I like it- who wrote that? Agree with most of that, don't have so much of a problem with top sides fielding a second string (in the early stages) provided they are fielding a team they believe can win- difficult to differentiate though! I'm not taking the piss but have you contacted the FA to get their thoughts on the matter? Probably a waste of time but would be interesting what those inside the FA think of the FA Cup's demise (as I'm sure they're aware). Too many games, in the prem? Unless you're in the champions league/europa then I don't see it being an issue.... and I have no sympathy for chelsea with their fixture list- they are in a high position and it's tough at the top. Their success is a privilege, stop moaning! Think the league cup is really now just a good place for prem teams to give young/new players a run out, I don't think it should be scrapped though.
I would campaign this. -Scrap the Football League Trophy and have the Football League teams only compete in the League Cup - By this I mean Championship, League 1 and League 2 clubs only.
How about... teams that fail to qualify for Champions League or Europa, play in the FA Cup. Scrap all the other cups and have the final as the last game of the season, 15:00 on a saturday?
Just how far has the FA cup final fallen? I'll tell you, its the second most important fixture for Wigan this week, with a league game against Swansea being the first. RIP FA cup. Sad, but true.
True, but that might be why teams don't take it that seriously & why it has become so devalued. And lets face it, it really has. Chicken, or egg.
Has it become devalued, or has the premier league become over valued? Ahhhhhh makes you think doesn't it?!
This was my first thought as well. Now it's not even the last day of the season and there are other games going on in the Premiership. If you want to make a anything valuable you must limit its availability.
Wigan would take it very seriously if they scheduled the final after the prem has ended, which is hardly their fault!
Don't you think it a bit much that when the club are in danger of relegation Wigan are playing a friendly at Wembley? Seems a bizarre decision to me. Surely they could have produced a sick note and got out of today's useless encounter? Is this what the FA Cup Final has been reduced to? A bit of a kick about before we get back to the real business? Imagine we'd had a decent cup run and instead of Wigan at Wembley Saints were about to take on Manchester City, buoyed no doubt by a recent league win over them. How would we be feeling this morning as we boarded Wembley bound coaches, draped in our scarves and flags? Would we let all thoughts of possible relegation evaporate and enjoy what was once the biggest game in the football calendar. And if the evening news tonight were to have been dominated by pictures of Adam Lallana lifting the cup and constant re-runs of a Lambert free kick that won it, would we be able to relax and enjoy it if we knew that in 70 hours time our team would be going out to fight for its premiership survival? Of course, we also have to think how we'd feel if Morgan had been injured in this game and so couldn't play the last two vital games. When Brighton played at Wembley in '83 they were already relegated, and but for "And Smith must score" would have won the Cup. Knowing they were already down and with relegation not being the disaster it is today it would have been a genuine consolation. How must Wigan be feeling now, and what does all of this say for the devaluation of the FA Cup?
This will teach me to rant before scrolling down. I refer any reader to the excellent The FA Cup thread below. Apologies, and I plead insanity, sorry senility. PS Good luck, Wigan
The Semi finals should not be played at Wembley and it should be the last game of the season. If Wigan do go down and it had been the last game of the season it would give them chance to enjoy the day and go out on a high. If they do win today then go down how would that feel?
If City were still in with a shout for the league title this year and they had a PL match on Tuesday, then the Cup final would have been played by two reserve teams with players on both sides rested I would think. That is sad. I think the demise of the FA Cup started in part with UTD opting out of it to play in the World Club Cup. It wasn't high on their priorities and when someone like UTD don't enter it really does devalue the competition.
What ever the disagreements surrounding the fa cup I would love for us to get to the final & win! I missed out on jpt final win & believe it would be a great for southampton achieve a second fa cup win
