[Football] League Cup

[Napper]

Dear Graham ,

Please field a half decent side as we hate that lot and need to beat them

Thanks

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Frattonising with the old enemy

Indeed, remember many trips to the above venue back in the day, even less pleasant than those made to Smellhurst more recently as l recall.. To my mind Pompey are much more obvious rivals, than the manufactured one agaisnt Palarce which was largely born in the 70's.

 

[GT49er]

Indeed, remember many trips to the above venue back in the day, even less pleasant than those made to Smellhurst more recently as l recall.. To my mind Pompey are much more obvious rivals, than the manufactured one against Palarce which was largely born in the 70's.

Except that from the start of Division 3 up to the 70s we were very rarely anywhere near Pompey in the league standings, so would have hardly ever played them!

 

[HHGull]

I know a lot of people disagree, but I think that is a very bad way to go about it.

It’s 1 of 2 competitions that we might actually have a (small) chance of winning or at least getting to the final. That’s what it’s all about for me.

Our squad is good enough to have decent cup runs, especially if we’ve got 2 lower league teams coming up.

I’ve been to every League Cup game at The Amex and we normally end up getting embarrassed, so it always seems like a bit of a kick in the teeth to the fans who’ve turned up.

You must be forgetting the 2017 1-0 thrashing of Barnet? The game that started the loyalty points debacle I believe?

 

[Swansman]

I know a lot of people disagree, but I think that is a very bad way to go about it.

It’s 1 of 2 competitions that we might actually have a (small) chance of winning or at least getting to the final. That’s what it’s all about for me.

Our squad is good enough to have decent cup runs, especially if we’ve got 2 lower league teams coming up.

I’ve been to every League Cup game at The Amex and we normally end up getting embarrassed, so it always seems like a bit of a kick in the teeth to the fans who’ve turned up.

The myth about small teams frequently winning this cup is a myth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EFL_Cup_finals

Its a useless, prestigeless shiet cup and I hope no time or energy will be wasted on it. Kids will hopefully/probably play, great if they win, shrug if they lose.

 

[GT49er]

The myth about small teams frequently winning this cup is a myth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EFL_Cup_finals

Its a useless, prestigeless shiet cup and I hope no time or energy will be wasted on it. Kids will hopefully/probably play, great if they win, shrug if they lose.

Yes, and there's a fair few non-top 6 clubs in that role of honour. Not so many in recent years, but still do-able; two in the last ten years for example.

 

[AlbionInUs]

In my opinion, staying up is the priority. If we are far off the drop zone, we should go for the cups. Staying in the premier league is much more important than these cups. The prize money for staying up is around 1,000 times more than the prize money for winning this cup (excluding Europa league)

 

[GT49er]

In my opinion, staying up is the priority. If we are far off the drop zone, we should go for the cups. Staying in the premier league is much more important than these cups. The prize money for staying up is around 1,000 times more than the prize money for winning this cup (excluding Europa league)

Winning is a habit. Do you really think our chances of PL survival will be helped by playing a mix of the U23s with a smattering of U18s in the first round of the League Cup?

Okey doke if you do. I don't.

 

[Swansman]

In my opinion, staying up is the priority. If we are far off the drop zone, we should go for the cups. Staying in the premier league is much more important than these cups. The prize money for staying up is around 1,000 times more than the prize money for winning this cup (excluding Europa league)

Economically speaking Europa League money really is pretty much a piss in the ocean for PL teams.

Would of course be fun though.

 

[Taybha]

Hope Vicente gets a start , they won't bother getting on the coach .

 

[BeHereNow]

The myth about small teams frequently winning this cup is a myth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_EFL_Cup_finals

Its a useless, prestigeless shiet cup and I hope no time or energy will be wasted on it. Kids will hopefully/probably play, great if they win, shrug if they lose.

I didn’t say small clubs winning it is something that happens frequently, although I was going to say that even bloody Swansea City have won it and they are a much smaller club.

I would much rather win a cup than just stay up, couldn’t give a **** about the financial implications. The whole point is to win, I really look forward to the cup games.

I would rather have a decent second string team, with 3-4 U23’s in the squad, win 3-4 games than a whole team of U23’s just playing and losing one like last year’s ridiculous loss against Aston Villa.

I was there with thousands, most of us were very annoyed.

If we got to the Quarter Finals and had someone like Manchester United at home, it would definitely sell out in normal circumstances. The fans won’t want the U18’s playing. We should play to win. The FL Trophy is for the young players.

Oh, also, this is a south coast derby which you probably have no clue about. This is a must win. So, no, I won’t be shrugging if we lose to our rivals who are 2 leagues below us.

 

[OzMike]

Aren't we playing Orient this week ?

 

[BeHereNow]

Winning is a habit. Do you really think our chances of PL survival will be helped by playing a mix of the U23s with a smattering of U18s in the first round of the League Cup?

Okey doke if you do. I don't.

Like I said before, couldn’t give a **** about how much money the club will make.

Our records in the cups compared to clubs similar to our size is pretty crap really, no wonder other fans don’t take us seriously.

I always want us to improve, so a run to the Semi Final is actually a bit of achievement for us considering we’ve never been there before.

I don’t see how a few extra games for our second string 11 would have a negative impact on the first team.

 

[Swansman]

I didn’t say small clubs winning it is something that happens frequently, although I was going to say that even bloody Swansea City have won it and they are a much smaller club.

I would much rather win a cup than just stay up, couldn’t give a **** about the financial implications. The whole point is to win, I really look forward to the cup games.

I would rather have a decent second string team, with 3-4 U23’s in the squad, win 3-4 games than a whole team of U23’s just playing and losing one like last year’s ridiculous loss against Aston Villa.

I was there with thousands, most of us were very annoyed.

If we got to the Quarter Finals and had someone like Manchester United at home, it would definitely sell out in normal circumstances. The fans won’t want the U18’s playing. We should play to win. The FL Trophy is for the young players.

Oh, also, this is a south coast derby which you probably have no clue about. This is a must win. So, no, I won’t be shrugging if we lose to our rivals who are 2 leagues below us.

Yeah I noticed on here that quite a few got angry and perhaps Potter should have been more clear in the interviews before the game that he sees it as an opportunity to try out young players against tough opposition. Same approach in Swansea: only one or two senior players when they faced Crystal Palace.

With the very tight schedule this season (as the season is a month shorter) I doubt you will get a different approach this year. Maybe next year as the season will (hopefully) be normal and Potter will have a better idea of the youth players than he did last year, perhaps only picking the ones he think got a serious chance of breaking through.

 

[BeHereNow]

Aren't we playing Orient this week ?

EFL Trophy on Tuesday.

 

[OzMike]

EFL Trophy on Tuesday.

No score predictor ?

 

[BeHereNow]

Yeah I noticed on here that quite a few got angry and perhaps Potter should have been more clear in the interviews before the game that he sees it as an opportunity to try out young players against tough opposition. Same approach in Swansea: only one or two senior players when they faced Crystal Palace.

With the very tight schedule this season (as the season is a month shorter) I doubt you will get a different approach this year. Maybe next year as the season will (hopefully) be normal and Potter will have a better idea of the youth players than he did last year, perhaps only picking the ones he think got a serious chance of breaking through.

I do expect him to put a young team out, but I just wish he didn’t. I bet there are a lot of senior players that would be glad to get the minutes and probably won’t play that much throughout the season, although I understand that they may get a bit more than usual.

Like I said, I think it would be better to have a smattering of young players, rather than the whole team, which would then give them the experience of playing with senior players and the chance of more games if we win. Seems like a better incentive too.

Maybe Potter just doesn’t like many games!

Losing to Sheffield Wednesday was bloody hard to take too. There’s only so much you can take though.

I’ve said for years that I thought that one of the peaks of being in the PL was that we would have the squad depth to give the cups a good go, well, maybe not straight away, but at least in a few seasons. If we are just going to aim for anywhere between 12th and 17th every season without progressing in the cups, that would be very frustrating.

I actually get more excited by the cups games than most of the league games. There’s more of a buzz knowing that it’s a must win unlike about 28 of the league games.

The more of those games the better for me!

Although, that’s just me.

 

[BeHereNow]

No score predictor ?

I don’t know. I don’t go on score predictor threads.

 

[AlbionInUs]

Winning is a habit. Do you really think our chances of PL survival will be helped by playing a mix of the U23s with a smattering of U18s in the first round of the League Cup?

Okey doke if you do. I don't.

Yes, I do think our chances of PL survival will increase if we played the u23s. For example, during the Xmas break, GP rotated his squad (namely against Tottenham). An extra 5 games might cause GP to play a rotated team. Also, it could be argued that our downturn in form under CH was because of our FA cup run (among other things, I’m not saying this is a main cause of his sacking). Cups might not even have a big impact on fitness, but it can change a team’s priorities. We were around 10 points clear of the drop zone when we started fa cup games.

 

[Swansman]

I do expect him to put a young team out, but I just wish he didn’t. I bet there are a lot of senior players that would be glad to get the minutes and probably won’t play that much throughout the season, although I understand that they may get a bit more than usual.

Like I said, I think it would be better to have a smattering of young players, rather than the whole team, which would then give them the experience of playing with senior players and the chance of more games if we win. Seems like a better incentive too.

Maybe Potter just doesn’t like many games!

Losing to Sheffield Wednesday was bloody hard to take too. There’s only so much you can take though.

I’ve said for years that I thought that one of the peaks of being in the PL was that we would have the squad depth to give the cups a good go, well, maybe not straight away, but at least in a few seasons. If we are just going to aim for anywhere between 12th and 17th every season without progressing in the cups, that would be very frustrating.

I actually get more excited by the cups games than most of the league games. There’s more of a buzz knowing that it’s a must win unlike about 28 of the league games.

The more of those games the better for me!

Although, that’s just me.

Well, at least you should be happy to hear that GP is really horny for the FA Cup. Looked like a kid on Christmas before all the Swansea games in the cup. While I dont think he cares about the Cabawow Cup, I think he was very unhappy with the loss against Wednesday. Sure he played a few reserves in that game, as you would expect against a poor Championship side, but that starting eleven still should have beat them player by player - it was just a really shit performance.