There's a couple of things that bother me about us deliberately fielding a weak team in cup games. Firstly, it is horribly disrespectful to the fans, especially the ones who travelled, obviously, but even to the many thousands watching on TV at home. And secondly, the argument that it doesn't matter and we should concentrate on the league just doesn't hold water, in my opinion. Winning breeds confidence and the mood of a team is a fragile thing. Keeping the mood and the confidence high should be paramount, and taking the opportunity to put a lesser team to the sword should be eagerly grasped. Sure, we'd almost certainly have gone out to Arsenal in the next round (unless they fielded a weak team themselves!), but unless they slaughtered us, which I doubt, then we would likely come away from that plucky defeat with our heads still held high.
As an aside, I'd be surprised if our Italian overlords were overjoyed with the result, if not the policy that lead to it. Another lucrative, surely televised full house at Elland Road, and the slim chance of knocking off one the Premier League's top teams would have been desirable to them for all sorts of reasons. Nigel (the Dublin one) --------- Dave wrote: The plastic pitch on Sunday though was irrelevant in my opinion. If Monk had fielded our strongest team, I believe we would have won. As it was, the under 12s who hadn't played together (as it felt) hadn't much of a clue whether it had been played on turf, plastic or even ice! Perhaps it was a managerial professional foul by Monk, politely saying in disguise "We want out of this competition now" similar to Brighton and a couple of others. And just maybe, all the post match comments about it being his responsibility etc were all pre rehearsed well in advance as he had a pretty good idea of what was in store. Possibly Dallas and Doukara were included as a mark of respect and to avoid any penalties for fielding a hopelessly inadequate team as has beset some clubs. When we won 6-0 at Sutton in 1970, it appeared that Revie played pretty much a full strength team - good on him! Looks like Coventry did likewise in 1989. That of course does not make up for what happened yesterday, but it is a sign of the times I suppose. The FA Cup is being debased in favour of league progress, club status and of course, hard cash. A bit sad, but if we make the top flight, all will be forgiven and forgotten apart from the record books which I'm more than prepared to accept. Apologies, I've wandered off theme.... Dave _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
