Ipswich were EPL though weren't they? They finished 5th or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkn-WefDlpE...player_embedded

Nice.

Spicy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I actually blame the coaching appointment. You are taking a coach with a completely different coaching mentality and putting him in charge of a squad of relative veterans in the Italian style.

And this to boot has been a coach who has mostly handled youngsters. It will take time. Maybe at least December if they all row in the same direction.

That can only happen to Austrians (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)


Not just the one coach; good Italian coaches are hard to find. There was a time when clubs like Fiorentina, Sampdoria or Roma had world class or excellent italian coaches, side-by-side with Milan, Inter and Juventus.

I thought they were in it once having gone down, I can't solely remember, maybe it was through fair play or something. I might be wrong though.

Oh, and what happened to ALL the Scottish Clubs?!

Even before Calciopoli, the UEFA Cup teams never even tried to do well in that competition, usually sending their backups for the games. It's the entire attitude that is rotten. And now the big clubs cannot pick up all the slack anymore in the CL like they used to do in the past

small heath miss all the big teams and get a nice easy group.

Braga, Club Brugge and NK Maribor. I suppose it's a good thing. The longer they stay in it, the more chance of them going down again.

Schadenfreude (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

My favorite sin (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif)

The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body today dealt with the two protests lodged by Celtic FC against the validity of their UEFA Europa League play-off ties played against FC Sion on 18 and 25 August.

The Scottish club questioned the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated in these matches, with the Swiss side winning 3-1 on aggregate. The Control and Disciplinary Body accepted both protests and decided to award both ties to Celtic by forfeit (3-0).

As a consequence, Celtic are qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage.

Yeah I heard about this, won't there be an appeal stage I'm presuming though.

I don't care they're in the Europa League, I care about the fact they're getting free money Rangers could sure as hell do with.

Europa League is the bowels of Europe and has zero credibility. The only use for it is if you make the final. Otherwise it's a joke of a cup.

I swear this has only been the case since it's been rebranded and turned into this ridiculous format it has become. 10 or so years ago though it was a great competition, sure not the CL but it wasn't bad at all. To be honest the knockout stages still aren't too bad, though it's a shame so many teams don't care about it (or say they don't once they go out, ala the Italian sides).

Yes, indeed. But it seems to me that not so long ago, say maximum 10 years ago, teams took those tournaments completely different, it was a priority to them as well as a important platform to prove their abilities. Even the Cup Winners Cup, if someone remembers that old tournament, was a good competition.