Tottenham expects, it's delivery vs failure day

There is divided opinion among Spurs fans as to whether they want the club to qualify for the UEFA Europa League. Today is the day it's all decided.



Three teams, all playing at the same time for two plaxes, although if Arsenal win the FA Cup it all becomes irrelevant but we can't rely on that. All three contenders are away.

Liverpool 62 pts +9 GD
SPURS 61 pts +4 GD
Southampton 60 pts +23 GD

Liverpool are away at Stoke City, SPURS are away at Everton and Southampton are away at Manchester City. All three home clubs will naturally want to end on a high for their supporters, all three games could go either way.

Many fans don't want to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, their argument is basically that participation affects our league position. If we can't handle the Europa League they we won't be able to handle the Champions League and the Premier League. For most seasons that Everton were in the Europa League under David Moyes it had no affect on their finishing position, they were still always challenging us.

Far too much is made of it and people believe it because everyone says it. If you think it will affect you detrimentally it will, you'll get what you expect because subconsciously that is what you work towards. If you have the attitude it won't affect you then the same applies, subconsciously you'll work towards it not affecting you so you'll get better results.

It's no different than the impossible 4 minute mile. Nobody could break the barrier until Roger Bannister did, later Sir Roger Bannister OBE. Once he had broken it everyone knew it was possible and all and sundry started breaking it. The mental approach was everything.

Manchester United have had a season out of Europe but their improved Premier League position is as a result of spending in excess of £150 million and getting a proven top class manager, not simply not playing in Europe. Liverpool had a wonderful season when they were not in Europe but they had Louis Suarez firing in goals, it wasn't simply no European football. They played in Europe this season and are above us in the table, as are the sides in the Champions League, it hasn't affected them being in Europe.

In previous seasons we have had Gareth Bale and he is the only reason we got near the top four, he was carrying us, the remainder weren't a top four team. That has raised expectations beyond what can realistically be expected, Tottenham were talked about as title contenders, which was rubbish. It does however demonstrate we were improving and there are signs we are improving again. Improvement is not always constant, it is not always upward, sometimes there are blips, sometimes a pace backwards to go forwards. That is what we have experienced while sitting  sometimes on a plateau financially above the rest. We have to wait and continue to make small improvements constantly.

Our next surge of improvement, apart from the small improvement we expect to make next season, will come when we have increased our revenue and improved our commercial position. Until then we will always be trying to punch above our weight, with sporadic success, we will continue to challenge for fourth but will finish, fourth, fifth or sixth.

Losers make excuses, winners find a way to make it work, our way is with a new stadium and increased revenue to try and level the playing field. The club has to have the culture that it is expected we play in Europe every year, not qualifying at all is failure and I don't cheer for failure. Sevilla won the Europa League with all it's games last year, they are in the final again. In La Liga the three money clubs finished first, second and third, Sevilla finished fifth, the competition doesn't seem to have done them any harm. We have a mental block in this country we need to get over.

If it were as simple as putting a football team together, as some suggest, then the other 14 clubs would have done so in the last 20 years, but they haven't. They can't pay the wages to get enough of the quality of player needed, nor can we. The football landscape has totally changed, it's controlled by money.

Players want to play in Europe, if a potential signing can sign for a club with European football or one without he is more likely to choose the one with European football, it increases his exposure. The French manager told his squad that to be picked regularly in squads they must be playing European football in the lead up to the European Championships, merely playing domestic football isn't enough. Being only exposed to one style of football isn't good for a player when it comes to international games, European football gives a player a chance to encounter different styles. The Premier league is totally different to other leagues in Europe.

That of course places a question mark over the future of Hugo Lloris, should we fail to get into Europe. He is the French national captain and may feel he needs to be setting an example. The club needs people with his experience, not to mention his winning mentality, to help the youngsters.

You also have to ask, if we can't hand le the Europa League playing Thursday and Sunday, how are we going to cope with the Champions League playing Wednesday and Saturday, or Saturday, even Sunday to Tuesday. The sides above us handle it because they have the squads to do so. If we want to be a top team we have to cope with it. getting in the Champions League isn't the answer, staying in it season after season is.

If we have no European football then half our squad will hardly play any football, there simply won't be enough for them, especially now Pochettino has improved our fitness record.

If we want to be a successful team we have to learn how to handle two games a week, we need a better squad, or at least a squad who have all bought into the coaches tactics and giving their best. Having half a dozen players in a side who basically refuse to play in the way the coach wishes by simply going through the motions is never going to help.

Apart from exposure, which helps commercial revenue, clubs not playing of Europe have far less commercial income thus us. We have to stay ahead of them to attract and keep players, that takes money for wages so every little helps. Revenue from the Europa League is not great, but you only have to look at our position in comparison to the clubs not regularly in Europe to see it makes a difference to income, and income rules football.

Football is all about money now so reducing our income makes little sense. Reduce it one year to hopefully (no guarantees) get Champions League the following year, then what, miss out again? What if we weren't in Europe and failed to get in the Champions League, commercially we ar less attractive and thus we become more like the clubs below us, ever more reliant on Premier League TV money with no chance of catching the top five.

we can't put an exact figure on our earnings from the Europa League but we'll have a look anyway.

In 2011/12 we only received £3m in TV and prize money, to this we would have to add match day income and a small amount of commercial revenue. Without being in Europe we would not have some of the commercial deals we have. The £3m was made up of £1m for participating, £0.5m for the group stages and £1.5 million in TV money. We didn't progress beyond the group.

In 2012/13 we received £5.4 million in TV and prize money. This was made up of £1.3m for participating, £1m for the group stages, £0.2m for the last 32 stage, £0.4 for the last 16 round, £0,5 for the quarter-final and £2.5m in TV money. Again we need to add match day income and a proportion of commercial income so the overall figure would rise to around £9m.

In 2013/14 we received £5.9m made up of £1.3m for participating, £1.6m for the group stages, £0.2m for the last 32 round, £0.4m for the last 16 round we went out in and £2.5m in TV money. Add match day income and a small amount of commercial revenue and we will have produced around a £10m income.

Olympique Lyonnaise went out in the round after us and picked up a total of £10.2m in TV and prize money. Lazio went out in the round before us and picked up £9.5m, Fiorentina £8.2, the same figue Valencia received for going to the semi-final. Trabsonspor and Eintracht Frankfurt went out in the round before us and picked up £7.9m and £7.3m respectively.

Why the anomaly? It boils down to TV money, UEFA say it will be distributed according to the proportional value of each television market represented by the teams taking part.

The income is dwarfed by the UEFA Champions League yes but there are other factors to take into account and Tottenham has a tradition in Europe, I don't want to not see my team in Europe, I don't want to have to wait a week for a game. The Champions League has become rather boring with the same teams in it all the time, at least in the Europa League there is variety.

I'll accept the Europa League today for now, but the Champions League is what we all want eventually.