Capital one cup

[St Eve]

I know that it is an easy way into Europe, but it is time to do away with it. Most premiership teams field their reserves until the quarter finals and it has lost any glamour it had.

[Northern Cottager]

There has been some great games this week though. The comments from managers afterwards shows that they are in fact taking it seriously and are somewhat downbeat when defeated. Not as seriously as the FA Cup, League or Euro competitions granted but I think it still has its place.

Also, consider the financial gain for clubs that are in the lower leagues and get through the the ties against the Premiership 20 or big Championship clubs... Gives lower league clubs a chance of survival when most clubs are facing administration etc.

[TonyGilroy]

I think it's a better competition because clubs use their squads and don't mind losing that much. So they attack.

The competition would be pointless if it was attempting to duplicate the FA Cup. And European qualification adds some spice for the lesser clubs.

[Rupert]

I know that it is an easy way into Europe, but it is time to do away with it. Most premiership teams field their reserves until the quarter finals and it has lost any glamour it had.

Rubbish. Every season it gives lower league clubs a bit of a financial boost if they get a game at a Premiership ground, and the chance to claim a Premiership scalp if the big boys consider the competition beneath themselves. The financial boost from such a game, with discounted tickets and the like, may be a drop in the ocean for us lucky beggars, but for a League One or Two team it is a windfall.
From our point of view, it gives our fringe players a chance to stake a claim in the team, some of them did so at Chelsea last seson, others failed to do so at Sheffield this time round.
Also, if it is such an easy route into Europe, perhaps you can explain why we haven't bothered taking it?

[fulhamfan]

7-5
5-4

erm..

[Lighthouse]

The League Cup was always the poor mans FA CUp. It generally was ignored by the big clubs and so nothing has changed except it has become less important to the big Prem sides. However the lower leagues and the lower Prem sides still consider it a chance to win something.

If Fulham won it I would be pleased without wanting to be too carried away. It is what it is and has always been. But while teams have large enough squads to use them then why not keep it going.

[MJG]

I don't really mind the use of other squad members, but it should be more regulated such as restrictions on U21's maybe. Or clubs should class the competition as a reserve cup and price accordingly.

[timmyg]

Er, the big clubs don't ignore. They win it. Past 10 years:

2002   Blackburn Rovers   2–1   Tottenham Hotspur   
2003   Liverpool   2–0   Manchester United
2004   Middlesbrough   2–1   Bolton Wanderers   
2005   Chelsea   3–2   Liverpool   
2006   Manchester United   4–0   Wigan Athletic   
2007   Chelsea   2–1   Arsenal   
2008   Tottenham Hotspur   2–1   Chelsea   
2009   Manchester United   0–0 *[C]   Tottenham Hotspur   
2010   Manchester United   2–1   Aston Villa   
2011   Birmingham City   2–1   Arsenal   
2012   Liverpool   2–2 *[D]   Cardiff City   

Only twice (none in almost a decade) was there no Sky 4 team even in the final. Beyond a few times in the mid/late '90s when Villa and Leicester won it, it's been won by the PL big boys since the PL was incepted.

Sure, it's exciting. And I love that its midweek and so doesn't screw up the schedule like the FA Cup does.

But there's no more different an outcome than the FA Cup.

[Jimpav]

It frustrates me that we always make such a hash of this competition. There are always lower league and weaker opposition sides that go far in this cup - mainly through hard work and determination as opposed to skill. If we focused our efforts it would be a very winnable competition.

[King_Crud]

I like it, the Chelsea v Man U game the other night was a cracker, non stop end to end action with both teams going for it

[Burt]

It's a route to Wembley, to some silverware, and to Europe.

What's there not to like about it?

[A Humble Man]

The Reading v Arsenal was a big joke as I am sure the Arsenal manager did not want to win that game and his players let him down.  He will now have to risk some of his first team players in the next round or the fans will get on his back.

[Andy_M]

The bigger clubs certainly seem to be taking it a bit more seriously in recent years as I think they realise just how hard it is to win the Prem or FA Cup and their fans demand some silverware. Winning the Capital One Cup or winning nothing, I know what supporters of any team would rather and for the big teams a season without a trophy, that is not acceptable.

I think that's why it's now harder for teams like Fulham to win the cups as the big teams need the silverware to appease their fans and boards - even if it is the Capital One Cup.

[LBNo11]

...like MJG indicated, I would like certain restrictions put on the clubs in the premier league and to a lesser extent on championship clubs.

What I would propose is that league one and two clubs can carry on using their full squads, but the premier league clubs and championship teams would be limited to a smaller 'pool' of declared players made available for that competition with a mix of say 65% first team squad and 35% 'reserves'. The top leagues have a much larger pool of players and this would in some way redress the balance.

This would show the top teams real intent for the competition, they could no longer rely on the size of their squad to let the 'reserves' take them through the initial stages and then bring in the 'big guns' for the latter stages of the cup.

This could make for a slightly more level playing field and for some proper entertainment, and with the lower leagues more likely to get further into the competition they will benefit for bigger gates and bring off some surprises...

[Gozorich]

...like MJG indicated, I would like certain restrictions put on the clubs in the premier league and to a lesser extent on championship clubs.

What I would propose is that league one and two clubs can carry on using their full squads, but the premier league clubs and championship teams would be limited to a smaller 'pool' of declared players made available for that competition with a mix of say 65% first team squad and 35% 'reserves'. The top leagues have a much larger pool of players and this would in some way redress the balance.

This would show the top teams real intent for the competition, they could no longer rely on the size of their squad to let the 'reserves' take them through the initial stages and then bring in the 'big guns' for the latter stages of the cup.

This could make for a slightly more level playing field and for some proper entertainment, and with the lower leagues more likely to get further into the competition they will benefit for bigger gates and bring off some surprises...

It's tempting to do something like you suggest but if you mess around with which players teams can use surely you then diminish the status of the competition? It would be seen as Premier reserves against the also rans. Mind you it would produce a great excuse for us losing early on every year.

I suggest we leave it as it is and just try to win the bloody thing sometime.

[LBNo11]

...like MJG indicated, I would like certain restrictions put on the clubs in the premier league and to a lesser extent on championship clubs.

What I would propose is that league one and two clubs can carry on using their full squads, but the premier league clubs and championship teams would be limited to a smaller 'pool' of declared players made available for that competition with a mix of say 65% first team squad and 35% 'reserves'. The top leagues have a much larger pool of players and this would in some way redress the balance.

This would show the top teams real intent for the competition, they could no longer rely on the size of their squad to let the 'reserves' take them through the initial stages and then bring in the 'big guns' for the latter stages of the cup.

This could make for a slightly more level playing field and for some proper entertainment, and with the lower leagues more likely to get further into the competition they will benefit for bigger gates and bring off some surprises...

It's tempting to do something like you suggest but if you mess around with which players teams can use surely you then diminish the status of the competition? It would be seen as Premier reserves against the also rans. Mind you it would produce a great excuse for us losing early on every year.

I suggest we leave it as it is and just try to win the bloody thing sometime.

...I understand your counter, but I think in recent years the competition status has been diminished and become a nonsense when premier league teams use their reserves in the early stages and the 1st team in the latter - small clubs cannot make a competition against such a large resource of available players. By having a named squad with a mix of players it must surely help 'reserves' to develop alongside more experienced players so premier league clubs should be happy too.

We have gone out of such cup games before because we either didn't want to sustain injuries so either played a large percentage of reserves, or just treated it as a training game and not break sweat. This has been reflected in the number of people attending in recent years compared to the old 'League Cup' games of the past, make it more competitive and more interest will come and so will the crowds, and as mentioned earlier in this thread, clubs are happy to win any silverware especially if they have no chance to win the league and all that comes with that financial acquisition...

[DevonFFC]

Pretty sure it's silverwear that I would love to see Fulham lift.... A trip to Wembly that I would love to go and watch and a entry into Europe which I wouldn't complain at either so all in all I would be very pleased if we went far and if to say won it would be chuffed

[God The Mechanic]

I think teams should be able to pick whatever players they want.  Why should anyone but the manager be allowed to decide who they play?  That's what squads are for.  If they wanna blood some kids then why stop them?