So yes, it's a loss. Believe me when I say that it's a real disappointment to go out of the FA cup at this stage against a champ team. But just stop for a second, take a look at the Premier League table and try and remember what the goal was at the start of this season. 40 points and staying up - that was the only goal. So we've had a great run and are nearly there earlier than expected. That should be a good thing, not a stick to beat the club with when we a exit a cup. Cups are peripheral. League is what defines us in the short/medium term. So rejoice. We're playing Man U next week, not Col U.
I feel your pain Chris. I've got some alcohol to get through to dull that pain, and the certain knowledge that I'm going to get some serious flak at work on Monday. But I'm trying to stick to the long view here. And succeeding at punching well above our weight week-to-week has got to be the upside. And if anyone really still believes that a cup win is paramount then I've got just two things to say: 1. Portsmouth 2. Birmingham
The fact remains that if we play anywhere near as poorly as that again this season, we won't pick up another point. Fox and Hoolahoops were abject today - if fact they put more passes astray today than they've done all season. If that doesn't cause you marginal concern, I'd be worried. It's been refuted by Lambert and McNally, but the more I think about it, the more it strikes me that losing today was all a part of PLs plan. (It pains me to type that, but I mean it)
It was just bad rhetoric all week in the lead up to the game that concerns me. League survival everywhere which way you turned coming from Carrow Road. The fact is that was done and dusted when we stuck three past Swansea. It just might be that 35 points is enough to stay up this year and even if every wheel, nut and bolt fell off from now on in I still can't see us losing 13 games in a row!!! When PL is animated on the touchline you know he means business - no sign of that today! Tells its own story for me!
It is unfortunate that today's game probably came a couple of weeks too early. But the simple fact is that I do believe that the one and only focus is the league this year. It is true that we are on the verge of definitive survival in the Prem. But until we are mathematically done I believe that everyone at NCFC won't back off from that target. Are they right? Well it doesn't feel that way tonight. But if in May we're looking for how to consolidate in the EPL rather than how to mount a promotion campaign next season then PL and Mac and the rest will have done their jobs. End of.
