Much has been spouted in the media over recent years about the demise of the FA Cup. To a very large extent, I always thought that it was a non-story; one that reared its head every year simply due to selection policies by certain managers. However, as we approach the 3rd round matches, I find my levels of enthusiasm for the weekend's football on a par with my arousal at a Pat Butcher calendar. So, does this story have legs or is it because we are where we are in the league and the FA Cup is just an unwanted distraction? Would you swap another FA Cup win for promotion? I know I wouldn't but am I alone in feeling thoroughly under-whelmed about the lack of "real" footy taking place this weekend?
If we were just looking at mid table consolidation this season then it would be great to have a real go at it, but promotion is so much more important that it isn't worth risking our best players IMO.
... either way i reckon we'll win easilly on saturday, i like the FA Cup and having a good run in the competition is good for confidence and will assist our promotion push i think. The main problem with the league form is that the pressure of it has got to the squad.
I'm actually glad of a little break from league football...time to recover a bit from recent disappointments and for Lambert to get one of his suspensions out of the way. Imagine if we'd gone straight into a league match without Lambert this weekend. This game is a good opportunity to try things out with risking any points.
The FA Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world,we should give it a bit more respect I think. I like it a lot!It's another competition where anyone can win it!Imagine if we were to get to the final this season,actually we would only need to get to semi final to play at Wembley again!Would make a great day out!90,000 at the home of football,superb.
God I was miserable yesterday. I am now amending my arousal comparison rating to that one off of Blue Peter to replace Pat Butcher.
I love the FA cup, but I think the shape that our season has taken takes some of the shine off of this weekends fixture due to the Premier League bright lights drawing us like moths to a lamp. I think that the PL is an ugly beast, but slowly it becomes appealing. I want it for the players, and without question, if they do it, its a proud moment.
The problem is even if we give it a good go we're very unlikely to ever win it at the moment, we just can't compete with the big premier league squads. The only sides who it really matters to are the mid table prem clubs who know they won't go down but also wont get top 4, its still a huge achievement to win it but most clubs have accepted that staying/getting to the premier league or top 4 is a much more important aim rightly or wrongly.
I think the advent of colossal squads has damaged it more than anything. I remember a season when Liverpool won the double using just 13 players. Those were the days when players truly carried injuries!
