Since we're not getting top 4, am I the only one who would rather we finished 8th?
If we get in Europa league again, we're just gonna stay in the europa cycle Woolwich have been stuck in for years. It's a ridiculously long competition that significantly impacts performance in the league and domestic cups. We'll likely end up crashing out in the QF, by which point we'll have already damaged our league performance enough to have missed out on top 4 again.
As for the conference league, I doubt the new manager would take it seriously. Plus we're a joke if we win it, and a joke if we don't. Meaningless competition.
As for the money we'd miss out on... "Group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €2,920,000". You couldn't even buy 1/10th of Moussa Sissoko for that (based on the price we paid anyway). As for the conference league, we'd probably get about a fiver. Either way, the money from europe outside of the CL isn't hugely significant.
As for players not wanting to come because we're not in Europe... I think it's very clear most players don't care about Europa. I think players care about CL, but ultimately they care about money. Being in Europa or not is not a deal breaker for any top player. If anything, it's a selling point not having to fly to Azerbaijan on a thursday.
Yes, we need to win a trophy soon. But Carbao and FA cup are a lot less matches to win, and we could play a stronger team if we weren't juggling Europa as well. It would also give the new manager time to actually coach the team, rather than constant fixtures.
I also think finishing outside of Europe would force Levy to invest in the team. If we get europa and narrowly miss out on CL, he'll think 'we're close' and that bringing in some cheap manager will get us back in CL. Finishing 8th would show we're miles off and need heavy investment - otherwise ENIC can totally forget selling us for billions if we look like a mid-table team with no European football.
One final thing to note: the season Chelsea finished outside of europe, they won the league next season.
This concludes my short essay.
TL;DR: Obviously top 4 would have been better. But top 4 is gone now. Therefore, I think finishing 8th and missing out on Europe for one season would be better for us overall. Thoughts?