Killie in Europe

[jwok]

I have no particular feeling for Kilmarnock but I'm glad they earned the right to play in Europe next season. All done without spending loadsa money. Well done.

[Handsome_Devil]

Any time a Motherwell, Killie, St Johnstone etc manage to finish above both Edinburgh sides and Aberdeen it's a tremendous achievement. The fact it's 'only' third and doesn't come with a trophy means it's soon forgotten but proving yourself over 38 games is a massive test.

Given how awful they were before Clarke it will be very interesting to see how they do next season without him.

[dasdeid]

Congratulations but like ourselves exit before the schools return for next term by a team one must wiki to determine country of origin.
IMO pointless and a costly excursion to foreign shores. Buy your beer Aldi or Lidl and pretend your abroad.

[LawSteelman]

That much pretty much sums it up when it comes to Europe for us and clubs of similar size. All it will ever amount to, realistically, is a two, possibly four game bit of extra fluff at the beginning of a season and you are out by the end of August at the very latest. Obviously Kilmarnock deserve huge credit for a season of remarkable consistency and indeed it was great to see when we did likewise under McCall, it was hugely enjoyable seeing us better the city clubs and we all took a great deal of satisfaction from it. However our European 'exploits' on the back of those high finishes were forgettable and personally I'm not fussed about qualifying for Europe ever again, though I'll certainly take the high league finish and consistency that trumps the bigger clubs mind you.

[Wellup4it]

Very often the problem with mid ranking Premiership clubs, like ourselves and Killie, qualifying for Europe is that after the season of qualification best players and managers move on leaving a rebuilding exercise prior to early summer qualifying games. Its happened to us several times and now Killie has lost Steve Clarke.

[Handsome_Devil]

Given the absolute scarcity of true success clubs our size can achieve, Europe is a pleasant change from the humdrum of yet another meeting with the same teams we play multiple times a season. If you don't take it seriously and treat it for what it is, a wee jaunt somewhere new with your mates, it's very enjoyable.

[LawSteelman]

Yeah that's fair enough and I'm the first to admit that I do perhaps take things a little too seriously when it comes to Motherwell FC, however I care passionately about the club and invest alot of time and money in supporting them and hope to see us do the best we possibly can at all times. How the team fares in competitive matches is what football is all about for me, and while I enjoy a jaunt abroad and/or a bevvy with my mates, the two are very much separate for me. If I wanted a bevvy with my mates along with football I'd much rather be in the Electric Bar after seeing us win a league cup match than somewhere in Eastern Europe falling into a fountain p1ssed out my skull having just been in attendance at, but having very little recollection of, us getting pumped by some Turkish side nobody has ever heard of. But each to their own I suppose.

[Handsome_Devil]

All unarguable but if you want "the best we possibly can at all times' that means playing at the highest level possible, ie being in Europe - if we're never in it, we have no chance of lucking a group stage spot.

As a Motherwell geek I find it sad so many peers have historic runs in Europe to look back on, with deserved pride, when we do not.

[LawSteelman]

Europe is a level way beyond our reach and we're never going to do anything of note on that stage, the same goes for every other Scottish club bar Celtic.

Obviously Aberdeen and Dundee United both have enjoyed success/impressive results at that level but the footballing landscape has changed dramatically since then and I don't see that happening again for clubs of that size. In any case, I wouldn't class Aberdeen and Dundee United as 'peers' of ours as both are easily bigger clubs than we are.

For me it's all about what happens domestically, through the League and domestic Cups. As I've said before I want nothing more in football than to see us win silverware again and in terms of the league I want to see us finishing as high as we possibly can and competing with, and bettering the city clubs, as Kilmarnock have done this season. Obviously European qualification comes as a result of that but to me that's not hugely important.

[Handsome_Devil]

Kilmarnock, Dundee and Dunfermline have all made semi-finals and claimed some truly notable results. We have the edge in other areas ofc but I find our lack of European history a shame.