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This is probably the first topic i have started for about 4 years and as this is the only football message board i am registered on i will ask it here.
Is it time to ditch these two competitions?
I was reading something this morning about teams in the competition making about 250 changes to their squads colectively for the Tuesday fixtures. What is the point of having a cup which is classed as a major trophy (albeit the lesser one) if teams from the 3rd and 4th tier are putting their reserves out against Premiership and 1st division sides. Nobody is even slightly concerned about the League Cup until the semi-finals and this football league trophy is the biggest joke competition in football these days. It used to be ok as a straight knockout competition but now it’s in group stages like some pound shop Champions League for the pure reason of the Premiership’s youth sides some game time. Both these competitions have become too stagnent beyond repair and for clubs especially in the 3rd and 4th tier will free up some much welcomed time on the roster instead of having to play and travel for mickey mouse cups. I would get shut of them both and create a kind of British Isles knockout cup where English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish teams were involved. Be interesting to see how sides like Celtic, TNS, Dundalk fared. You could be getting matches like Celtic v Newcastle, TNS v Wigan, Dundalk v Arsenal. Would be a much better competition than the other two. Thoughts?
Not a bad idea but winning the Freight Rover and Auto Windscreens along with the League Cup Final at Cardiff were all very special to me.
What I would like to see is returning to having a real reserve team playing regular football in a real league. Something like the old Central League. This would take away the need for the wholesale changes and give those cup competitions a little more kudos.In my opinion the Football League/Checkatrade Trophy should be scrapped without question.
As much as I enjoyed watching us win it in 1999, its always been a competition that has attracted low attendances until the regional 2 legged finals (or even the final if it’s Latics) but putting the U23 sides from the top 2 divisions in as some kind of sop to them in order to put down the calls for B sides in professional football, it has just killed it stone dead.
2 seasons ago I really wanted Latics to win it & was gutted when we got beat by Barnsley. Now I really couldn;t give 2 hoots about it & seeing my club have to face up against Middlesbrough U23’s 4 years after we won the FA Cup is just a further reminder of how far we have fallen in that time & holds no appeal to me.
The League Cup I would keep, however ultimately we have to realise that most club’s concern if to climb as high up the league as possible.
Take our game last night – Villa need to get back in the top flight before their parachute payments halve & to make them a more attractive opposition to potential buyers. Latics need to get out of League 1 for the long term good of the club. Neither of those club’s is going to risk injuries or suspensions to any player that may harm those goals of promotion.
There are various things that would make it a more attractive opposition but the main two I guess would be to offer more prize money for winning each tie & a Champions League spot for the winner. The PL will never agree to the latter & I guess the FL is hamstrung by how much cash it can afford to pay out in order for the former to be a goerIn my opinion the Football League/Checkatrade Trophy should be scrapped without question.As much as I enjoyed watching us win it in 1999, its always been a competition that has attracted low attendances until the regional 2 legged finals (or even the final if it’s Latics) but putting the U23 sides from the top 2 divisions in as some kind of sop to them in order to put down the calls for B sides in professional football, it has just killed it stone dead.
2 seasons ago I really wanted Latics to win it & was gutted when we got beat by Barnsley. Now I really couldn;t give 2 hoots about it & seeing my club have to face up against Middlesbrough U23’s 4 years after we won the FA Cup is just a further reminder of how far we have fallen in that time & holds no appeal to me.
The League Cup I would keep, however ultimately we have to realise that most club’s concern if to climb as high up the league as possible.
Take our game last night – Villa need to get back in the top flight before their parachute payments halve & to make them a more attractive opposition to potential buyers. Latics need to get out of League 1 for the long term good of the club. Neither of those club’s is going to risk injuries or suspensions to any player that may harm those goals of promotion.
There are various things that would make it a more attractive opposition but the main two I guess would be to offer more prize money for winning each tie & a Champions League spot for the winner. The PL will never agree to the latter & I guess the FL is hamstrung by how much cash it can afford to pay out in order for the former to be a goerI like the last bit. Imagine if they offered a Champions League spot for the winners of both domestic cups and the top 2 in the league. There would be many a bricks being shit in Manchester, Merseyside and London. It would actually be hilarious because of all the billions spent between them but on the serious side it would make the Premiership a lot more interesting as it would then be 3rd and 4th for the Europa League and everybody else lucks out so that means big clubs miss out on Europe. I am all for it and it would certainly add more glamour to the cup competitions. Say a team like Man City were struggling in 5th place but were still in the League Cup. You wouldn’t see any reserves then.
I like that idea of offering champions league places to the premier league, FA cup & league cup winners ONLY!!
Teams finishing 2, 3 & 4 compete in the europa league. If a team (ie man city) wins a cup but finishes 2nd, the runners up of said cup (like they do now with the FA) then get the europa spot.
I think the League Cup has become completely outdated – it’s worthless – get shut I’d say.
I’d also get rid of the Europa League, as that is also a pretty rubbish competition when compared with the Champions League.
Instead, I’d have an extended (doubled in size) Champions League, that includes national cup winners for the major leagues (i.e. FA Cup winners for England), and qualifying would probably go up to around 6th place for the Premier League.
The results of this would be:
Great motivation to win the cup – teams would send good sides out
Better competition within the premier league, as wealth to be spread out more evenly (i.e. chances for the likes of Everton, Southampton etc to get into Champions League)
Keeps bigger clubs happy since they have a greater chance to get into Champs League
No more mickey mouse cup gamesWhen a competition has got to the stage where a 3rd and 4th division side picks a team full of reserves and youths to face a top club, then you know that it’s time to call it a day.
The FLC was always a shit idea created to give lower league sides a big day out. It has become even shitter with the introduction of a few U23’s sides.
I would ditch the Champions League and Europa League also. UEFA must be able to see the Europa League isnt working.
I would bring back the European Cup and UEFA Cup and have the teams drawn comletely at random. None of this seeding crap to maximise revenue and guarantee a ‘Big’ final. A straight draw to play each other in 2 legged straight knockout games until the final.
They have ruined the League Cup. The FA will follow suit soon. All about the money.
The Checkatrade is an absolute mare.
When a competition has got to the stage where a 3rd and 4th division side picks a team full of reserves and youths to face a top club, then you know that it’s time to call it a day.The FLC was always a shit idea created to give lower league sides a big day out. It has become even shitter with the introduction of a few U23’s sides.
Sorry, mutt, but it’s the FLT (FL Trophy, alias Autowindscreens) that has the U-23s, not the FLC (old League Cup)
I would ditch the Champions League and Europa League also. UEFA must be able to see the Europa League isnt working.I would bring back the European Cup and UEFA Cup and have the teams drawn comletely at random. None of this seeding crap to maximise revenue and guarantee a ‘Big’ final. A straight draw to play each other in 2 legged straight knockout games until the final.
That’s how it should be, European Cup, UEFA Cup and possibly a return of the Cup Winners Cup.
Champions only in the European Cup, Cup winners only in CWC and Runners Up, third & fourth place in the UEFA Cup. All matches to be two legs with no seeded teams.I know I have virtually just reiterated what Yosser said, but I think it needs repeating and repeating until some of the big wigs take notice and change the farcical shite we have at the moment where a clubs only aim in a season is to finish in a CL spot, when they are nothing like Champion material.
Also why do failed CL teams automatically get a place in another competition, the whole situation stinks and I think fans are getting sick of it.
I very rarely watch any of the CL games until the knockout stages as the games are generally boring and the same teams always seem to get through as they only put the effort and performances in when it matters.
Change is definitely needed.
Why is it U23s all of a sudden. Can you imagine the class of 92 Beckham the Nevilles, Giggs, Scholes etc playing in the checkatrade. Surely the real good players are established first teamers long before the age of 23.
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