Fielding "weakened" teams in the FA Cup

[Victor Meldrew]

Reading didn't pick anywhere near their strongest side and reading through posts on here a lot of fans are not happy.

Reading fans not being happy with something doesn't make it wrong....

Ideal world we'd have picked the first team. Doyle gets a bad knock, Ivar gets sent off and we'd have a lot of fans unhappy again....

Coppell is paid to make these decisions, he's never hidden is approach and there are enough examples of cup runs derailing league ambitions to suggest it is at least a reasonable approach.

As has been mentioned before, Coppell has delivered unprecedented league success doing things his way. Anyone fancy telling him he's wrong (even if he is ??)

Relegation from the Prem unprecedented league success?
No other Reading manager has achieved that and in that season he messed around with the team for FA Cup games so it is arguable whether the strategy was a great success.
Nobody said that Reading fans not being happy makes it right or wrong I merely said that fans are not happy which clearly is the case.

[brendywendy]

it would take a miracle of grand proportions to make every reading fan happy about the same thing at the same time, short of winning the leageue with 107 points
frankly most of you arent happy unless your having your little whinge abourt summink, doesnt really matter what

[Alan Partridge]

it would take a miracle of grand proportions to make every reading fan happy about the same thing at the same time, short of winning the leageue with 107 points
frankly most of you arent happy unless your having your little whinge abourt summink, doesnt really matter what

Would you not say this is something that is worthy of a 'whinge?' or a grievance?

Can you not see why some would be annoyed by the cup policy?

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

[rabidbee]

Fair comment, but the fact is that at the time Reading played Portsmouth the fact of playing 3 games in 4 days is irrelevent as it was the first of the three games. I am guessing that you assume all of these teams played exactly the same players even allowing for smaller squads?

I'm not assuming anything, as I haven't tried to find the list of players for the matches concerned.

I was merely pointing out that Reading were better rested than the other three teams before beginning that weekend of football, that Pompey also played 3 games in 4 days, also getting a draw and a win from the other two fixtures, and that the fixture congestion of the other teams suggests that two or three games in a week wasn't extraordinary. What we can't measure from all of this is to what extent the quality of football deteriorated significantly as a result.

Anyway, if Reading made few or no changes to the team over these games, I personally would prefer to argue that these demonstrates how could a team that was, rather than that this is merely something that is to be expected.

[Vision]

I merely pointed out that scarface would be hard pushed fo find a team that fielded its strongest possible team in the 3rd round. You then listed a whole raft of teams and when i looked at the first 6 it turned out they didn't. Hull made 7 changes.

Coppell said he wasn't fielding a "weakened" team just a "different" one. O'neill says its his strongest possible team. Both sidestepping the issue that if it had been a must win league game they would have sent out a different team.

My point still stands. Very few if any in the top 2 field their strongest possible side in the 3rd round of the FA cup so if thats what scarface is looking for, he's not going to have the choice you claimed. Just because they made less changes than us doesn't alter that fact.

Surely you can see the slight difference between a team nameing a core of say 7,8 or 9 of their 'best 11' and then a couple of changes. So most on that list certainly named either the strongest 11 they could field or a slight variation of it. If Coppell had done that I personally would have no problem, nameing a reserve side is taking the biscuit IMO and that's what he did with 8 or 9 changes or whatever it was.

Yes i can and at no stage have i argued differently. My point is and still stands that very few sides will field their strongest line up at this stage. Making 2 or 3 changes is still weakening your strongest side by definition.

[Alan Partridge]

In a fair few cases there it's by neccesity though, injury/suspension/illness.

Most of those teams in that list named 8 or 9 of their strongest players and whilst I take your point that it's not their 'very strongest team' it's as close to. Reading's was a reserve team.

[Silver Fox]

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

Would their fans keep that if given the chance to swap it for our league record over the same period?

[Victor Meldrew]

For those that keep on about not being happy about somebody like Doyle getting injured in a meaningless game can we put this one to bed.
Lita got injured falling off his bird or whatever happened.
Players have fallen down stairs and broken limbs,they have cut their hands on glass and got injured playing with kids.
Players often get injured in training.
Rafa won't be happy today that Alonso got injured but that's life-he might have done his back in loading up the family car if he hadn't been playing football.
As others have said do you want our players not to train in case they get injured?
Footballers are already wrapped up in cotton wool-don't give them more,they might get suffocated.

[Sun Tzu]

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

Would their fans keep that if given the chance to swap it for our league record over the same period?

And wasn't there a classic case of the cup run totally destroying a pretty decent league position in amongst them ?

[rabidbee]

Relegation from the Prem unprecedented league success?
No other Reading manager has achieved that and in that season he messed around with the team for FA Cup games so it is arguable whether the strategy was a great success.

The last three seasons have still our three highest league finishes in our history, though.

[Alan Partridge]

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

Would their fans keep that if given the chance to swap it for our league record over the same period?

That's unrealistic for a club like Wycombe though SF because they don't have the resource so they couldn't have had what Reading have had. The only point I'm trying to make is that minnows given the right draw and a bit of luck can have the adventure of getting to the semi final or even better. There is no reason Reading couldn't have that and give the supporters that bit of hope and excitement of it for once.

[Thaumagurist*]

Lita got injured falling off his bird or whatever happened.

He actually injured himself whilst stretching his leg when he was in his bed.

[rabidbee]

For those that keep on about not being happy about somebody like Doyle getting injured in a meaningless game can we put this one to bed.
Lita got injured falling off his bird or whatever happened.
Players have fallen down stairs and broken limbs,they have cut their hands on glass and got injured playing with kids.
Players often get injured in training.

So why increase the risk?

[rabidbee]

Lita got injured falling off his bird or whatever happened.

He actually injured himself whilst stretching his leg when he was in his bed.

Stretching his third leg?

[Alan Partridge]

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

Would their fans keep that if given the chance to swap it for our league record over the same period?

And wasn't there a classic case of the cup run totally destroying a pretty decent league position in amongst them ?

Wycombe never lasted the course in that division, they regularly flirted with the playoffs before drifting away before Sanchez last season when it was going horribly.

It didn't do West Brom any harm nor Barnsley who were dicing with relegation but the cup run spurred them on and they finished comfortably safe by the final day.

[eleventh earl of mar]

Ideal world we'd have picked the first team. Doyle gets a bad knock, Ivar gets sent off and we'd have a lot of fans unhappy again....

Ideal world would be that Doyle plays, scores and we win. How can you sau in an ideal world Doyle would get injured?

[Thaumagurist*]

And wasn't there a classic case of the cup run totally destroying a pretty decent league position in amongst them ?

I seem to remember Reading were in a decent position at the start of 1998 (i.e. well above the relegation zone) and were confident of staying up. Then our cup runs happened and the rest is history.....

[Alan Partridge]

And wasn't there a classic case of the cup run totally destroying a pretty decent league position in amongst them ?

I seem to remember Reading were in a decent position at the start of 1998 (i.e. well above the relegation zone) and were confident of staying up. Then our cup runs happened and the rest is history.....

So that had nothing to do with two incompetent managers, a weak squad and a host of failed signings and loans then.

[Sun Tzu]

Ideal world we'd have picked the first team. Doyle gets a bad knock, Ivar gets sent off and we'd have a lot of fans unhappy again....

Ideal world would be that Doyle plays, scores and we win. How can you sau ib an ideal world Doyle would get injured?

I didn't.

HTH

[Sun Tzu]

Wouldn't it be nice for Reading for once to have the limelight and excitment of a genuine cup run? Even sodding Wycombe have had 2 of them in recent years!

We've had 2 genuine cup runs as well though...

And we've also had a lot more limelight and excitement than a run to the cup semi would ever bring us.....