The start of something good?
To be honest it doesn’t really make a difference as we were in Europe regardless, but it’s nice to know that we won’t have qualified through the back door.
When the season starts, everyone knows that 5th place is good enough to make the Europa League, and it’s only thank to favourable results in cup competitions that qualification has dropped to 6th place. Now we can rest safe in the knowledge that we haven’t had any strings pulled to get into Europe, which will no doubt be a cause for upset on Wearside.
So 5th as a minimum, it’s just getting silly now isn’t it? I keep reflecting on this season and all I can do is smile a bit and laugh to myself. It’s been the stuff that dreams are made of such is the unexpected nature of how things have gone this season.
Yet amazingly the dream is not over, not yet anyway. We are guaranteed 5th but that is the lowest we can finish. With favourable results at the weekend we could find ourselves as high as third place come close of play on Sunday. Admittedly it’s a long shot and we’re relying on other clubs slipping up, but we have a chance.
So what happens next? Well at the moment we enter the play-off round which will be drawn on the 10th August, with a tie which will be played over two weeks at the end of August, which means that our pre-season preparations shouldn’t be hindered too much.
That could change again should Chelsea win the Champions League, but I’m not sure how the permutations work on that score or when we’d enter the competition. Quite honestly, to keep things easy, it would just be better for Bayern to win the final anyway!
Howay the lads!
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113 Comments
Toonsy:
You’re absolutely right with The smiles and laughs this season has given us
We have something to build on and if we act clever in The transfer window we Can build on and exceed expectations next season.
The latest rumour i have heard about is that we want Nicolai Boilesen from Ajax!
I can’t explain
Whoops..
I can’t explain how promising this lad is.
He’s a Left Back
Danish international
21 years
And still cheap!
His workrate
Que sera sera…………It’s been great regardless of anything else that happens now… and could get even better
I’m not gonna get my hopes up for the weekend as they usually get dashed in spectacular fashion. If shit turned into gold my arse would heal up. Whatever happens this weekend, it’s been a fantastic season and if I was a religious man I’d pray to god we could keep it up for next season. Hopefully MA is enjoying the ride now and has taken note of the fact there is less hostility towards him now and thus decides not to hoof us in the clems again over the summer. HWTL.
Fucking IPhone!!!!
Good workrate, excellent touch, solid defender.
I actually suggested this lad a couple of months ago
HWTL
fucking 5th place!!!!!
I see you have learnt some spanish Rich
I thought you just had a stutter Danishtoon
Aussie…Aye, although I’m struggling to fit it in alongside ordering a beer and pizza which is the only other thing I can say
Good to you are bringing a bit of culture to you adopted home Rich
I try my best
On topic.. hands up who thought we would finish at worst 5th this year? I had us down at 7th or 8th. Great season..
Its been a phenomenal season and I dont think even the most optimistic fans would of thought 5th. In reagrds to champions league , we have to try win our game first and we see what happens else where. All we can do. But no matter what this has been an incredible season and Pardew and the team deserve the plaudits they get.
Aussie so had I , and that was been slightly optimistic!
Me too Johno, I always hope for the best but this exceeds my “slightly positive” guess
Hey Aussie man – what time over there do you get our games?
Anywhere between 7pm at night and 3.00 am in the morning Georgio. The lunch time games or the 3pm kick offs are fine but the night games mess with my sleep patterns. I have watched every game this year. I also watch all the neutral games as well when I can.. Fox over here plays every game live..
Then why don’t you get all the gear so that you can stream them for us you selfish fecker
Aussie
I had us down for eighth, and even with ten games to go, I though we’d slip to 6th or 7th… completely exceeded all my expections.
We are fifth and deservedly so… I believe at the moment we are the sixth best team in England. And only about two or three quality additions behind the likes of Arsenal and Spurs. If we keep our current team together that is.
Remarkable season. Champions League still possible if improbable, the league title is still up for grabs, the final relegation spot is uncertain. It had been the best season to watch in years.
Going to be horrible without it, but at least there is Euro to look forward to. I’ll be backing the Germans.
Wonder if this gives Pards a cheeky little financial bonus finishing 5th. Rumours had it that his contract was full of incentives based on league position
5th eh…. MAD
That’s 7 places up on last season.
At that rate we’ll finish at minus 2 next season!
I won’t be too disappointed if we don’t get champions league… but i will be disappointed if we don’t get it by losing this weekend.
We have to win so we don’t hand anything to the north london scum.
Imagine if arsenal and spurs both lost and we lost as well?
I don’t know about you but I’d cry.
I thought if we’d finish 7th-9th this season at the beginning. And I would have been happy with that.
Moreno @19 – I think the incentive bonuses are a common theme across the board of contracts, management & players alike. I would like to think the Carr & Pards have selected payers for their zeal to pay for the shirt alone, but of course it’s down largely to the lure of getting a hacky wedge eased in alongside your regular paypacket. Doesn’t hurt though, and it seems to get results!
And btw, I thought if we could hang in above 10th this year, we could start pushing on next. How disappointed I am
That is it Nobby @ 21 , we need to make sure we do our job and see what happens. Be nice to think that we will be used to these type of pressure matches next season
The team better get used to fighting for a champions league spot 
I thought 5th place got you an immediate place in the group stages, not having to worry about qualifying.
Great season and think it will end with us finishing 5th which is great.
Enter the summer with trepidation and excitment in equal measures.
Think Tiote will be sold for £25m and that will give us enough to add to the squad and improve over all. We have done ok without him.
Aussie@7
…cheers for the info anyway Danish 
…the blog’s very own Gareth Gates 
…position-wise, I was expecting somewhere between 8-10th so guaranteed 5th is fandabidozi.
…agree with Nobs about the weekends fixtures, although I really want Champions League (I’m a greedy barstid) I’ll be happy with 5th UNLESS Arsenal and Spurs fk their games up and we don’t capitalise on it with a win. That will be a pisser.
Andy – FA cup winner gets group stage, league place enters at the playoff stage and CC winner gets into qualifying round
@Danishtoon – Boilesen seems to fit the modern NUFC mould for recruitment perfectly. Young, promising and circumstantially cheap (in this case because he’s recovering from a serious injury???)
Having never seen him play, I’m glad to hear u rate him so highly – hope we can get him signed up
Re. the original topic – 5th = mint. It’s great that we go into the Everton game knowing that Chelsea can’t overtake us and resultantly we can fully concentrate on overhauling the 2 teams immediately above us. Looking forward to Sunday….
…gona be a very interesting summer anyway, with regards to how Fatty deals with our squad. We obviously need to bring a few more bodies in to cope with the inevitable injuries and fatigue caused by our European exploits.
…just had a look at our current squad, and I think we’ll have a few places of the 25 to fill up still; with Lovenkrands likely to be off, and a chunk of our players still being 21 or under next season.
over the moon with 5th was just hopeing to be in top ten this yr,there was only one downer on the season,poor bruce getting the chop at the scum would have topped the season seeing them in ccc next year
Their current figurehead’s not that much better Ice. The unwashed are struggling to score and Martin O’Potayto has a habit of walking out in a huff when he’s not handed a suitcase of transfer cash..They already overspent before he arrived.
Rich , I will give you a stream mate
all you have to do is ask 
Agree with Rodz. Oneil is a classic cheque book manager… everton were really average against wolves, hopefully they have put the cue in the rack already and are looking forward to the off season..
ROD you could be reet,he seems a canny manager for the lower lg teams but cannot handle the PL with nee big lumpers to spend and spits the dummy
Why does everyone fuck off when I come back online? It like when I visit my parents, they seem to never be there when I rock up for a visit
Yeah Aussie, I think Everton are there for the taking. Fair enough they want to finish above Liverpool but the stakes are much higher for us. NUFC, Arsenal and Spurs all have tricky final games. Obviously there’s the Jol and derby factor with the Spurs /Fulham game, and the Woy factor with WBA. I honestly think we’ll win ours and leapfrog Spurs who’ll draw with Fulham, but I think Arsenal will get at least a draw with such high stakes, unfortunately.
AMF @37 some people cannot handle snobs maybe mate or try a new “smelly”or ask richie how he handles it hes had the same problem for years
Imagine if we get into the CL Rodz… how fuken cool would that be.. really looking forward to all the games on the weekend..
Thanks for the advice Ice
your like the dad I never see when I visit him 
Bet the unwashed inbreds don’t even know where 5th place is!! They prob think its a street in new York
Well happy with 5th, no matters what happens on Sunday, be a consolation if the cockneys slipped up for us, but can’t see it 
just imagine if we didn’t concede THAT last minute goal at the emerates 
Aussie @37 – maybe if you cut down on the swearing they might come out from under the table
F*ck you could be right tsunki
http://www.footballfriendsonline.com/gossip/2012/5/9/olsson-on-the-to-depart-list.html
I wonder if we are looking at Olsson or Hoilett.
c*nts.
Olsson is a half decent attacking LB if we want to add numbers to the defense before next season.
5th anyways, thanks to thie https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hHdPPPV9wTE/T6oI0ee3HII/AAAAAAAAAqs/5_S1BxOda4w/s400/Essien-Tackle.gif
Would have to think we could easily outgun Stoke if we wanted him.
What was going through Essiens pea brain with that tackle.. shocker..
good news on a minimum of 5th as we dont now have to enter the Aug 3rd round of games in Europa cup and enter at the late August round instead
Means we can actually have a pre season to get up to speed before competitive games
Olsson is only 23 as well and has 83 prem games.
That Essien tackle is shocking. Looks like he’s trying to do as much damage as possible to the calf of Judas. Hope the FA take action, like they would if it was Cabaye.
I reckon hoilett has a touch of the Nzogbias about him.. seems like a stand out player in a sh*t team. villa paid a packet for nzog after a cracking season with wigan but now look at him.. not fussed about chasing hoilett..
Toonsy/Moreno
Submitted a post. Could you let me know if you got it.
@toonsy
the CL final doesn’t impact on us in euros now, if chelsea win then the fa cup euro spot (the best as you go straight to group stage) would go to 4th place. So regardless finishing 5th will always be going into the playoffs.
Looking at old wiki seasons yesterday, truly remarkable how well we’ve done, we’re only 6 points off our best ever points tally under Sir Bobby!
DJG, it is indeed a shocker but unfortunately he got disciplined during the game and only got a yellow, so it’s one of those ‘no further punishment’ type of deals.
AMF i see toon have sent the aussie lad back home,still havent made there minds up over a contract,but havent said no like
Aussie I won’t argue that n’zogbia has been good or anything but looked to be getting better in the second half of the season and then the next game mcleish would drop him for a kid or heskey and claim he doesn’t have any players to pick from. There might be problems behind the scene but I’d say it’s more mcleish than being at a bigger club.
Good that we now look into players backgrounds now. Ben arfa is the only one we’ve signed that has had problems I think. And he was a bit of a special case with his ability. Personally I’d love hoillet on one side and HBA on the other but if the club decide not to go after him I trust they have their reasons
I’d heard they brought him over looking at getting into the youth/reserve squad then seen him and thought he was too good for that and would likely have to come in on the fringes of the first team…
Ice there were quotes on the Aussie side that they were impressed and mark Douglas said the same but then the other day said they were cooling their interest in favour of the latest French kid
mixed messages. Who knows. Well see when they come through the doors 
Dub – I agree. Think Hoilett would be a good addition. If we lose Ba over the summer we should look at Hoilett as a replacement for the 4-3-3.
What are people’s hopes for next season in the league?
I’m going to be a bit rubbish and pessimistic and say i’d want us to aim for top 8. Going to be a challenge to juggle europe and the league so i would just want us to carry on building our team, respectable league position and hopefully a decent stab at a cup.
Then if we miss out on europe next year i think we would be able to mount a full blown CL charge the year after! Just like the scousers this season
Probably a bit too negative, our squad players have shown they can step up when called upon so there’s no reason that can’t continue next season.
@Dub, judging on the majority of our signings recently, noone actually knows a thing!
Pretty much all except HBA have come out of the blue.
Ice, yeah mate Curtis Good is back in Melbourne, apparently if there will be an offer it will be after the season finishes.. saying that it may not even happen so we will have to wait and se
I’m sceptical that N’Zogbia should take all of the blame, Villa have been awful this season as a whole. Whats to say N’Zogbia wouldn’t be absolutely flying if he was still at Wigan. He has made some pretty poor career decisions. If it was a free transfer it wouldn’t look so bad, like that 18 year old striker at Chelsea. It’s not his fault the club decided to pay through the nose.
I don’t think I can realistically say what I hope for next season without seeing the incomings and outgoings. If we keep the core and add while also shedding off the remaining hangers (except Xisco), then I don’t see why we can’t repeat this again and aim for top 6.
Hoilett is over rated I reckon.. He won’t be cheap and I am not sure he will fit into our team ethic.. if we pick him up, I am more than happy to be proven wrong.. I’d rather see a fit Marveaux having a run..
well i think pardew signings have improved the club but for me the only blot on his copybook was the signing of elliot,i watched the lad in the a few times on the “box” and dont rate him one bit,but then again what would i know
north london scum is a bit strong…
The Elliot signing was strange.
Id be happy with eigth too. Be a challenge having all those extra games (assuming we reach the groups) and the ‘big six’ will be about again and probably spending more. Finishing second of the rest to say everton would still be a good achievement for me as long as we get a bit of a run in one of the cups
DJG don’t think mcleish knows how to use a player with a bit of pace and ability.
AMF your spot on there mate,imo marv is a top player have always said that,think a few fans will get a shock when this lad is fully fit
about curtis good, this is fro 5 days ago, sorry if already posted:
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/9690678.The_Insider___Newcastle_hope_that_Curtis_will_come_Good/
all right 4 days ago then. sorry.
Yep not to sure about Elliot either… glad Krull wasn’t injured this season.. poor old Harper certainly got the rough end of the pinapple..
JJ – Ye, got it mate
Solano@62, that’s a funny one to call really. who knows. I’ll certainly be expecting us to challenge the top 4 again, but our history suggests we may hit a slump.
I can remember finishing 2nd in ’96 and ’97, then following that up with 13th
…we did it again in the early noughties with 4th, 3rd, 5th…..14th!!!
http://www.nufc.com/2011-12html/league-record.html
I think the swift turnaround of managers and players back then may have contributed though. If we keep our best players and build upon the squad I see no reason why we can’t do it again, or better, next season.
Villa have a top 8 squad really, but this season they have a full injury list and a shit manager.
…speaking of the “nineties” and “noughties”, what’s this decade called
Just read the article tsunki… there is no way he will cost 250k.. He will not cost that much… MelbourneHeart will not hold him back if he gets an offer. A league clubs are pretty good when it comes to that type of things. They seem content to let young guys realise there dreams overseas..
Ice, Marv is class…
Aussie@75, I’m not quite sure which ‘end of the pineapple’ I’d prefer, to be honest.
Will that fifth place finish(possibly third) be enough to pay for
the naming rights? I.e St James…………?
Aussie I liked the look of Marv too but to have hoillet/HBA, Marv/oba would give us a lot of options and room to rotate for different competitions. Then the sameobi and fergy as you gets player and ba/cisse/shola through the middle and our attack is set for me
Rodz -This decade will be called my 40′s…. sadly enough
So what do you reckon Hoilett would be worth Dub? And what do you think he would cost?
People might not agree but I reckon a fit Obertoon and Marvuex would make signing Hoilett a bit pointless when we already have Jonas, Benny and Ferguson as well. We need a LB (Pieters, Olsson) a CB (Douglas, M’Bia ????) and a CF (De Jong, ????) as 3 top priority signings.
Contracts up Aussie – the only problem would be the wages
True.. but I have to agree with DJG… we really need to strengthen our defensive line first and foremost.. I would like to see Vuckic and Abied get a bit of a run in the cups as well..
thing is pardew has already said two players have agreed to come to toon even without europe who they are is anyones guess,think its a case of a couple more now
Notice a lot of comments on Hoillet – not sure myself. He always looks like he’s going to do something great, then doesn’t. I’d give him a miss and give Marv a chance. He looks top class.
There again the summer window might be a lot more interesting than we think. Ashley continually surprises us.
Ice we need to compile a list of injured free agents mate.. that might give us an idea as to who we have signed..
Dont get me wrong defence is definitely the priority. Just think that one deal could set us up offensively too. Not necessarily hoillet even but rather have ba playing trough the middle than out wide.
For me vuckic would play in cabayes role as the furthest forward of the three in midfield and abeid in jonas/tiote role.
I think they know they need defenders, anyone in attack is just fun to speculate about
It will be a good year revenue wise for the club which should help build the squad a bit. Finishing 7 places ahead of last year will net us an addtional 5.6M to go along with the bigger crowds and greater number of TV appearances.
Happy for Marv to come back into the team but we’ve had him obetan and spammy out for large chunks this season and that’ll only get worse next season with more games
@89. If there are deal done it s probably with guys we have been on for awhile and just missed out on in January. One of the european defenders possibly.
Hopefully Marv will be sorted now…. got the proper opp done so we shall see..
Damn autocorrect changing all my posts. Seems like I really don’t like sammyobi
Aussie re the ’40s, me too mate. I hit fawaty two last week
…still an immature twat though
I can’t wait to see Marveaux put in a good few shifts too, just hope he’s not a Dyer. He’s looked pretty classy from what little I’ve seen of him.
Rodz, I constantly tell my wife ” you are only as old as you act ”
I generally say that when I have done something wrong 
Happy birthday for the other week mate..
:: UNITED are set to wear their new maroon away kit at Everton.
Time to see whether it bring any luck to us.
Both Spurs and arsenal fail to win their game,we win just 1-0.
haha, yeah cheers mate, I was on here spouting drunken drivel until the early hours after mi mates left. I can get away with acting my shoe size more than most my age, being the UK’s most eligible bachelor and all that.
Completely off topic, but we thought we had it tough with SJP becoming the SDA. Poor Cardiff fans……
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17996534
…out with the blue and in with the red. Goodbye Bluebirds, hello Red Dragons!
Now That’s What I Call Drastic, Vol. 113.
(nice pic of wor Haris in that shot)
Sunday is going to be crazy. I’ll have to have 2 windows open on the laptop plus another match on the TV. I expect to lose at least 5 years off my life.
Well spotted, I have to say that Vuckic’s lack of pitch time and development for what every reason has been one of the few disapointments this season.. hope he makes an impact next season..
Aye, I’ve been expecting him to turn it on for a while now Aussie. Keep forgetting that he’s still only 19!!!! Plenty of time for him. Just hope he’s through his spate of unfortunate injuries, he’s had his fair share.
MDS, I ain’t made my mind up how to tackle it yet mate. I usually hold out on all the scores on Saturday until 8:25 to see what the game of the day is on Sky Sports, which incidentally has been us a fair few times, and follow up with MotD at 10:20. I may have to watch this one unfold on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports though.
Think Everton will be a really hard game ,jellyman is in a rich vane of form right now. More worried about getting a result from there than I was about Citeh .Hopefully Fulham and West brom can do us a favor on sunday.
Regarding next season I will start off as always expecting a struggle then hopefully be pleasently surprised.Hopeing everyone writes us off so that the team has an incentive to prove everyone wrong again. Theres plenty already saying this season is a flash in the pan so we need to prove them all wrong again.
Looking forward to seeing Marv back in the team and some good defenders signed and a quality non African forward too hopefully.
They are televising Fulham-Spurs here in the States but showing us on the the pay internet site I belong to. Looks like TV, the laptop, and bacon and eggs for me….
Bit too early in the day for beer over there then MDS. You could always wash down the bacon and eggs with a few Bloody Marys though.
Rodz- if we qualify for CL, I’ll be in the pub by noon
Be strange if we do hit 4th like. I’ll be celebrating whilst sticking pins in my Chelsea first 11 voodoo dolls, in anticipation of the Champions League final the following weekend.
RODZILLA @102 dear oh dear this is the problem with the far east they are so superstitious – I’ll bet it’s not so much about being a ‘dynamic’ colour as being a ‘lucky’ one. Trouble is they have no concept of local identity, obviously. Maybe they could be the Robins? Taken already? Oh. Flash forward to a couple of years and Big Mikey switches sponsorship allegiance to HSBC. The worlds ‘local’ bank might suggest a change of scenery for us…….. out with the Virgin money Maroon, in with the HSBC er ……:shock: . .
Exactly Tsunki. I watched an interview on Sky Sports News with a Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust (or something) spokesperson. He was emphasising those sentiments too. It’s over 100 years of history and identity they’re talking about. Apparently the big cheese has 100m to invest in the team IF they accept the demands. Corporate blackmail.
Blue is a colour synonymous with Cardiff City. I can understand the marketing advantages, but can’t help thinking they don’t quite get it; or more likely don’t care.
It’s akin to some Asian moneybags buying out Chelsea or Man City and asking them to change from blue to red.
Mental really.
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