Villa To Win League?

Well, slap my thigh and call me Red Rum, Villa might qualify for Europe by winning the league this season.

Not the Premier League admittedly, but hey, who is counting? Apparently Villa could win the Fair Play league and get a Uefa Cup place.

Now, I think that is pathetic in all honesty, qualifying for an ‘important’ cup by not getting as many yellow or red cards BUT if it is Villa who get the back door entry, I don’t think any of us will be complaining, it is about time we get some luck after we failed to get Europe a few seasons ago even though we finished 6th – due to Millwall being finalists in the FA Cup.

Not sure I really want our lot to be that well behaved on the pitch, as John Gregory would say, they might need to get their shorts a bit more dirty.

Anyway, Martin O’Neill said: ‘I wouldn’t be holding my breath on that, because there are too many imponderables. In future time the best thing to do would be to finish fifth, sixth or seventh.’

Amen.

The system is based on:
Red & Yellow Cards
Positive Play
Respect Towards Opponents
Respect Towards Referees
Behaviour of Officials

The official site explains: ‘Under Uefa rules, countries who finish with a Fair Play coefficient of 8.00 or above, will be allocated a place in a draw for two extra places in the Uefa Cup first qualifying round (to be played in the second half of July 2007). At the moment 11 countries have reached this standard, but the top country (currently Sweden) will be given an automatic Uefa Cup spot. That means 10 sides will be entered into the draw – giving Villa a one in five chance.’

All a bit pathetic really, why not give some more teams who finish high or have good cup runs a place?

Current standings: Click Here