An interesting article on UEFA qualification

[Bruce Wayne]

But the hidden cost of the UEFA Cup is severe. If you exclude the 'big four' then 73% of teams who compete in the UEFA Cup drop out of the top half of the Premiership - with some suffering relegation.

http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=4406

Hopefully the new tv money will allow us to add some real depth to the squad as we need it to compete on all fronts I think. It's interesting that in another article on that site they mention our current UEFA ranking as the 100th best team in Europe, thus making it unlikely that we'll be seeded in next years tournament. Just goes to underline the need for regular qualification to build things up.

 

[Chris]

We would need to at least add bodies to the squad. Its not thread bare but playing in 2 major competitions (or more) will certainly exhaust our squad. Pick up a few key injuries over time and we could be in the position we were a few seasons ago except still expected to play in more games.
Moyes will know this of course. Transfer activity is going to be crazy for all teams, not sure if prices will just blow up straight away and it will defeat itself or there will be some clever deals done all over.
I'd like to think Moyes has already secured a player or two ready for the window to open. But as is tradition (and the way I prefer Moyes works), we will only know about it when the deal is imminent or the player refuses and blabs about it.

It is an interesting phenomenon the "get in to Europe and suffer in the EPL" effect. Happened to the RS fairly recently, but they have managed to pick themselves up and progress on both fronts. The only difference I can see between us and them is cash (which will be rectified with the tv money) and about 15 stone on the manager(in our favour).

We'll see. Lots of things could and will happen before we should start having these worries Bruce

 

[SuitsBlue]

could we pick a second senior eleven now?

..............howard......................./.................wright
hibbert yobo lescott valente........./neville pistone stubbs naysmith
arteta cahill carsley fernandes....../vdm....osman...silva....mcfadden
.........johnson..vaughan............../...........beattie...anichebe

it is very thin, we dont know enough about de silva, (really glad for the lad yesterday getting his first taste of the prem, a victory to go with it - reports say hes a goliath, lets [Poor language removed] av ya campo) pistone, wright are definately leaving this summer, questions over naysmith, beattie, vdm, and mcfadden, add to that we havnt actually signed fernandes yet.

obviously this is all spitting in the wind, and only moyes knows for sure. next season moyes has some big choices, i dont believe we have strength in depth to battle on four fronts, so i would write the league cup off immediatley, focus on the league and the uefa and see where we stand at christmas, because if we are out of europe then concentrate on league and FA cup, the decider will be if we are in both, which would you prefer?

more my 2 cents, we need cover at the back - valente is a mystery but lescott has stepped in, so a player that can cover CB and RB would be perfect. long have i been droning on about MGP being the perfect compliment for us in the left midfield spot, tie up fernandes and our starting eleven is very strong indeed.

 

[Axlswhk]

It will be sensible to buy what is essential and important for the future. Not buying just for the sake of adding bodies for next year european competition.
If we only get fernandes and nugent for next season so be it. I certainly do not wish to see another davies or kilbane in our squad, we should be moving forward, and PL is still our priority. Adding 2 class player every season is good enough due to our financial restrain.

 

[TX Bill]

For me, due to our lack of depth, we keep Naysmith, McFadden, & VDM.

Time for Beattie, Pistone, & Wright to move on.

Look to sign a few more, at least one midfielder and one striker.

 

[Gazdalf]

a bit more youth in defence would be useful, but then we can talk about using defensive wingers that can attack again. we have a good solid central team, 2 rapid wingers, and we would be close to that dream team start. Nugent, Fernandes,MGP are a must, clear out Beattie, pistone, VDM, wright and naysmith, and use that saved money for some young wide defenders. (Roseniour is a player I would love, or at least that type of player). Moyes knows what we need and will come through.

 

[Axlswhk]

Hopefully the new tv money will a...g a guess), we will have 30 million to spend?

 

[CanadaToffee]

a bit more youth in defence would be useful, but then we can talk about using defensive wingers that can attack again. we have a good solid central team, 2 rapid wingers, and we would be close to that dream team start. Nugent, Fernandes,MGP are a must, clear out Beattie, pistone, VDM, wright and naysmith, and use that saved money for some young wide defenders. (Roseniour is a player I would love, or at least that type of player). Moyes knows what we need and will come through.

Good thinking - if Fulham go down (still possible), Rosenior would be a good acquisition.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Well lets assume we finish in 5th place again next year. Last season that would have earnt £27m. Next season it will earn £43.8m, which if anything underlines the importance of a good league position.

It's worth noting that in the 2006 financial report our wage bill rose significantly to account for the players signed for the CL campaign, but our failure to progress didn't bring in the expected revenue. Hence our wages/turnover ratio was 61%, against the target of under 50%.

I don't expect a huge number of players into the club, but Howard is already in, Fernandes is too I suspect. Nugent perhaps for Beattie, Jones from Crewe to add to the defence. We have the young kid from Swindon up front and perhaps Da Silva in midfield. There may be one or two bargains to add to that but I don't see many more coming in.

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

Agreed Bruce. I feel Moyes likes our young forwards. See more solidity at the back and midfield. Still not sure of Fernandes just yet. But i hope for the best on him being a blue next term.

 

[Rob]

I wouldn't get rid of VDM... you know he is only 25 (i think) and moyes is handling him very well in terms of injuries and gaining respect from the guy.

I also wouldn't sell BT unless we get Nugent then he can go to whoever will have him.

Naysmith is good to have around so I wouldn't sell him either.

We have to ADD to the ranks, not ship out all the ones we don't like. So as for some people saying get rid of wright, naysmith, pistone, vdm & BT well I agree on wright and pistone but not on the rest.

I would like to see fernandes signed the lad is class through and through, lets not forget that blackburn have had runs in the fa cup and the uefa cup so I can't see MGP going anywhere... maybe a sneaky move for duff?

Anyway, whatever we do I'm sure moyes will get it right whether it turns out right is another story

In any case, we haven't done anything yet, we still need to beat west ham get anything available from utd and chelsea and hope that results elsehwhere go our way.

 

[McBain]

Duff, like it. What happened to him this year? Spot on with VDM too, but I think he's 28. Seriously, the only person I would want to se go is Beattie. Watching him huff and puff around against Charlton was like watching an Amatuer. He tries to run with the ball at his feet and cant control it and falls over. It really was embarrasing for the guy. Even a Mannekin with with remote controlled cars for shoes could move round a pitch and head the ball.

 

[Gazdalf]

Do you not feel Duff is too fragile though. once again injuries have ruled him out of the rest of newcastles game. He is not rugged enough to risk investing in (in my opinion) which means he could not play our football and survive for long. also, MGP would contemplate a move as Blackburn will not be in the uefa next year, yet his taste buds will be wet and wanting another shot this year, could be the lever we need to prise him from them.

 

[Axlswhk]

I believe VDM will be a better player in terms of flair and creativity which an out and out winger needs. He really deserve a run of 3 to 5 games to prove what he is made of. Moyes needs to have a little faith in him just like he had faith in BT, faddy. I always believe it's more like a waste of talent than a waste of money having him on the bench.

 

[SuitsBlue]

regards duff, his time at chelsea seems to have had a negative impact on him, they shelled out 17mill for him, sold him for 5mill, that alone is a kick in the bollocks, he didnt play much football and that has been a factor in his fitness this season at toon, and then moving to newcastle... as if he hadnt been through enough. (its taken butt 2 years to start playing football up there btw)