The FA Cup.

[danno]

Its fair to say looking at the quotes that Lambert didn't exactly say "I don't give a shit about the FA Cup".  He's basically been open about what most people in the game think of it tpday, which is very sad, but i respect his honesty.  Lets not forget Houllier and O'Neill said that cup competitions were important, only to leave half the team on the sidelines.

Sadly, its been blown out of all proportions, with Regan and his cronies at WM all lining up to to take pot shots at him.

That's the thing I find annoying too, add Martin Lipton on talksport to that as well.

Portsmouth and Wigan both being relegated and getting all the way to the final in the last few years,
tells everyone just how seriously the big boys really take the competition.

Every premier league teams starting eleven this weekend will be weakened, its been that way for a long time,
and to go to town on Paul Lambert for actually highlighting that is ridiculous.

[PeterWithesShin]

So Lambert has said he'd rather get us relegated to the conference than win the FA Cup? We need a good old fashion lynching party. I'll bring the fire torches.

[olaftab]

It boils my piss and breaks my heart, that finishing 4th in the league is now considered better

No it appears from words attributed to our man that finishing 17th is better than winning the FA cup. Wigan were really unlucky last season not only did they win the cup  they also finished 18th!

He didn't say that at all.

"Not just because of the money but survival in the league is vital."

[dave.woodhall]

It boils my piss and breaks my heart, that finishing 4th in the league is now considered better

No it appears from words attributed to our man that finishing 17th is better than winning the FA cup. Wigan were really unlucky last season not only did they win the cup  they also finished 18th!

He didn't say that at all.

"Not just because of the money but survival in the league is vital."

Exactly. Thank you for confirming what I said.

[olaftab]

It boils my piss and breaks my heart, that finishing 4th in the league is now considered better

No it appears from words attributed to our man that finishing 17th is better than winning the FA cup. Wigan were really unlucky last season not only did they win the cup  they also finished 18th!

He didn't say that at all.

"Not just because of the money but survival in the league is vital."

Exactly. Thank you for confirming what I said.

Thanks for making me smirk.

[OzVilla]

The devaluation of the FA Cup is something that still really pisses me off no end.

I totally understand PL's thinking here but the general mindset around the whole competition these days from the FA, media, managers etc shameful.

It used to be the pinnacle of the sporting year - now its an afterthought.

[olaftab]

Totally agree OzVilla. The attitude o the FA cup really is appalling these days. There was a time when everyone prioritised FA cup game over a League match but sadly no more.

[PeterWithesShin]

I remember the days when FA Cup attendances were nearly always a good size above league ones. And the main ambition of just about every player was to win it.

[Chipsticks]

As a young fan, I'd kill to see us win any silverware, but think survival in the league should be priority, so I understand Lambert's thinking. Maybe when we're a bit more stable and not looking over our shoulders so much (we're getting closer) we can give it a go.

Remember there's a long term vision, and I think silverware is part of it - but not yet.

[PeterWithesShin]

We're 11th, we should be busting a gut to win it. And I hope we will be on Saturday. Actually we should be busting a gut to win it wherever we are in the league.

[OzVilla]

Agreed, surely the plan has to be to attempt to win things and the FA Cup not only provides the chance to do that (heaven knows we don't have many) but also the chance for Villa immortality.

6 matches away from immortality and the first is against lesser league opposition.

Why wouldn't you give it a go?

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

This whole episode merely serves to highlight a couple of the many globs of phlegm floating in the trough that is modern football. 

Firstly, unpalatable as you may find it, Lambert is absolutely right.  I’m sure there isn’t a top flight manager who wouldn’t agree with him that the forthcoming FA Cup third round tie is a bit of a pain in the arse.  It is not a priority for anyone.  It’s useful to rest a few players, blood a few youngsters, but a big deal it ain’t.  The competition has been devalued in many ways - not least by the association that runs it – and it’s hard to see how it can ever reclaim its previous cache without offering some enormous financial reward.  After all, that’s all the modern game is concerned with.   

Secondly, while Regan probably thinks he’s being very clever gleaning these quotes - and Ross et al are seizing the opportunity to strike a blow for the fans by fuelling their indignation – all they’re really doing is ensuring that football interviews continue to become more anodyne and pointless as the years go on.  (This isn’t exclusive to football, of course; anyone in any walk of public life now has to watch every syllable that emerges from their lips, lest an errant word should be recorded and shared and they find their career shattered around their ankles; I doubt Tony Blair, for example, has spoken a single unscripted word outside his house for the last twenty-five years).  This is all well and good, until you realise that no one is actually saying anything.

Back in the late nineties I worked as a sports reporter for a cable news station, and for a while it was my job to go and do the pre-match pressers with a couple of the local managers.  My initial excitement at this prospect was dampened after a few weeks, when I realised I wasn’t about to unearth any great revelations.  They were so guarded, so fearful of being misquoted or misconstrued, that everything was as bland as could be.  I could have scripted it all myself.  They might just as well have released a statement and saved us all the bother of turning up.  But I didn’t – and don’t – blame them.  This latest incident shows the dangers of giving an opinion. 

So next time you’re furious that Lambert’s watched a different game to you, that his comments don’t make sense and that the club is keeping the truth from you, bear in mind that they may well be toeing the accepted line.  They’re saying what they have to say and what it’s safe to say, because ultimately they don’t trust the press with the truth.  It’s a sorry state of affairs, but then look at what’s happened to Lambert today; something he hasn’t actually said has been blown out of proportion and made national headlines.  You can say he’s been naïve, maybe he has, but he was expressing a truth that he’ll doubtless be castigated for.  Unfairly, in my view.  However, the more the press are starved of an insight, the more they’ll make of the crumbs they’re given, and the more the football world retreats into its shell.  The disconnect between clubs and fans becomes ever more stark.

The big losers in all this are, as ever, the fans.  The Premier League exists in a bubble and keeps us at arms length; happy to pocket our cash and exploit our fanaticism, knowing we’ll turn up however difficult they make it for us, but when it comes to actually giving an iota of a toss about our feelings, they’re very much fingers in ears and blah-blah-blahing.  What we want and what we dream of are increasingly incompatible with modern football.   And that, folks, is just tough.  If I'm really lucky I might have about thirty years left to see us lift this bloody trophy before I snuff it.  Here’s to a 5-0 win on Saturday and an easy draw in Round 4. 

[ChicagoLion]

Its not Paul Lamberts fault that the FA Cup is now viewed in this way. It is the FA who sold their soul to the "FA" Premier League before it became the  now Barclays Premier League.

[adrenachrome]

This whole episode merely serves to highlight a couple of the many globs of phlegm floating in the trough that is modern football. 

Firstly, unpalatable as you may find it, Lambert is absolutely right.  I’m sure there isn’t a top flight manager who wouldn’t agree with him that the forthcoming FA Cup third round tie is a bit of a pain in the arse.  It is not a priority for anyone.  It’s useful to rest a few players, blood a few youngsters, but a big deal it ain’t.  The competition has been devalued in many ways - not least by the association that runs it – and it’s hard to see how it can ever reclaim its previous cache without offering some enormous financial reward.  After all, that’s all the modern game is concerned with.   

Secondly, while Regan probably thinks he’s being very clever gleaning these quotes - and Ross et al are seizing the opportunity to strike a blow for the fans by fuelling their indignation – all they’re really doing is ensuring that football interviews continue to become more anodyne and pointless as the years go on.  (This isn’t exclusive to football, of course; anyone in any walk of public life now has to watch every syllable that emerges from their lips, lest an errant word should be recorded and shared and they find their career shattered around their ankles; I doubt Tony Blair, for example, has spoken a single unscripted word outside his house for the last twenty-five years).  This is all well and good, until you realise that no one is actually saying anything.

Back in the late nineties I worked as a sports reporter for a cable news station, and for a while it was my job to go and do the pre-match pressers with a couple of the local managers.  My initial excitement at this prospect was dampened after a few weeks, when I realised I wasn’t about to unearth any great revelations.  They were so guarded, so fearful of being misquoted or misconstrued, that everything was as bland as could be.  I could have scripted it all myself.  They might just as well have released a statement and saved us all the bother of turning up.  But I didn’t – and don’t – blame them.  This latest incident shows the dangers of giving an opinion. 

So next time you’re furious that Lambert’s watched a different game to you, that his comments don’t make sense and that the club is keeping the truth from you, bear in mind that they may well be toeing the accepted line.  They’re saying what they have to say and what it’s safe to say, because ultimately they don’t trust the press with the truth.  It’s a sorry state of affairs, but then look at what’s happened to Lambert today; something he hasn’t actually said has been blown out of proportion and made national headlines.  You can say he’s been naïve, maybe he has, but he was expressing a truth that he’ll doubtless be castigated for.  Unfairly, in my view.  However, the more the press are starved of an insight, the more they’ll make of the crumbs they’re given, and the more the football world retreats into its shell.  The disconnect between clubs and fans becomes ever more stark.

The big losers in all this are, as ever, the fans.  The Premier League exists in a bubble and keeps us at arms length; happy to pocket our cash and exploit our fanaticism, knowing we’ll turn up however difficult they make it for us, but when it comes to actually giving an iota of a toss about our feelings, they’re very much fingers in ears and blah-blah-blahing.  What we want and what we dream of are increasingly incompatible with modern football.   And that, folks, is just tough.  If I'm really lucky I might have about thirty years left to see us lift this bloody trophy before I snuff it.  Here’s to a 5-0 win on Saturday and an easy draw in Round 4. 

Extremely well written, if I may make so bold, and I could almost forgive you for being a member of the press.

 

[pbavfckuwait]

His thoughts on the FA Cup are sad, but a true reflection of how Prem clubs look at it now, what I find more scary and not quite sure how he overcomes, is the statement that modern footballers count success by the length and value of their contracts, is that a reflection and a disguised dig at the guys he gave extended and improved deals to last season and have not turned up for him this year?