Obviously TV can **** us about, but has anyone else looked at how little impact the Reserves having a Cup run is likely to have on our games? We've only got West Ham and Man U away that could be moved, and they can only be moved if we're still in the Cup as they're both out. The 5th Round is currently a vacant weekend, and it might be our 3rd game in 8 days, but we've obviously got a full week to recover after it. With the exception of the 5th Round even the replays are nice (4th Round will be reserves for any replay anyway, and 6th Round is between two home games), and the 5th Round one is just "meh" rather than a "ffs why?". We've also only got 2 midweek games between now and the end of the season, so we can move the West Ham and Man U games where ever we want really. I know we can't play them on European nights, but that should still mean we can combine West Ham away with Fulham away and make it a little get away weekend before the final push on the end of the season, and I'd push the Man U one to the last midweek of the season when we know we're playing on the Sunday after rather than the Saturday. (also pushing them later in the season improves our chances of avoiding suspensions for 10 yellow cards) No home games to be moved, only 4 midweek games between now and the end of the season even if we make the FA Cup Final (unless we need replays), and really convenient dates available for the two games we might need to rearrange is almost perfect for Bruce to plan things in. When you look back 2 years and see us playing 7 games in March with a first team squad that was really 14 players and a bunch of guys with splinter issues it's ridiculous.
Wow Ricardo - some analysis that. I've been looking at it from a different angle which seems to favour our Reserves as well. Out of the 16 pairings in Round 4, assuming we beat Sarfend in Rd 4, there are 10 winners out of the other 15 games I reckon we'd have a good chance of beating (home or away) to get through to round 6.......16 teams left. To avoid - Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool & Man City. Assuming the Gods favour us and 4 out of the 5 teams we'd prefer to avoid in Rd 5 are drawn against each other, and we avoid the 5th, that would leave only 3 teams in Rd 6 we would wish to avoid. I.e. 4 teams we could beat to reach the semis. Gods go our way in the semi-final draw.......? Wembley: Hull City AFC vs Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool or Man City. If one of them are surprisingly knocked out in rd 6 or the semis.... Hull City vs an Also Ran. Nice to dream.
Not so much a theory, more a dream. Six decades of supporting Hull City AFC - Part 1 of dream is almost accomplished - Top Division permanence. Part 2 is to win the FA Cup. Don't shatter an old man's dream Elle, or I'll send you some extremely heavy books (e.g. "War & Peace" or "A Brief History of Time" ) for your next 'quake....
The better threat would be to make me read them all over again. I got both on one of my bookshelves. Dostoyevsky > Tolstoy I think we have a good shot this year at going a long way. Perhaps if Pro and Mclean leave Bruce will be forced to play more first team players in the Cup and we can get a run going.
If we can wrap up 10-12 points in the next 8 games in the league to cement our survival chances, I think more emphasis will be placed on a cup run challenge. Otherwise it would fade into the background - rightly so imho. Don't tell....you've got a copy of Joyce's "Ulysses" on one of your bookshelves too ? Now there's a heavy read !
I dont have Ulysses but the girl might. She has a couple bookshelves in her office. I agree racking enough points to keep us up will be key. We were talking in one of the other threads about getting more exposure and helping to bring in new fans. Doing well in the cup should certainly help in that regards.
It was interesting reading that thread. There's no doubt football has been a tough sell in the US. There's a great book (but sometimes a difficult read) entitled "Offside - Soccer & American Exceptionalism" by Andre Markovits & Steven Hellerman, Princeton University Press, 2001. It goes into the difficulties & reasons involved in selling the game there. There's no doubt the relatively recent success of the US national "soccer" team, and the movement of US players into England & Europe ( particularly the rich vein of goalkeepers !), the improvement in the professional leagues in North America ( utilizing some "big names" in their twilight years) has brought the game forward immensely. We musn't forget the impact "ladies" soccer has had on the movement towards acceptability as a grass roots sport. All of the above can only move it's popularity forward, but the recent "mass" exposure through TV coverage in the US & Canada I believe will create a tremendous market for soccer merchandise. The Americans ( the educated ones primarily) have a great affinity for British traditions. Dr. Allam should take note of this fact, and guys like yourself should spread the word about Hull City AFC, nickname "The Tigers". I'm sure you do Ellewoods. This was not intended to be a lecture...apologies if it appears that way. It's good to see new fans joining the support - and none of them on this side of the Atlantic could ever be classified as "plastics"
