Toon Europe: Is it possible and are we ready?
Posted on February 19th, 2012 | 22 Comments |
I think it’s fair to say that Newcastle United have exceeded most people’s expectations so far this season. There are still 13 games left this season, which is plenty time for things to collapse in a heap of course, but – as I write – we’re currently 6th, 3 points clear of Liverpool in 7th and just 1 point behind Arsenal and Chelsea in 4th and 5th respectively.
You can credit our lofty position to Pardew, the team or even Ashley, or you can call it blind luck and quantum silliness if you like. But we are where we are and with cracks in Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool this season you might have at least one eye on the possibility that we might qualify for Europe.
We’re not completely safe from below. Liverpool – cracks notwithstanding – are still a threat and both Everton and the Mackems have been charging up the table recently while Norwich have gone quietly about the business of finding themselves the 8th spot at the moment.
So we certainly we can’t count our chickens before we’re sure they’ll fit through the eye of a needle, but it would be a very pessimistic supporter indeed who hasn’t once wondered if would might just edge into a European spot this season, even if it’s just that Europa League thingy, which could stretch as far as 6th or 7th depending on where teams like Chelsea and Liverpool finish and how they do in the domestic cup competitions.
The question that I’ve been cogitating, whilst eating my ocelot cutlets and hippopotamus eggs for breakfast, is: are we ready for Europe?
If I was to point to our biggest problem this season it might be that we lack depth. Sometimes the absence of just 1 or 2 players has a significant effect on the way we play and the points we accumulate as a result. But is that a genuine lack of depth or some sort of inflexibility that means we don’t adjust well to changes? Well it certainly seems like a genuine lack of depth in central defence and I think that’s recognised by the hierarchy of the club too. I would guess that we’d be recruiting for that area in the summer regardless of whether or not we qualify for Europe.
Would Ashley, do you think, back the buying of a few extra players if we did qualify for Europe? Personally I doubt it, at least as far as the next season is concerned (assuming we did indeed qualify for Europe). I think we will continue to buy and sell players according to Ashley’s financial plans for the club and I don’t think those plans account for Europe at this stage, which is after all only our 2nd season after returning to the Premier League.
At this point it’s probably worth me saying that I do believe Ashley wants us to succeed on the pitch. You can say that he only wants us to succeed for the sake of raising the profile of Sports Direct if you like, but the point is he wants us to do well. But he isn’t going to break the bank for our success. I think his plans basically amount to creating an effective scouting network that is adept at locating relative unknowns that can be bought cheaply (in terms of Premier League players anyway), some of which will be sold on at a profit to fund the purchase of other unknowns – and thus the cycle continues.
But, to get back to the point, I doubt those plans account for an unexpected foray into Europe. I think we will strengthen in the summer but only according to the longer-term financial plan and I wonder if our relative success this season (so far, anyway) has surprised even Ashley.
So I think if we do get into Europe we’ll simply have to try and cope but, with a bit of luck, we might find we can exceed expectations there too. Or possibly not!
So, readers, I have two questions for you:
1. Do you think we now have a realistic chance of European qualification, even if it’s just the Europa League?
2. Will Ashley specifically back a foray into Europe next season with additional players, should it come to it?
we are in for a shout for sure but on the short term looking forward/nervous to the Sunderland game :). they have come leaps and bounds with the O’Niel factor. Bound to be a great game though!