- Feb 13, 2006
- 10,527
- 8,052
Not expecting anything from Newcastle, so 99% chance we're gonna be in this.
My question is what to do once we are? Personally, after this season i'm thinking that we should play a mix of first team players who aren't regulars in the first 11, and some players from the under 21s.
Let's face it, who really cares about the EL? No money in it, players don't want to play in it, most fans don't want to go watch it, devalued by Uefa putting the CL dropouts in it, 2 of which are in the final tomorrow.
I was all for us giving our all in the old format of the Uefa Cup but this tournament is now rubbish. I know it's avb's baby from his Porto days but the tournament is just irrelevant.
I see no point in us busting a gut in this competition unless there is zero chance of us getting a top 4 finish. Just look at the difference in prize money this season:
EL
There is no balance, I don't like how coming 4th is everything these days but when you look at the finance on offer then take into account everything else it's clear to me now that there is little benefit to playing strong teams throughout.
My question is what to do once we are? Personally, after this season i'm thinking that we should play a mix of first team players who aren't regulars in the first 11, and some players from the under 21s.
Let's face it, who really cares about the EL? No money in it, players don't want to play in it, most fans don't want to go watch it, devalued by Uefa putting the CL dropouts in it, 2 of which are in the final tomorrow.
I was all for us giving our all in the old format of the Uefa Cup but this tournament is now rubbish. I know it's avb's baby from his Porto days but the tournament is just irrelevant.
I see no point in us busting a gut in this competition unless there is zero chance of us getting a top 4 finish. Just look at the difference in prize money this season:
EL
- First qualifying round: €100,000
- Second qualifying round: €100,000
- Third qualifying round: €100,000
- Play-off round: €100,000
- Base fee for group stage: €1,300,000
- Group match victory: €200,000
- Group match draw: €100,000
- Group winners: €400,000
- Group runners-up: €200,000
- Round of 32: €200,000
- Round of 16: €350,000
- Quarter-finals: €450,000
- Semi-finals: €1,000,000
- Losing finalist: €2,500,000
- Winners: €5,000,000
- Playoffs: €2,100,000
- Base fee for group stage: €8,600,000
- Group match victory: €1,000,000
- Group match draw: €500,000
- Round of 16: €3,500,000
- Quarter-finals: €3,900,000
- Semi-finals: €4,900,000
- Losing finalist: €6,500,000
- Winning the Final: €10,500,000
There is no balance, I don't like how coming 4th is everything these days but when you look at the finance on offer then take into account everything else it's clear to me now that there is little benefit to playing strong teams throughout.