I’d say the prize money is irrelevant, one place in the league is worth a lot more. The reality is it will probably cost a club money if you sacrifice a few league places, but that isn’t the point. It would still be great to qualify and our aim can’t be to consistently finish 8th every season, avoiding Europe while finishing as high as possible.
Me too, but clearly this is a divisive issue. Maybe we need some sort of poll to see if we’d rather be in or out of Europe ? What could possibly go wrong?
Would we? In the current climate I'd say that players are attracted to the Champions League. Not really sure any player moves to a club to play in the Europa League anymore.
It's my dream to see Watford in Europe and the fact it's remotely possible this season is a joyous thing. A fine thing. I just want to see us draw some obscure Eastern European team in the qualifying in July and head off for a brilliant long weekend there. Cheap beers in the sunshine, see my team play and almost certainly win abroad. We have a good enough squad to play the Europa League and not get relegated.
Yeah, I agree with you for the most part. I’m not sure many previously out of reach players, certainly domestically, are going to be suddenly interested in us because we have Europa League footy on offer. That said, it might help sway the choice of a player if we find ourselves rivaling other clubs for his signature.
Mariappa and Gray seem keen on a European tour - bad news for both of them is that they probably wouldn't play if we did get into Europe!
I always enjoy my old man and my uncles telling me about the team in the 80's playing in Europe and getting to the FA Cup Final. Before the Pozzo family arrived in Watford I had kind of accepted that I would never get to see my club play in Europe or reach cup finals, or even stay up in the premier league. Looking at the forum now there is talk about reaching the Europa and winning the FA Cup and although I am aware it will be a very tall order it is simply incredible that it is even remotely possible when I have spent half my life worrying abour administrations and liquidation. So for me I don't have time for the look at Burnley comments it would truly be something special for our club.
Would very much like Hudders to come back against Everton. Draw between West Ham and wolves wouldn’t be a bad result. Not sure the others affect us much.
Results didn't go our way tonight. Wins for Everton and Wolves see us drop down a couple of places. We have a chance tomorrow, but I get the feeling Son will be the difference. Shame SK got knocked out of the Asian cup. The biggest thing we need to happen is getting a couple of players in, especially at centre back. Doesn't look like it will happen now though, and I think that will be telling come May. Still, Gracia is producing miracles with this side, so you can never discount us. Always under-estimated.
The top ones are, but there is a next tier down that it would be appealing to. The whole process goes in stages: - Make the EPL - Show you can stay - Get into Europe - Get into the champions league Each level achieved opens the door to a slightly better pool of talent. There's no "do it overnight" method that's sustainable. We have to trust the process. Getting a Euro league place, advancing a few rounds and holding our league position would be massive for the club.
If we qualify for Europa, win it and therefore qualify for CL. Win that and we can grab the last qualification spot for the Euros in the summer of 2020. Its Deeneys best chance of playing for England so we should defo pursue it.
There’s a lot of cliches thrown in there... But in all seriousness, I’m not debating the size of achievement it would be for the club to get there. That’s obvious. But look at the players that play in the competition - a lot of the clubs rotate their squads for the Europa League, that’s just a fact. It’s big for Watford to get there and of course it wouldn’t hinder us when buying players...but I don’t think any player would be joining us because we are in that competition either. Much like the FA Cup it’s not really taken seriously by clubs until the knockout phase.
Would Europa League help with recruitment? Pozzo already has us networked in with all the top Serie A clubs & Barca. I suspect we’ll gain access to better players through our selling strategy more quickly than any achievements on the field.
True, slip of the ‘tongue’. I mean the element of the competition where is gets realistic to think you’re in with a shot of winning. Quarter finals onwards.
