The Dilemma

[robbo1874]

None of those at VP would be favourites.

Why?  Villa Park is hardly a fortress.

Nearly every remaining team would fancy us in the draw.

i think a home draw in the next round against anybody would see a decent crowd getting behind the team. Old cliche I know, but I really think a home win in the next round could kickstart the season.

[robbo1874]

How sad is this that the premier league money machne has such a hold over fans they would take 17th over actually winning the grandest cup competition of them all.

That's a misleading way to put it, though.

it isn't about finishing 17th v finishing 18th, it is about being relegated and not being relegated, far from just a question of one position higher.

FA Cup for me every time. We can come back from relegation in 58 years. We have not won the cup in that time. I would bloody love it if we won the cup.

58 years outside the top flight would be significantly more damaging than 58 years without winning the cup. I also fear that if we went down, it wouldn't be a Newcastle style "bounce straight back" situation, but more likely a Leeds style "fucked for a generation" scenario.

i reckon it would take us 2 seasons to get back this time if we did go down. Makes it a bit less appealing when you think if it like that, but I reckon I'd still take it.

[The Left Side]

PL survival for me, close voting though.

[PaulWinch again]

I don't want Villa outside the top flight and I don't really see why we can't survive and win the cup.

[not3bad]

Before I replied I took a quick look at where Wigan are in the Championship.  Then, with regret, I voted for stability.

[silhillvilla]

Amazed at how many would take relegation for the short term euphoria of an FA cup win.

[Mortimer's Bear]

This really is a tough one, I would just about opt for survival.

[Monty]

It's interesting how close it is. For me, I wouldn't like to win the FA Cup once only to get relegated, stay relegated, and never win anything again. That's a real danger.

[LeeB]

Amazed at how many would take relegation for the short term euphoria of an FA cup win.

I'm amazed people would swap a temporary change in divisions for the bloody FA Cup.

The FA Cup for God's sake, we're Aston Villa and we haven't won it for more than 50 years. Governments have toppled over less.

Fucking Chelsea have won it as many times as us now. It needs sorting out.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't see why we can't have both. Wigan were eighteenth when they started their cup run, and finished eighteenth. It made no difference at all. If we, miraculously, make it to the cup final we will have, presumably, done so playing some decent football and accruing confidence-boosting wins.

This "you can't win league matches if you do well in the cups" attitude is all a bit 1981 Ipswich Town Bumper Book of Excuses for my liking.

[Neil Hawkes]

I would take the cup, it's an achievement.
Though we may survive in the PL, we are insignificant and do not get any benefit from being there other than saying "we are in the premier league", this is not an achievement, it is a chore.

[MoetVillan]

Never mind Wigan, take a look at Portsmouth today.

[JUAN PABLO]

No thanks

Ive never seen us win it 😠 but wouldn't be good for us

[Chico Hamilton III]

To those season ticket holders who would rather see us reach 17th in the league than win The Cup - can I use your reference number to get a Wembley ticket if we get to the Cup Final? 

[Villa in Denmark]

The sole purpose of a sporting club is try and win trophies.

You can add FA cup winners 2015 to the roll of honour.

You can't add avoided relegation for another year.

As one of those who can remember winning the FA cup being just as big a thing as being crowned champions, and who need to see us win it "to complete the set."  I'd take it in a heart beat and take my chances next season.

I think a more likely dilemma would be how much slack would Lambert get next season if we stayed up and won the FA cup by "winning ugly" as we've done this season on the rare occasions we've got a result.