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IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE 4-10-05
I could quite comfortably fill this week's entire article with talk of how bad the game against Sunderland was. However, you'll be pleased to hear that I think for the moment, enough has been said about it. Time to move on.
However, such sentiment was not running through my mind early last week, when I decided that I wouldn't get the night off work in order to watch the away leg in Greece on Sky One. "Fuck that", was my response to those who asked if I would be watching.
I'm glad I didn't. I still haven't seen any highlights of the game, although that could be because there weren't any. I shouldn't be in such low spirits about the fact that we made it to the group stage of the UEFA Cup, but I am.
I know that I was bouncing around the room at the end of last season when the Big Aussie saved Robbie Fowler's last minute penalty. It made the entire season a success, and delighted everyone on Teesside. But this writer is now asking the question, is the juice worth the squeeze?
The income the club will receive from being involved in the UEFA cup is hardly fantastic, and nowhere near the figure made from being involved in the group stage of the Champions League - that is big bucks. It's income all the less.
Being involved in Europe undoubtedly increases the club's international reputation. If we weren't in Europe, the Hasselbainks, Vidukas and Rochembacks of this world wouldn't even consider stepping foot in Teesside. The fact is to attract big names, you need to be in Europe.
And of course, it presents the club with a chance of winning yet another trophy, this time having beaten some of Europe's football elite.
But how many of us really want to go to some of these European ties? About 14,191 I reckon. I'm not being critical of the fans, I didn't go myself, and I'm just using the attendance to prove a point.
We only filled the Riverside once in Europe last season and that was against Lazio. This season though, I can genuinely see it never being full for a European tie.
The club's European coefficient means that we were drawn out of the second pot of teams this time, whereas last season we were in pot three. Basically, this means that we now play the top seed in our group away from home, so no juicy home game against Roma or Monaco or who ever we draw.
And playing on a Sunday is a pain in the arse. I may be wrong, but I imagine a lot of people set aside Saturday for the football and Sunday for a drive in the country, DIY, or whatever else it is that makes people tick.
Personally I hate us playing on a Sunday. The atmosphere at the ground isn't the same for one thing. It just doesn't feel right. It affects attendances and may even affect performance slightly. Playing in Europe on Thursday night certainly doesn't aid performance.
Sunday's win was our first after a European game, as I'm sure you are all too aware. So no matter how bad an atmosphere on a Sunday, it's almost always a worse result. And as for the big name players we bring in, most of them tend to be extremely inconsistent, as our current form shows.
Yakubu is a prime example, as is Viduka. Away at Birmingham Viduka was world class, but where has he been hiding since then?
Yakubu played well and got himself two goals against the Villa on Sunday, yet was anonymous against Wigan and Sunderland. At least you know what you're going to get with Nemeth every week, even if it isn't very much.
Each person will feel differently on the situation regarding Europe, I just know that I'm beginning to question if I prefer being in it or not.
Sunday's result was just what the doctor ordered. I didn't go to the game so I can't comment too much on the performance, I'll leave that to those who know what actually happened as opposed to relying on Alistair Brownlie's version of events.
What is certain is that suddenly things are looking a lot better than they were this time last week. We're still ahead of Newcastle and are only four points behind the second placed team, Charlton.
The Villa win is sure to have restored some of the moral in the squad ahead of the international break. Let's just hope some of that can be maintained until the Portsmouth encounter.
Same time next week. UP THE BORO!
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