If I had to choose one then obviously the FA Cup all day long. Why do we really care so much about getting relegated? I will support the team whatever division they are in and surely a cup win is better than just staying up. I want a cup win and no disrespect to the Johnston's paint trophy but a proper prestige cup win. I was born after 76 so our history since then hasn't been great and as good as it is to finish just behind the big boys, those moments only really count at the time, who really cares now? But a cup win, now that is something to be proud of, especially if we go down(although I'm confident of staying up and winning the cup) and with the season we have had. If we did win it, would Pelegrino stay, would you all want him to stay? I have seen an improvement in recent weeks and the players seem to like him and be playing for him and us so I would probably keep him, controversial I know!
I have always thought that Mauricio would be allowed at least one more season if we stay up....for two reasons, the club doesn't consider itself a sack 'em type of club (all part of their self image as a well organised business) and they seem willing to provide Pellegrino with good excuses this season.
If we manage to stay up then I guess the argument for keeping Pellegrino will be “he has learned his trade in a new league”. You’d think he couldn’t be any worse next season?
Some people might want a hard Cup win and some will want a soft cup win with all the big clubs falling before we play them like it did until the final last time we reached it in 2003. However a cup win is a cup win. No hard or soft. And ironically this cup win would also mean we join Europe for a season whether we go through Plexit or not. At the end of the day the PL is not what is was supposed to be and is just a money magnet to make the elites richer so we are better off out.
Winning something is just the culmination of the competition though surely? Winning something without competing is just meaningless. Obviously winning should be the aim but having the aim for me is more important and i think why so many atheletes retire straight after getting to the top of their sport. My usual answer to questions that are "would you take a ..." is that i would rather play the bloody match, win or lose, than simply take something.
As I said somewhere else, every time we faced a team for a second time we have equalled or bettered our first performance. so yes, there is hard evidence that he is consistently learning.
I don't know why people are surprised that football is about making money....in the end it is a business. If you don't want that, support an amateur side....however some teams will still be richer than others even at the bottom levels. Artists, actors, dancers etc do their craft because they love it, but in the end they hope to make money.
I think we are relegated and i don't think we will win the cup, on the bright side though it is world cup year so we always have a second chance for success with our wonderful national team!!!
That's it then I may as well head off to a backpacking expedition across the Himalayas until August....
I'm a little Englander and have reverted to the good old days. Your words are green on a black screen like everyone elses.
I hope you don't mind a skate putting his twopenneth worth in. Before the days of the Premier League and the top clubs selling their souls to the devil for obscene money this question would be a no brainer. However, so full of swill is the Premier League Trough, you, as a club, would earn millions upon millions of pounds more by finishing 17th in the league than you would if you were relegated, won the FA Cup this year and the Europa League Next year. On a side note, now the draw has been made, you are now up against the only side to have actually won the FA Cup in the same season as being relegated! Our promotion campaign looks like it is slowly fizzling out, so you need to stay up in order to have a south coast derby next year!
It's not as easy as that though is it? You can't simply choose the team you support, well not in my opinion anyway. It doesn't shock me that football is about money. It shocks (and saddens) me that supporters place making a few quid higher than the glory of winning a trophy.
