BACK FROM THE GAME -CARDIFF FAC

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Absolute crap.... How a back four who have not played together all season can try to catch Cardiff offside at a set play is unbelievable.

The only good show for me was Alex Pearce the games played while on loan with the Saints have done him good.

[Platypuss]

Firstly, any team can win the cup, that's kinda the beauty of it - Coppell should know this given his time at Palace

1996 Manchester United
1997 Chelsea
1998 Arsenal
1999 Manchester United
2000 Chelsea
2001 Liverpool
2002 Arsenal
2003 Arsenal
2004 Manchester United
2005 Arsenal
2006 Liverpool
2007 Chelsea
2008 Portsmouth

Yes, that's right - in the last 13 years 1 team out of the top 4 have won the FA cup.

Chelsea weren't top 4 in 1997 and 2000 though.

[rg6royal]

Alex Pearce looked good at the back. Was confident in what he was doing all game. Also good to see Bikey clearing the ball at times when he would normally muck around with it.

[The Quiet Man]

We basically played an entire team of what could be called second choice for each position and almost without exception every player showed why they were second choice. Especially disappointing performances from Shane Long (surely he will be gone next season); James Henry and Karacan (possibly the most anonymous performances it was possible to give); Matejovsky (one or two nice passes but cannot run a game, makes Harper look world class for effort). Nice to see Murty get some fitness back (and he needs it); Bikey looked casual and rather disinterested; Convey sparkled briefly and disappeared (no change there then); Pearce OK without pulling up any trees and Lita was the Lita we know,and Kelly looked nervous and out of his depth; Federici average. Normal tactical rubbish from the manager and coaching staff - endless channel balls and punts to nowhere plus the now famous lets all run out and f*ck up the offside for the first goal and let Murty get outpaced for the second, with players clearly not doing the job (Henry) not being replaced until far too late in the game.

Glamour of the cup - it was a poor game between two disinterested sides and it was a toss up which side really wanted the game (which I would be slightly more worried if I were a Cardiff fan as its side, without its loan players, were reduced to the level of our second team).

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Absolute crap.... How a back four who have not played together all season can try to catch Cardiff offside at a set play is unbelievable.

The only good show for me was Alex Pearce the games played while on loan with the Saints have done him good.

from the sounds of things (I haven't seen the goal, just read reports), it sounded like Cardiff did what Sheffield United did against us a couple of years ago - i.e. have a player or two 10 yards further out, and when the line pushes up, they just run through into the gap the defenders have left. Quite why more clubs don't do that against offside traps is beyond me.

[Pablo]

We basically played an entire team of what could be called second choice for each position and almost without exception every player showed why they were second choice. Especially disappointing performances from Shane Long (surely he will be gone next season); James Henry and Karacan (possibly the most anonymous performances it was possible to give); Matejovsky (one or two nice passes but cannot run a game, makes Harper look world class for effort). Nice to see Murty get some fitness back (and he needs it); Bikey looked casual and rather disinterested; Convey sparkled briefly and disappeared (no change there then); Pearce OK without pulling up any trees and Lita was the Lita we know,and Kelly looked nervous and out of his depth; Federici average. Normal tactical rubbish from the manager and coaching staff - endless channel balls and punts to nowhere plus the now famous lets all run out and f*ck up the offside for the first goal and let Murty get outpaced for the second, with players clearly not doing the job (Henry) not being replaced until far too late in the game.

Glamour of the cup - it was a poor game between two disinterested sides and it was a toss up which side really wanted the game (which I would be slightly more worried if I were a Cardiff fan as its side, without its loan players, were reduced to the level of our second team).

But how did Church and Sigurdsson play?

[Royal With Cheese]

Firstly, any team can win the cup, that's kinda the beauty of it - Coppell should know this given his time at Palace

1996 Manchester United
1997 Chelsea
1998 Arsenal
1999 Manchester United
2000 Chelsea
2001 Liverpool
2002 Arsenal
2003 Arsenal
2004 Manchester United
2005 Arsenal
2006 Liverpool
2007 Chelsea
2008 Portsmouth

Yes, that's right - in the last 13 years 1 team out of the top 4 have won the FA cup.

Chelsea weren't top 4 in 1997 and 2000 though.

Sorry Platty, I used "top 4" as a recognition of the teams aspirations rather than where they physically were when they won the competition. It is arguable that Chelsea were never a "Top 4" team until Abramovitch arrived just as Leeds and Newcastle aren't - despite finishing in the top 4 in that time.

I used the examples merely to point out the obvious holes in Royalee's argument.

[Southbank Old Boy]

As for the game, did we lose because we were shit, or were we shit because we lost? Losing games tends to put a more negative spin on any performance. It may not have been great, but it didn't sound like we were totally outplayed.

On paper that wasn't actually a bad side we put out. Bikey probably is first choice, as would have been Murty if he'd been fit. Matejovsky would be first choice for a number of people too.

There probably wasn't a player out there that if called into the first team you'd worry that he'd do a substandard job (although Long's form hasn't been the best) but changing everyone is just asking a bit much. You'll never have the understanding between the players as they don't play as a team together.


I actually quite like it when we play "rotated" sides in the league cup, but usually they are against lower division opposition and we still look decent. The problem with doing it games like yesterday's is that it sends out the message that it really doesn't matter if the team loses, and nothing good will come from that.

You say some of those players might be first choice, but they're not in the eyes of our manager so he must be picking a reserve team

If that were a league game and we were playing any of Murty, Kelly, Convey, Lita or Long I would worry about how they'd hold up for various reasons

Like you say, it's not the individuals involved as much as the way the wholesale changes mean its not a TEAM used to playing together. It's had some success in the past, and by the sounds of it we weren't that bad in the first half at times, but there is no way we took the game seriously but some people still seem unable to see that!!!

[Royalee]

1996 Manchester United
1997 Chelsea
1998 Arsenal
1999 Manchester United
2000 Chelsea
2001 Liverpool
2002 Arsenal
2003 Arsenal
2004 Manchester United
2005 Arsenal
2006 Liverpool
2007 Chelsea
2008 Portsmouth

Yes, that's right - in the last 13 years 1 team out of the top 4 have won the FA cup.

If they were in the top four then that'll mean that most of those years the runners-up will have qualified for Europe by default then? Like Millwall for example.

[Franchise FC]

Firstly, any team can win the cup, that's kinda the beauty of it - Coppell should know this given his time at Palace

How should Coppell know this from his time at Palarse. Just to be clear, they lost - to a Big 4 team.

[Thames]

I think its scandalous that we make so many changes for the FA Cup.

It disrespects the cup for a start but as a fan we are paying a fair amount of money to watch a reserve team. If that was at home yesterday, I imagine our ticket prices would have been similar (£15 adult) when a normal reserve game is a couple of quid or FREE to season ticket holders.

FA Cup games (when playing such a second string team) should be adults for a fiver, kid for a quid.

[Royal With Cheese]

Firstly, any team can win the cup, that's kinda the beauty of it - Coppell should know this given his time at Palace

AND

1996 Manchester United
1997 Chelsea
1998 Arsenal
1999 Manchester United
2000 Chelsea
2001 Liverpool
2002 Arsenal
2003 Arsenal
2004 Manchester United
2005 Arsenal
2006 Liverpool
2007 Chelsea
2008 Portsmouth

Yes, that's right - in the last 13 years 1 team out of the top 4 have won the FA cup.

If they were in the top four then that'll mean that most of those years the runners-up will have qualified for Europe by default then? Like Millwall for example.

Are two completely different arguements. I don't mind debating that point though - that really did for Millwall - look at where they are now. Or how about Southampton? That runners up medal did them the power of good.

So are you retracting your previous statement?

I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to see Reading in a FA cup final. It's a dream for me. I just happen to agree that Coppell's priorities are more important. I understand that as a supporter of the club.

[Southbank Old Boy]

I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to see Reading in a FA cup final. It's a dream for me. I just happen to agree that Coppell's priorities are more important. I understand that as a supporter of the club.

Do you think you'd have felt the same 10 years ago when you used used to travel up and down the country following the team?

Personally I think any team, within reason, can win the cup but it's much more likely that the better teams, those consistently at the top of the league, will win it

I still dont think that the impact of playing the first team would mean us dropping points in the league

[M Brook]

Glamour of the cup - it was a poor game between two disinterested sides and it was a toss up which side really wanted the game (which I would be slightly more worried if I were a Cardiff fan as its side, without its loan players, were reduced to the level of our second team).

Agree with that. Although the overall performance was disappointing, I thought we were the better team for the first 25 minutes and thought Cardiff looked very average without their loan players. I have to disagree with some of the previous points - I thought Murty looked quite sharp for most of the game, Lita and Convey showed a little of the promise they have. Kelly looked nervous and out of place. Bikey was brilliant and a liability in equal measures. Pearce looked OK but Matejovsky remains an enigma. He is a quality player. Why he hasn't performed this season is a mystery (perhaps he's suffering from Conveyitis!).

[brendywendy]

thought we did ok
dominated the game in the 1st 30 mins:
long and lita worked hard and made some good flick ons
karacan harried, matejovski tried to create
convey looked sharp for his 1st game in yonks
then cardiff came more into it before the 2nd half and continued that for the rest of the game,
yet still we were not dominated, and still managed to carve out opportunities to win the before and after their second
we just lacked a little class at the vital moments

anyone who was annoyed and surprised by the team selection is being a bit odd, since we all knew what would be done
the only dissappointment from my point of view was that cisse should have come on when kebe was introduced, and for matejovski not karacan imo
other than that i was happy with the selection, and the product i purchased
good to see the kids play and get a chance to impress

thought pearce looked the pick, karacan ok,kelly ok, henry anonymous again
murts played well, good to see him back, surprised to see lita, but he worked hard, didntseem to be lacking in energy or desire for us and good to see copps giving him a go-no grudges etc
and convey almost lit up before fading again, but not bad for 1st game as i said

[handbags_harris]

Read through this thread with interest as it's always interesting to see what other fan's views of this competition are. Steve Coppell's opinions and actions in the FA Cup, on the face of it, make sense, as RFC's priority clearly lies with getting back to the Premier League, and until the game at Championship and Premier League level balances itself out financially, that will always be the case.

As for my own views, I don't believe it's right to field what effectively is a weakened team, I am a firm advocate of being obliged to field your strongest team available in all competitions, but I accept it as a factor of the game in this day and age. It's something Coppell has done since the 05/06 season in the tie against West Brom, and it's something we can expect for the remainder of his time at RFC. In any case, with the regulations as relaxed as they are, it gives the management the opportunity to look at young, raw players, and it was even more useful yesterday as Cardiff are so well matched up to us.

The general performance was pretty solid yesterday without being spectacular. Both Convey and Long should have buried their clear opportunities with the score at 0-0, and Federici had a pretty quiet game in goal due to the defence holding the Cardiff attack at arms length until being massively exposed by the blundering offside trap. Murty was both outpaced and outfought for the 2nd, a goal I believe was far too easy for Cardiff to cut straight through the middle of us.

Individual players who stood out yesterday, IMO, were Julian Kelly and Alex Pearce. Pearce is a real prospect at Championship level, although I don't believe he'll cut it at Premier League level. Kelly did reasonably well, showed a nice neat touch and pass, is very quick, although his real blotch was his fatal hesitation which led to the first goal.

Players who were a real letdown yesterday were Lita, Matejovsky, and James Henry. Lita was pretty anonymous all day once again, Long returned to his usual self after his excellent 2nd half display against Southampton, and James Henry (our real true hope from the academy) just isn't creative enough throughout a game at the moment to warrant his hype.

Having said all that, I believe a player doesn't start to show his true form until he has had 7 or 8 consecutive starts, which is part of the reason that I don't think we've seen anything from both Long and Matejovsky throughout their RFC careers. You could add Bobby Convey to that list as he has hardly played over the last 2 and a half years.

So in a nutshell, some good points, some bad points, and ultimately I couldn't really care about the result so long as we played reasonably well. We did in patches, and created some decent opportunities, and given that we played a young team against a full strength Cardiff side, I'm relatively pleased. We wouldn't play so many youngsters in a side unless things got really critical on the injury front, so I can be nothing but optimistic.

And ALOL at the group of dickheads next to us singing "we're just too good for you"

[Royal With Cheese]

I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to see Reading in a FA cup final. It's a dream for me. I just happen to agree that Coppell's priorities are more important. I understand that as a supporter of the club.

Do you think you'd have felt the same 10 years ago when you used used to travel up and down the country following the team?

No, but times have moved on. Perhaps in another 10 years the cup will become more important and lucrative than the Premiership. Until that happens I'm comfortable with what Coppell is doing.

[Scarface]

I've simply given up attending any cup matches until Coppell leaves and we start taking them seriously again. Last year was more embarressing, seeing as we played less games than anyone else in the football league and still got relegated! It's Coppell's way, I don't agree with him, but I accept the reason why he does it.

Most of the first choice players have now had a very lengthy rest, so there is simply no excuse for a fantastic performance Friday night to put to bed the cup disappointment. Mind you Coppell could say they some of them were under cooked