What would you rather...

[GlasgowHibee]

Few beers tonight has got me thinking, what would you rather:

Reach the Europa League Group Stages and finish 5th next season behind the Jumbos, Aberdeen, Rangers and Celtic. No domestic cup run, and no appearances at Hampden.

or

Knocked out by Molde and finish 4th again next season. Lose in the final of the Betfred Cup to Celtic.

There’s no right answer I don’t think.

[SaulGoodman]

Few beers tonight has got me thinking, what would you rather:

Reach the Europa League Group Stages and finish 5th next season behind the Jumbos, Aberdeen, Rangers and Celtic. No domestic cup run, and no appearances at Hampden.

or

Knocked out by Molde and finish 4th again next season. Lose in the final of the Betfred Cup to Celtic.

There’s no right answer I don’t think.

There's no right answer because both those answers are a poor season imo.

[monktonharp]

none of the above mate. get to the group stages at least, win the Scottish cup (as I am sure we will within 5 years of our previous win) and finish a decent 3rd above the gorgie mob is my preference.

[Austinho]

What? Getting to the group stages would be massive for our club in this day and age. Both the money generated, the exposure we’d get and memories we’d have of amazing trips against European giants.

Finishing 5th in those circumstances wouldn’t be a failure, and if anything could be attributed to a long hard season from European competition. I’d take that in a heartbeat.

The other scenario would be a decent enough season, in fact it’s what we achieved last season. If the choice was a League Cup win, then it would be a harder decision between the 2.

[AZhibee]

Few beers tonight has got me thinking, what would you rather:

Reach the Europa League Group Stages and finish 5th next season behind the Jumbos, Aberdeen, Rangers and Celtic. No domestic cup run, and no appearances at Hampden.

or

Knocked out by Molde and finish 4th again next season. Lose in the final of the Betfred Cup to Celtic.

There’s no right answer I don’t think.

4th and a Europa league entry?

Since it is entirely hypothetical, will go with Europa group stage.

[Sir David Gray]

A group stage place in the Europa League would be incredible for us.

[hfc rd]

Reaching the group stages would be amazing. But I’d want to back that achievement up by having a good campaign in the league and a good cup run to go with it.

[houstonhibbee]

A group stage place in the Europa League would be incredible for us.


:aok:

[Keyser Sauzee]

Reaching the group stages would be an incredible achievement for us and I would bite your hand off to get into them. If we do somehow manage to reach the group stages it would have a serious effect on our league season as we wouldn’t have the largest of squads and I think we would struggle to make top 6 in that case, I’d still take it as it’s once in a blue moon we would have that opportunity.

[houstonhibbee]

Reaching the group stages would be amazing. But I’d want to back that achievement up by having a good campaign in the league and a good cup run to go with it.
Obviously we all would but you that wasn’t the choice

[dmc1875]

A group stage place for us would be unbelievable and considering the set up of the Europa league now and how many rounds we would have to get through to get there it would be as good a European achievement as Celtic reaching the last 16 of the champions league was a few years ago

[Nameless]

If we were to get to the group stage, and maybe even win a game or two, it would be a revolutionary amount of money for the club. Also, we'd be out by Christmas, so have the whole of the second half of the season to kick on - no reason we can't do the group stages and finish 4th.

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

[BILLYHIBS]

Few beers tonight has got me thinking, what would you rather:

Reach the Europa League Group Stages and finish 5th next season behind the Jumbos, Aberdeen, Rangers and Celtic. No domestic cup run, and no appearances at Hampden.

or

Knocked out by Molde and finish 4th again next season. Lose in the final of the Betfred Cup to Celtic.

There’s no right answer I don’t think.
Have another beer and just look forward to the Motherwell and Molde games I am sure the boys will be the best they can be! :wink:

[Sammy7nil]

There's no right answer because both those answers are a poor season imo.

:confused::confused::confused:
Group stages would be a huge achievement.

[Sammy7nil]

If we were to get to the group stage, and maybe even win a game or two, it would be a revolutionary amount of money for the club. Also, we'd be out by Christmas, so have the whole of the second half of the season to kick on - no reason we can't do the group stages and finish 4th.

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

If we got to the group stage we would really struggle in the league imho of course

[Pretty Boy]

Group stages of the Europa League would be huge for Hibs. It probably would lead to us struggling a bit in other competitions, similar to what happened when we reached 2 finals a couple of years ago, the volume of games with the size of squad we carry means something has to give.

We'd make about £2.5M prize money from the group stage on top of the £800K that we have already secured plus ticket sales. To out that in perspective our turnover last year was £7.7M. That's a huge amount of money to us.

So the answer is the 1st option. It would give us a platform to build on for years to come.

[Nicho87]

What a stupid question. We won't even make it to the second qualifying round 👍

[Waxy]

If we’re good enough to reach the group stage then we’ll be good enogh for second and a cup final appearance.We’ll need to use all our squad and pick our times to rest players.

[B.H.F.C]

Had a similar conversation on the way home from Greece.

This could be our best ever chance of reaching the group stage.Molde might be a decent side but in comparison to some of the teams we could have got they are beatable. We need to hope for something similar in the draw tomorrow.

We could work hard all year, qualify again but pull one of the big boys like Sevilla in the second qualifying round and it’s game over. This could be our ‘England World Cup’ moment where it’s unlikely to fall the way it has again any time soon.

League form would likely be patchy playing Thursday/Sunday. But it was patchy in the forst half of last season without it and our January recruitment really helped us kick on. We could do similar this season, especially with the Europa money banked.

[Tug Wilson]

Had a similar conversation on the way home from Greece.

This could be our best ever chance of reaching the group stage.Molde might be a decent side but in comparison to some of the teams we could have got they are beatable. We need to hope for something similar in the draw tomorrow.

We could work hard all year, qualify again but pull one of the big boys like Sevilla in the second qualifying round and it’s game over. This could be our ‘England World Cup’ moment where it’s unlikely to fall the way it has again any time soon.

League form would likely be patchy playing Thursday/Sunday. But it was patchy in the forst half of last season without it and our January recruitment really helped us kick on. We could do similar this season, especially with the Europa money banked.

Pretty much this.

The financial boost that the group stages would give us would hugely outweigh the slight disappointment of underachievement in the domestic competitions for one season.

The money would set us up to build on the rock solid base we already have. Yes, some of it would probably be invested in an full size indoor pitch at East Mains but that would only be the right thing to do. Better facilities, the opportunity to progress as a player and the whole club setup is likely to attract quality players more than just wages. Indeed, we are likely to never be able to compete with clubs outside Scotland on wages, so need to look at other reasons for the right quality players to come here.

Obviously, all hypothetical but given the choice I would take in order.

1. Europa League group stages
2. Top 3 in league
3. A cup final

[hibee316]

There's no right answer because both those answers are a poor season imo.

So if Hibs go further in Europe than we have ever done before it's a poor season?

[BoomtownHibees]

As BHFC said we had a similar conversation in Athens airport on Friday and agree with all the points made so far. Getting to the group stages would be an awesome achievement and make the club a more than decent amount of cash.

My one reservation about it all though is the thought of getting to the end of this season and being slightly disappointed in finishing so far down the league and then a major disappointment that we wouldn’t then be in Europe again next season.

It’s a tough one as you always want to go as far as you can in every competition and the draw has potentially made this one the best opportunity we will ever get but on the flip side, sometimes a slower more gradual improvement can mean better, longer term success

[houstonhibbee]

So if Hibs go further in Europe than we have ever done before it's a poor season?
Would be our third best effort in Europe

[danhibees1875]

The first option. Every day. Group stages and anything above 11th would be a memorable season.

Ideally we'd win the quadruple though.


Would be our third best effort in Europe

We've never progressed through more than 2 rounds in Europe. :wink:

[Monts]

My one reservation about it all though is the thought of getting to the end of this season and being slightly disappointed in finishing so far down the league and then a major disappointment that we wouldn’t then be in Europe again next season.



Or in the (sort of) words of Terry Butcher, getting knocked out of Europe takes away the fear of not being in Europe :wink:

[Bangkok Hibby]

Group stage for me. The last group game is 13th December. I'm sure we all agree we're unlikely to qualify but a pot of money earned and can push on with the league from then.

[hfc rd]

I’m sure the group stages will be finished a few weeks before Xmas. The CL ones usually finish early December. We’d be back to our normal routine after that and have the whole of the 2nd half of the league campaign to finish in a European position. I think our Scottish Cup campaign will kick off in January. We’d also enter the January transfer window with a fair bit of cash for Lennon to spend on areas of the team required strengthening. Obviously not all of it but a bigger budget than our rivals (Aberdeen & Hearts)

[BoomtownHibees]

I’m sure the group stages will be finished a few weeks before Xmas. The CL ones usually finish early December. We’d be back to our normal routine after that and have the whole of the 2nd half of the league campaign to finish in a European position. I think our Scottish Cup campaign will kick off in January. We’d also enter the January transfer window with a fair bit of cash for Lennon to spend on areas of the team required strengthening. Obviously not all of it but a bigger budget than our rivals (Aberdeen & Hearts)

I get all that but that wasn’t the option in the OP 😉

[Onion]

Group stages would be an incredible achievement for Hibs and Lennon - in many ways more impressive than the SC Win of 2016 (albeit less exciting), so I'd go for that and a top 6 finish. IMO qualifying for Europe is a means to and end, not an end in itself.

[KWJ]

It'd be quite bittersweetTo end the season without European football to look forward to but the group stage would be incredible.

That'd be 16 European ties, a club record by a long way.

[Smartie]

The second half of the season would be pretty dull if we finished 5th and were knocked out of the cup early. I suppose finishing 5th but a point of 2nd having taken it to the last game would still be very good though (especially if the cup exit in the early round was at the likes of Parkhead).

Fairly epic 1st half of the season though.

[cad]

Im not sure what Molde will bring to Easter Road really ,in 2016 they beat Sevilla 1-0 at home lost 3-0 there, a around or two back they played Glenavon losing 2-1 there and winning 5-1 at home , I think Hibs have a 50/50 chance of progressing dont lose a goal at home see what happens ,one thing's for sure it will be a bit easier on the players temperature wise it must have been murder in Greece.
So a great opportunity to fill the Hibernian FC coffers IMO ,maybe a call to Ian Murray for a bit of inside Norwegian football info would help the cause thats if hes still at Asker FC.

[Smartie]

Im not sure what Molde will bring to Easter Road really ,in 2016 they beat Sevilla 1-0 at home lost 3-0 there, a around or two back they played Glenavon losing 2-1 there and winning 5-1 at home , I think Hibs have a 50/50 chance of progressing dont lose a goal at home see what happens ,one thing's for sure it will be a bit easier on the players temperature wise it must have been murder in Greece.
So a great opportunity to fill the Hibernian FC coffers IMO ,maybe a call to Ian Murray for a bit of inside Norwegian football info would help the cause thats if hes still at Asker FC.

It might boil down to which of the teams lose their best player prior to the English window closing, and who has the most in reserve in case of them leaving.