Uefa Club Competitions

[Saturday's Kid]

It has been said on here that the Dons would need to complete 23 fixtures to win the Europa league. This is a bit of tall order not to say impossible. It seems that UEFA more or less joined the Intertoto cup and the EUFA cup together and built in an escape clause for Champion's league failures. The competition has been an enjoyable experience this and last season but there should be at least a remote chance for clubs in a competition to win it.

What I think is needed is for there to be a third UEFA club competition which would cut the Europa league down to size and give the teams lower down the food chain to achieve something in a third tier of European club football. To incentivise the Europa league and the new completion the semi finalists should qualify for the next completion up in the following season. Also no places in the Europa League for teams knocked out of the Champion's League.

[Bamber]

To me its the coefficients that need changing - teams get a huge bonus based on the country coefficient so you end up with teams like hull and west ham with no experience in the last 5 seasons having a coefficient that is higher than teams who have had two or 3 years of group stages.

 

Also those countries that get auto qualification to even the Europa will have more coefficient points before they even kick a ball than a team who has gone through 540 minutes of football

 

It barely matters if we go out this round or next in the Europa - despite two season on minimum 3rd round we will still likely be unseeded for the second round draw next year - and we will be below teams with zero minutes of euro action over the previous 5 seasons

[buchanskii]

They should at least have some region rules for games up until the group stages.

 

I read somewhere that our flight charter over to Kazakhstan cost a few grand more than the prize money to qualify?

[King Street Loon]

Bring back the CWC.

[Poodler]

Bring back the CWC.

It's already been brought home

[ericblack4boss]

I was thinking we could have a cup specifically for the winners of each league, only league winners and the defending champions can participate in it, we could call it the champions cup

 

Then we could have a cup where the winners of each countries national cup would partake, if the cup winners won the leagues too then the runner-up would take their place.we would call it the cup winners cup.

Then we could have a cup competition for the other clubs based on league position and the winners of the league cup. We could call this the UEFA cup

[Dandyesque]

Itd never work

[ollie1903]

Sheer folly

[minijc]

Sheer folly

Any relation to Yoann?

[muttonhumper]

The current set-up is a fucking joke.

 

A particularly bad joke.

In particular the CL drop outs infesting the Europa League and the co-efficients.

 

Fucking disgrace.

[ericblack4boss]

For me I think we have to see a regionlised setup,

For the Europa league.

A northern Europe group. ( Scandinavia )

 

Eastern Europe,

 

Western Europe.

 

Southern Europe,

 

One round of qualification for each sector,

 

Then on to a first round 32 clubs,

 

They play a knock out to an area final.

 

Where the finalists in each area, combine to two group stages, 4 clubs in each group. Top in each group play final,

[JuniorsWailing]

Nothing to do with football and everything to do with UEFA officials lining their own pockets by awarding TV rights in return for backhanders.

[Stavs_Locks]

Aye, the Europa League has become the Diet Champions League. The group stages are good for the neutral (who wants to watch lots of big matches throughout the year) but they're a pain in the arse when it comes to keeping the 'Magic of the Cup' feeling. The chances of progressing when you're not a big side are pretty much hammered in to oblivion by both tournaments now.

[King Street Loon]

The current set-up is a fucking joke.

 

A particularly bad joke.

In particular the CL drop outs infesting the Europa League and the co-efficients.

 

Fucking disgrace.

+ fucking 1 min.

[Merkie84]

It needs the clubs, and in particular the big clubs to speak out against it before anything will change.

 

Unfortunately that is unlikely to happen as it suits them the way it is and the way it is going.

[Abramdon]

For me I think we have to see a regionlised setup,

For the Europa league.

A northern Europe group. ( Scandinavia )

 

Eastern Europe,

 

Western Europe.

 

Southern Europe,

 

One round of qualification for each sector,

 

Then on to a first round 32 clubs,

 

They play a knock out to an area final.

 

Where the finalists in each area, combine to two group stages, 4 clubs in each group. Top in each group play final,

 

Not a bad idea. However, I would prefer a straight knockout cup competition along the following lines. Firstly, I would remove the Champions League dropouts. Why should the Tims get a second chance in Europe? If we lose to Kairat it's all over for us for another season. That would leave 158 teams in the competition. I would have one qualifying round in August, a round of 128 in September, a round of 64 in October, a round of 32 in November, a round of 16 in February, quarters in March, semis in April and final in May.

The current format is really unfair to teams like ours - 8 games and 20000 miles to reach the group phase - ridiculous. For the record I expect us to get past Kairat. If we get a decent draw (and lets be honest we deserve one having drawn the hardest team in each round do far) we have a 50/50 chance of making the group stages. Unfortunately, the small size of our squad means that if we make the group stages, either or european form or our domestic form (or both) will suffer.