Top 4 or Silverware ?

[EastLondonYid]

Anyone who doesn't take into consideration our finances, especially now with a 1billion pound ground investment going on, well i don't want to offend them, but they really can't have our clubs interest at heart...

With all the money CL brings its a no brainer isn't it?

But i would answer differently in a year or two.

 

[Styopa]

I guess the financial realities of the situation make it an obvious choice.

However from a fans purely football perspective, let's look at Sevilla. They won the Europa League 3 times in a row - 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 during which period they recorded league finishes of 5th, 5th and 7th. Would their fans swap that for 2nd and 3rd place league finishes and successive Champions League campaigns?

 

[EastLondonYid]

I guess the financial realities of the situation make it an obvious choice.

However from a fans purely football perspective, let's look at Sevilla. They won the Europa League 3 times in a row - 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 during which period they recorded league finishes of 5th, 5th and 7th. Would their fans swap that for 2nd and 3rd place league finishes and successive Champions League campaigns?

Compare us to someone who is building a one billion pound stadium.

 

[Styopa]

Compare us to someone who is building a one billion pound stadium.

Absolutely I agree, in that respect our position is (fairly) unique, which is why I said given the financial realities it's an obvious choice.

The only near comparable I can make is our "friends" down the road who, to be fair, did still win a few trophies too.

 

[EastLondonYid]

Absolutely I agree, in that respect our position is (fairly) unique, which is why I said given the financial realities it's an obvious choice.

The only near comparable I can make is our "friends" down the road who, to be fair, did still win a few trophies too.

Yes but they were already a top top side winning major honours the years just before they moved in.

 

[Styopa]

Yes but they were already a top top side winning major honours the years just before they moved in.

I agree. They had a better starting point. What concerns me though is that if we go into a similar period of decline (and there are some signs of that) then this team of the last two or three years may be the best chance we had of winning a trophy for the foreseeable future.

 

[mattdefoe]

End of the day in the final poch took us to and the three semi finals in the fa cup each team were better than us that season that we lost to.

The league cup semi this season we had a huge injury crisis otherwise we go through

I’d be more concerned if we lost to teams much worse than us but that’s not been the case

 

[1882andallthat]

It's tongue in cheek granted but as of today I'm going to say 5th place in the league and silverware without hesitation for 2018/19! Who on here would reject the silverware of the Champions League trophy, even if it also meant we also slipped down to 5th in the league this season????

 

[Mullers]

Top 4 (reluctantly). Nobody wants an empty 62k brand new stadium when we regress to having to play FC shdkdksnsjd in the Europa league when we cant afford to keep our best players. No CL would set us back 5 years. We wouldnt necessarily lose Kane/Dele etc but you can bet your bollocks we couldnt afford to pay the calibre of player to continue improving, whereas any of the other top 5 would act like a football club and invest in the team.

Steady growth and consistency with CL qualification is all that matters right now, irrespective of the media narrative

No it wouldn't, I think we're currently ahead of schedule and I think the board are smart enough to know there are going to be times when we don't qualify for the CL. Nothing spectacular has happened in terms of buying players since we've been in the CL. We're going to continue buying low cost players for sometime yet, CL or not.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

The fact that Burton albino can get to a cup semi final tells you all you need to know about how seriously the big clubs take it.......yet its only us criticised, despite reaching so many semis.

 

[Shadydan]

This thread is just peak internet, always an opposing view when you can actually agree on a mutual solution and just take both of them

 

[EastLondonYid]

Funny how before we started qualifying for the CL it was everything and the most important thing according to the media, more important than life itself...now we've cracked it,its suddenly the Carabao shit cup that is what everyone wants to win...utter bollox!!

Anti Spurs agenda if ever i saw one, no real surprise as we only really have Jenas to have our backs on tv .

 

[jimmy-jojo]

It's as simple as this for me

Players want the Champs League more than they want domestic cups, I reckon. They also want more cash, which the Champs League gives you.

I think it's actually very straight forward

Players want money more than Champs League or domestic league or cups.

Participation in CL gives us more money to give to players and their agents.

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

The only acceptable answer to this question is BOTH. It really doesn’t have to be one or the other, and to keep posing the question in this way is a load of utter bollocks.

Can anyone really tell me that winning one of the cups over the last few seasons would’ve made us less likely to finish in the Top 4? The answer is no. We’ve just not been good enough, and rather than accept that (and then address it), we keep coming out with a bunch of pathetic excuses about how impossible our task is. It’s all fucking bollocks! There is absolutely NO reason why we shouldn’t be both willing and able to win trophies with this squad, AND still finish in the Top 4.

These endless excuses and justifications are what keeps us looking like a small-time club and fan-base.

 

[TropicalYid]

I wont say one or the other. For the last 10 years the club has been on a good course. I think the two (top 4 and silverware) comes together. If you are a regular top 4 side, challenging for the title, you should pick up a cup every now and then also.

 

[beats1]

It pisses me off that people make out this is a choice, because it shields poch from a bigger problem

Poch's record in the cup competitions knockout stages has been terrible

Looking at his record from since he took over:
2015 League Cup -
3rd - vs Nottingham Forest - W
4th - vs Brighton - W
5th - vs Newcastle - W
SF - vs Sheffield Utd - W
F - vs Chelsea - L

2015 FA Cup
3rd - vs Burnley - W after replay
4th - vs Leicester - L

2015 Europa League
R32 - Fiorentina - L

2016 League Cup -
3rd - vs Arsenal - L

2016 FA Cup
3rd - vs Leicester - W after replay
4th - vs Colchester - W
5th - vs Palace - L

2016 Europa League
R32 - Fiorentina - W
R16 - Dortmund - L

2017 League Cup -
3rd - vs Gillingham - W
4th - vs Liverpool - L

2017 FA Cup
3rd - vs Villa - W
4th - vs Wycombe - W
5th - vs Fulham - W
QF - vs Millwall - W
SF - vs Chelsea - L

2017 Europa League
R32 - Gent - L

2018 League Cup -
3rd - vs Barnsley - W
4th - vs West Ham - L

2018 FA Cup
3rd - vs Wimbledon - W
4th - vs Newport - W after replay
5th - vs Rochdale - W after replay
QF - vs Swansea - W
SF - vs Manchester United - L

2018 Champions League
R16 - Juventus - L

2019 League Cup -
3rd - vs Watford - W
4th - vs West Ham - W
5th - vs Arsenal - W
SF - vs Chelsea - L on pens

2019 FA Cup
3rd - vs Palace - L

2019 Champions League
R16 - Dortmund - TBC

This statement as hard as it is for some people can be true:
Poch has overachieved in the league with us but he has underachieved in the cup competitions

The only decent competition he has beaten in a knockout stage is Arsenal this season, even then they are a weaker team overall imo and Leicester in 2016

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Is that right? He's taken us to 3 semis and a final?

 

[LSUY]

It's as simple as this for me

Players want the Champs League more than they want domestic cups, I reckon. They also want more cash, which the Champs League gives you.

I think it's actually very straight forward

Or they could do a Walker and move to Man City to get CL, cash and trophies.

This season maintaining CL football has to be the priority but from next season we have to have a fair crack at the domestic cups as well. It can't be one or the other. Footballers, like most people, will always want more. If all we can offer is CL and cash then I wouldn't blame the likes of Dele eventually leaving as I imagine cup finals are an even better experience for players than they are for fans.

 

[daryl hannah]

I think if your squad is depleted by injury it's understandable to prioritise the league placing. But otherwise, you've got to go for the odd cup aswell. Do both.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

I wish Poch took the league as seriously as he takes the Cup competitions.

Much higher win percentage in Domestic Cups than the league...