Target 4th?

toonsy

The next target?
With Europa League football all but sewn up we should now start to look at bigger, and perhaps better, things.

Liverpool’s progression to the FA Cup final means that 6th place in the Premier League is now good enough for Europe, and for us to guarantee 6th place we need four more points.

However this isn’t job done. It’s nice to know that we have the relative security of pretty much knowing that we are going to being Europe, but instead of resting on our laurels we should make hay whilst the sun shines, take the bull by the horns, and try and finish in the final Champions League place instead.

You see we’re level on points with Tottenham right now, and they currently occupy the final Champions League place. Barring some form of miracle where Chelsea manage to beat Barcelona over two games, and then beat either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final to win the Champions League, it is likely that 4th place will once again be good enough to gain entry into the lucrative Champions League, albeit the qualifying stages of the competition.

It’s important that we have something to play for, and fortunately we have that thanks to our lofty league position, impressive points total and indifferent form of those above and around us.

Personally I think 3rd is out of the question now as Arsenal have, like us, found some form at the right time. Tottenham in 4th and Chelsea in 6th are different though as both look knackered and have lacked consistency in recent weeks.

It’s there for the taking if we can keep our heads and keep on with the attitude of taking each game as it comes. It has served us well so far this season, and still having something to play for could prove vital in the final few weeks of the season.

It’s remarkable really. Just two years ago I was stood ankle deep in male urine at Peterborough’s ground, this is after getting drunk on a boat and speaking to random men in a tent in a field. Now I’m looking at what bizarre country I might end up visiting in Europe.

The question is, what competition will it be in?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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99 thoughts on “Target 4th?”

  1. I won’t have a word said against Peterboro, cracking weekend :mrgreen:

    CL would be a dream come true, Europa is nowt to sniffed at either though 😀

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  2. Yep, of course, go for it in every match now! Apart from Chelski I suppose? I might accept a draw against them lot….we can beat them though :mrgreen:

    Just a shame about City now playing tevez, bloody brilliant 😡

    Also-Sunderland couldn’t even score against Wolves, pathetic side! 😆

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  4. Newkie….to be fair it isn’t exactly the first clean sheet Wolves have kept….they had 1 in August too 😆

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  5. Toonsy….Aye it was, apart from being stung £18 for 2 coffees and 4 pasties in Cambridge 👿 ….I can’t remember what wor lass had though 😆

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  7. Oh i didn’t know the rules has changed for next season europa leauge.

    Now the cup winner(fa cup winner) will have direct entry to group stages.

    and that the 5th placing will still need to go for play off.

    With that i rather we go UCL play off. 😆

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  8. Win against stoke without losing any players to injury #knocks on wood# and I’ll start to believe. Even if we don’t claim fourth I couldn’t be happier with what we’ve achieved this season, although finishing above Chelsea and Spurs would make it harder for them to prise away our players over the summer. On the bright side at least Liverpool isn’t much of a threat anymore 😀

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  10. Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini suffered a heart-attack and died on the pitch in Saturday’s Serie B match at Pescara, with all Serie A matches postponed as a result.

    😯 😯 😯

    R.I.P

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  14. Someone needs to reignite the Modric lo leave in the summer rumours and say Van der Fart has a 6mil buyout clause if a CL team comes in for him.
    Its ok for floppychops to do it so why not us? 😈 🙄

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  15. to finish fourth we would have to go un defeated winning 3 out of 5 i rekon, wins against stoke and wigan and i will believe and hopefully citys title challenge will be over when we meet them and everton will have nowt to play for.

    HWTL

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  16. Call me optimistic but with Chelsea’s UCL fixtures and Spur’s stuttering form it’s possible one of them will burn out. Ben Arfa and Cissé are scoring for fun now, and I’m confident Ba can bang in a couple to round off a great season for him.

    The match against Chelsea will be the decider I reckon.

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  17. I think our only target now should be to get the points that secures 6th spot in our next 2 games. If we can go into the Chelsea game knowing that Europa place is in the game then we can have a real go Chelsea and City and have a party at Everton 😛
    I’m confident of one thing though, I’d put money on Ashley offering an incentive to the players to get CL football and he will NOT want the players to take their foot off the pedal now.

    He was apparantly foaming about the WBA draw on the last day of last season and that was the difference of 12th or 10th place.

    No targets, no pressure on the players because they have already achieved so much this season. Time to enjoy it now I think 😉

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  18. Toonsy you were only ankle deep ? how do you think Jay would feel up to his waist 😆 . I say go all out for CL but I can see 2 probs that would only get us into the play off stages ? yeah 😕 if so what happens if you don’t get through do you drop into the EL ❓
    2nd prob is Spurs are bound to hit a bit of form .

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  19. Andy-I definitely think we could finish ahead of Chelsea if we perform at their place, they’re tired, have injuries and suspensions and plenty more fixtures.

    Spurs though…I said a few weeks back it would have been better for Arsenal to slip up, but they seem clear through now and will want to finish as london top dogs. Spurs’ fixtures, whilst not “easy” are winnable for a team just looking to limp over the line. It does seem Arry and many of the players have taken their eye of the ball, but can we expect them to drop so many points at this stage?

    -Sharpy-true enough, I’m sure there are plenty of incentives already on the line and these players are ambitious. As long as they give their all in the remaining fixtures I’ll be happy 😉

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  20. Big dave-Yeah pretty sure Champions league clubs drop into the Europa league if they lose the knock out, or lose in the group stages?

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  21. Spurs’ next game is QPR away, is it not? Tough game + Spurs’ away form will see them drop at least 4 or 5 points between now and the end of the season. Believe

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  22. Spurs’ last six away games have seen three draws and three defeats. They don’t have the minerals to play well away from the comforts of a home crowd

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  23. Newkie: having looked at Spurs next matches just now I’m inclined to agree, and of the two I’d rather Chelsea finish below us since it would deal a blow to Abramovich’s plans to snap up Tiote and Krul in the summer.

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  24. The Kid-Maybe, but then with that you could write of all their home games as wins. We on the other hand have to play Chelsea and Everton away, with revamped City as home. Some of the toughest of the season 😡

    Andy-Yeah its a tough one. To be fair though, finishing ahead of Spurs would surely rule out them getting Ba. They are essentially the team we’re competing with, because City, Chelsea and Manure can still throw silly money around.

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  25. Apart from the teams mentioned, an additional 15 losing teams from the Champions League qualification round three will enter in the fourth and last UEFA Europa League qualification round, formerly known as the first round, and the 10 losers of the Champions League qualification round 4 will directly enter the UEFA Europa League group stage. The 12 winners and the 12 runners-up in the group stage will advance to the first knock out round, together with eight 3rd placed teams from the Champions League group stage

    From Wiki 😆

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  26. I said this morning, Spurs and Chelskis run ins are no easier than ours when you take into consideration they have their eyes on other things too. I find it strange that when we play teams fighting the drop many say it’ll be a tough game because the opposition are fighting for their lives, but when our rivals are playing them then it’s an easy game/run in 😕
    Chelsea have Liverpool and Arsenal away, QPR(derby game) and Blackburn who are fighting for their premier league lives and us….who they won’t beat.
    Spurs have QPR,Bolton(fighting for their lives) and Villa away and Fulham ,Blackburn(fighting) at home, I don’t see many easy games there especially considering the cup games and current form.
    Regardless of what happens it’s been a great season so far and may well get better, keep the faith :mrgreen:

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  28. Well thats one weight off our shoulders, Any doubts will be over when we beat stoke and manure beat everton at old trafford a week the day. Europes a done deal 😛 😛

    Seemed a million miles away when i slunk out of SJP after the fulham match only a couple of years back with the clubs future was as uncertain as it was during 91/92.

    Just shows have far we have come in such a short space of time, Well done to everyone who has contributed since that time in giving us some fecking dignity and pride back… 😉 :mrgreen:

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  31. Richie-to be fair though, you would swap Spurs’ run in for ours wouldn’t you?If you take our forms out of the picture then surely you would? I would any day. Blackburn improved a while back but are looking shocking again with all the kean hate getting ramped up after each game. Bolton played some of their best footie and we some of our worst but we still got the win, although we did have some luck with chances and magic etc. That said the only relegation team truly in form is Wigan…although qpr is a tough place to go.

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  32. Dave/Kimtoon-I think the jist of that is, if we lose the knock out thing straight away we join the EL at an early ish period. If we come THIRD in the group stages of the CL then we enter the EL at a slightly later qualifying round. If we come fourth in our group, we’re out, simples.

    At least that’s how I worked it out, but I wouldn’t trust me 😉

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  33. Next game has all Pardola has looked at this season, HOOF Stoke next, 🙄 Heaven would be an early goal to settle the crowd, Ba to re discover his touch , 😆 and then Toon would be almost there 😛 HWTL

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  34. Personally I believe this time next week we’ll be 4th. Spurs really have hit the wall and it’s pretty difficult to just turn it round on a whim. QPR away is a really tough game for them and once we get in the top 4 that will give us something to focus on.

    Believe!!!!

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  36. Newkie….Yep on paper I would but I bet most would have had Spurs v Norwich as an easy game for them, but at this stage of the season, with Spurs and Chelseas non prem league games to come and with all 3 teams current form and with all 3 prem fixtures if I had to money on 1 team finishing 6th I’d back Chelsea to and I reckon we have as good a chance as Spurs of finishing 4th. 😉

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  37. Newkie….ref Wigan, at this moment in time I’ve seriously got that down as our hardest away fixture 😯 I just think we’ll get at least a draw at Chelski and I can see Everton going into a little slump after the cup exit…..of course I have been wrong before :mrgreen:

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  38. Spurs are on free fall, and old sloppy chops has his eye on the England job…. We’ve just got to keep on winning to keep the pressure on, then see how we end up.

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  39. Richie-True, but I think Spurs themselves had that as a win and the result will have shocked them and quite possibly shocked them into some action. Like I said they have definitely got some complacent players and Arry doesn’t seem that focused on them anymore.

    We can defo finish above Chelsea though, just think Spurs might be too much for us, hope I’m wrong though! 😀

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  40. Richie-Aye, Wigan are looking a very good side and will defo be harder than Bolton and Stoke. I think we’ll beat them actually (assuming we’ve a fully fit squad) but it will be bloody tough that’s for sure 😕

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  41. The key to beating Wigan will be to properly respect them. Soak up pressure and hit them on the counter. The teams that are losing to Wigan are all trying to play their own game and just hope it’s enough to get the three points. If we play on the break there is only one winner as they don’t score many goals and we do.

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  42. Newkie….Spurs have had a few results that should have shocked them though and it hasn’t, watching Arsenal come from 12 points behind them to going 5 in front of them should have shocked them at various points….as I said earlier, all we can do is keep doing our thing and see what happens, regardless it’s been a cracking season, hopefully with more to come.

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  45. I actually think that our run in is easier than Spurs and Chelsea. Not necessarily in terms of the fixtures which they both have more of with the FA Cup for Spurs and the FA Cup and at least 2 CL games for Chelsea. I mean the level of expectation on the 3 teams (Chelsea, Spurs and NUFC). To either Spurs or Chelsea, anything less than top 4 is a massive failure and especially as both may well also be looking for new managers next season. If they can’t offer CL football they may find some managers are that interested. Particularly Chelsea, who not only have an old squad and players leaving in the summer (Drogba & Kalou) but also have a reputation now of treating managers badly.

    I suppose what I’m trying to say is that all of the pressure and weight of expectation is on Spurs and Chelsea. That puts us in a great position.

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  47. I honestly think it’s ours to throw away now .We should get the points required to comfirm Europa easy enough and as Sharpy says all the expectations are on Spuds and Chelsea .We can disregard Arsenal as they will defo get third so it’s a 3 way fight now and I reckon we are holding all the aces .The only spanner that can be thrown in the works is Chelski winning the CL and I can’t really see that happening .

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  48. Richie-very true mate, but sometimes you don’t see the best from a club until its back is against the wall-not that we have been this season, but we have been continuously “written off” as a top team. If the bbc/sky turn round and just go “Spurs can’t get top 4” etc then it may well spur them on, just like it has done us all season, and just as its doing to City now that they’re “out of the title”

    Sharpy-Definitely agree with you on that, they both have other things on their minds, their fans are restless and they have the expectation. As such all those other things are in our favour. Would still have preferred spurs’ fixtures though 😉

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  51. Just to clarify a point made earlier by AoD.
    Of the 3 europa lge places, ONLY the highest placed team in the league will avoid the qualifying rounds and will go straight into the group stages.
    So at the very least we need to finish 5th.
    .
    What I dont get tho is this. If L’pool have qualified for euro lge already but win the FA cup by beating spurs also, and lets just say spurs finish 4th and qualify for CL. Who gets the 3rd euro lge spot. 😕 ❓

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  53. Toonsy – while you are on, just want to wish you and mrs Toonsy all the best for tomorrow mate. Probably be a long day for yous. The first ones always are.

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  54. Ah right Newkie doh 😳
    so all the more reason to finish at least 5th, as Chelsea and Cesspool would get the qualifying rounds. 😆

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  56. well as the article says, its important to have something to play for, and clearly we do.
    It was plainly obvious neither scum or wolves had anything to play for today. One has to accept mid table mediocrity, as per usual, and the other must have accepted their fate as being relegated. Hence bore draw. 😆

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  57. Also, the qualifying rounds aren’t so bad. Just like pre-season really. Plus we go in quite late thanks to the UEFA rating of our league.

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  58. aye it didn’t do fulham any harm as their season started in july or summit
    But they have played 54 matches already this season, which takes its toll.

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  59. Newkie…they’ve had their backs to the wall for a couple of months now and it hasn’t spurred(pun intended) them on, what I would say is though that they have too much quality to stay on the bad run that they are on….but then again who knows, their fans are already on ‘Arry’s back and all the pressure is on Spuds and Chelski imo, on the downside we haven’t played anyone yet, so we may well go to ratshit when we do 😆

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  60. Aye Toonsy, good luck tomorrow. I found it quite easy, don’t know why lasses make so much fuss to be honest 😉 😆

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  61. Just for the record, I dont think the racists will win the FA cup.
    I think it will be ‘arry’s last hooray.

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  62. Agree Ritchie, there is no pressure on us, as we have already exceeded our goals so far this season.
    4th is definitely achievable still, but there are NO easy games ahead.
    HTL

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  63. Toonsy, good luck to you and Mrs Toonsy tomorrow, Fingers crossed it’s all done and dusted as quickly as poss.

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  64. BB…aye, it’s all about who does well from this point on. It’s like a 3 team mini competition to see who can take the most points from 5 games from random teams, Spurs and Chelski have already been penalised in the fact that they have to play some extra games that don’t apply to the “mini comp” and Chelski have already been deducted 2 points for being c@nts……surely that makes us favourites :mrgreen: 😆

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  65. Aye good luck Toonsy, all the best mate! 😛

    Richie..True enough mate true enough, but like you say sometimes the quality is all the difference, they could play as bad as we did against bolton and one moment of magic-Bale? It could just be enough to see them through the last few games which is what I meant when i said about them limping over the line.

    Bale will want to put himself in the shop window after all 😆 :mrgreen:

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  69. would love it if wigwam beat le **** on monday.
    Would really make things interesting.
    Just cant see it tho 😥

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  70. Beardsley-if Wigan beat **** tho I’d just be scared! 😆 Would be awesome to have the four teams fighting it out though, would love to finish above the lot 😆

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  73. Does the Daily Mail even have a sport section? What’s the point in writing about something when you can’t blame it on immigrants / the disabled? 🙄

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  74. Chelsea already have Courtois loaned out to Athletico and he seems a very decent keeper. Can’t see it happening myself.

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