- Nov 2, 2004
- 1,586
- 1,928
I think the Op has valid points.
What is the point in trying to get European quallification if you are not trying to win it or at least use it to bed young players and those on the margin. The early exit from the Carling Cup has left us now with just the League and Fa cup to keep a huge squad happy and competitive. People seem to forget we don't have a reserve side now.
There is another issue here and that is us the fans who spend huge sums to follow our team home away and in Europe. We pay the wages of this huge squad and are currently being mugged by the club if they play teams that are basically reserve team standard, but still paying first team prices for tickets. For those pleased we are out and we haven't won anything for years, but happy to qualify for CL what is the point? Any money for the club is not going in your pocket in fact the reverse, how many of us were able to get tickets for CL games?
As a fan I want to win silver ware, i understand the longer term picture issue, but for us older fans Glory does not mean finishing second, third or fourth it means winning.
I wouldn't consider myself too old but this is my feeling on the matter too. I genuinely believe that Harry expected to coast through this group and use a stronger team for the next round but his plan has back-fired.
People give out about some football fans jumping on the bandwagon when a team wins trophies but this is the way of the world. What people fail to realise is that this argument is a double edged sword. Yes you need revenue to build a squad and and pay players, the more revenue the better players you attract. However, if you don't win anything you lose your future fan base which is a far greater loss. Winning the Europa League is likely to open a club up to new fans, which in turn leads to additional revenue. Winning the FA Cup would not be as ground breaking an achievement. The club needs fan based revenue more than it needs potential CL revenue.