How are Everton going to seriously compete in Europe without Gravesen? They will fall off the pace due to their tiny squad size. The fact that Liverpool are ABOVE middlesboro in the league and only 7 points away from an Everton team who has had its heart ripped out of it, suggests that anyone writing us off getting a champions league spot this year would be a fool.
Also, what's this crap about being not being a top three team. We have had two top three finishes in the last five seasons, more than any other team outside of the top three, therefore we are top three challengers. Had it not been for the plethora of injuries this season we may well have been closer to the top three. Don't make silly statements that you can't back out. Liverpool are very rarely outside of the top four challenging for third place at least. With the exception of Houllier's last two years in charge.