Liverpool scraped through to win the Carling Cup this afternoon 3-2 on penalties after extra time, against a gallant and good Cardiff City side.
Steven Gerrrad – with Carling Cup tonight
The game was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes and 2-2 after extra time, with Cardiff having equalized with just two minutes of extra time to play, to force the penalty shoot-out.
Liverpool won on penalties 3-2 after both sides had taken their five penalties, with Steven Gerard being one of the players to miss their penalty, which goalkeeper Heaton saved brilliantly.
And it was his younger cousin Anthony Gerrard who was the one to miss Cardiff’s 5th penalty and give the Cup to Liverpool.
So it’s a medal for two former Newcastle players Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique, and it’s something they wouldn’t have won if they had stayed at Newcastle.
And to prevent other top players from wanting to leave Newcastle, the Tyneside club will need to keep finishing high up in the league, and qualify for Europe and maybe next season we can even win something for the first time in 44 years.
England allocates three slots to the Europa League – and they are the FA Cup and Carling Cup winners, and the team that finishes 5th in the Premier League table.
The top four all qualify for the European Champions League at some stage of the competition.
But if a team in the top five have already won one of the cups, then another place is allocated in the Europa League via the league table.
Let’s assume Newcastle finish in 7th place and Liverpool finish above them, and let’s further assume that a club above Newcastle also wins the FA Cup.
That could be Liverpool, Chelsea or Tottenham who are the sides currently above Newcastle and still in the FA Cup at the quarter final stage.
Then in that case two extra places in the league table, 6th place and 7th place, would be allocated to the Europa League positions, and lo and behold Newcastle would qualify if they finished in 7th position or higher.
Currently Newcastle are 8 points above the 8th placed side Norwich City, who lost at home to Manchester United, with Ryan Giggs scoring the winner in injury time at Carrow Road earlier today.
So no doubt Alan Pardew and the rest of the lads will be hoping that Chelsea, Tottenham or Liverpool can win the FA Cup, and then we could make it into Europe.
If the FA Cup winner is below Newcastle in the league – say it’s Everton, Bolton or heaven forbid, Sunderland, then Newcastle would not qualify in 7th place and would need to get into 6th place and have Liverpool finish above them to qualify in that case.
So the win today has certainly helped Newcastle’s chances of qualifying for Europe next season, but of course it’s up to Newcastle to finish as high up in the league table as we can.
And dropping home points against Wolves, like we did yesterday, is not the way to do it.
Comments welcome.
50 comments so far
ToonDownSouth
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:32 PM
Comment #1Actually Ed, the FA Cup runner up can also get in to Europe.
So we need to hope that both finalists are ‘top 6’ teams.
JackButler
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:38 PM
Comment #2No doubt the Bin Dippers will melt the cup down and weigh it in for scrap
JP...from The Rock
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:43 PM
Comment #3Interesting. I think we’ll clinch a top 6 spot that will eventually bring us European football. To think I made a bet way back in September is amazing. Tbh ever since we went on that unbeaten run I never doubted it. Now that we have Cisse who is a natural goalscorer and Liverfool have won the Carling Cup it would be a massive disaster not to clinch a shot at Europe.
It’s a disgusting feeling knowing Carroll aka Judas and Enrique have won a winners medal so soon after leaving us after doing hardly anything for Liverfool. Oh well we’l get em next year.
HWTL
ToonDownSouth
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:44 PM
Comment #4They’ll probably melt it down to plate a statue of that retard Dalglish.
I’m just glad we’re not the club with the messiah complex anymore!
Luckily for us, winning that cup will keep him in the job for another year.
IrishToon009
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:44 PM
Comment #5whats the story with the other finalist? If the winner is in champ league etc does the runner up get the place or does it go to extra league europa league spot?
ToonDownSouth
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:48 PM
Comment #6Irish
See comment #1 🙂
IrishToon009
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:53 PM
Comment #7So does that mean both teams in FA final get in or if the winner is already there the runner up gets it?
FootballPsycho
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Comment #8I’m sure we don’t need Liverpool to finish above us for 6th and 7th to get into Europe; surely all that is now required is that Liverpool play either Chelsea or Spurs (preferably Spurs) for that to happen…?
ToonDownSouth
Feb 26, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Comment #9Yeah, if the winner is already in then the runner up gets it.
Currently, if we finish 5th or 6th we get into the Europa League.
If we finish 7th, then we need to hope that both finalists of the FA cup are teams that finish above us. Realistically, that’s only 2 from Chelsea, Spurs & Liverpool as everyone else is out!
SurefootedShola
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:03 AM
Comment #10The only cup win good for NUFC, is a NUFC one.
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:10 AM
Comment #11I was supporting Cardiff City all the way. I hate watching Carroll and Enrique celebrating !!!
If Liverfool is no 4 then the Europa League is given to Cardiff?
joe
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:13 AM
Comment #12Come on guys.. Credit where it’s due. Daglish is still a good manager, maybe not for us, but he is for Liverpool. He is to them what Kevin Keegan was for us. I only started watching football while we were under Daglish so I missed the Keegan era. So Kenny Daglish was basically the first manager of Newcastle I knew! He did make a mistake with us though, trying to change the whole squad instead of just tweaking it.
FootballPsycho
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:15 AM
Comment #13TDS
How is 5th or 6th currently good enough for Europa; surely only 5th is at this moment in time? 6th is only good enough also if Chelsea play Spurs in the FA cup final
LewSpi
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:15 AM
Comment #14Rather than all of this confusing ‘runner up’ places etc, is it not just easier for us to finish 5th?
ToonDownSouth
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:16 AM
Comment #15Surefooted
I’m fairly sure that is incorrect – at least in 99% of fans eyes.
See this article :/
ToonDownSouth
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:18 AM
Comment #16LewSpi
Unfortunately teams can’t just pick where they finish 😉
I’d love it, I really would, but we’re currently not up with Chelsea & Arsenal. Our squad is too thin and our manager has a lot to learn and work on.
GeordieCoaster
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:19 AM
Comment #17@Brutooon The runners up rule doesn’t apply in the League Cup, so if Liverpool finish top 5 the Europa league spot will move down to 6th
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:20 AM
Comment #18The Europa League will be given to Cardiff City if Liverpool finish 4th spot and above. (Champion League)
ToonDownSouth
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:20 AM
Comment #19joe
You think that after spending £100m, winning the Carling Cup and currently being 7th in the league is good?
They’re below us, a team who have spent a net -£25m since Dalglish took over!
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:21 AM
Comment #20GeordieCoaster
Tq for the clarification mate 🙂
ToonDownSouth
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:21 AM
Comment #21Brutoon
Liverpool will surely not finish 4th. They’re dreadful.
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:21 AM
Comment #22Liverpool spend about 100million, struggle to beat cardiff city
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:23 AM
Comment #23ToonDownSouth
they won’t finish 4th place as long as they keep on playing Andy Carroll !!!
But i am concern about our team:
1) struggle the last 4-5 games
2) always conceding goals
joe
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:25 AM
Comment #24Im not basing my judgement on one game. Regardless of how bad his transfer dealings have been, he still managed to win a trophy in his first full season. Unlike a lot of people here, I’ve got nothing against the guy, and I’m just saying he is a decent manager. Unless he keeps buying our players that is!!
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 12:28 AM
Comment #25When Kenny Daglish is our manager, he screw our team !
StuW
Feb 27, 2012 at 1:11 AM
Comment #26When we look decent in a cup, the manager or players always say ‘We can have a run in this comp’, and the next round we are out. Form goes out of the window in the cup, Cardiff proved that.
Still, we can still finish top 6, which is where we should aim for, and anything higher is a bonus. We have put distance between ourselves and 8th. A couple of good signings in areas we look weak(CM, CB, RW) and we can push harder for Europe next season.
davybtoon
Feb 27, 2012 at 1:27 AM
Comment #274th is still up for grabs is it likely we will get it no but we’re only 3pts off it with both arsenal n Chelsea to play we can hav a big say who finishes there, we finish anywhere between 4th n 7th its been a great season with some blips but every team has them apart from city this season
If staylor was fit we wud hav 4th spot tied up nearly the difference in the defence since he’s been out Is huge is unreal such a great player
lee1892
Feb 27, 2012 at 1:39 AM
Comment #28Brutoon – The Europa League will be given to Cardiff City if Liverpool finish 4th spot and above. (Champion League)
That is incorrect. Those rules apply to the FA cup but not the league cup. Cardiff can not get into europe and Ed’s article is correct.
boing123
Feb 27, 2012 at 4:33 AM
Comment #29I reckon we have to hope hard for a Spurs-Liverpool-Chelsea FA Cup final. From our form since the unbeaten run ended, 7th place looks like the most likely outcome. After the defence stopped putting up superhuman performances in the absence of Saylor, the team has looked at best an upper mid-table team.
Just look at our record against the big 6: 1 win, 3 draws, 4 losses. 6 points out of a possible 24. The lack of quality has really showed when we played against the top teams.
Earlier in the season, we have been able to pick up points against the weaker teams. Now, we’ve dropped important points at home against the likes of Wolves, Swansea and West Brom. The lack of creativity and penetration is all too obvious when teams opt to sit back and defend.
Bottomline – we have improved this season, but there is still a significant gap in quality between us and the big 6.
Brutooon
Feb 27, 2012 at 5:56 AM
Comment #30tq for the clarification ICE1892
NEWEXPATMAGPIE
Feb 27, 2012 at 6:11 AM
Comment #31I don,t wish to doubt you Ed but could you check your facts!
I believe that the League Cup winners are,nt entitled to a europa cup place!
I know that you state this in your artikle but i have serious doubts that this is the case?
I believe that as far as Europa cup placings regards, our League cup is of no significance for the winners and also the runners up get Diddley squat !
Someone needs to go on the net and check exactly what the case is here ( namely you Ed ).
Plus: I worry seriously about us even finnishing with a top ten place in retrospect of our last few performances, which will probably have some of you calling me names on here! But if we don,t start winning games again soon, we are gonna start sliding down the table! Big Time!
This would be an absolute travesty taking into account the first half of the season!
The African cup of Nations has really screwed us up this year, and i feel that with any future signings, the fact that certain players just leave for weeks, this should be taken into consideration when looking at prospective transfers!
You also state that Carroll and Enrique would never have got a winners medal with Newcastle if they had stayed! Now then! Liverpool paid big money for these players so, you could say that the money paid went towards them winning this competition!
To your average Pool fan, well its been six years since they won anything but a win for Newcastle in any major competition in UK would mean one hell of a lot more to your average Mag, than a cup competition win for Liverpool, if we started signing players for 35Mil it would,nt be long befrore we would start winning things too! but this is,nt going to happen! Look at Man Shitty! Carroll played shite in the game itself, however! Enrique was better and his value is by far more than that of Carroll,s !
Finally, we were bloody awful on saturday against Wolves but their was something else that i noticed while watching the game live on the box here in Holland. This was how still our support was in the stadium! I heard the Wolves supporters, but where were ours? this was a home game for goodness sake, if we want the team to play well then we need to shout and scream and roar on the terraces and not sit still like cardboard cut-outs while the lads play abysmally. Am i the only one on here who noticed this!
If the lads don,t start performing i can see us losing big time against the Mackems next Sunday! Oneil will of seen our last few fixtures and will have his players wound up accordingly! Lose against them and we will slide to 7th or 8th place again! And this will be our lowest position since, uum, September i think!
I remain optimistic and am hoping that the players snap out of their trances and start winning games again !
And also that Pardew starts looking at his tactics and timing when it comes to substitutions, the first Wolves goal on saturday was partly to blame on the timing of his first subs!
NEWEXPATMAGPIE
Feb 27, 2012 at 6:15 AM
Comment #32Bruto @ 30:
ICE 1892 ?
Post it up on here so everyone can read it !
mylestoon
Feb 27, 2012 at 6:57 AM
Comment #3332NEWEXPATMAGPIE
You need to check your facts! Birmingham city qualified for Europe this year when they won the league cup last year!
Also, how did fulham qualify for Europe this year when they didn’t finish in top 7 last year or win a cup.
Klatoon
Feb 27, 2012 at 6:59 AM
Comment #34After the wolves debacle,i honestly hoped there would be no more talk of Europe….although qualifying for Euro competition would help our transfer dealings (allure to continental players). I know we cant make it with our current form but if it helps replace Willo and Simmo,hey count me in…Europe here we come
obatoyou
Feb 27, 2012 at 7:22 AM
Comment #35so, as the table stands at the moment, we are not in europe :S
we need to overtake arsenal, or hope the FA cup final contains two of chelsea, tottenham and liverpool.
on the plus side, the situation doesn’t change if liverpool overtakes us in the league. 🙂
Grafton83
Feb 27, 2012 at 7:39 AM
Comment #36@mylestoon Fulham qualified through the fair play league that’s completly seperate to league positions as far as I’m aware.
Doilatoon
Feb 27, 2012 at 7:42 AM
Comment #37If you look closely on the trophy,you can see mickey mouse 🙂
Indian Magpie
Feb 27, 2012 at 7:44 AM
Comment #38mylestoon,
Fulham qualified bcoz of fair play rules, it was initially given 2 blackpool who were relegated
Solaidback
Feb 27, 2012 at 7:51 AM
Comment #39For a heads up, even if Cardiff had won the League cup beating Cessepool, they wouldn’t have got into Europe because they’re classed as a Welsh club & the League Club Europa position is for English clubs only…. sounds daft I know but if they had won, then they would have had to pertition Uefa for a position in the Europa League like Cessepool did when they won the CL but didn’t qualify the season after….. thus meaning it would have been better for the Toon if Cardiff had won yesterday because the League Cup winners Europa League place would have gone to the 6th place PL team… so it would be like this:
1st CL
2nd CL
3rd CL
4th CL qualifiers/Europa League
5th Europa League
6th Europa League (as described above)
7th Europa League if FA Cup final is between two clubs in top 5…
Oleg G
Feb 27, 2012 at 8:12 AM
Comment #40Don’t care that they won. I don’t think we need charity. Hated seeing them win yesterday. We should be strong enough to finish in a Europe spot and if we are not good enough, then we should try again next year.
This is in our hands. We are 6th place, 3 points from 4th. We will be responsible for our finish and no one else. I want us to fight for 4th-6th place and that’s that. (Although maybe 4th is not good for us as our quality is not high, but we just should fight for it anyway, because this is what sport is all about).