Has BMc proved Coppell wrong?

[1960]

SC - from our first year in the Prem he strted putting out reserves for cup games and got slaughtered for it by other managers and the media, but he was our SC and, as we finished 8th that year, we stood by him. Next year, though, weak cup teams, go out as soon as possible and concentrate on the league. Result? A miserable post-Christmas slump and relegation. Last year, a storming start to the season, weak cup teams and a miserable post-Christmas slump which cost us promotion.

BM on the other hand, has put out his strongest available team for cup matches and has had some stunning victories which have galvanised the team and got them blowing teams away.

It can't all be cup, but a team which has drawn to Liverpool at home and beat them away has to inspire confidence. It's so simple: If we can beat Liverpool/Burnley/West Brom and play the pants off Villa for a half, we've got to be able to deal with most of the Championship. We've done it and we're up for it.

As opposed to: hard luck lads, you did your best, but it's back to the league next week, but not for you lot, it's for that lot over there.

So has he proved the point to you?

[Henleyensian]

Maybe he has. it seems to me that it is all about confidence, and he has played most of the squad at one time or another, so that they all have a taste of what it is like to win. Under Coppell, what, in fact, were the reserves found a lot of confidence but they had to use it and do well in the reserves league.

[Ian Royal]

Totally different circumstances. BR needed a morale lift to help with the league. Coppell had to concentrate on promotion campaigns (excluding 2 seasons ago).

I'd say that having the reserve and younger players in the team for the cup didn't in any way harm our cup progression and it may well of benefitted our league form as reserves were better able to step into the team and youths got more experience which we maybe seeing the benefit of now.

Just because we beat Liverpool with a full team out this season, doesn't mean we'd have beaten them, or Utd, or Arsenal with a full team out there in another season. Shocks are just that, because they happen so rarely.

[facaldaqui]

He has proved that the cup doesn't automatically detract from league form. Burnley also showed this last year, when they had two cup runs and still got promoted.

Unfortunately, Portsmouth's form did suffer when they got to the cup final, so that they couldn't be arsed when Fulham came to them on the last day of our relegations season.

[Cpl Jones Dont panic]

Well my therory which I have been going on about for ages , is the lack of respect for the cup cost us promotion. When it comes to the play offs it is 3 cup matches with the same mentality. Burnely came to us on the back of good cup runs in both cups and so were used to the " cup mentality " needed. We had been playing the marathon league format and were totally unprepared both one the pitch and off it to face the challenge needed.

If and its a massive if, we got to the playoffs under BM , I have no doubt his preperation would see us through the 3 cup match format.

[brendywendy]

i think the championship and 1st prem year it was the right way to go about it
coppells mistake was to do it again for two years

now it is the right thing to do to play our best team, as this fits with what we wanted to do, ie use it to generate some belief and confidence in the team.

at the point at which we had to decide in the last two years of coppell were both on the back of the pre xmas half of the season where wed been doing very very well and looking safe/certaintys for promotion,
so its perhaps understandable that coppell did what he did. maybe less forgiveable in the second year

[Ian Royal]

Well my therory which I have been going on about for ages , is the lack of respect for the cup cost us promotion. When it comes to the play offs it is 3 cup matches with the same mentality. Burnely came to us on the back of good cup runs in both cups and so were used to the " cup mentality " needed. We had been playing the marathon league format and were totally unprepared both one the pitch and off it to face the challenge needed.

If and its a massive if, we got to the playoffs under BM , I have no doubt his preperation would see us through the 3 cup match format.

Personally think it's more relevant Burnley were in good form and we were in shit form.

[Cpl Jones Dont panic]

Well Ian
That blew away my theory,lol

[facaldaqui]

Well my therory which I have been going on about for ages , is the lack of respect for the cup cost us promotion. When it comes to the play offs it is 3 cup matches with the same mentality. Burnely came to us on the back of good cup runs in both cups and so were used to the " cup mentality " needed. We had been playing the marathon league format and were totally unprepared both one the pitch and off it to face the challenge needed.

If and its a massive if, we got to the playoffs under BM , I have no doubt his preperation would see us through the 3 cup match format.

Personally think it's more relevant Burnley were in good form and we were in shit form.

We weren't in shit form. We'd only lost twice in nine games going into the playoffs.

[Snowball]

Well my therory which I have been going on about for ages , is the lack of respect for the cup cost us promotion. When it comes to the play offs it is 3 cup matches with the same mentality. Burnely came to us on the back of good cup runs in both cups and so were used to the " cup mentality " needed. We had been playing the marathon league format and were totally unprepared both one the pitch and off it to face the challenge needed.

If and its a massive if, we got to the playoffs under BM , I have no doubt his preperation would see us through the 3 cup match format.

Your theory may have merit


But what about RESPECT FOR THE FANS, what about exciting the fans,
getting the fans to back the team, giving them real HOPE, hope of
a run, maybe a quarter-final, for example, and 45 minutes from Wembley

We can intellectualize all we like about giving the reserves games, saving
the first 11 etc etc, but fans will still feel bad emotionally when they know
their club is not trying, doesn't care...

Now if they DO try, and go out gloriously, then maybe the crowd support
is better... that feeds back into the players, who raise their game, the crowd
is a bit more up.

Crowd power, confidence etc is an important thing.

[Winchester Royal]

Well my therory which I have been going on about for ages , is the lack of respect for the cup cost us promotion. When it comes to the play offs it is 3 cup matches with the same mentality. Burnely came to us on the back of good cup runs in both cups and so were used to the " cup mentality " needed. We had been playing the marathon league format and were totally unprepared both one the pitch and off it to face the challenge needed.

If and its a massive if, we got to the playoffs under BM , I have no doubt his preperation would see us through the 3 cup match format.

Personally think it's more relevant Burnley were in good form and we were in shit form.

We weren't in shit form. We'd only lost twice in nine games going into the playoffs.

And how many home wins did we have in that period?

Going into that second leg 1-0 down was a disaster waiting to happen, with the form we were in at home in 2009.

[Snowball]

Doesn't explain why we didn't win the away leg.

[papereyes]

i think the championship and 1st prem year it was the right way to go about it
coppells mistake was to do it again for two years

I'd go with that. I don't think we used our reserve team in quite the same way, and, of course, many of the reserves had been 'promoted' meaning it simply wasn't as good as the season's before.

Should have been a bit of a warning for us, really.

[koran]

Respect for the fans is a point well made. But - if we had lost heavily to Liverpool in the first game at the Mad Stad with lur first team that could have destroyed our fragile confidence and would have had a negative effect on our league form. It's all 'ifs and buts'! McD chose right - and full credit to him - but it's a close call! Let's just hope we can take that renewed confidence and push on up the table!

[facaldaqui]

Doesn't explain why we didn't win the away leg.

What we needed was a draw or win in the away leg, which was entirely possible on our form. It was getting beat in the away leg that left us up against it, given our difficulty in winning at home. It affected the way we played in the second leg and left us vulnerable.

[Winchester Royal]

Doesn't explain why we didn't win the away leg.

Because we didn't score any goals and Burnley scored one?

[PEARCEY]

I'd like to think we will always see a full-strength Reading team play in the FA Cup from now on irrespective of which division we are in. This Cup run will live long in the memory.

[papereyes]

Doesn't explain why we didn't win the away leg.

because we didn't finish our chances and then Bikey made a silly error? Is that it?

[Sun Tzu]

I don;t think anything McD has done 'proves' anything about the way Coppell did things. As Ian said, utterly different situations. Coppell played the teams he did for a reason, which had nothing to do with 'disrespecting' the FA Cup or not taking it seriously. We had some top rate performances in the cup under Coppell after all.

McD has so far achieved very little compared to Coppell so as things stand I'm with Coppell in terms of whether he had the right approach atthe time. If McD can get us promoted in record style and up to 8th in the PL whilst playing a reasonably full strength first team in the cups then good on him !!

[Royal Lady]

Another different set of circumstances though. If McD got us promoted and up to 8th in the Prem it would be a miracle! He will have even less money available to him than Coppell did.