Pearce's bid to bring European action to Eastlands by the direct route is in danger of being thwarted by a run of only two wins in eight Premiership games.
Although City remain eighth, just outside the automatic UEFA Cup qualifying zone, they are slipping behind the top seven and need to find form fast if they are to make up lost ground.
Pearce intends to recruit some new faces during the January transfer window to bolster his squad, but has already warned them if results do not improve, City could be making a very early start to the new campaign.
"In an ideal world, we will still qualify for Europe," said Pearce.
"If that proves to be unachievable, I will have to sit down with the board of directors and discuss the situation with them.
"The good thing is they leave footballing decisions like that to me.
"I would have to assess the strength of the squad and some people might say it is folly.
"But at this stage the Intertoto Cup is something we cannot turn down although we will not make a final decision until much nearer the time."
Should City enter the Intertoto Cup? Have your say.
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When does the IC start? Isn't it July? And David James may still be at the World Cup. Can we really bolster the squad enough between now and then to compete for a full season on top as well. I think this may be a tactic by SP to rally the team to push harder for Europe in the 2nd half of the season so they don't miss their summer break!
With a squad as small as ours, starting the season early to play in this would make very little sense.
And why not? It would give better opposition for the players and fans pre-season than Tranmere and Macclesfield, provide income which is always needed and a possible way into Europe.
This is SP saying to the board that if you don't give me some funds to spend in Jan. this pathetic competition could be our only goal!
all teams suffer after entering the intertoto.i really hope SP is doing this to motivate are defence to start defending!
Half way through this season, and this statement by pearce says it all. The intertoto cup being mentioned already suggests that Pearce knows we have no chance of getting a top six spot. I could have told him that at the start of the season.
Steve in Oz, I think you might just have hit the nail on the head there mate! Although the Pope's suggestion that he might just be giving the players a thing to think about is possibly valid as well. There is no doubt that this set of players seem to be rather 'selective' in their performances of late and you never quite know what you're going to get from one half to another let alone one game to another! If the intertoto is our only hope of gaining UEFA qualification then we'll just have to go for it because I really do want some more trips to the continent after just a small taste 2 years ago!
Why the heck not? Yes there might be a problem with squad size, but hopefully that will get addressed in January. This club needs European football so if we fail to finish in the 'top six' this season (and a lot of THAT depends strongly on January's activity) then we should definitely apply.
I am not a lover of this compitition, I don't think that the players get long enough time off from the end of one season to the next to get themselves ready, so my answer is no. Stuart think long and hard before you jump in.
Bring in the right players during the transfer window to strengthen the squad with a couple of Quality players and have a run of wins and CITY can still make it into Europe.
Or don,t bring in any quality players and we will be only talking about Intertoto Cups every season.
John Wardle has stated to Stuart Pearce the money is available, now find the ones that will change the team from a good team to a very good team.
It's a right desicion.It's not humiliating to participate ,it's rather tough to compete spanish and french teams who usually make it until the semi-finals.And it's better to start early the season expecting an UEFA place than travelling in Far East.
Pre-Season tour of USA, Reebok should organize a competition, Nike has done it with success.
Tiger, a pre-season tour of the USA would be as useful as the pre-season tour of Thailand proved, a chocolate teapot. At least Thailand isn't so spaced out (literally) as the USA. They could just send REyna out there to play soccerschools and leave the rest of us to enjoy Europe.
I think it would be a great idea. Much better than playing pre season warm up games. The squad may be small but so what, the experiance this will give the youth players coming through can only do them good.
Complete waste of time. Doing well in the Premiership is the priority and teams that play in just the UEFA cup, let alone the Intertoto end up suffering in the league. Look at how 'Boro have suffered due to their success in the UEFA. To compound matters, you have to get to the very late stages of the UEFA cup to get any good sums of money. Bolton have done the right thing by resting their key players for the Premiership and because they have such a big squad, they haven't really suffered in the league. I'd say it's better to concentrate on the Prem and hope we qualify for Europe automatically, meanwhile we should be bulking out our squad and def be looking at the lower leagues for some bargains, whilst giving our young players as many opportunities as possible.
Prospective new players will be stampeding to make trips to Albania etc in June.
this club needs european football. it is the only way to atract better quality players and move forward. this is a huge season for city, key players like reyna and sinclair, cole, etc are going to have to be replaced in the summer and if we are in europe we can get quality players in, otherwise its the usual rejects and journeymen. if we dont finish top 7 then intertoto is a must and the players will only ahev themselves to blame for an early start to the season
Foreign tours to the Colonies & Europe will become strangers to us soon. Please send us a card from Amerigo with whatever you organiSe or from Europe. We're hoping to get into Europe next year - want to hear the song?
it`s the old carrot and stick scenario. i`m all for it. well done.
We surely don't need to give our b <sup>~</sup>neighboursb <sup>TM</sup> even more ammunition to laugh at us. We need to stay well clear of this 'tin pot' competition!!!!!
Judging by the pathetic crowd figures that the EUFA cup brings in, is it really worth trying to get into that competition at all, let alone by the back door in a competition for nonentities? Why not just cut out the tackling and get in through the 'Fair Play' league? At least we'd get the summer off. My own opinion is that only the cut-and-thrust partisanship that comes from domestic league competition is all that matters to supporters. Is anyone really so desperate as to want to figure against the likes of TNS again? I don't think so.
Sounds like SP has given up (quite rightly) any hope of direct entry to Europe. He is preparing the fans for failure (or is that realistice goals?)
Two sides of the coin here,in my opinion.It could be a threat in order to get more out of the current playing staff.However,it could also be a useful exercise for the whole squad before the season starts.Players like Miller,Richards,Bermingham,Laird,Flood etc,could benefit from being involved in this tournament.
Quite surprised to hear this, actually. If that was even an option it would require quite a bit of squad strengthening, and if we are going to strengthen signficantly then let's do it in January and make a strong run in the league. I'd rather not even consider Intertoto until much farther down the line.
First we had the get out about signing new players "we wonB4t sign for the sake of signing" and we are now copping out of finishing in the top six or any where near it. Come on SP, you filled us so full of hope and now you must deliver. Get out into the market with the money that Wardle says you have available and buy some quality-not like last summer. We want success not mid table mediocrity and if you cannot deliver, then admit it. Let's have the truth out in the open.