this is football?

[Royal Rother]

Football is a different game to what it was even 10 years ago. It is very much a squad game and rotation policies abound in all the top teams.

We have a small squad, with limited abilities and resources so we are more heavily reliant than most upon teamwork and understanding within the squad to gain an edge over other teams.

Other teams can and do shuffle their squad around far more than we do because they have greater resources. That policy has its disadvantages as personally I believe that a settled team can create a winning run (or at least a run of consistent performances) better than a shuffled pack, but in the long run mental and physical fitness can suffer when the going gets hard in the 2nd half of the Premiership season without a little rotation.

If we were to play our 1st / best available team in all competitions it would just accelerate the day when those injuries / fatigue take their toll on the Premiership season so we would just be giving ourselves a disadvantage over those clubs with whom we will be struggling for survival come March and April. Where is the sense in doing that when untold millions and future stability can be assured (for the time being) by being less cavalier with our limited resources?

Added to which is the oft quoted and also very sensible view that the non-regulars deserve (and need) a chance to play in some games and will benefit from the experience so that when their time comes to replace a 1st team regular (for whatever reason) it is less daunting for them.

Finally, Coppell won't base his whole view of a player on a League Cup match or two, of course, but he needs to see what they can achieve in a more intense atmosphere than Reserve matches.

[Royalwaster]

the chance to progress in a major competition cant be ignored .
did anyone care about the simod cup before we won it?

not exactlly a club dripping with trophies are we?
we should take evey chance we get .

So you'd rather risk our season by going on a pointless cup run??

The only cup i'd be interested in would be them in Europe!

Careful or all you'll end being called a negative bastard for suggesting that we're not yet safe from relegation! Many a team has been relegated even after a good start to their season. I totally back Coppell's choice of team yesterday - he gave a couple of fringe (but not total fringe) players a chance to get 90 minutes under their belt and to prove that their worth considering for a start. Also, he avoided any injuries to any of our key players. I ask alad if he'd have been happier if we'd beaten Liverpool but lost someone like Sonko or Doyle to injury?

[Adz1871]

the chance to progress in a major competition cant be ignored .
did anyone care about the simod cup before we won it?

not exactlly a club dripping with trophies are we?
we should take evey chance we get .

So you'd rather risk our season by going on a pointless cup run??

The only cup i'd be interested in would be them in Europe!

Careful or all you'll end being called a negative bastard for suggesting that we're not yet safe from relegation! Many a team has been relegated even after a good start to their season. I totally back Coppell's choice of team yesterday - he gave a couple of fringe (but not total fringe) players a chance to get 90 minutes under their belt and to prove that their worth considering for a start. Also, he avoided any injuries to any of our key players. I ask alad if he'd have been happier if we'd beaten Liverpool but lost someone like Sonko or Doyle to injury?

But we aren't yet safe from relegation .... You can call me negative if you want! ... With such small squad why risk injury with a cup run?

Say if any of our back up players got injured then our squad would be even smaller with 3 months till we can bring in new players, it isnt worth it!

[MartinRdg]

Personally I have no problem with us putting out a weakened side in the Carling Cup. However, I will be disappointed if we put out a weakened side in the FA Cup.

Normally that tie is in the first week of January so I am sure it will depend on a number of factors.

1. Where we are in the league.
2. Who we are drawn against.
3. What signings are lined up in the transfer window.

[Ian Royal]

But why can't we go for both?

becuase our team and squad arn't big enough/ good enough

in recent games we've played teams that have left our players needing 3 or 4 days to recover. We can't afford to risk burning players out with a paper thin squad. Also the cup is an excellent chance to give the first team squad who arn't currently first team regulars to prove they are there on merit and try and force thier way into the side.

from what I've heard whilst Gunnarson, Little, Oster and Bikey and Lita may not be current first teamers they are all good enough to be playing there.

Long and De La Cruz currently are first teamers so I can't see how fielding them is a weakened team.

So with Ingimarrson and Stack who will play in virtually all cup games regardless, and quite rightly so that leaves virtually no one left who isn't either a first teamer or pushing hard for a place.

Not really a reserve side then, just a different one.

[papereyes]

Take a look at the last few winners of the competition.

2001 Liverpool
2002 Blackburn
2003 Liverpool
2004 Boro
2005 Chelsea
2006 United

4 out of the last 6 winners have been top 4 clubs. .

Followed by........

Reading had a good chance of winning it IMO.

Confused ?

I was about to say that!

We have a thin squad
We have little chance of winningthe thing, really
We're not safe yet

[Royalee]

Did they win those cups by fielding reserve sides so they could concentrate on the league?

Keep bowling under arm and I'll keep knocking them for six

Man Utd seemed to do well at winning the Carling Cup by fielding reserve sides in the early rounds last season. Those leg byes are going to be caught out every so often...

So you're comparing United reserves with Reading reserves?

Now that really is laughable. What was it you said about being a comedian?

The answer to your question was yes, teams do win cups by fielding reserve sides and to be perfectly honest, I'd much rather we concentrated on the league - look how West Ham's cup success and subsequent thrashing in Europe has impacted on morale and their current league position in their second Premiership season.

[Corky341]

Although I agree with R@N's original post and would love to see us winning a cup or two, I think the most important thing is Premiership servival. After all that's were the money is and as much as football is a sport, it's also business. As such, until we are an established and comfortable Premier League side cup competitions will always ( and must be) be second best.

[floyd__streete]

It's clubs like Reading who make a mockery of it by fielding a reserve team who are frankly woeful.

Woeful? I assume you were at the game then; FWIW I thought we didn't play too badly at all to be fair.

Theres EIGHT less league games this season, so I don't buy the rubbish about resting players.

So what if Sonko had got injured last night? Or perhaps Doyle? Ok, so they may suffer an injury in a league game but risking a bad knock in the Carling Cup is a bit daft and you will have seen most Premiership sides fielded different line-ups for these matches.

Coppell won't base his whole view of a player on a League Cup match or two, of course, but he needs to see what they can achieve in a more intense atmosphere than Reserve matches.

Agreed.

[Leamington Royal]

It's clear that some of the fringe first team players are in need of 'senior' match practice. UDL and Bikey have bothed looked rough at the edges when they've been played, and reserve team games will not sharpen them up in the way that senior games will.

Investing in their match practice now will pay dividends at some point later in the season. It was invaluable last year.

Also, don't assume that Sir Steve will take the same approach with the FA Cup. We don't enter the competition until January, by which time we will be much clearer on our chances of survival.

On top of that - we go back to Liverpool in c.10 days time. Perhaps Coppell didn't want to field his 1st X1 in the cup to make it harder for Liverpool to work out how to play us.

[Adz1871]

Also, don't assume that Sir Steve will take the same approach with the FA Cup. We don't enter the competition until January, by which time we will be much clearer on our chances of survival.

Saying that .... We basically knew our League status last year and still fielded fringe players against Birmingham and West Brom.

[Leamington Royal]

Also, don't assume that Sir Steve will take the same approach with the FA Cup. We don't enter the competition until January, by which time we will be much clearer on our chances of survival.

Saying that .... We basically knew our League status last year and still fielded fringe players against Birmingham and West Brom.

True, but we were chasing an ambitious target last season - i.e. promotion/ champions and the FA cup could well have got in the way. IF we're anywhere near 30 points by January, we have a lot easier target to chase than last season.

[Adz1871]

Also, don't assume that Sir Steve will take the same approach with the FA Cup. We don't enter the competition until January, by which time we will be much clearer on our chances of survival.

Saying that .... We basically knew our League status last year and still fielded fringe players against Birmingham and West Brom.

True, but we were chasing an ambitious target last season - i.e. promotion/ champions and the FA cup could well have got in the way. IF we're anywhere near 30 points by January, we have a lot easier target to chase than last season.

Suppose .. But i still prefer to know we are safe before anything else.

But saying that if we did get to Cardiff i would go and support my team as would any supporter. But i'd prefer Premiership Survival

[Victor Meldrew]

Four points that I don't think have been mentioned so far.
Last season the two promoted sides Wigan and West Ham both reached Cup finals with not particularly great depth in their squads and both survived easily in The Premiership.

People have spoken about exposing top players to injury by playing them in meaningless cup matches-what about training?
Should we not let them train in case they get injured?

Money-more games mean more revenue to the club and surely all businesses want more revenue.

IF somehow we actually won a cup that means entry into Europe which means the name of RFC gets better known across a wider area and could help us to sign new players,something that has been a problem this year.

Spurs and Newcastle both put out their first teams and have already played 3 more games than us with more to come in the UEFA CUP as well as at least one more game in the Carling Cup this season if not more.
I think this resting of players is a load of old tosh.
If you tell players they are tired they will feel tired.
Remember the all-conquering Liverpool sides using just 15 or 16 players to complete a season which for some of their international players meant over 60 games.
The game may well be faster and more intense but also travelling time is now less,dietary advice and monitoring is better and treatment of injuries has vastly improved.

So come on Steve let's have a real crack at the FA Cup and if we win it then some players may end up playing about 42 games in the whole season.
As Murty,Sonko,Convey,Lita and Kitson have already missed games they might not even end up playing 40 games this season-not bad work if you can get it.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Four points that I don't think have been mentioned so far.
Last season the two promoted sides Wigan and West Ham both reached Cup finals with not particularly great depth in their squads and both survived easily in The Premiership.

People have spoken about exposing top players to injury by playing them in meaningless cup matches-what about training?
Should we not let them train in case they get injured?

Money-more games mean more revenue to the club and surely all businesses want more revenue.

IF somehow we actually won a cup that means entry into Europe which means the name of RFC gets better known across a wider area and could help us to sign new players,something that has been a problem this year.

Spurs and Newcastle both put out their first teams and have already played 3 more games than us with more to come in the UEFA CUP as well as at least one more game in the Carling Cup this season if not more.
I think this resting of players is a load of old tosh.
If you tell players they are tired they will feel tired.
Remember the all-conquering Liverpool sides using just 15 or 16 players to complete a season which for some of their international players meant over 60 games.
The game may well be faster and more intense but also travelling time is now less,dietary advice and monitoring is better and treatment of injuries has vastly improved.

So come on Steve let's have a real crack at the FA Cup and if we win it then some players may end up playing about 42 games in the whole season.
As Murty,Sonko,Convey,Lita and Kitson have already missed games they might not even end up playing 40 games this season-not bad work if you can get it.

Counter points -

Both Wigan and West Ham had bigger squads than us last season. West Ham signed 7 players before deadline and released only two real first teamers in Repka and Ward. Wigan signed 9 players before deadline and released Ellington only. So they had the depth in their squads to compete in the Cup without causing too much damage, we have signed 5 and one of those is injured for nearly all the season, we released Makin who would have made appearances this season. Their squads were also bigger than ours in the Championship when they were promoted.

I agree with you on the injury front, these are professional footballers and they should be able to play 50+ games a season. Our players will play something around 45+ I would imagine, depending on the FA Cup.

The money in the League Cup is pitiful until the quarter finals, the FA Cup is slightly better but still pennies compared to the league. If we were to win the FA Cup then we would pick up aropund £3 million pounds plus gate receipts. If we finish 17th or above in the league then we get nearly double that amount, I think that puts the money side of it into perspective.

[papereyes]

People have spoken about exposing top players to injury by playing them in meaningless cup matches-what about training?
Should we not let them train in case they get injured?

A competitive game will be played at a higher pace, with bigger impacts than a training session.

[Platypuss]

Our first team squad seemed to manage OK playing 46 games last season - what would be the problem with doing the same this season?

What about glory? Is every season only going to be about going for 17th?

[Huntley & Palmer]

I'd like to think that if we stayed up and signed a few more players to give us some depth all over the park then we could make a crack of it next season. I'd assume this was the general plan for Coppell

[Ian Royal]

Our first team squad seemed to manage OK playing 46 games last season - what would be the problem with doing the same this season?

What about glory? Is every season only going to be about going for 17th?

surely because the games are harder and take more out of the players physically. They are playing agianst better teams and have to chase posetion a lot, they're probably not far off working twice as hard as last year in some games.

[readingbedding]

The moment other teams start taking the competition seariously, then we should. Until then, we need to concentrate on the league.

Take a look at the last few winners of the competition.

2001 Liverpool
2002 Blackburn
2003 Liverpool
2004 Boro
2005 Chelsea
2006 United

4 out of the last 6 winners have been top 4 clubs. They might not field first choice sides (United 11 changes from Sundays game) but they have the quality to get away with it.

It's clubs like Reading who make a mockery of it by fielding a reserve team who are frankly woeful. A first choice side could have got the result tonight. Theres EIGHT less league games this season, so I don't buy the rubbish about resting players.

Same thing happened last season in both cups, Coppells antics in the FA Cup were nothing short of disgraceful.

What about Manchester United's antics in the FA Cup in 99/00 you silly wind-up hypocrite?

In 1999 Manchester United became the first FA Cup holders not to defend their title when they failed to enter the FA Cup.

Since then the FA Cup has been devalued in my eyes and the League Cup, since the Champions League came about this Cup has taken a severe backseat.

Carry on Coppell.