Nigel Speaks Of Cup Progression
Friday, 4th Jan 2013 09:43

Nigel Adkins has spoken of the his desire to have a good run in the FA Cup, lets hope he now practices what he preaches.

In my opinion most of the teams in the top two divisions who enter the FA Cup do not take it seriously and the big question is why ?

Of course the likes of Manchester United, City and Chelsea are going to play weakened teams in the earlier rounds due to fixture congestion as they chase trophies on several fronts, but there really is no reason why the rest of the Premiership doesnt get serious about it.

The main reason why the lower 2/3 of the Premier dont can be summed up in one word "Fear" they are afraid of not only injuries to key players but getting caught up in a fixture backlog that could drag them into a relegation battle, sadly today's Premier league is not about winning trophies for all but a handful of sides, its about survival in the league, because relegation in most cases leads to financial meltdown as you can no longer afford to pay your players the extortionate wages that they are on and therefore everything else bar survival is not a priority.

However this is not the right philosophy, supporters dont celebrate £10 million going into the Club's bank account, they salute winning things, they want to see the chance of a trophy and even a Europa League campaign at a push, to illustrate this just look at our Premier League attendances in the first half of the season, the visit of Reading didnt generate anywhere near a full house in either the home or away sections, the same fixture last year despite being televised on a Friday night saw a complete sell out because both clubs were chasing the title.

Likewise the most Saints supporters who have ever watched their team play in a single game is the Johnstone Paints Trophy, no one considers it a top honour, but it was still a trip to Wembley and a good day out, its easy to work out why.

The reality of the Premier league is that few sides can compete for even a top five place let alone the Premier League title and a lack of competiveness in any sport breeds boredom and disinterest, so why dont the FA & League Cups get taken more seriously, there are far more reasons why they should than shouldnt.

In the case of Saints like the rest of the division a good cup run could help with League form, it could build a winning spirit and when you feel good about the way your playing it spurs the players in a team on, not to mention the confidence it generates, look at our two games against Arsenal this season, in a lot of respects we put out a better side at the Emirates than we did at St Mary's, we had Clyne & Lallana in the side up there, so why did we put in two very different displays ? the answer is simple, after a run of games where we havent been beaten we believed we could win at St mary's and its this attitude that up runs help develope.

But its not just about getting a winning spirit, it gives the fringe players a chance to show their worth, as long as its done in moderation, wholesale changes to a team for a cup game do nothing, the fringe players coming in know they are going to be dropped for the next league game and in truth it deflates them even more as they also know the manager hasnt given them a decent chance to shine, a player want the chance to show the manager that he can do the business alongside those in the first team, not struggle because its a team of reserves who have hardly played together.

But in recent years the fans are starting to wake up to the fact that an FA Cup win equals excitement and in the sterile TV dominated Premier league thats been a slow process, at some stage as attendances drop due to lack of interest, clubs will wake up to what the savvy fans know now, the Cups give a chance for a bit of glory, it may not end up with a trophy, but an appearance at Wembley even in a semi final isnt to be sniffed at and what those who travel to away games really desire is the opportunity to go to Europe once in a while.

So I really hope that Nigel isnt just paying lip service in his comments on the Club's official web site, I hope he genuinely picks a team that can compete with Chelsea even if it is their reserve side, Nigel needs to get a healthy balance, a good basis of first team players and then throw in a few of those hungry for a chance.

In fact Nigel has made a little bit of a rod for his own back with his comments, he has stated he wants progression in the competition, now he has to show he means it, he has made a bold statement so if a team made up mainly of the fringe players runs out against Chelsea, he will have said one thing and then done another, one thing Saints supporters like about Nigel Adkins is his honesty, of course we dont expect to see a full first team, but after this article we do expect to see him true to his word and put out a side that can keep the good run he has spoken about going, if we put out a reserve team it will perhaps send out the wrong message to supporters.

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saintjeff52 added 10:52 - Jan 4

Sorry, for me the Cups are irrelevant this season. Our ONLY objective is to finish 17th or higher in the League. For me this is a wasted weekend. Can't wait for the Villa game. We really must WIN this game. Have more belief in ourselves. Say what you like about that detestable Alex Ferguson, he does put out sides to WIN games and is not afraid to go for the win by making positive changes in a game.
Finish 17th this season, stay in the Prem next season and build up a good money base with the 'loads of money' available with the new contract. After 4 seasons or so of consolidation then look to have a go in the Cups, but NOT this season.
Our competitors are freshening up their teams in this Xfer window, but listening to NA we seem to be making do with our second and third division players. Hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the bum. Following the poor opening Xfer window, we need to be very positive in this.

SaintNick added 11:00 - Jan 4 jeff you perhaps miss my point, putting out a strong team in the cup can help our chances of survival not hinder them
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Christine added 11:37 - Jan 4

Over the last few years I have watched several teams compete simultaneously in cup and league and it's very difficult to congratulate a good cup run when you subsequently suffer in the league. We know all teams suffer when they have to play more than one game a week, the performances just don't stand up over time as injuries, bookings and fatigue will impact performances.

I understand that a one off against a top club can be a bolster for a decent win but still within the knowledge that the team they put out could well be different for the league. Being in the Premier brings me a very special game every week, not just now and then. When you are operating within such limited margins to stay in this league of all leagues, I would do the maximum to enhance that position until fully established.

SaintNick added 11:44 - Jan 4

good points christine, but very few teams are actually immune from relegation when the third round kicks off, personally i dont think tems suffer when they have to play more than one game a week, look at Saints they have just played three tough games in the space of six days but were uneaten.

The premier season isnt actually that rigorous, only two midweek games scheduled all season to be exact and the 3rd, 4th & 5th round dates are all free weekends in the fixture list, so the only real congestion should come in the quarter finals or beyond by which time any club should know if its in a relegation battle or not

A1079 added 12:58 - Jan 4 For the sake of those that are going and have forked out good money I hope we do put in a good honest performance and play as if we want it. The Leeds experience was a disgrace and because of that, and because of recent attitudes towards cup games by us, I have decided I would not fork out for this game. Sods law, they will take this one seriously. I hope they do.
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