Will we qualify for the CL?

[Dave]

Have we really gone from being desperate for any kind of European football two years ago to now turning our noses up at anything that isn’t the champions league?

Personally I’d rather win a trophy before I’d start dismissing any competitions.

Yup, this all over.

It's not impossible that the last couple of seasons are the high watermark for this team. We wouldn't be the first team to look really good for a couple of years, everyone is talking about us pushing higher and then something happens that squeezes us out of the picture. All it takes is for a couple of teams to improve a bit and for us to get a bit worse and we're talking about 7th-12th.

Considering any sort of European competition as beneath us is just entitled bullshit. It's Veruca Salt crying because her daddy wouldn't buy her a bigger pony.

[pauliewalnuts]

I am happy to be playing in any European competition, it's just that the Champions League comes with enormous amounts of money (and glamour), whereas the others do not, so there's a bit of a drop off from the CL to Europa and Conference.

[darren woolley]

I'm also happy to be playing any European football if we can't get Champions League football.

[Brend'Watkins]

Europa would be okay, Conference wouldn’t. Qtr finalists of the CL to Conference, it’s very like European relegation to me. I might attend the latter stages if we got that far.

[Steve67]

Have we really gone from being desperate for any kind of European football two years ago to now turning our noses up at anything that isn’t the champions league?

Personally I’d rather win a trophy before I’d start dismissing any competitions.

Yup, this all over.

It's not impossible that the last couple of seasons are the high watermark for this team. We wouldn't be the first team to look really good for a couple of years, everyone is talking about us pushing higher and then something happens that squeezes us out of the picture. All it takes is for a couple of teams to improve a bit and for us to get a bit worse and we're talking about 7th-12th.

Considering any sort of European competition as beneath us is just entitled bullshit. It's Veruca Salt crying because her daddy wouldn't buy her a bigger pony.

Couldn’t agree more. People need to remember how bad things have been over the last 10 years or more.

[Des Little]

Europa would be okay, Conference wouldn’t. Qtr finalists of the CL to Conference, it’s very like European relegation to me. I might attend the latter stages if we got that far.

Same, depending on our Chris' pricing

[Ads]

When the players drop the inferiority complex displayed last Tuesday, the fans will be quick to follow suit.

[Brazilian Villain]

Couldn’t agree more. People need to remember how bad things have been over the last 10 years or more.

They're the sort of people who would have wanted Saunders out in 1979 and 1980, because we'd dropped down to 8th and 7th and weren't playing in Europe.

[Rigadon]

Have we really gone from being desperate for any kind of European football two years ago to now turning our noses up at anything that isn’t the champions league?

Personally I’d rather win a trophy before I’d start dismissing any competitions.

Yup, this all over.

It's not impossible that the last couple of seasons are the high watermark for this team. We wouldn't be the first team to look really good for a couple of years, everyone is talking about us pushing higher and then something happens that squeezes us out of the picture. All it takes is for a couple of teams to improve a bit and for us to get a bit worse and we're talking about 7th-12th.

Considering any sort of European competition as beneath us is just entitled bullshit. It's Veruca Salt crying because her daddy wouldn't buy her a bigger pony.

I think that's unfair.  If we want to compete at an elite level - and the way we have performed this year in the CL shows that's where we actually belong - seeing the Conference League as a bit of a booby prize isn't as outrageous as you say in my view.

Even the Europa League, though clearly a step up from the Conference, is a bit of a poor cousin.  You can argue about whether that is right, but it's clearly the way things are.

As a way back in to playing in Europe, the Conference was a good thing two seasons ago.  I don't agree it's 'entitlement' that makes some fans less than thrilled at the prospect of doing so again next year, especially if we miss out on CL by a point or two (or even bloody goal difference!). 

Playing in the Conference just wouldn't excite me very much after seeing what we can do with this manager and the kinds of players we can attract and retain by playing in the CL.  At least the Europa would be a new competition.

[Rigadon]

Have we really gone from being desperate for any kind of European football two years ago to now turning our noses up at anything that isn’t the champions league?

Personally I’d rather win a trophy before I’d start dismissing any competitions.

Yup, this all over.

It's not impossible that the last couple of seasons are the high watermark for this team. We wouldn't be the first team to look really good for a couple of years, everyone is talking about us pushing higher and then something happens that squeezes us out of the picture. All it takes is for a couple of teams to improve a bit and for us to get a bit worse and we're talking about 7th-12th.

Considering any sort of European competition as beneath us is just entitled bullshit. It's Veruca Salt crying because her daddy wouldn't buy her a bigger pony.

Couldn’t agree more. People need to remember how bad things have been over the last 10 years or more.

I get the point about context, but when are we allowed to stop comparing everything to 2015/26?  There has to be a point where the club moves on from that utter shit show.   

[Ads]

We've won 1 European trophy. We've reached the quarter finals of the European cup twice since then, the quarter finals of the now Europa League once and the semi finals of the Conference League. The idea that we're too good for Europe is utter bullshit.

[Rigadon]

We've won 1 European trophy. We've reached the quarter finals of the European cup twice since then, the quarter finals of the now Europa League once and the semi finals of the Conference League. The idea that we're too good for Europe is utter bullshit.

Not sure if that’s aimed at me, but I certainly didn’t say we’re "too good" for anything.

[Ads]

Aimed at anybody who thinks we're better off out of Europe, despite almost every domestic trophy/the title for the past 20 years having been won by a side in Europe.

Portsmouth, Swansea, Wigan, Small Heath, Leicester and Newcastle v the other 54 (forgot the Geordies, so much for recency bias).

[Flamingo Lane]

It's not a case of us being 'too good' for the Conference, or that some of us have developed a sense of entitlement, it's simply that the Conference is a rubbish competition, and a drain on team resources, Thursday games mean fewer Saturday games, and ending up in it next season would be a decent indication that this season has not been a particularly good one.

I should perhaps add, I'm not advocating that we should deliberately set out to finish 8th rather than 7th, in order to avoid going into it.

[Ads]

Rubbish how? Last year it was brilliant following the team, with the bigger squad we have now we'd cope with it and actually have a good chance of winning it. It won't be possible to qualify for it in any event, even if we miss out on CL football.