Very well argued, Kieran. I agree with you completely. I was thinking the same when I saw the results of last night's games. We'd all love to be in the position that Villa, Forest and Palace are in - basking in the afterglow of a European quarter-final victory. Although their semi-final European tour opportunities are a bit limited. Either 30 miles down the road, or an uncertain trip to wherever Shaktar play their home games.

Read the article several times before submitting it and I've only noticed a point about the squad I meant to put in.

There has been concern this season that players haven't been given game time this season. On the one hand, I get it. A settled first eleven are picking up points in the PL, what I mentioned above as our cash cow. It can be tough to change a settled eleven when they're doing well.

The extra games in Europe will give us a chance to give much needed game time to players like Dibling and Armstrong. Players that are meant to develop into quality and either improve the squad or raise funds through sales.

These younger players with potential are part of the strategic planning within the club. Europe provides us with the chance to see sensible planning implemented.

Before having seen this article, I had already thought this morning having seen last night’s results that it seems even very average PL teams can go a long way in Europe these days (also looking at you West Ham).

I wonder if apart from the ‘elite’ European teams the rest have fallen far behind the PL. I assume most of the top players would rather come to the PL, and there is certainly a large disparity money wise.

I would love to see us in Europe next season but it’s sad that what concerns me most about it is not from a football perspective but rather how UEFAs different spending rules would affect us, plus the whole Roma situation if we ended up in the same competition. (Also, Moyes would need to use his whole squad and not run his favoured few into the ground…)

Anyway, worries for another day. First things first - please give the RS a fearful kicking whilst they are down on Sunday and we can begin to dream of away days to Tallinn…

Brilliant article Kieran, thank you for writing it.

You eloquently address a quandary that I don’t think most of us thought we would have the luxury of pondering this season. I can appreciate the arguments on both sides, but as I was reading your article I had a simple thought…

We regularly post on here about our desperation for silverware and our despondency when we make limp exits from the domestic trophies. My simple thought was that perhaps European silverware is just as obtainable, if not more so, than domestic.

If we, as I do, crave just one fucking trophy, surely the chance to enter a competition (and I am referring to the Europa league and Conference league in this regard) is something we should relish. Fuck me, if West Ham can win it then we certainly can!

Good article Kieran.

I am in two minds about this one. Look at Spurs who won the Europa cup last year and got into the Champions League as a result. They have a good squad on paper, admittedly they've been hit by injuries but they are in real peril this season. I think it is between them and West Ham for the drop.

We had a good run in Europe under Martinez but our league form started to suffer as a result. We never seemed to cope with the Thursday/Sunday games.

The optimist in me says that European qualification might force the Friedkins to invest more heavily in the squad and we should be aiming for better than mid-table mediocrity. The possibility of playing in Europe, you would think, would make us more attractive to players and agents.

We should know more after this weekend.

I dread derby games. I really do.

COYB

Craig, there are no certainties in football. Absolutely we could bomb. But it is a risk for every club in European competitions. O

Ae Peter mentions above, Moyes might play his favourites until they drop and we runniut of steam.

But then, planning and preparation should be there in the summer. Spurs have gone through several managers this season. That gives you no chance of.momentum or consistency. Forest may have planned very well last summer and.then sacked Nuno early in the season. Planning gone out the window.

Kieran, totally agree. Continuity is essential if we do find ourselves in a European campaign. If our league form does suffer I don’t think it’s helpful to press the panic button and change the manager.

What your opinion about Moyes, surely the last few years have demonstrated the carnage that derives from incessant managerial changes? I became absolutely sick of being a basket case of a football club with a Frankenstein’s monster of a squad comprised of multiple manager’s signings.

Dave, I think Moyes is the right manager for at least another season. If we continue with the progress we've been making, I would consider another contract. I think consistency is key until we get to a level where you can hire an 'elite' manager.

You are right about the squad and your monster phrase is perfect. It's part of the reason I would keep Moyes. If we had better succession planning after his first stint, imagine where we might be now. Martin's just couldn't get the blend/transition right with the squad Moyes left him.

Yes, agreed Kieran. Until we’re closer to being an elite club then any elite manager we appoint is always likely to ‘do an Ancelotti’ !

I have no idea how any of us can turn our noses up at European football?!?!
We were 45 minutes away from League 1 football this time 4 years ago (I've no doubt we would have dropped again if we'd gone down) and now we're on the brink of rejoining an elite bunch of clubs, with even an outside chance of the very biggest European competition there is.

European football gives the Club some kudos, it raises the profile, it changes the outside perception of us and it gives, finally, a chance to build and actually USE a bloody squad!

Young players like Dibling and Harrison will play nearly every week if we get the Conference League, and if its Europa then they'll play far more minutes than otherwise.

I don't believe our squad is as weak as some make out, at 1 point we had 10 players unavailable yet still picked up points away at Burnley, Forest and Villa. A couple of, disappointing, draws at home to Wolves and Leeds as well.

Outside the absolute top clubs,nobody else has a truly strong squad and to pick up the points we did shows we're in a decent position, considering the lack of investment over the last few years.

How do you think Brighton, Palace or pretty much anyone else would have coped with 5 - 10 players missing? They would have struggled a bit too and dropped points in winnable games. Just like we did.

It's just such a relief to have genuine optimism and something positive to play for as we enter the run-in. And I've got a ticket for tomorrow, feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!!

Great piece Kieran, as always. I agree with so much of it : the changed narrative, the self-respect, the momentum. But it does raises some really uncomfortable questions, and the multi‑club ownership angle makes it even more urgent.

You're right, European qualification changes the external narrative, boosts revenue, aids co‑efficient, keeps TFG engaged, and gives fans something to smile about. After years of misery, that last point alone is massive. But the concerns are real.

· Cup form: We've bombed out of both domestic cups early again this season. That suggests a squad and a mentality not yet ready for Thursday‑Sunday‑Thursday.
· Moyes: Perfect for stability. But is he the man to evolve into a progressive, squad‑rotating European manager? History suggests caution.

· Finch Farm: The facilities are elite. The culture shift isn't. Playing meaningful games in March/April after a European campaign is a different beast.Though I think TFG are working on this.

PSR headroom is basically zero.Everton likely need to sell before we can buy, even with a modest European budget boost. That's not a recipe for deepening a squad for two competitions.

The elephant in the room: UEFA multi‑club rules & Insight SportThis is where it gets properly complicated.

· UEFA Article 5, brought in on the 1st March this year , prohibits two clubs with the same owner playing in the same European competition. If both Everton and Roma qualify, one would be blocked unless TFG can prove no decisive influence over both.
· Insight Sport – the analytics hub TFG acquired and placed under the same "Pursuit Sports" umbrella as both clubs – looks like exactly the kind of shared performance resource UEFA forbids.
· Sharing scouting data, player models, or recruitment algorithms would be a direct breach of integrity rules.

TFG are proposing to tackle this from what I can gather by reportedly rejecting the "blind trust" option (which would limit their control). Instead, they're working on an unnamed "structural solution", likely legal and governance firewalls to satisfy UEFA's CFCB.

But they've already missed the March 1st declaration deadline, and UEFA hasn't yet signed off on their plan. The fallback is brutal: the higher‑ranked club (currently Roma) would get the European spot, and the other would be excluded

Even if we finish 7th or 8th, even if we deserve Europe, we might not get it. Not because of our form, but because of a regulatory clash with Roma and a shared data platform that looks great for "synergy" but terrible for UEFA compliance.That would be the most Everton thing ever. Finally relevant, finally stable, finally respected and then blocked by a technicality.

But if TFG can navigate this? If they can keep both clubs compliant, keep Insight Sport firewalled, and give Moyes one extra quality player? Then Europe isn't just a reward. It's the foundation for genuine, sustainable progress.It may be that TFG are pushing the boat out and are talking to Ueafa. They report a understanding with Ueafa.I take it that because they never say anything, that this statement is well considered.

And yes, you may be ultimately right Kieran.

Very smart article Kieran, but I do deeply disagree with one part of it: 'To watch the hyperbole on Sky Sports surrounding Spurs' supposed death spiral is frightening. It's been ongoing for several weeks and there's a glee and a morbid obsession to it that I have never seen before. It's sickening to watch'.

It isn't 'sickening to watch' for me, I'm enjoying every bit of it.

Also, I would love to see both us and Roma qualifying for the same competition to see who Saint Daniel-the-Absent would pick over the other. That would tell us a lot!

Jerome, to potentially exacerbate matters, Roma are currently only 6th in their league which, if I have interpreted correctly the lines on the BBC's Serie A table, would put them in the Conference League.

If both us and Roma finished in Conference League places, I believe they would be in it at our expense.

Don't think the Friedkins would have any say in the matter. I had thought it was about highest Uefa coefficient (Roma would be higher than us, I assume) but, looking at Uefa website, I think the first determinant is who gets higher placing in domestic league. England's Conference League place would bound to be lower than 6th in Italy.

Now where did I put my blue anorak?