.. not really the point Proud ..... if I take advantage of a half-price meal in a restaurant I'm not expecting to get served boiled dog turd just because I'm paying less than normal ....
There certainly is a lot to stop the two going in hand-in-hand. The Championship is a high-tempo and punishing league. You want your first time team to play as many league games as possible so, if you have any real ambition in the league, you don't really want them playing cup games. I think Morgan and one or two others looked tired last night and maybe could have done with a rest (I'd have liked to have seen St Ledger come in) so for me, I'd have rested even more than Nige did. Then there's injuries - for all we know, Wood picked up his injury in the first match against Huddersfield. That means that match potentially cost us three points against Peterborough. Nuff said. It's also a distraction. If we did advance to the semis for instance, our players will be thinking about glory ties at Wembley when they should be concentrating on away matches at Barnsley and Brighton. The alternative is another soul-destroying smashing by the likes of Chelsea. Who wants that? Regarding the criticism to reserve players, they're not going to be great on their first start or second starts after months of inactivity. As Wellens said after the first Cup match against Huddersfield, you can train as much as you like, there's NOTHING like playing a full competitive 90 minutes. If you're not getting games under your belt, you won't play well. This is why managers stick with players than the fans don't rate. Are people really surprised that Gallagher, Wellens, Vardy, Waggy and, to a lesser degree, Futacs (you can't really blame fitness for turning at the speed of the Queen Mary or falling over without barely being touched) didn't look very good last night? And regarding Wood, people do realise we have been near the top all season, even BEFORE we signed him? Don't get me wrong, he's vital to this team, but we should still be able to win matches without him. Fans getting on Vardy's back for instance isn't doing any of us a favour and won't do his confidence a world of good either - the guy's come from non-league. I'ts only human to question yourself and our own fans digging at him will finish him off. I think a guy on the phone-in last night put it best. He said we always demand consistency from the players but where's the consistency from the fans? A week ago, we were the best team on the planet. Now people are worried?! Nige leaving? Because of the Cup?! Seriously?! And I'm sorry Filberto, the last thing I'll be ruing if we drop down the league is that we got knocked out of the Cup! I don't give a **** now now and I'll be worrying about it even less if that happens! Not that I dislike the Cup but I think you can only seriously have ambitions for it if you're a top team. And last time I looked, we're still very firmly in the Championship - for this season at least...
Sunderland V Leeds Wimbledon V Liverpool Southampton V Man United Ipswich V Arsenal ..... and tell the fans of those winning underdogs that promotion was all that mattered ... ... and the Capital One Cup final shortly? ... certainly if you go out with the attitude that you can't win ... you won't I can just about recall the winners of the FA Cup for every year from 1968 to now ... couldn't tell you who won the league or who got promoted (unless it was us) ....
Not since 1980 as a club from outside the top flight won it. How much as football changed since then? This country now hosts many of the world's best players. I'm glad you have an interesting in FA Cup history, but since the inauguration of the Prem, it's been one of the top four (now five) that have won it, with the exception of Pompey, and even they were disappointing winners considering the three other semi-finalists were Championship sides. Overall, it been a massive bore over the last 20 years.
.. what is your point here? - are you saying that the 14,000 deserve less consideration than the 18 to - 22,000 that turn up for the league games? ... doesn't it follow that the majority of the 14,000 also attend the league games? - and who could therefore blame them for not coming to the next league game if that is the case...
... amazing considering they have the 'distraction' of the league to contend with too .... oh and the League cup .... oh and the Champions League / Europa League ...
... just because it's unlikely doesn't make it any less inspiring or important ... second division teams have got to the final since 1980 even if they haven't won it and the 'journey' to the final for their fans has arguably been more memorable than a short excursion to the Prem and back ..... and I'MHO the most boring FA Cup finals over recent years have been the ones involving any two of the 'super powers' in our game...
My point is that should have come as a surprise to no-one that players would be rested that it wouldn't have been treated as a priority. Fans treated the fixture accordingly because, even at only £10 a ticket, we still only drew £14k. But as I said last night, this is the only disappointing aspect to me - the fans made he effort, the players didn't. But better to piss fans off now for a few days and make them happy all summer than the other way round.
Premier League teams player eight league fixtures less. Championship League teams tend to have massive squad of top quality players and often use youth teams in the domestic cups. They also come into the League Cup at a later stage. Not really comparable.
For the majority of the last nine years I would agree with you and would love to have seen us do this but we have much bigger fish to fry this season. As I keep saying, let's get to the Prem first then worry about silveware.
If you add in the the European ties (including qualifying for some) for the top prem sides and also that they are more likely to be involved in the latter stages of domestic cup competitions - then they are absolutely comparable .... e.g just compare the number of games Arsenal have played this season to us ...
But as I said, bigger squads of much higher quality. The reserve teams of Arsenal/Man U/Chelsea/Man City would still beat most Premiership clubs.
... rather disproved by the line-up for the Capital One Cup Final ... but, in essence, a valid point .... but, whilst I may be in a minority (incredibly attractive older men with all their own hair and teeth) I actually don't like the squad system employed by many of the top clubs - I think it is disjointed and often counter-productive ... I'm a great believer in consitency and momentum - and players are athletes - injuries asiide they don't need 'a rest' ... whilst I only played semi-pro myself, I can attest that when you are winning titles / cups etc you want to play every game that comes along ..
Fosse, I see where you are coming from, especially as it seems you have grown up with the FA cup being the most important trophy of the season. But, unfortunately, the game is changing. As Gangsta has pointed out, a team outside of the top flight hasn't won it since 1980, so it's at least 1980 since a team won the FA cup and got promoted in the same season. Last night showed, and I think it's the same for all Championship clubs, that we don't have the squad size to compete in the FA cup. You can say that these are professional footballers, and should be fit enough and able to play every week. That is true, they should, and no doubt they are. But when everyone else isn't bothered and puts out a complete second string, our first team is then playing teams who have had an extra week off to recover and prepare. Finally, if we did go on a cup run, and somehow actually won it... We would be playing European football next season, either at the same time as fighting a relegation battle, or fighting to get promoted from the Championship. A European campaign would not help either!
... if you HAD actually typed exactly what Gangsta had put that would have been an incerdible coincidence .. i.e something very 'different' .. but then of course ... it wouldn't have been different ...... just in playful mood ...
