[Archived] champions league

[roverandout]

seeing as there isnt a topic on this, i thought i might as well be the first to ask, would it be possible for rovers to challenge for a champions league place in the next few years? My opinion is not likely unless rovers are prepared to invest the sort of money they are talking about this summer, every summer. I suppose when you see the likes of everton with little investment do it, then its possible but with the likes of spurs and man city now investing heavily its becoming less and less likely.

[Tricky]

not with that chump Kean in charge

[Stuart]

This is exactly the problem. We survived by the skin of our teeth last season, despite people now trying to re-write history, so talk of the CL is way off.

Let's talk about how we are going to get back to being top 10 again. Once we get there, then we can consider European ambitions.

Anything else is stupid, dangerous and the making of a Portsmouth situation.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I think it's possible...........but the owners/staff really need to stop telling everyone about it. If it happens, they'll all become heroes. If it doesn't happen, they'll end up being the biggest joke in football.

Let the football do the talking and show everyone what we can do.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Anything is possible in football. They will only achieve their high ambitions if:

1- They invest a lot of money in the club.

2- They spend it wisely, they don't waste it like Sunderland and to a lesser extent like Liverpool or Spurs have.

3- They have the right man in charge. I don't think Kean is.

Even with those three conditions met it would take time (over a period of years). First of all Rovers need to establish themselves as a top 10 side, then try and push for the Europa league places and finally try and push for a champions league place.

[Seggie]

I think it's possible...........but the owners/staff really need to stop telling everyone about it. If it happens, they'll all become heroes. If it doesn't happen, they'll end up being the biggest joke in football.

Let the football do the talking and show everyone what we can do.

I think they have to make it known otherwise how are we to attract the sort of players needed to be capable of attaining CL football? However other posters are correct in saying we need the right manager in charge, which unfortunatly we don't have at the moment.

[braddock]

As things stand we qualify.

[RIML]

What about the Financial Fair Play Regulations? This never seems to get mentioned, or have I missed something?

[Bobby G]

Ridiculous that his stupid statement has been taken in by some people.

Look at how much money Spurs spent just for 1 season in the CL. Look at how much City spent and failed to get there the first time around too! Liverpool havent made it two seasons in a row now and are spending loads to rectify.

However, I think a Europa League spot should be our target (circa 6th-7th spot).

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

For Rovers to get anywhere near the top 4 would be an achievement not far off when Rovers when the premier league (such has the money moved on since Jack's day).

To achieve it - Kean would need to prove to be a far better manager than he has shown so far - we would need a certain amount of luck in our purchases - and significant investment from our owners. We also need to retain any young talent coming through the youth team - we failed on that score with Jones - hopefully we won't make the same mistake with Hoilett.

It's not impossible - just unlikely. Having said that - nothing wrong with the message if it enables us to buy players of the calibre to take us forward.

[rebelmswar]

Ludicrous at best, delusions of grandeur, possibly fueled by a spiked watermelon Sprite, at best.

We are waving a wad of 50 million around, a third of which has been funded by the sale of our best prospect in years, and the other Champions League teams have been spending that for years. People need to realize that if City have had a hard time achieving that whilst throwing money around like a redeemed Scrooge on Christmas morning.

We have a manager who, almost ( by a hair,) got us relegated and our other best player is pimping himself harder than a Lil' Jon groupie for a move.

Possible... no, not yet.

[greco]

it was and still is pure insanity. what spiked drink kean said.

all the big clubs are way ahead of us and could match our spendings, if they chose to do so.

its also known football manager syndrome(the game). X amount of money, 10 new players, a month or 2 and the team is gelled(spelling.?) and of we go.

[rebelmswar]

True enough, bringing in a bushel of new players who have never played with each other before and expecting them to instantaneously play like a team is a big ask.

If we pump 50 million a transfer window into the team and procure youth.

Then maybe in 5 years.

[greco]

if we are to qualify within 5 years, everything we do, try and buy, has to be flawless.

the big teams ahead of us, all have academies filled with players, thats more expensive then some our starters and in some cases, despite the age, also better players.

Sadly, those clubs wont just lean back and relax, they will be frontrunners for the best talent and the best player, as they can offer equal or a better total packages.

[Ectric]

I fully think it is possible who knows what kind of run we could go on and who knows what luck the other teams could have i think the best thing for us to do is stay positive and get behind the team cuz its the players who make the difference and if we cant back them then they will not give their all

[onlyonejackwalker]

Anyone believing we can achieve Champions League football anytime soon is in for a nasty shock. Having seen how we performed under Kean last year, the priority will be to again avoid relegation and then subject to how things are going look to get back into the top ten teams again..ie..realistic expectations.

Alternatively, we can continue to talk the talk, big ourselves up and make ourselves look even more stupid....

Ha ha...CL football at Ewood under Kean and the Venky's... I wish they would either learn about football or button it, the pair of them.