I was a bit surprised at how low a couple of the attendances for last night's FA Cup replays were. Bolton v Macclesfield 9,466 Millwall v Dagenham & Redbridge 3,751 Any-one else surprised?
With managers playing reserve sides in the cup- Im not surprised. More should be done, i.e a cap on the number of changes made to a squad, so that the cup remains exciting
Devo I commented on the apparent lack of interest in this cup about 3 weeks ago. It is a real shame. The Third Round ties were not especially exciting (apart from one of the matches on a Sunday) and you can underatand a lack of enthusiasm if so many teams put out a reserve squad. If they increased the pay out for progressing through to the next round and also fined clubs for fielding weakened teams, you feel that the competition could earn a bit more respect. At the moment, the oinly interest is amongst smaller teams when they draw Premier league opposition.
I fully agree. The weakened team scenario has blighted the Carling Cup for years now and has, in my opinion, devalued it to the point at which I'd question the validity of the Euopa League spot for the winner. The FA Cup has always been special and every-thing possible should be done to ensures it remains so. I would bring in a strict limit on the number of changes allowed to the line-up from each side's previous league fixture. Perhaps if the winner [runner up if the winner is in the CL] were to have a play-off against the side finishing 4th in the Premier League to decide the final CL spot, there would be more incentive to take the cometition more seriously and give it the respect it deserves.
