Top 4 or FA Cup?

I think a lot of us older fans know that - 3 games away from the double - until Heath (the bastardo!)

 

Again-I look back to 1984 and think what only if we had beaten Notts County at home (who were relegated), but do not have the same what ifs for the 2003 Cup final

 

As the great man Cortese said when asked if Southampton would ever pay players £100k a week

'If we were playing in front of 50,000 in the Champions League'

He didn't say 'Yes after we won the prestigious FA Cup in which lower league clubs are frequenting the quarters and semi finals more and more often as years go by'.

Getting in the CL will retain some players that would've left. It will also mean some players will come here for CL rather than just $. i.e. we might be able to get some players that we couldn't afford to attract without the CL. It will also help build our brand much quicker. And who is to say it would be a one off just because the bigger budgets would dive into the transfer market the summer they don't make it? How many of those bigger budget teams actually have an indefinite bigger budget? How many are close to FFP limits and how many are close to an amount of debt that they can't 'borrow' more?

I can't wait for the end of the season finishing in the top 4 and a month later the stadium expansion plans are unveiled to the world by Ralph and Kat to the furore of the media with Mark Lawrenson confidently stating 'they'll never fill it.'

 

If we won the cup and finished 5th they would fondly talk about Saints and show off their winner's medal whilst wearing their new club in the CL's shirt.

 

You did it, you mentioned that name. Now I'll be miserable all night, and it's your fault.

 

Well done, ImpSaint. A measure of hope, realism and sarcasm all mixed in together.

 

Don't be surprised if some are interviewed about saints achieving CL place ... While wearing their new team's shirt.

I understand the CL qualification is huge; I'd just like to see us win a trophy en route to doing that.

 

We are talking about winning the FA Cup though not being runners up, so that's not quite the same comparison. The relevant comparison is 76 v 84. So are you saying you lament 84 more than you enjoyed 76? If so, then fair enough.

If you ask me do I want to finish 4th or reach the FA Cup final, I would say finish 4th. That's a different question though.

I just don't quite believe that in 15-20 years time that I would be looking back remembering the year we came 4th over the year we won the cup. Winning a big cup is a special day.

I will of course turn up for the open top bus tour of the city when we finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th

 

Impsaint - I bet Cortese would have paid a fortune to be sat in the front row at Wembley, next to a Royal, with his sadistic smirk being beamed out to millions and millions of world wide viewers.

 

Well, unless we beat them 17-0 we would still have come second!

 

Given the number of injuries picked up last night, coupled with the impact of playing three games in six days - how do people now feel about the cup?

Anyone changed their opinions?

 

Only that we should have won at SMS. A night match midweek away from home was what we didn't need. Remember that we don't know that Big Vic wouldn't have pulled a muscle at Newcastle or in training.

 

No, because I was asked at that point what I would rather take there and then. It was the cup. The injuries (that could have occurred in any game) add to my feeling. We have a small squad and this could have happened on Saturday or against United, or in training a la Schneiderlin and we don't have the depth in squad. So no, I wouldn't change my view - we are having a dream season and a cup win would make it so memorable for me.

 

OT, but Ron said Morgan's injury is the same as he had when he came back from the World Cup, so could be an ongoing thing.

 

I dont think you can use the argument that the injury could've happened at any other time. It happened because he needed to play a physically taxing position twice in 3 days. Had we not fielded Vic today he would not have had to exert himself and injure his hamstring.

The FA cup is great and were we not in a CL spot I would be as keen as anyone else on here to go for it. But a of set circumstances have had us get result while some CL regulars have struggled/are struggling. CL qualification brings in the ability finance and attract high quality players, increase revenue and profile, provide a unique experience for the fans and ideally allow the club to sustain a high league position in the future....while also hopefully giving us the chance to blow raspberries at twatbear, lovren and co.

 

I don't think we can change our views based on an injury

PS. How did Morgan get injured ... can we use that as a consideration? That was nothing to do with the FA Cup. Vic could have done the same.

 

A good point. So we had Morgan injured last match yet still had to field Vic 3 days later because we don't have enough depth to preserve our key players for this possibly groundbreaking season.

 

Absolutely. This is a fantastic season, yet I always felt that we were a couple of injuries away from looking a little weaker and to go the whole season without a spate of injuries/suspensions would be very fortunate and potentially can blow up a league season. This was a part of my selection of wining the FA Cup as my choice.

 

The very reason i picked the opposite

For me the less games they play the better. My heart sank today when within half an hour Vic pulled a hamstring and Dusan and Ryan were hobbling across the pitch in pursuit of what should be well down the clubs list of priorities.