Aye - that's a phucking joke as well. One minute he's saying how important Europe is & how we want to get to group stages etc - next its the excuse for another piss poor performance.
If you want to progress this club Derek min, instead of merely standing still as we have for about 5 years now, you need to put a squad together that's capable of competing in both Europe & domestically, not put a squad together that needs you to use Europe as an excuse for failure in both.
We're miles away from being able to compete in both arenas - I doubt we'll ever get there with the current budgets & him in charge if I'm honest...