League or Cup? it's obvious really.

[cdward]

League Cup winners prize money is £100,000
Finishing 20th in the PL is worth £800,000.
FA Cup winners £1.8m

So maybe we should all start looking at our history and achievements on the balance sheet, so our 5 League Cups are worth less than 1 relegation from the PL, and our 7 FA Cups are worth about the same as a 6th place PL finish, puts it all into perspective.
Sad state of affairs.

[Dave P]

Thats just prize money.

Just imagine the FA Cup winners replica shirts or souveners that we would been available to sell. 

[Concrete John]

pauliebentnuts - I agree with you!

I was pointing out the large differential in cup to league finances, not saying both is impossible or that we should think of money ahead of a trophy.   

[john e]

i was one that never thought we were  in danger of going down, and have fully supported Houllier all the way so far, so far up untill last night,

i couldnt give a toss whether we finish 15 or 10 in the league this year, the FA cup for me was the priority.

if we had been playing in a game last night where we had to win to stay up or win to make the top 4, he would never ever have played that side,

no matter what the foriegn managers says no matter how many times they are told they will never never get and understand the FA Cup like we do.

we would have had to play very well with are best players to beat Man City last night, and even then it would have been difficult, but we should have given it are best shot, i think we could have accepted that,

i was very critical of MON over the Moskow debacle, i like GH a million times more than MON, but i wont be hypocritical, he got it badly wrong last night,
the lowest point in his short reign for me

[eastie]

i was one that never thought we were  in danger of going down, and have fully supported Houllier all the way so far, so far up untill last night,

i couldnt give a toss whether we finish 15 or 10 in the league this year, the FA cup for me was the priority.

if we had been playing in a game last night where we had to win to stay up or win to make the top 4, he would never ever have played that side,

no matter what the foriegn managers says no matter how many times they are told they will never never get and understand the FA Cup like we do.

we would have had to play very well with are best players to beat Man City last night, and even then it would have been difficult, but we should have given it are best shot, i think we could have accepted that,

i was very critical of MON over the Moskow debacle, i like GH a million times more than MON, but i wont be hypocritical, he got it badly wrong last night,
the lowest point in his short reign for me

spot on john e

[Rykaard]

This is my first post on here but after watching last night's debacle, I felt I had to vent my anger.  I am 36 years old and a life long Villa fan and am utterly appalled and the decision by GH not to field the team to win the game last night. I agree totally with John E previousy. Furthermore, after the Bolton game on Saturday, we have two weeks without any football whatsover so if it was done to rest the likes of Young, Albrighton, Downing etc, they have ample time to recover and put their feet up during the subsequent 13 days.

On the back of a confidence boosting result against Blackburn, play the god damn best side and IF we're not on for a result in the game, substitute the players you want for a rest. Is an hour's worth of football really going to impact on a professional athlete's stamina?  I run and train every morning for two hours from 6am, then do a 9 to 10 hour day.....let them come visit my world and see how fatigue can set in sometimes.  I'm not blaming the players at all, but to say that they could not play for 90 minutes no a Wednesday in advance of a match on Saturday is a disgrace and an insult to the fans who work hard to pay for match tickets!  I enjoyed two trips to Wembley last year and despite the results, they were memorable days out. I want to be able to take my young lad who is at the right age now, but alas, it won't be this year.  Are we really relegation material....no, of course not. And will last night make any difference to whether we finish 14 or 9th........highly unlikely.  Would we have taken a huge amount of momentum and confidence if we had got a result last night.........You tell me!!!

A few positives from last night starting with Bannan who I think will evolve to become an amazing playmaker; that fella certainly has some stamina and I guarantee he'd run as many miles and produce as many passes against Bolton on Saturday as he did last night, should be play.
The other positives were the fabulous away fans and the skill to play head keepy'ups in the stands with the match ball, i hope they got to keep the ball afterwards :-)

[eastie]

rykaard - welcome and great 1st post my friend.

[darren woolley]

I would rather have silverware on the table at the end of the season.

[SoccerHQ]

Depends where the club budget for us finishing before the season. After the last few seasons, 6th or 7th is a reasonable guess.

Mental selection last night.

[bones.]

I am really at a loss with this 'either or' theory. Why has doing well in the cup and well in the league become mutually exclusive these days? Its not as if we are overloaded with games and struggling to cope. Who needed a rest? Six games the cup adds to the season, thats all, and thats if you go all the way to the final. There was no choice that needed to be made last night in the first place. Play your best eleven fit players and try to win the match, then do the same next week. There was no reason for last nights surrender. Aston Villa dont turn out just to make the numbers up for f**ks sake. The fans that travelled certainly didnt have that in mind . What an illjudged pile of gutless bullshit.

[BlueNoseBadger]

Last nights motivation.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/FACupPages/FACupPrizeFund20082009

£1.8 million if you win the FA cup.

http://www.suite101.com/content/premier-league-prize-money-2010---how-much-do-football-clubs-get-a235614

or £12 to £7.2million for finishing 6th to 12th, essentially £800k for every league position higher.

BlueNose in peace.
I fear your answer lies here
Your recent accounts, and the alleged spat between MON & RL over selling players/cutting wage bills demonstrate that you need to cut your cloth accordingly.
It's in black & white that you need to get rid of underperforming high-earners, you have to amortise Bent's signing over the next few years at 4-6M per year.
I'm sure nobody believes you will be relegated, but that's not the point.
Even beating Man City would not guarantee you a Cup win - semi final winners/runners-up only get 900k
However, with the league so tight this year, 3 points could mean 3 places or 2.4M
That will go a lot further to plugging the hole in your Finances, and maybe give you the extra cash to make quality signings to pull you back up the table to where the money is

I think Houllier's selection for the Citeh game was influenced by this

A very sad day for football fans of any colours

[west sussex villan]

 I expect a respectable league position and to have a good go at trying to win the cups.

[Pat McMahon]

Blue Nose Badger, welcome to you, and some very valid objective points made there.

[*shellac*]

Blue Nose Badger, welcome to you, and some very valid objective points made there.

Seconded.

[Simon Ward]

Blue Nose Badger, welcome to you, and some very valid objective points made there.

Seconded.

I agree but it still doesn't win us any trophies does it!

Or for that matter does it impress the new generation of fans, such as my youngest son who like me just wants to see Villa win every match playing the strongest team possible. 110% is all we ask!