Despite Newcastle finding the Intertoto Cup as a fine way into European competition, Stuart Pearce revealed that the big-wigs at Manchester City have decided that it’s not worth the effort,
“We just felt as though it (Intertoto Cup) was not beneficial for us to do that,” Pearce told Sky Sports. “We wanted to qualify by right, but we haven’t and have decided not to do that.”
“There is a good steely determination I am noticing within the squad,” he added.
“It has been an up and down season, but I have always been at pains to point out that we should look at it at the end of the season.
“We will look at how well we have done in certain areas and how bad we have done in certain areas and then strip it all down. It will be mine and the coaches’ jobs to do something about it in a bid to improve it for next year.
“If we can finish the season on a high it will go a long way to say to the fans to come along next year.”
If the UEFA cup is a mixed blessing to the Premiership teams that qualify for it (European competition but often too many extra matches for the “small” squads that finish 5th-6th), then getting in via the Intertoto Cup is even worse. Competitive matches begin approximately 3 hours after the last day of the season, and yet another competition to have to work into the list of priorities.
Stuart Pearce and friends probably made the right decision, since Manchester City should really focus on securing their Premiership status more than dreams of European glory. Especially if the latter can cause serious problems for the former.