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!
JJ – Ye, got it mate 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
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.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Villa have a top 8 squad really, but this season they have a full injury list and a **** manager.
DJG(Quote)
…speaking of the “nineties” and “noughties”, what’s this decade called ❓
Rodzilla(Quote)
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 magpie fan(Quote)
Aussie@75, I’m not quite sure which ‘end of the pineapple’ I’d prefer, to be honest.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Will that fifth place finish(possibly third) be enough to pay for
the naming rights? I.e St James…………?
Denny(Quote)
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
Dubtoon(Quote)
Rodz -This decade will be called my 40’s…. sadly enough 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
So what do you reckon Hoilett would be worth Dub? And what do you think he would cost?
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
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.
DJG(Quote)
Contracts up Aussie – the only problem would be the wages
Dubtoon(Quote)
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..
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
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 😕
icedog(Quote)
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.
georgio(Quote)
Ice we need to compile a list of injured free agents mate.. that might give us an idea as to who we have signed.. 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
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 🙂
Dubtoon(Quote)
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.
MDS(Quote)
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
Dubtoon(Quote)
@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.
MDS(Quote)
Hopefully Marv will be sorted now…. got the proper opp done so we shall see..
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
**** autocorrect changing all my posts. Seems like I really don’t like sammyobi
Dubtoon(Quote)
Aussie re the ’40s, me too mate. I hit fawaty two last week 😯
…still an immature **** though 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
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.
Rodzilla(Quote)
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..
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
:: 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.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
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.
Rodzilla(Quote)
(nice pic of wor Haris in that shot)
Rodzilla(Quote)
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.
MDS(Quote)
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..
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
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. 😕
Rodzilla(Quote)
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.
kimtoon(Quote)
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….
MDS(Quote)
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.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Rodz- if we qualify for CL, I’ll be in the pub by noon
MDS(Quote)
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(Quote)
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: . .
Tsunki(Quote)
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.
Rodzilla(Quote)