Hi bors, the question is a simple one. Are we good enough to stay up and also win tonight. I personally think our team is quite capable of performing both tasks ! This season we are a different team compared to last season. We now have a different manager, one I hope that is not afraid to seize the day. Lambert arrives as a representative of Aston Villa and is a guest in our ground, he should be accorded the hospitality we normally reserve for other team managers but that does not include the red carpet. Being a realist, I would refer to our friend ColMike and use his style if quoting FACTS as follows: FACT. Our board never wanted Lambert to leave. FACT. Our fans were quite pleased with his management. FACT. Our players were happy under his leadership. That can only leave one FACT. It was Lambert himself who made the decision to depart despite saying only a few days previously he was happy at Norwich. Tonight is a golden opportunity to progress into the next round of this cup and also a reminder to Lambert that we can easily manage without his assistance. As Lambert was wont to say, who knows what the future holds. Maybe under Chris Hughton we could go on to even better days than those we had under Lambert.
I'm not saying sacrifice everything, i'm saying that the issue is not black and white, there are shades of grey; People will say Man City can now concentrate on the league, my arse! they hav dropped in confidence because of exiting the european cup, little shifts in attitude can play a crucial role to the success of a club; Better to keep the training ground in buoyant mood,
I have seen all 4 finals we have appeared in - yes I even went to Rochdale. Rochdale, Spurs and Villa were very ordinary although Sunderland was a great day out. We must also remember that if we win tonight the chances are that we will get Arsenal or Chelsea next both of whom are desperate to win something this year so the distraction might all be in vain. The main point is that in my time I have also seen Clubs in the top 6 at Christmas get relegated. I have also seen a Club win only 5 games all season and then win the last 4 to stay up. My main fear is that if we win tonight the Cup MIGHT become too much of a distraction for players and fans - I hope we win tonight and it doesn't affect our league form - but if I had to choose I would prefer a win against Wigan and a defeat tonight rather than the other way round. I think it is essential that we stay up this year and until we get 40 points I will continue to look at the bottom of the table rather than worry about what is happening above. We are where we are in the league because of a record unbeaten run. A losing streak, even a short one, will soon see us back in the mire especially if it starts against Wigan and if that happens any distraction will not help especially if we pick up a couple of injuries along the way.
i really don't think the cup will become a distraction to be honest. if anything, i think it would help seeing as the city has been starved of a decent cup run. the whole city is in a buoyant mood so why not keep the feel-good factor? i do feel had we been closer to the bottom three at this stage then it could be an unwanted distraction but not while we're riding a crest of a wave! 9 points (7 if sunderland win tonight) will take a long time for teams to claw back. indeed, even with a very poor run you wouldn't expect us to feature in the bottom three until late january, february time now. its all about balance. rest a couple of key players, maybe keep them on the bench to throw on later if required - see how we get on. if we go out tonight i will be very disappointed but i won't be crying into my beer - same applies if we lose at the weekend but saturday is arguably more crucial to the overall future of the club than tonight as a win would give us a huge point total for mid-december.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the league cup can be more of a problem for league form than the FA cup? I know both have at various times had detrimental effects on competing clubs, but it feels like (without stats to back this up) the league cup impacts more often. I suppose (if true) that it's a combination of being earlier in the season (so more time to have an effect), and there being more chance of a 'smaller' club getting to the latter stages in the league cup. Were we to get through (and I think we will), I hope it wouldn't be a distraction, but given it would be the closest most of our squad would have come to a major final, I fear it could be.
i don't think there would be much evidence to back it up. birmingham winning the league cup and being relegated is still fresh in peoples memories so we keep hearing how even winning it could lead to problems. in fact, we are the only other club to have been relegated under similar circumstances! its incredibly rare. i would imagine more often than not that a good cup run helps league form but there's no way i'm going to try and prove it in the form of facts!
You mean you don't want to pick through the last twenty years worth of league cup quarter and semi-finalists? Where's Rafa when you need him?
