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Post by southwalesstokie on Jan 17, 2011 18:59:01 GMT
and if we qualify next season we can see Rory Delap taking on europe with the missile ;D Can you imagine a Delap rocket at the Mestalla or Stadio Del Alpi? It's the stuff dreams are made of! ;D
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Post by maximusdickie on Jan 17, 2011 19:28:03 GMT
Dont get me wrong, Europe would be incredible, however, i honestly dont think we are ready yet, im not sure the current squad, even with one or 2 new signings in this transfer market and the next, would be able to cope with European football. Steady progress is needed, in 2 or 3 years time would be great.
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Post by dbstoke on Jan 17, 2011 19:37:01 GMT
i cant personally think of anything better than going to watch stoke abroad, dream come true for me personally! out on the piss in a hot country, what could be better? i agree
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2011 20:48:45 GMT
the 'squad not big enough' argument doesn't hold much weight for me
for instance, if we'd had europa league footy this season the likes of tuncay, whelan, abdy, wilson, shotton, higgy even gudjohnson could have been involved in more games and would not all be as unhappy as they are now at the lack of opportunites
we've easily got a big enough squad
it would be amazing for the club. whilst we are enjoying this level of success we need to do our best in every competition and leave a legacy
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MooG
Youth Player
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
Posts: 493
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Post by MooG on Jan 17, 2011 21:12:16 GMT
It has to be the dream surely even if it never happens.
It would be pretty dispiriting to know that the limit of our ambition was that each season be a replica of the last - a mid table finish and no attempt made to win any cups or finish higher because it might distract from that only goal.
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Post by ProudPotter17 on Jan 17, 2011 21:15:59 GMT
If Arsenal win the Leauge cup, doesn't 7th spot become a Europa leauge place?
I'm sure we could finish there
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Post by cousindupree on Jan 17, 2011 21:39:01 GMT
The 'dont want us in Europe' vocals are bizarre in the extreme....what ambitions do they have for the club? Well the answer is not getting relegated...thats hardly ambition and I agree that relegation would now be unthinkable but would it happen?.I haven't researched this but I would be very surprised if any prem club was relegated while they had a european campaign. Maybe someone will prove me wrong. The problem here is the Johnny come lately's who are obsessed with Prem league and nothing else...Oh maybe Champions league! Not the Fa cup carling cup or the shocking Europa cup! They are so wrong about the benefits which outweigh the negatives by some margin. The profile we would get by competing in the Europa is huge. We would attract interest that just playing prem football does not. And I am talking players here not supporters. Geez the downside is that we play extra games and that affects our Prem league status...says who? Sadly there are only a few of us who have experienced away european nights...bitter and sweet I was at Kaiserslautern and Ajax! But Nothing absoultely nothing compares! Why do you think Liverpool get 4k away for a Europa league match? a night out in Florence, Rome, Paris, Marseille etc etc with a few thousand Stokies eclipses an away day in Wigan...trust me on this one! This season Europa league is DEFINETELY up for grabs and it will be the likes of Sunderland and Bolton who are challenging not Everton or liverpool...so why not us! We are a couple of players away from having a solid top8 team but we can address that in the summer. FGew opportunities come for European qualification...why some dont want it is quite frankly ridiculous!
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Post by StokieBoy31 on Jan 18, 2011 0:17:45 GMT
Stoke abroad ;P at the rate Inter are going we could be playing at the San Siro alot sooner than expected On a serious note imagine every football supporter in Europe knowing our name, imagine the players we could attract to our club there would also become a bigger fanbase.! We could also keep players like Ryan + Huth for a very long time "Stoke City" in Europe ! Absaloutly brilliant! But maybe a little to soon , and correct me if I'm wrong would we have to take the capacity over 3,000 to make it a UEFA eligible stadia?
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Post by StokieBoy31 on Jan 18, 2011 0:19:43 GMT
The 'dont want us in Europe' vocals are bizarre in the extreme....what ambitions do they have for the club? Well the answer is not getting relegated...thats hardly ambition and I agree that relegation would now be unthinkable but would it happen?.I haven't researched this but I would be very surprised if any prem club was relegated while they had a european campaign. Maybe someone will prove me wrong. The problem here is the Johnny come lately's who are obsessed with Prem league and nothing else...Oh maybe Champions league! Not the Fa cup carling cup or the shocking Europa cup! They are so wrong about the benefits which outweigh the negatives by some margin. The profile we would get by competing in the Europa is huge. We would attract interest that just playing prem football does not. And I am talking players here not supporters. Geez the downside is that we play extra games and that affects our Prem league status...says who? Sadly there are only a few of us who have experienced away european nights...bitter and sweet I was at Kaiserslautern and Ajax! But Nothing absoultely nothing compares! Why do you think Liverpool get 4k away for a Europa league match? a night out in Florence, Rome, Paris, Marseille etc etc with a few thousand Stokies eclipses an away day in Wigan...trust me on this one! This season Europa league is DEFINETELY up for grabs and it will be the likes of Sunderland and Bolton who are challenging not Everton or liverpool...so why not us! We are a couple of players away from having a solid top8 team but we can address that in the summer. FGew opportunities come for European qualification...why some dont want it is quite frankly ridiculous! Ipswich are a team that come to mind Promoted get Europe relegation the season after :/
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Post by Stoke-on-Toronto on Jan 18, 2011 1:10:15 GMT
Playing in that stupid Europa League with it's mountain of extra fixtures would be a disaster for us at this stage of our development IMHO. I've been thinking the same thing. What's the rush? We just got here....
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Post by Moosehead on Jan 18, 2011 10:56:55 GMT
I think qualification for the Europa League would mean it is easier to strengthen the squad though. It is justifiable to strengthen the squad in the off-season on the basis that there will be at least 6 more fixtures to play. In turn fringe players will be more likely to move (or stay) if there will be more games and squad rotation in a season. If anything it would add to development, it would probably mean a few more run outs for the likes of Shotton (and an ideal opportunity to bed future Arismendis in with a few games).
Plus, as people have mentioned further up this thread, it looked like Fulham had a pretty fun season last year in their run, and league form wasn't too bad either. I think that the downturn in fortunes this year is much more to do with a change of manager than anything else.
And, StokieBoy31 - Fulham have a capacity of 25,700, so that isn't a problem. I think the UEFA eligible stadia thing is to do with internationals, or size for international tournaments.
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Post by foster on Jan 18, 2011 11:16:34 GMT
If Arsenal win the Leauge cup, doesn't 7th spot become a Europa leauge place? I'm sure we could finish there I'm pretty sure that it works like this... FA Cup winner qualifies for Europa League. If they have already qualified for the Champions League then it goes to the runner up. if they too have already qualified for the Champions League then it goes to next team in the Premier league table. League Cup winner qualifies for the Europa League. If they have already qualified for the Champions League then it goes to the next team in the Premier league table, not the runner up. So 7th and 8th places are possible, but unlikely. it would require 2 of the top 4 teams to play in the FA cup final.
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Post by foster on Jan 18, 2011 11:19:32 GMT
And, StokieBoy31 - Fulham have a capacity of 25,700, so that isn't a problem. I think the UEFA eligible stadia thing is to do with internationals, or size for international tournaments. Yes it is, that's why we have a 4* rating and can't be used for International tournaments. and besides, there are minnow teams playing in the Europa League earlier rounds with stadiums of less than 15k.
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