishing we were anywhere close to playing in a European competition.

It's ludicrous and all this complete horse shit about it being a road to relegation or scuppering our season last year is absolute rubbish. Most fans of most teams would relish the opportunity to compete in the Europa League because they understand how far away they are from such things and have been for years and years. We were one of those teams for so very long. There are one or two on here that would much rather we become a reboot of Stoke City - pinging around mid-table for years with **** all to play for except a wonderful 8th place finish and the odd cup run.

What's the point in supporting a team whilst wishing them failure? What will next season bring? A run in the FA Cup if we are lucky? Perhaps a run in the Carabao Cup or whatever the **** they decide to call it next season? Let's be honest, our chances of winning the PL again or finishing in the CL places are very slim indeed so I'd like to look forward to a few away days across Europe watching my team do something they have hardly ever had the opportunity to do in their history. Why anyone wouldn't want to see that is a mystery but like I say, winning the league ruined some fans' perspectives.

Unfortunately, I think Burnley will beat us to it - perhaps their fans won't be so ****ing miserable about playing in Europe and enjoying those away days in the sun.
 
All I did was set out the reality of what getting the Europa League place means - up to 21 matches, 11 of which require us to travel.

I don't for one second want us to not aspire to competing in Europe. What's the point of us trying to gatecrash the top half of the Premier League is we're going to forego the prizes that come with it?

The problem I have is with the potential consequences at this stage of our development. I'd liken it to me emptying my bank account tonight and having a marvellous weekend as a result. But then I've got to face Monday morning and a skint immediate future.

I don't think our strongest team can cope with competing in the top half of the Premier League and in the Europa League. I think we'll suffer badly and I value league form over any European adventure. This is our 4th season in this league and we've flirted with relegation for a significant portion of three of those seasons.

If we were to use the Europa League as a way of giving our reserve players matches, that's much like other teams have done and they typically don't last very long. That leads me to wonder about the potential down side to qualification.

If we finish 7th and qualify, I think we need to do some major squad improvements this summer. When we last had that scenario, we messed it up very badly.
 
Brown Nose said:
All I did was set out the reality of what getting the Europa League place means - up to 21 matches, 11 of which require us to travel.

I don't for one second want us to not aspire to competing in Europe. What's the point of us trying to gatecrash the top half of the Premier League is we're going to forego the prizes that come with it?

The problem I have is with the potential consequences at this stage of our development. I'd liken it to me emptying my bank account tonight and having a marvellous weekend as a result. But then I've got to face Monday morning and a skint immediate future.

I don't think our strongest team can cope with competing in the top half of the Premier League and in the Europa League. I think we'll suffer badly and I value league form over any European adventure. This is our 4th season in this league and we've flirted with relegation for a significant portion of three of those seasons.

If we were to use the Europa League as a way of giving our reserve players matches, that's much like other teams have done and they typically don't last very long. That leads me to wonder about the potential down side to qualification.

If we finish 7th and qualify, I think we need to do some major squad improvements this summer. When we last had that scenario, we messed it up very badly.
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The sentiment of this is totally reasonable but the reality is that we have plenty enough money and more than enough time to prepare a squad for a foray into Europe. We should be excited about it, not looking at every little thing that could possibly go wrong. What about if it goes right?
 
popillius said:
The sentiment of this is totally reasonable but the reality is that we have plenty enough money and more than enough time to prepare a squad for a foray into Europe.
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Plenty of money, yes. But plenty of time could be debatable with the World Cup finishing just 11 days before the first qualifier.

On a positive note, Vardy and Maguire will have plenty of time to prepare for it, as they’ll both be back home by the end of June!
 
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