Who has had the better season?

Marvanelli

Marvanelli

Well-known member
Newcastle or West Ham?

Seeing a lot of this discussion on social media inside the last 12-18 hours.

Newcastle 1 cup final (lost) and finished 4th - qualified for Champions League.
West Ham 1 cup final (won) and finished 14th - qualified for Europa League.

Personally I think winning any European trophy is well above finishing in any league position (other than first of course).

A lot of Newcastle fans wouldn't swap their 4th place finish for the trophy West Ham won...this is the same team that have gone over 60 years without any silverware. Astonishing to see the amount who agree with this too.

I would even say I'd swap Arsenal's season for West Ham's season, even though Arteta has done a fantastic job there this season.
 
Trophy trumps league position every time for me.

Unless that position is 1st, of course.

Obviously financially Newcastle have had a better season, because of the funding Champions League football will unlock for them, and they're clearly the better team.

I'd take winning the Conference League over finishing 4th if it was a choice for Middlesbrough.
 
Marvanelli said:
Newcastle or West Ham?

Seeing a lot of this discussion on social media inside the last 12-18 hours.

Newcastle 1 cup final (lost) and finished 4th - qualified for Champions League.
West Ham 1 cup final (won) and finished 14th - qualified for Europa League.

Personally I think winning any European trophy is well above finishing in any league position (other than first of course).

A lot of Newcastle fans wouldn't swap their 4th place finish for the trophy West Ham won...this is the same team that have gone over 60 years without any silverware. Astonishing to see the amount who agree with this too.

I would even say I'd swap Arsenal's season for West Ham's season, even though Arteta has done a fantastic job there this season.
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I agree, silverware is the kicker for me.

But you have to say Newcastle have had a better season, in terms of performances and points - they have as a matter of fact been better than Wet Ham, but just dont have a medal to show for it.
 
Newcastle finishing 4th was more important for them going forward but West Ham have a trophy and that's better than potential.
 
Marvanelli said:
Newcastle or West Ham?

Seeing a lot of this discussion on social media inside the last 12-18 hours.

Newcastle 1 cup final (lost) and finished 4th - qualified for Champions League.
West Ham 1 cup final (won) and finished 14th - qualified for Europa League.

Personally I think winning any European trophy is well above finishing in any league position (other than first of course).

A lot of Newcastle fans wouldn't swap their 4th place finish for the trophy West Ham won...this is the same team that have gone over 60 years without any silverware. Astonishing to see the amount who agree with this too.

I would even say I'd swap Arsenal's season for West Ham's season, even though Arteta has done a fantastic job there this season.
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I would agree if they had won the Europa League. This Conference competition just doesn't mean much to me.
Without a doubt in my mind Arsenal's season dwarfs West Ham's and I know many Gunners feel the same.
If I was a Newcastle fan I'm not sure I'd swap either.
 
MichaelDebeve said:
But you have to say Newcastle have had a better season, in terms of performances and points - they have as a matter of fact been better than Wet Ham, but just dont have a medal to show for it.
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Whilst you are correct to point out the league campaign, it is still up for debate as it looks to be pretty evident that West Ham threw all their eggs in the Europa Conference League basket. They were unbeaten throughout that whole competition this year and won it.

They clearly sacrificed the Premier League campaign for the chance of winning the ECL trophy and they reaped the benefits.

If they didn't have the distractions of the ECL, then I think they'd have performed much much stronger in the PL this season.

It was refreshing to see Moyes sacrifice the PL for the chance of silverware - something a lot of clubs don't do. Some PL don't even take the FA Cup serious never mind Europe.
 
Marvanelli said:
Whilst you are correct to point out the league campaign, it is still up for debate as it looks to be pretty evident that West Ham threw all their eggs in the Europa Conference League basket. They were unbeaten throughout that whole competition this year and won it.

They clearly sacrificed the Premier League campaign for the chance of winning the ECL trophy and they reaped the benefits.

If they didn't have the distractions of the ECL, then I think they'd have performed much much stronger in the PL this season.

It was refreshing to see Moyes sacrifice the PL for the chance of silverware - something a lot of clubs don't do. Some PL don't even take the FA Cup serious never mind Europe.
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You say they sacrificed the league - but nobody can be certain of that. They have been pretty terrible consistently this year, and not just the Sundays after the conference games.

I agree, the long game probably was focused towards the cup, but I think it is also a happy coincidence - and the cup gives the club a get out of jail card for being pretty awful for 70% of the overall campaign.
 
Marvanelli said:
They clearly sacrificed the Premier League campaign for the chance of winning the ECL trophy and they reaped the benefits.
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I bet they would if it was for the European Champions League. The Press will probably claim it was given time.
But it wasn't, it was the Europa Conference League.
 
MichaelDebeve said:
You say they sacrificed the league - but nobody can be certain of that
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True, there's no proof, but if you take for example some of the teams Moyes fielded after Europa Conference League games, then that would indicate he prioritsed Europe.

Look at the team he put out for Brentford away....it was full of their 2nd string.
 
Marvanelli said:
True, there's no proof, but if you take for example some of the teams Moyes fielded after Europa Conference League games, then that would indicate he prioritsed Europe.

Look at the team he put out for Brentford away....it was full of their 2nd string.
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I dont doubt that, and I'm sure as the season went on the priorities definitely shifted.

But look at the league table in October, after circa 10 games - they are still lurking around 15/16th.

The glamour knock out ties are way off in the cup at this point, and they are still poor. I dare say most line ups at this point will have been as full strength as possible.
 
Marvanelli said:
Whilst you are correct to point out the league campaign, it is still up for debate as it looks to be pretty evident that West Ham threw all their eggs in the Europa Conference League basket. They were unbeaten throughout that whole competition this year and won it.

They clearly sacrificed the Premier League campaign for the chance of winning the ECL trophy and they reaped the benefits.

If they didn't have the distractions of the ECL, then I think they'd have performed much much stronger in the PL this season.

It was refreshing to see Moyes sacrifice the PL for the chance of silverware - something a lot of clubs don't do. Some PL don't even take the FA Cup serious never mind Europe.
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What a load of bollox. Have you seen the teams they played on the route to the final. They didn't have to throw eggs into any basket to beat their opposition.
 
Its a funny question really because I agree with both sides of the argument.

So its either factually, who has had the better overall season, i.e. all performances, points, etc and that has to be Newcastle

or who has had the better season, in terms of what would you like, and then you lean to WHU for the thrill of a cup run, the memories of a final, and a trophy in the cabinet.

Again, no right or wrong answer really.
 
MichaelDebeve said:
Its a funny question really because I agree with both sides of the argument.

So its either factually, who has had the better overall season, i.e. all performances, points, etc and that has to be Newcastle

or who has had the better season, in terms of what would you like, and then you lean to WHU for the thrill of a cup run, the memories of a final, and a trophy in the cabinet.

Again, no right or wrong answer really.
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Newcastle might have had to do more and play at a higher standard but have nothing to show for it other than an early entry into the CL. Lets see how they do with the extra games.
 
Trophy every day of the week, however, the argument that finishing 4th, with all the prestige champions league football will bring, alongside the enhanced recruitment opportunity and ability to fudge FFP even more, is a hard one to ignore.

Although the West Ham fans have had a night they'll never forget, for Newcastle in particular, finishing 4th is sadly only the start of their journey which will enable them to win many, many more trophies, trophies more prestigious than the Europa conference.
 
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