Absolutely. It's weird

Any Cup tie used to be regarded as a big game - but not now, it seems. Now, it's apparently a chance to blood youngsters! I can understand us taking this approach to the League Cup, and made excuses for Worthington when he did just this: clearly, in the '01-'04 period when we were serious contenders, there was an argument for focusing completely on a 46-game league season. But not now.

And what gets me is last season, I honestly felt the FA Cup was enjoying something of a resurgence. There were some terrific ties - Chelsea 3-3 Spurs and Fulham 4-3 Leicester spring to mind; and the three fourth round replays (Norwich/Blackpool, Boro/Bristol C and Bolton/Arsenal) were a tremendous advert for English football. Plus, I felt that surviving at Blackpool and playing so well at Chelsea gave the whole club a boost: we improved from that point and moved away into safer waters.

The pros of a good Cup run far outweigh the cons, it seems to me. But then, the only Norwich manager to have taken the Cup seriously in recent times was, er, Peter Grant. Go figure.

Posted By: thebigfeller, Jan 16, 08:40:37