Ok, I've just copied and pasted this from my response in another thread, but it's grinding a little bit that people are acting as if Paul Lambert has deliberately gone and lost that cup game. Only 4 players were left out from our awesome win against Swansea, so we still played a very strong side. Had these 4 guys played, we probably still have lost. Played Ruddy? Well Steer did fine anyway, they'd still of scored both. Played Holt? He'd of had no all service like Morrison/Jackson. Might have made a little more with some of the long balls, but no service = no goals. Played Naughton? He'd of been a little better against Dyer but Dyer didn't score anyway so wouldn't of made a difference. Only thing that might have made a difference would be Surman instead of Hoolahan or Fox.
Totally agree mate, and I'm completely baffled (and also a little concerned) by some people's reactions to yesterday. Simply staggering some of the rubbish I've read on here today
I agree totally with Ruddy/Steer. Apart from the two goals Steer had hardly anything to do. Had he played Naughton he would've had to drop Drury and played him out of position or drop Martin who didn't have a bad game, not his best, but not his worst. Surman instead of Hoolahan would've been better as we would've played 4-4-2 and allowed Bennett and Pilks to play as wingers instead of having to tuck inside in the diamond. Also Hoolahan had a particularly poor game by his standards and seemed to make the wrong decision every time he had the ball. Although I agree that Holt would've struggled the same as Morison with no service, he would've put himself about more and hassled the defence into making mistakes. Morison didn't look bothered and as a consequence the defence had plenty of time on the ball, with Holt they may have been a bit more hurried.
Munky, as I've said on Supers article, disappointment blinds the most positive of fan. We all know we're safe, so a nice cup run with a possibility of Wembley would of topped off a great season, no matter where we finish.
But we simply lost the game to a better team on the day, that's all. I can understand disappointment at that because I was disappointed we lost, like I am every time it happens, but I just fail to understand this vitriol aimed at Lambert for supposedly "throwing in the towel" regarding the cup. It's simply ludicrous.
Of course that raises the question: Where those particular players up for it? Hoolahan and Fox have done brilliantly all season,maybe they thought it was time for a day off? You can't blame Lambert for that.
Just a thought lads, if you lose to ManU at the weekend, and you stand a good chance of doing so,then the cup result will come back and bite you on the bum. For Lambert to say he was concerned with the next game I find crazy. As has been pointed out on other threads, it was 7 days since the last game and 7 days till the next one, so why rest one of the inform players in the prem (Holt)?. Look at Liverpool yesterday, good chance of lifting the cup, full team, result 6-1, 43.000 scousers went home happy.
i really don't get this! how will defeat against man united mean that the cup result comes back to bite us? lambert tried to win the cup match - he didn't try to lose the bloody thing. he put out a team he thought could win the match. unfortunately it didn't perform for whatever reason and was beaten. monarch, you should know how lambert works in the media as well as any of us - he always tries to play down our chances. by highlighting the man utd match he is doing just that. he still thought we could win the cup game. i bet he's feeling a bit let down by his players. ok, he could have played holt, surman and naughton but he didn't. he will have his own reasons for that but i promise you he won't have thought 'lets try and lose the cup game'. honestly, some of the drivel i'm reading on here is extraordinary!
For me, I have to say that I am gutted and annoyed that we did not beat Leicester. A quarter final draw would have been a fantastic achievement for the club and added that little extra in our Phoenix like rise in the past few years. Having said that, I don't blame Lambert for fielding a weaker side, as has been said before, it wasn't really that weak, and was very capable of beating championship sides, and some weaker Prem sides to. We just didn't play, and got beat by the better side on the day. It happens, when things right, (like beating Sutton 8-0) all is well, but when things wrong (as they have done each year in both cups of recent years) we get frustrated, and this ok, and expected, but we move on. Like i say, gutted as a fan who would love to see an FA Cup run to he semi's or final. But in the greater scheme of things, we only need to win 2 games in the FA Cup next year to be in the same position. Noy impossible, and we strenghen in the summer in the usual Lambert fashion, then maybe it could be expected. We'll see!!! Still great times, and 8th in the Prem (so far) it certainly ain't all doom and gloom. Bring on Fergie and his mob and lets see if we can get that win.
Good to see some of you are actually getting the point of this article - Lambert actually tried very hard to win the match indeed now I think about it, given the players missing for injury that was the best part of our strongest XI we had. I also am certain the players were up for it - if anything Hoolahan was trying to hard to redeem himself, doing risky things and getting it wrong.
DM, for people to suggest he wasn't interested in the cup and that he wanted to lose is nuts. of course he sees the premier league as the priority - he doesn't feel we are safe yet (or at least he says that). things can still go badly wrong. lets make sure we've mastered the walking thing before we try running eh...?
The back lash to this Leicester defeat is even stranger when you think back to August. We got demolished AT HOME by 1st division 'franchise' M K Dons. 0 - 4, in case anyone has forgotten. And life went on in the premier league and no one, repeat no one batted so much as an eyelid Why can't this be the same
I remember before we played Koo Pee Arr before Christmas, and Lambert fielded Surman, Crofts and Jackson for the their first games in a while after spending a couple of months on the bench - and some people on here (no names mentioned, but I know who you are) were trying to suggest that he was only playing those guys to put them in the shop window in order to sell them in January!! Honestly! Surman has been a revalation since that game and has been one of our most conistent performers despite the fact I was arguing on here against people who had already decided he had no future at the club because he'd not been a regular up until that point. It's a squad game and every player on our books is considered good enough by Lambert to be able to do a job on any given day and I am quite frankly astonished that some people fail to appreciate this most simple of facts.
i do not believe there has ever been a manager who has put a team out and wanted to lose. it just doesn't happen. the team was good enough but they didn't play well enough to win. its not even as if we aren't allowed to play in the cup again! we move on...
Hi Superman, i did'nt for moment suggest Lambert put a team out to lose, heaven forbid, but to get through to the last 8 of the F:A Cup and rest the Holt ?, now if Holt is on 4 yellow cards and he did'nt want to risk him getting another, that i could understand, come on, the guy is playing out of skin and could have made your season into an even better one.
I think that Lambert is just exceedingly cautious and feels we need another couple of wins to ensure safety.As I have said before I disagree entirely with this view but he is the manager who has got us to 8th in the league and with only the two Manchesters,Arsenal,Spurs and Chelsea having outscored us. What odds would you have got on that at the start of the season?
