BACK FROM THE GAME -CARDIFF FAC

[Dirk Gently]

Why do some people on here think that players like Doyle, Hunt etc can only get injured in cup games? I have yet to read any of them posters say not to play these players against Watford next week for example in case they get injured for the rest of the season. I mean, Watford are poor we should beat them without our first choice players.

You're missing the fact that lots of injuries happen to players in training - in fact, I bet, statistically, over a season far more players get injured in training than do in cup games.

So just to be on the safe side we'd better not have any of our key players do any training, so there''ll be no risk of injuries that way.

[winchester_royal]

Excellent post SKB. Fortunately enough the tuesday following the FA cup weekend is the evening tie against Wolves, so not too long a gap.

[Super Kevin Bremner!]

Why do some people on here think that players like Doyle, Hunt etc can only get injured in cup games? I have yet to read any of them posters say not to play these players against Watford next week for example in case they get injured for the rest of the season. I mean, Watford are poor we should beat them without our first choice players.

You're missing the fact that lots of injuries happen to players in training - in fact, I bet, statistically, over a season far more players get injured in training than do in cup games.

So just to be on the safe side we'd better not have any of our key players do any training, so there''ll be no risk of injuries that way.

Training is a necessary risk. Winning league matches is an acceptable risk. Winning away to Cardiff in the 3rd round of the FA Cup is a luxury.

[readingfc13]

Can't say I'm overly bothered about the cup as I can't remember ever witnessing a decent Royals cup run. All I can say is, what a bonus it is that Brum V Wolves was postponed! They now have to have a rearranged fixture midweek, making their fixture lists all the more congested with the possibility of a further reply to follow.

[Jackson Corner]

They should give sides the chance to opt out of the FA CUP. Plenty of div 1 and 2 and non league sides would die to be in the third round and we abuse it year after year.

[eleventh earl of mar]

They should give sides the chance to opt out of the FA CUP. Plenty of div 1 and 2 and non league sides would die to be in the third round and we abuse it year after year.

I would bet that not many clubs would opt out unless it was said that there is no European entry for winning it.

[rabidbee]

Take Convey who I rate for example; I was desperate for him to get a game today and for him to put in a blinder, because I think he's potentially a better option down the left for us than SHunt. But you can't blame a weak performance on him having a 'disjointed team' to play in. 'Here's a chance for you to shine Bobby C' is what should have been going through his mind. By all accounts you wouldn't have guessed this to be the case.

I don't think that's quite air. He certainly played hard, showed some good touches, tried to link up well with Kelly and Long, got into good positions. His finishing has always been... eratic, and as a winger I won't condemn him for that (it's no worse than SHunt's or Kébé's). The only real criticisms of him I would make today was that he was perhaps a little too cautious at times - understandable, really - and his crossing wasn't dangerous enough. But nobody whipped in a single dangerous cross today.

[rabidbee]

A few shots from today:

[Barry the bird boggler]

By all accpunts both Bobby Convey and Shane Hunt had very good chances to give Reading the the lead but made a total hash of them. Had one or both of them gone it the game would obviously have been different and we could have been praising SC for changing things round without calling on the "first teamers" and on the youngsters fo achieving what the "first teamers" abjectly failed to do.

But unfortunately that was not the case the the annual SC experiment in the FA Cup came to an early end without even the standard defeat in a replay. Hopefully Cardiff will get a cr*p draw with a visit to Middlesbrough or something which will help SC's decicions look a lot better.

For the record anyone know why Golbourne wasn't playing - was he injured? If he wasn't I would say that his time at the club is now up.

[Royal With Cheese]

Firstly, any team can win the cup, that's kinda the beauty of it - Coppell should know this given his time at Palace

1996 Manchester United
1997 Chelsea
1998 Arsenal
1999 Manchester United
2000 Chelsea
2001 Liverpool
2002 Arsenal
2003 Arsenal
2004 Manchester United
2005 Arsenal
2006 Liverpool
2007 Chelsea
2008 Portsmouth

Yes, that's right - in the last 13 years 1 team out of the top 4 have won the FA cup.

And when did Palace wint he FA Cup?

Royalee - I don't mind debate but certainly your first point does not have any basis in fact.

[Rex]

Perhaps it's time to exclude the clubs playing in the champions league. Allow everyone else to have a chance of actually having a run in the FAC and ensuring all clubs actually have a realisic chance of taking the FAC seriously.
As the top teams reap significant financial rewards from the premier league in comparison to the mid and lower table teams in the prem, (let alone the other league and non leagues) it would enable clubs who never have the chance to win that glimmer of hope.

[The 17 Bus]

That would devalue it even more then, may as well win the Simod cup, oh

[Rex]

I think Man U did exactly that a few years back. It wouldn't devalue the cup anymore than it already is to clubs such as ours. With Coppell clearly stating we have no chance of winning the cup the only incentive is to field our fringe players.
By removing the top four premier teams there will still be enough Premier teams to provide the glamour for lower league teams.
Prem teams still have UEFA, Champions league , Premiership cups to go for. As always it's a case of money talks and the rarety of even getting a Championship team into the final is a massive achievement.

[The 17 Bus]

Take the big four out and the gap grows again, in all reality they dont want to play in the prem, but in a euro league of big boys,.

[Norfolk Royal]

Surely the easiest way to beef up the FA Cup to its former glory is for the FA to rule that teams must play their strongest available line up for FA Cup games.

And I don't mean that certain tactical changes can't be made as they are in the general run of things, but when the devaluing of the compeition is as blatant as our attempts, it would be pretty easy to enforce.

[RoyalBlue]

Surely the easiest way to beef up the FA Cup to its former glory is for the FA to rule that teams must play their strongest available line up for FA Cup games.

And I don't mean that certain tactical changes can't be made as they are in the general run of things, but when the devaluing of the compeition is as blatant as our attempts, it would be pretty easy to enforce.

And who is going to be the judge and jury in determining what is the strongest available line up for FA Cups games?!! The FA will also need an awfully large medical team to check out every player who might be 'injured' in the run up to a game.

Once again it comes down to the fact that our football is played in a free market economy. The FA Cup will only return to its former glory if success in that competition is regarded as being more important than other factors.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

As for the game, did we lose because we were shit, or were we shit because we lost? Losing games tends to put a more negative spin on any performance. It may not have been great, but it didn't sound like we were totally outplayed.

On paper that wasn't actually a bad side we put out. Bikey probably is first choice, as would have been Murty if he'd been fit. Matejovsky would be first choice for a number of people too.

There probably wasn't a player out there that if called into the first team you'd worry that he'd do a substandard job (although Long's form hasn't been the best) but changing everyone is just asking a bit much. You'll never have the understanding between the players as they don't play as a team together.


I actually quite like it when we play "rotated" sides in the league cup, but usually they are against lower division opposition and we still look decent. The problem with doing it games like yesterday's is that it sends out the message that it really doesn't matter if the team loses, and nothing good will come from that.

[The 17 Bus]

That would be a start NR, also remove the stupid number of subs in the game, 3 max would be enough, all the 5 and 7 subs mean is that the bigger clubs have more of the top players.

I was going to post that I dont think that the level of the Championship is much better than the old 3rd division used to be, my reasoning? The top clubs have a lot more of the top players now, so thoase that once would be regulars at a lower lever are now 2nd tier still, but in Prem reserves, making the championship the new third tier.

Another thing would be to scrap the transfer window, personally i find it a waste of time, it is abused by those that want to abue it, and i cant see it serves any real purpose.

[The 17 Bus]

Surely the easiest way to beef up the FA Cup to its former glory is for the FA to rule that teams must play their strongest available line up for FA Cup games.

And I don't mean that certain tactical changes can't be made as they are in the general run of things, but when the devaluing of the compeition is as blatant as our attempts, it would be pretty easy to enforce.

And who is going to be the judge and jury in determining what is the strongest available line up for FA Cups games?!! The FA will also need an awfully large medical team to check out every player who might be 'injured' in the run up to a game.

Once again it comes down to the fact that our football is played in a free market economy. The FA Cup will only return to its former glory if success in that competition is regarded as being more important than other factors.

didn't really used to be a problem tho, in general it was the bigger clubs that rested players. however they alwasy break the rules so no change there then.

[starbug]

No wonder we lost if we defended free kicks like that