Newcastle United v Cardiff City (FA Cup) - Official Build Up / Matchday Thread

We did beat Cardiff on their patch in the league (1-2).

 

I couldn't post yesterday, and haven't had the chance to read through all of the post match threads, so apologies if this just repeats what others have said. I felt really angry yesterday after the game. It really pisses me off that we keep going out of cups so early and haven't had a decent cup run for such a long time. I wanted to shout and moan but when I thought about it I couldn't work out who to shout at.

The way modern football is, it seems teams want to pick the worst possible team that will still get them a victory in the cups up until the very last stages of the competition. Yesterday Alan Pardew picked a team that should have been able to do that. I understand his need to rotate, and even the fact that the owner has told him that cups are not a priority (I understand he's been told - not why he has been told). I understand that these days the league is a priority as its the league that you are judged on, and the league that pays the bills and even brings in the money (that should be used) to reinvest in the squad. I understand, I just don't like it!

The team yesterday was changed so drastically that it was always going to lower our chances of winning against a team that was bound to be boosted by the arrival of a new manager. Even with that, Sissoko was left in the team when he has seemed like one of the ones most in need of a rest. I also, along with everyone else, cannot fathom what he sees in Obertan. I'm not going to get into personal insults. He doesn't deliberately play badly. But he does play badly. His time in black and white must be over. We also didn't bring on any 'first team' subs until 5 minutes to go. That just looks like paying lip service to trying to compete in the cup.

I would have preferred to see the rotations happen earlier and more gradually, with the cup game being given equal priority with our league games. The fact that this didn't happen shows that Pardew doesn't have much faith in our backup players and that in many ways his hands were tied as the cup really is not a priority to the club at all.

A lot of the posts on here seem to agree that the cup doesn't matter anymore (just as with Europe) and that we should only focus on where we finish in the league. Is this an age thing? Am I just an old fart caught up in daft sentimentality about the magic of the cup? I really did used to sneak a radio into school to listen to the cup draw on Radio 2 on the Monday lunchtime to save having to wait to read it on Ceefax when I got home. My earliest memory of going to St James was not a match, but going to welcome the team home after the 74 final. I remember how excited I was when my dad won the Northumberland FA raffle for tickets to the cup final two years in a row (he was a referee) and I got to go to Wembley for the 1980 and 81 cup finals. Newcastle weren't playing but it didn't matter. it was the FA Cup. All my friends were jealous cos the FA Cup final was the THE game of the season. Have things really changed so much? I just want Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew to realise the cup matters. It matters to me and I don't believe I really am the only old fart who thinks like this.

Anyway, rant over. I guess I should just accept that I'm an old fart who hates modern football.

Now, where did I leave my teeth? They steal them when you're sleeping you know! Nurse........

 

I can't understand why Parpoo brought Obertan on when he had Dummett waiting in the wings, the kid would have offered us so much more and it would have been that little bit more experience for him.

 

No good shouting for the nurse ITHTK, they're the ones that take them.

Seemingly there's a good market for them.

 

Seriously though. Is it an age thing with thinking the cup is more important than this, or am I just out of touch?

 

No definitely not. I think most fans whatever the age would like to see us take the club more seriously. Unfortunately the board don't care, the manager is not too bothered and is constantly under pressure from fans, looking over his shoulder so tries to please the board, the fans are less bothered (look at the gates). As a club we have it all wrong. The simple fact is that money is more important to this club. The FA Cup brings little financial reward but great risk for a small squad.

Like you I find it a depressing attitude.

 

I think everybody feels that the Cup has a bit of magic about it, probably us more than anybody because of the success we enjoyed in it in the 50's with Wor Jackie and co winning the hearts of the whole area by bringing it home to us.

 

Especially as a cup is the only realistic chance of winning silverware we will have in the foreseeable future. Even if we qualified for the Europa again somehow, which I know a lot of people on here hope we don't, we would have more chance of winning that than the premier league. Our history is all about cup competitions, and any future sucesses would probably have to be the same.

 

It appears the lack of financial reward in the cup makes it a nuisance in our clubs eyes. Whatever happened to playing to win for the glory.

 

I know. I find it so depressing. Everything is about the league and money now. It isn't though - not to fans. If our neighbours win the league cup and get relegated then both sets of fans would have a stick to beat the other with. Once they came back up though, or if they won it and scraped survival, I know who I'd see as having the bragging rights no matter what league position we were in (unless it was top) and I wouldn't like it one bit!


Edit: I reserve the right to be a hypocrite and deny ever saying this in the event that they do win the ****ing thing!!

 

Lets boil this down to finance - its the only language MA understands:-

If 'they' had took the game seriously, 'they' could have had an extra £400k in gate receipts today. Not to mention the cut of profits from pies and drinks! Obviously, 'they' have weighed it all up and don't see this as a sum worth the hassle!

A good cup run could be worth millions! - These pricks just don't see it that way!

 

There is some truth in that I remember the FA Cup being more desirable than the league title, but then again when I started to support my team most of the people on here were no more than a dirty thought in their grandfathers mind

 

You'll be happy now that you've got your red bars back are you?

 

It's incredibly short-sighted to have not seen this coming.

If you want someone to shout at, start with Rupert Murdoch.

 

Used to know his right hand man, not seen him for years now though.

 

Confucius say when a short-sighted person walks into a lampost it doesn't hurt any less for not seeing it coming, it just costs more when he has to buy new glasses.

 

I'm gonna say I like the statement, but I'm gonna also question whether lamposts, glasses or short-sightedness existed when Confucius was writing new material.

 

Them ancient Chinese were well advanced don't ya know!

 

I've lost my green bars but maintained my sense of humour only one winner here

 

What I find even more amazing when God invented man he had no perception of glasses yet he had the foresight to put our ears and nose in the exact right place to hold them up , although I do not think it was a very good idea to put a sewerage outlet right through the middle of an entertainment area

Bring on the Reds !!!!!!!!!