what lasagnagate has done to us

[doubledecker]

We all remember one match away from CL , our qualification in our own hands and then... LASAGNAGATE

We would have qualified for CL and that would have meant Carrick would almost certainly have stayed and no doubt our fortunes early in 2006-7 would have been hugely different and we could have made CL again.

With the extra revenues we could have attracted more big name players, Berbatov and Keane may be still with us.

This could be our team now :

Casillas

Corluka King Woodgate Lahm

Young Carrick Veloso Arshavin

Berbatov Villa

Don't think we'd be in the bottom 3 somehow !

 

[AdelaideSpur]

What a happy smiley thread.

 

[TwoSaintsComeMarching]

Just goes to show - life is all about the inches.

 

[KentuckyYid]

I can honestly say I haven't eaten lasagna since. It put me right off one of my favourite dishes.

 

[Rackybear]

The greatness of hindsight eh.

I believe things happen for a reason, fate if you like. We deserved CL football, we really did, but for some reason - it just wasn't meant to be.

I know we are in a bit of a slum now, but things could turn out to be more bright and merry in 2-3 years time, things that might not have happened if we had qualified for the CL that season.

Events & Reward balance themselves out in football, dont you worry about that ;-)

We will soon get revenge on the goons. In fact as early as this week, by pipping them to Arshavin and thus stopping them from qualifying for a CL spot! That would be a dream start...

 

[Goldman]

Stupid thread..

I bet Carrick would of still left, not many players turn down Man Utd.

We might of signed a few good players but who knows, we might have easily have done what Everton did and not even properly qualify.

 

[joey55]

It wasn't lasagnagate that cost. The trouble was our problems came to the fore that day. We remember that day and that media go on about it, as the illness affected our performance. But the real problem was that we had to play our last 4 games without JJ, King and Mido. Those were key players and it was their absence, more than those we lost to illness, that really cost us. Mido and King were our most important players, other than Carrick that season. Had those players been fit, we'd have stood a far better chance.

 

[piedpiper]

The fact that we came so close that season was in fact down to Arsenal collecting so few points that season. Check the 4th place team of the previous season and there is a bigger points difference in 4th. Having said that we did well to challenge that year.

BUT the real reason we are not challenging now was Daniel Levy and Co and equally many of our fans impatience with Jol and believing we deserved CL there and then. This level of impatience clearly displayed THE TOTAL LACK of understanding and hence we are where we are at present.

You only have to look at Aston Villa, they have used our blue print for success and it is bearing fruit(results) for them. More importantly the Villa board are not pressurising MON to get CL this season or next. We should have stuck with Jol. He was the only manager we had in the PL era who had us challenging for that position. We were impatient and we are deservedly paying for that utter stupidity. I honestly believe we deserve to be where we are.

 

[spurs4europe]

The fact that we came so close that season was in fact down to Arsenal collecting so few points that season. Check the 4th place team of the previous season and there is a bigger points difference in 4th. Having said that we did well to challenge that year.

BUT the real reason we are not challenging now was Daniel Levy and Co and equally many of our fans impatience with Jol and believing we deserved CL there and then. This level of impatience clearly displayed THE TOTAL LACK of understanding and hence we are where we are at present.

You only have to look at Aston Villa, they have used our blue print for success and it is bearing fruit(results) for them. More importantly the Villa board are not pressurising MON to get CL this season or next. We should have stuck with Jol. He was the only manager we had in the PL era who had us challenging for that position. We were impatient and we are deservedly paying for that utter stupidity. I honestly believe we deserve to be where we are.

I agree with the above, but what is the use of lamenting what could have been. We have 'arry now, and he potentially could be the closest thing we've had to Jol in...1 manager! :wink:

In all seriousness, although I sometimes do despair with how we are playing under Redknapp right now, we've only just started with him and if he can apply what he did at Portsmouth to us, I don't see why we can't challenge at the top of the table again. The only difference might be that it could take us a little longer than the half a season it took Jol to assemble a top team.

 

[TheChosenOne]

Other stupid results cost us a CL place that season..

The inability to beat one of the "top 4 clubs" for a start, plus sloppy stuff like a last minute goal scored by Anton Ferdinand for WHU at WHL losing us 2 points.

(Seems to be a trait here - last minute goals and all that! )

That was the famous season of "38+2" - A full compliment of premier league matches and the minimum of two cup games with earliest possible exits.

Wouda coulda shouda.

 

[TheBlueRooster]

Like TCO says it had nothing to do with the last game but earlier games in the season, dropping points against Sunderland, Fulham etc is the reason we only got 5th spot. We should have tied up 4th place long before the last game of the season.

 

[striebs]

The fact that we came so close that season was in fact down to Arsenal collecting so few points that season. Check the 4th place team of the previous season and there is a bigger points difference in 4th. Having said that we did well to challenge that year.

BUT the real reason we are not challenging now was Daniel Levy and Co and equally many of our fans impatience with Jol and believing we deserved CL there and then. This level of impatience clearly displayed THE TOTAL LACK of understanding and hence we are where we are at present.

You only have to look at Aston Villa, they have usedour blue print for success and it is bearing fruit(results) for them. More importantly the Villa board are not pressurising MON to get CL this season or next. We should have stuck with Jol. He was the only manager we had in the PL era who had us challenging for that position. We were impatient and we are deservedly paying for that utter stupidity. I honestly believe we deserve to be where we are.

As you have said yourself , the boards lack of patience and understanding are the underlying problem .

Lasagnagate and even the 3 matches before it are a red herring because qualification for Champions League would not have changed anything .

Levy and Co would still have found a way to cock it up . Long term it would not have made any difference .

The evidence suggests the board are incapable of learning from their mistakes .

 

[DC_Boy]

My view is that Carrick still would have gone

incidentally quite a few people thought we weren't ready for CL - an idea I didn't agree with

And please for the record - lasagne had nothing to do with it - had there been food poisoning involved there would have been a massive court case or settlement - we may also have been able to do something re the Prem Lge's decision

it was a norovirus, probably brought in unsuspectingly by one of our own players/staff

I wish we would have got CL - what difference it would have made I know not

simply getting CL doesn't get you a fortune - ask Everton -

you have to qualify for the group stages and beyond to really benefit - and I also think the more established clubs get a bigger cut - I don't know how that works but that's what it seems to me

the best thing for us would have been if with the lure of CL - Levy had sold up and we'd have got a benevolent billionaire in - but Levy/ENIC wouldn't have sold and I can see the logic in that

 

[AngerManagement]

OF course Carrick would have still left, just because we would have been in the CL would not lessen the appeal of Man Utd.

He only would have needed to look at Everton to see a team who cracked 4th place once and see that that is only the start of the battle.

Given the chance to go and win leagues and Champions leagues with the worlds most famous club and probably double his wages he would have jumped at the opportunity still I have no doubt regardless of our qualification for the prelimarly rounds of the CL.

People in my opinion put too much stock into us missing out on that fourth place spot. Unless it would have caused Arsenal to completly implode there would have been very little long term effect.

Making it to 4th place once is nothing, cracking the top four would take a lot more then one season. We would have had to enforced it time and time again before we really rasied our profile to a level where we could suddenly attract and keep the best players in the world.

The team in the top of this thread is too hyperthectical and would never have happened. Villa, Castillas? no way...we passed on Ashely Young and it had nothing to do with us not being in the CL (Villa werent either)
Berbatov would still have gone to Man U given the chance because again a season or so in the CL is not enough to catch up with Man Utd, they are deep in winning championships and silverwear in general.

YOu could even say that if we had made the CL that year we may never have signed Berbatov, who knows maybe we would have got above our station and decided to buy another striker instead who may not of worked out as well as Berbatov did (playing wise)

We will never know what would/could of happened if we had made 4th spot that year, for one we could just as easily have flopped out of it before the group stages like Everton did and failed to get anywhere near fourth again that year (again who knows?)

To me it is pointless trying to think of what could have been and instead we should look to or discuss what needs to be done to put us back in a postion to challange for 4th spot again.

 

[Hoowl]

That's a hugely rose-tinted view. One qualification for the Champions League wouldn't have changed us overnight. It wouldn't have suddenly propelled us to being on of the top sides in the premiership. Look at United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. They've been up there for years, Arsenal have been in the Champions League for 10 years in a row. They are established in europe. On the other hand, look at Everton, we might not have even made it into the group phases.

It would have been a great stepping stone for us but there is no way to know whether we would have been able to build on that success and establish ourselves within the top 4. I think the chances are that we would have found it very difficult to compete on all fronts during the following season and as a consequence found it hard to repeat the over achieving league performance.

As for Carrick staying, I doubt it. There is a big difference between qualifying for the Champions League once and have a chance of winning it (along with the premiership) every single year. It's great to dream but not worth spending too much time worrying what might have been.

 

[AngerManagement]

I can honestly say I haven't eaten lasagna since. It put me right off one of my favourite dishes.

Wasn't it actually a stomach bug rather then food poisioning actually though?

I thought a post mortum of our CL push proved that the lasagna actually played no part in the episode?!?! more likely some sort of virus Wenger made in his lab and unleashed at our training ground.

 

[alextheyid]

The greatness of hindsight eh.

I believe things happen for a reason, fate if you like. We deserved CL football, we really did, but for some reason - it just wasn't meant to be.

I know we are in a bit of a slum now, but things could turn out to be more bright and merry in 2-3 years time, things that might not have happened if we had qualified for the CL that season.

Events & Reward balance themselves out in football, dont you worry about that ;-)

We will soon get revenge on the goons. In fact as early as this week, by pipping them to Arshavin and thus stopping them from qualifying for a CL spot! That would be a dream start...

good post :clap:...i agree..everything happens for a reason..things could always be worse (look at leeds..then charlton etc) and if we manage to pull ourselves together in the league, finish i don't know 11th and we win the carling cup, id be more than happy! and what would be oh so sweet is if villa do the job and we're in uefa cup next season with the arse...also a nice run in that competition this year would be great for players and fans alike..but heads up spurs fans..future's not grey!

 

[DC_Boy]

As I've already pointed out, it was a norovirus

 

[AngerManagement]

As I've already pointed out, it was a norovirus

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread so missed your pointing that out

 

[AngerManagement]

good post :clap:...i agree..everything happens for a reason..things could always be worse (look at leeds..then charlton etc) and if we manage to pull ourselves together in the league, finish i don't know 11th and we win the carling cup, id be more than happy! and what would be oh so sweet is if villa do the job and we're in uefa cup next season with the arse...also a nice run in that competition this year would be great for players and fans alike..but heads up spurs fans..future's not grey!

I don't believe things happen for a reason at all, certainly not in football.

Otherwise thats like believe that teams like Arsenal and Man Utd have some devine right to be winning the league etc, because it was meant to be. Which frankly I don't believe.

Things could be worse of course, but that is more a matter of putting things into perspective then seeing things happen for a reason