Steve Coppell and the FA Cup

[Spirit of Elm Park]

Late to join the party but hey....

OK so its not full steam ahead, but I'm quite happy to pay a reduced cost and see the players we don't normally get a chance to see perform, as others have said, and SC himself, these players need to be tested and 10 minutes here and there just can't do that.

The players on the park will give 110%, they know its a chance, and its the cup, a fact I'm sure that is not lost on them.

As far as resting players go, we may look safe at the moment, but how would we look if come saturday evening Doyle had picked up a Hamstring injury, Kitsons Knee had gone after 10 minutes of his return, lita had been sent off, and any one of our mids had picked up a knock? Apocalyptic vision, but none the less possible.

SC, carry on as you were...

[Gordons Cumming]

Steve Coppell can do what he likes as far as I'm concerned.

His decisions have proved pretty fruitful so far.....................

[shadesrwrf]

Late to join the party but hey....

OK so its not full steam ahead, but I'm quite happy to pay a reduced cost and see the players we don't normally get a chance to see perform, as others have said, and SC himself, these players need to be tested and 10 minutes here and there just can't do that.

The players on the park will give 110%, they know its a chance, and its the cup, a fact I'm sure that is not lost on them.

As far as resting players go, we may look safe at the moment, but how would we look if come saturday evening Doyle had picked up a Hamstring injury, Kitsons Knee had gone after 10 minutes of his return, lita had been sent off, and any one of our mids had picked up a knock? Apocalyptic vision, but none the less possible.

SC, carry on as you were...

Totally agree with that. As last year, we have a singular goal. This will be achieved by taking a sensible approach to cup matches. It's vitally important that the fringe players get real match experience and the cup matches are where they'll get it. We'll win the FA cup in a few years time when we're an established Premiership side. Until then I'll be satisfied with a runners-up place.

[rg6royal]

do hope that we take the cup seriously this year and actually put out a good team and not just a reserve style team.

[Maguire]

I haven't woken up any less pissed off by the lack of ambition shown here. Let's not try and make out it's a straight choice between 35 million and 5 years in the Prem v a Cup Final and relegation. It's not.

If we're safe from relegation and in the 1/4 finals of the FA Cup then to play anything other than your strongest side is pretty shameful IMHO. A lack of ambition that even I'd be embarrassed to display.

As for those of you looking forward to seeing Federici and Osano play against Burnley - you're obviously wired slightly differently to me. Fair enough we need to be resting players at the moment, but all the way to the final?

[shadesrwrf]

If we're safe from relegation and in the 1/4 finals of the FA Cup then to play anything other than your strongest side is pretty shameful IMHO. A lack of ambition that even I'd be embarrassed to display.

Also totally agree with that. But if we're safe from relegation at that point then this season's primary goal will have been acheived. Then of course it would only be right to put every effort into the cup.

The reason I shall not be at tommorow's match other than the fact it's my wife's 50th birthday and she'd kill me is I have no desire to watch our second string players in action however "plastic" that makes me. I'll leave that to the die-hards.

PS, I hope that doesn't mean I'm wired similarly to Maguire as that would be a frightening prospect.

[zac naloen]

Personally I want to watch the clubs future players perform, if they win convincingly tomorrow then i'll be a little more comfortable. But if we have another Darlington i'd probably be a bit concerned.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I think Sheff U will be a very tough game, quite possibly a draw. I don't think Colin will let his players go for anything other than a win for 90 minutes so it could be one of our toughest games at home all season. Wigan are under intense pressure and if they lose again to Chelsea and Everton before playing us, then I can see that as a banker.

I dont. Wigan bullied us out of the game at their place - despite a patchy start to the season. We'll beat Sheff Utd because we nearly always do. but I think it wont be until the end of march that we actually get to 40 points

As a side issue I think Coppell has always been scarred by what happened when he managed Crystal palace one year. With 3 games to go they were 8 points clear of Sheffield Wednesday. They lose there last 3 games, Sheff Wednesday won all of them and relegated palace. He always quotes this as an example fo the worst happening.

You don't think that we will get nine points from our next eight games? I presume by the same token we will therefore be relegated or stay up on the middle of April.

[brendywendy]

of course we arent playing our strongest squad, id be pissed off if we did
any more injuries and we are down to th ebare bones
and im really looking forward to seeing how the other lads do, and am perfectly happy to pay for my ticket, cant wait, no pressure, can just enjoy the game

stop whingeing, coppell is god, and i bow to his superior decision making abilities

[Dangerous]

Late to the table too, and some of this may already have been written, but hey ho.

My personal point of view is, that the League IS the main priority this season, and we can't be comfortable until we do have around 40-45 points on the board, however, we are in a position in the league where we can take the FA Cup with a little bit more respect than we are going to give it, we only really need another 3 wins and say 3 draws to almost guarantee survival, we still have Home games left against, Sheffield United, Wigan, Fulham, Villa, Watford, Newcastle, and we really should be looking at getting something from all of those, (Villa and Newcastle will be tougher, but we've shown we can compete with them, but they will have more clout this month in the window).

We have road trips to Man City, Charlton, Boro and Bolton, all teams we have beaten at home, so you have to say, we may get something there, it'll take one hell of a collapse to go down now and I just can't see this happening.

With 2-3 additions this month, the squad will obviously be much stronger, and I think this Burnley game may be the last chance saloon to prove themselves for some players at RFC.

[Gordons Cumming]

What if one of our valuable key players were lost for the season in one of these FA Cup matches ?

Would be happy playing the first team then?

FA Cup does not generate enough money to risk our players on.

If we had a better, stronger squad then maybe..................but not yet!!

[Top Flight]

I agree with Coppell that priorities can change over time.

There is so much importance attached to staying in the Premier League that I agree with our gaffer that the Cup MUST take a back seat this year.

For our very small squad, with very little depth, we can't afford to take chances regarding our Premier League status. If anything happens to any of our key players we may end up starting to wonder where our next Premier League points are coming from?

We have a squad of around 12 or 13 genuine Premier League quality players and then after that we are short? We don't have enough depth to take any risks!! If we did lose Doyle, Shorey, Sidders and Little we really could be paddling up Sh*t creek........

In future years our priorities may change again. We may be in a position where we have a squad of 18 or 19 genuine Premier League Quality players and we may already be up to 36 points by the time the 3rd round comes about. In those circumstances, I really would want Coppell to take the Cup seriously. There is a certain magic about the Cup and in the right circumstances we should attack it aggressively and go all out to win it.

But this year, Coppell is right. We cannot take chances with our Premier League status. We have points in the bag, but a very light squad which can't be risked. We're not safe just yet. 30 points doesn't usually keep a team up. If we lose key players, we could end up struggling for points like Watford.

I back Coppell this time under these circumstances but in future years, I want us to take the Cup more seriously if we are in a better position in terms of squad quality!

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I think Sheff U will be a very tough game, quite possibly a draw. I don't think Colin will let his players go for anything other than a win for 90 minutes so it could be one of our toughest games at home all season. Wigan are under intense pressure and if they lose again to Chelsea and Everton before playing us, then I can see that as a banker.

I dont. Wigan bullied us out of the game at their place - despite a patchy start to the season. We'll beat Sheff Utd because we nearly always do. but I think it wont be until the end of march that we actually get to 40 points

As a side issue I think Coppell has always been scarred by what happened when he managed Crystal palace one year. With 3 games to go they were 8 points clear of Sheffield Wednesday. They lose there last 3 games, Sheff Wednesday won all of them and relegated palace. He always quotes this as an example fo the worst happening.

You don't think that we will get nine points from our next eight games? I presume by the same token we will therefore be relegated or stay up on the middle of April.

I used the example to demonstrate why Coppell is conservative - not as a like for like comparison. I realise that we have a good chance of getting that points total fiarly quickly - but lets not worry about the cup until we do. We've only accumulated 8 point in our last 8 games after all... at that rate we are safe by the quarter finals.

[shadesrwrf]

Late to the table too, and some of this may already have been written, but hey ho.

My personal point of view is, that the League IS the main priority this season, and we can't be comfortable until we do have around 40-45 points on the board, however, we are in a position in the league where we can take the FA Cup with a little bit more respect than we are going to give it, we only really need another 3 wins and say 3 draws to almost guarantee survival, we still have Home games left against, Sheffield United, Wigan, Fulham, Villa, Watford, Newcastle, and we really should be looking at getting something from all of those, (Villa and Newcastle will be tougher, but we've shown we can compete with them, but they will have more clout this month in the window).

We have road trips to Man City, Charlton, Boro and Bolton, all teams we have beaten at home, so you have to say, we may get something there, it'll take one hell of a collapse to go down now and I just can't see this happening.

With 2-3 additions this month, the squad will obviously be much stronger, and I think this Burnley game may be the last chance saloon to prove themselves for some players at RFC.

I see what you're getting at but I still think it doesn't hurt to be cautious at this stage. Whilst we've got 30 points relatively comfortably I'm not yet convinced the next 10-15 points will not be somewhat more difficult to obtain. We have a small squad and it needs careful management. As has already been said but it warrants repetition, Coppell is God.

[MartinRdg]

AP I admire your stout refusal to adopt any sort of negative stance in this situation, but unfortunately the circumstances really dictate that we CAN take this seriously without any adverse effects. Hell, we got through eight games in December and the Xmas period without any adverse effects. What else are the players going to do on the allotted FA Cup weekends that we aren't playing in, sit there and play with their arse? No, they'll be training most likely which is quite ironic really.

We have a small squad. What happens if a lower-league team decide to kick 10 bells of sh*ie out of us and Sidwell, Sonko and Doyle are all out for 3 months. Would you still say there are no adverse effects when we end up in a relegation dog-fight?

[londinium]

It really is a tough one to call this.

We are not safe from relegation no matter what people think so putting out a 2nd team against team from a lower division that we beat comfortably last season seems the right thing to do.

The problem will only starts to arise if we go on to win say 3 league games in the next 4 (almost securing us premiership status) and then drawing a big team in the next round of the cup.

Do you stick with the team that got you through the 3rd round or do you then start to look at things in a different light?

I think it is a matter of how the team goes on Saturday and should we get through then look at it again before the next round. If the team scrape through and we get a big team next round and we have had a couple of league wins under our belt then maybe a near to first team should be played.

On the other hand should we win and play well on Saturday with the 2nd team and then we draw a lower league team despite our league position I reckon they should be given another chance to prove their worth. If we win well and draw a big team next round and are doing well in the leaugue too then maybe a near to first team should be played and any outstanding performers from Saturdays game be included.

We have to remember that most other premiership teams will be fielding their second strings especially the likes of Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelski due to champions league looming on the horizon. The Chrismas period goes to show that with even the bigger teams when they have one or two changes to their line up (Chelsea in particular) they are more than a little ropey. Our second string are doing well in the reserves and I imagine are well acustomed to playing as a unit like all Coppell's teams are.

[Barry the bird boggler]

From what I believe will be the line up it would say our weakpoints will be the full backs and possibly the 'unknown' nature of the keeper. Other than that it's not going to be a load of youngsters just making up the numbers; Seol, Oster and Hunt are likely to start as will Lita or Doyle. Add to that Convey & Kitson on the bench and it'll still be worth watching.

Bit upsetting that we're making it difficult for ourselves by adopting these changes but given the knackering nature of the Premiership and the fact we've just had 4 games in 9/10 days its not a surprise really. Also Sonko, Gunnarsson and Murty would have been likely to have missed the game, even if it was in the league.

So struggle we will, probably, and the chances of winning are not quite as high as they would be normally but I'll still be there supporting the team even if it is just beacuse its 3rd round day.

By the way our record in the FA Cup is not exactly impressive even with a full strength team so what difference will it actually make?

[Dirk Gently]

Agreed - very difficult to call.

It's a real case of head vs heart. I love the Cup and my heart really wants us to play the first-team and to really go for it - but my head understands exactly what SC is saying.

It's not only about avoiding the risk of injury and giving fringe players a chance to impress, but it's also giving them invaluable experience. The Adam Federici who has played 90 mins at the MadStad against Akin-bad-buy etc will be a much better player when Marcus picks up an injury in a Premeier League game.

[Seal]

The only thing that surprises / depresses me in that article is Coppell saying he would play the reserves all the way to the final. I honestly hope that is not true, and I can't believe it is.

Could you imagine Coppell telling Doyle, Sidwell, Shorey, Murty etc that they're not playing in an FA Cup semi at Old Trafford because he wants to give the reserves another run out? Can't see that happening.

Also if we make a few signings in the transfer window hopefully that would alleviate some pressure on the first team and make it easier to play a stronger team in the cup.

[Platypuss]

By the way our record in the FA Cup is not exactly impressive even with a full strength team so what difference will it actually make?

Maybe the fact that we go out with the mindset that we don't care if we lose has something to do with that.

I absolutely hate losing - and the thought of having a load of gurning northerners jumping around the Madstad and my town after pulling off a "giant-killing" makes me sick.

It would be nice to actually win an FA Cup game against a league club at the Madstad for once - we've been here 9 years now.