Cup is in danger of being devalued
Cup football. Everyone loves it, except some top-flight managers it seems. The increasing amount of managers not fielding their full strength sides, or with one or two changes, are simply devaluing the cup.
Cup football. Everyone loves it, except some top-flight managers it seems.
The increasing amount of managers not fielding their full strength sides, or with one or two changes, are simply devaluing the cup.
It seems customary now that managers field their second strength teams in the Carling Cup but now it's happening in the FA Cup. This is the FA Cup not some little cup competition with nothing at stake.
That's why it was astounding the Liverpool team Rafa Benitez put out against Arsenal in the Carling Cup.
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They'd already been dumped out of the FA Cup only three days previously by Arsenal and to field a weakened team left everyone amazed.
They could realistically have won that competition and qualified for Europe.
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Peter Grant doesn't do that and I like it. He's made his intentions clear that he wants to win the cup competitions.
Realistically, we know that's not going to happen but at least we'll go out fielding our strongest side possible.
The manner in which we won at Tamworth has to be commended.
Everyone in the country, apart from the Norwich fans were hoping for an upset and after the first 10-15 minutes it looked on the cards but after Dublin scored the first goal the result was never in doubt.
The players were very professional and dealt with the conditions, the pitch, the ground etc.
We must be the unluckiest club in the land.
Are we ever going to get another home cup tie again? After the Tamworth game, we all thought it would give the team the confidence to push on in the league but unfortunately that didn't happen and with Earnie's injury it makes it all that more important that the other players step up to the mark and make sure we don't get embroiled in a relegation dog fight.
Although it's an away tie, the cup draw has been fairly kind to us. Blackpool is not an easy place to go but we have to approach the game and play in the same manner as we did against Tamworth and then you never know, if we win that one, we may even get that elusive home tie in the fifth Round.
