The FA Cup.

[Brend'Watkins]

I was listening to Gabriel Marcotti this morning on my drive in and he was defending Lambert. he said nobody wants to openly admit it but Lambert was exactly right in what he said. He asked whether it is better a manager being honest or whether it is better to wax lyrical about the competition to your fans and then drop half your players? He said Lambert told the uncomfortable truth that in all leagues, not just the PL the cup competitions are regarded as a lesser event. And that of all of the games this past weekend, with the exception of Blackburn vs Man City the attendances were lower than the league average.

Fans of a certain age love the FA Cup, and the media try to tell stories to support its mystique and history, but in truth unless it is a really worthwhile tie, fans don't show up and it has little to do with price. It's just not as popular as it once was and Lambert just said what nobody else was willing to say. The frenzy over this is massively hypocritical at its most generous.

Crowds are down beacuse usually many of the first teamers are dropped IMO.

partly, but crowds are down because the game was just after Christmas, where fans had spent money on other games, as well as on the festive season. Do you really believe the attendance would have been much higher had Lambert not made those comments? I don't.

I think the attendance would have been much higher if the current team were playing anything like decent football.  I didn't attend for that very reason along with the 6 others I go with.  It had nothing to do with finances.  Whether that is a true reflection on the reduced crowd size from non attending Villa fans I can't say either way but I think it is one of the factors. 

[Chico Hamilton III]

If it had been a saturday 3pm away game at a reasonably accessible ground and we'd been allocated, say, 7000 tickets, we'd have sold the lot. What does that tell us?

[Ads]

If it had been a saturday 3pm away game at a reasonably accessible ground and we'd been allocated, say, 7000 tickets, we'd have sold the lot. What does that tell us?

We took over 5000 to the corresponding fixture a few years back under Houllier, when we were in the bottom three.

There was 14,000 on the ground.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Exactly. So who says the Cup isn't important to us?

[dave.woodhall]

It says what i

Exactly. So who says the Cup isn't important to us?

The 15,000 or so Villa supporters who didn't turn up on Saturday. As I said above, buying cup tickets for home matches means going out of your normal routine but away ties are the same as away league games, therefore demand isn't affected.

[Ads]

Exactly. So who says the Cup isn't important to us?

I think it proves a point though and kind of what Dave has said. The fact is, there was only around 3000 more Sheffield United fans at Brammel Lane than there were at Villa Park.

[Louzie0]

I think it's about press conferences. PL departed from the script, which was about 'The magic of the Third Round'. He answered honestly, but disastrously, about the reality and he was first to do so this time.

In that sense I think the article was right, he could have given any of the responses suggested.

I think he had an off day and said what he thought without thinking, if that makes sense, rather than replying with, ' We are looking forward to the match with Sheffield United. They had better watch out. Next!'

[Toronto Villa]

he probably thought I could do without this game because I have key players knackered and hurt, and this morning I just lost a centre forward for the rest of the season with a serious injury. He said what every manager is thinking in the PL, because if they weren't thinking that way they would all have played full strength sides. None of them did. The irony is that we probably played more starting players than any other team in the PL.




not that it helped...

[Louzie0]

Yes, I see that scenario and think you are right.

Of course, it then opened the door of opportunity to media darlings to say how much they love the Cup and for other managers to say the same thing as PL and be ignored.

[brian green]

There is an excellent article in today's edition of i.   It traces the "mad mountain of debt" Bolton Wanderers are carrying and spells out the downward spiral of performance and upward spiral of debt generated by paying over the odds for players, putting them on long contracts, not playing them and selling for a fraction of what they cost.   The only boost to their income was the money they made out of us from the purchase and sale of Gary Cahill.   I defy any football club owner or board member to read that article without feeling the icy chill of realization that it could happen to all but a tiny tiny minority of football clubs.

Erase the name of Bolton and replace it with Villa and erase the name of Megson and replace it with MON and the article could be about us in a year's time.

[class_of_82]

There is an excellent article in today's edition of i.   It traces the "mad mountain of debt" Bolton Wanderers are carrying and spells out the downward spiral of performance and upward spiral of debt generated by paying over the odds for players, putting them on long contracts, not playing them and selling for a fraction of what they cost.   The only boost to their income was the money they made out of us from the purchase and sale of Gary Cahill.   I defy any football club owner or board member to read that article without feeling the icy chill of realization that it could happen to all but a tiny tiny minority of football clubs.

Erase the name of Bolton and replace it with Villa and erase the name of Megson and replace it with MON and the article could be about us in a year's time.

I know everyone thinks it won't happen to there club and with our support I honestly think if there was a call for our help with the club in danger of being insolvent there would be 40,000 at every home game and 40,000 locked out

[Tony Erdington]

There is an excellent article in today's edition of i.   It traces the "mad mountain of debt" Bolton Wanderers are carrying and spells out the downward spiral of performance and upward spiral of debt generated by paying over the odds for players, putting them on long contracts, not playing them and selling for a fraction of what they cost.   The only boost to their income was the money they made out of us from the purchase and sale of Gary Cahill.   I defy any football club owner or board member to read that article without feeling the icy chill of realization that it could happen to all but a tiny tiny minority of football clubs.

Erase the name of Bolton and replace it with Villa and erase the name of Megson and replace it with MON and the article could be about us in a year's time.

I know everyone thinks it won't happen to there club and with our support I honestly think if there was a call for our help with the club in danger of being insolvent there would be 40,000 at every home game and 40,000 locked out

Very thought provoking and some what see where your coming from.

Im depressed

[class_of_82]

Don't be depressed just remember what happened 12 yrs roughly after the 3rd div days

[cheltenhamlion]

I will throw in my viewing habits on this if it helps the debate.

If our game with Sheff Utd had been on TV on Sunday lunchtime I wouldnt have gone.

If we had not conceded late, and it gone to a replay, I would have been in the queue for a ticket as soon as booking made me able.

To me it is not the cost but the inconvenience to family time.

I get precious little during the week anyway so that would be easier to sell to the wife, and a more enjoyable occasion, than a home Sunday would be.

Now what if we had been drawn away to Sheffield? Saturday 3pm? All over it like a rash.

Sunday lunchtime? Unlikely.

[olaftab]

Just seen the 5th round draw and I could cry. How careless were we to get knocked out in the 3rd round. They way the draw has gone and two ties between the top 4ish teams means QF would be quite open....shame we are not in there.