FA Cup 4th Round - Brentford Away

[Costock_Fox]

7 hours ago, Ted Maul said:

Anyone who would rather finish in the top 4 than win the FA Cup can get in the ****ing sea.

Do we win the cup if we beat them? I didn’t realise, thought it was the third round and we would still have to win loads of games before that could happen, my bad.

[Japanfox]

On 07/01/2020 at 22:33, Jakarta Bee said:

Bees game against Forest has been re-arranged for the following Tuesday so looks our teenagers will be on duty for the game with Leicester.

Go mash them for us.🙏

[The whole world smiles]

29 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Do we win the cup if we beat them? I didn’t realise, thought it was the third round and we would still have to win loads of games before that could happen, my bad.

No club in the history of the competition has ever won it without winning a 4th round tie. 

[Costock_Fox]

27 minutes ago, The whole world smiles said:

No club in the history of the competition has ever won it without winning a 4th round tie. 

Stat.

 

My point is, we are in a semi final and 3rd in the league so we are statistically more likely to achieve our objectives elsewhere. In any other situation I would agree but not this time.

Edited 18 January 2020 by Costock_Fox

[Voll Blau]

8 hours ago, Desabafar said:

Cup or top 4 is like give a man a fish and he will feed his family for a day, teach a man to fish and he will feed his family for life. Top 4 should be priority, massive for the club. 

 

You'd be making the exact same point wherever we were in the league. May as well not bother entering the Cup if that's your attitude...

[Bayfox]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Stat.

 

My point is, we are in a semi final and 3rd in the league so we are statistically more likely to achieve our objectives elsewhere. In any other situation I would agree but not this time.

Do we automatically finish 3rd because we are 3rd on the 18th of Jan sure theres 16 games left and yet we only need to play and win what about 5 more to win the cup.

[Claridge]

3 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

We could get stabbed in Istanbul and people think we should prioritise Brentford away one the cup 😳

More likely to get stabbed in Brentford to be fair

Edited 18 January 2020 by Claridge

[Aus Fox]

Are we allowed to want to play the strongest available team in every game, and hope we win every game and competition? Or does it have to be one or the other?

[Costock_Fox]

2 hours ago, Bayfox said:

Do we automatically finish 3rd because we are 3rd on the 18th of Jan sure theres 16 games left and yet we only need to play and win what about 5 more to win the cup.

Obviously not but I still think it’s more likely than the FA cup.

 

I’d love to see us win the whole thing obviously but with the season panning out as it is I don’t think it will be the number 1 priority.

Edited 18 January 2020 by Costock_Fox

[Freeman's Wharfer]

13 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Sport is about winning and trophies not money.

The club has never won the FA Cup.

I want to see us win the FA Cup.

 

The club get enough money from the PL and Sky, that's why we can do all the things like get certain players in and pay them more to stay.

 

In years to come I want to talk about the time I saw LCFC win a trophy not the time I saw them finish 4th, get 100m and not win a trophy.

 

I'll be at Brentford Saturday just like I'd be at Wembley for the the final. I guess you won't be if you're not that interested in it.

The point is we don’t get the chance to make the top 4 every season. Every season we have the chance to win the FA Cup.

 

I think we’d all agree that this squad with a couple of additions would have the chance to be contenders in each of the cup competitions. But if we don’t get Champions League then the Maddison to Man United, Chilwell to Chelsea and Ricardo to Spurs links start to sound less and less ridiculous.

 

This season is a point of reckoning for our club. Either we get top 4, add to what we have and potentially build a golden period. Or we miss it, players want to leave when the Champions League clubs come calling and it’s back to being happy shooting for 7th.

 

Brendan has to prioritise top 4 and I’d even take it now at the price of a defeat at Villa Park. It’s the choice between wanting a trophy this season or giving ourselves a strong chance at a trophy for the next 5 or 6 in my opinion (with the bonus of a European tour). 

[Desabafar]

2 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

 

You'd be making the exact same point wherever we were in the league. May as well not bother entering the Cup if that's your attitude...

No if we were 10th we wouldnt have a chance of Champions League so it wouldn't apply and winning Cup would probably be our best route to Europe. 

[Gerard]

11 hours ago, Desabafar said:

Cup or top 4 is like give a man a fish and he will feed his family for a day, teach a man to fish and he will feed his family for life. Top 4 should be priority, massive for the club. 

 

We play five games in 14 days. By playing a squad team against Brentford it gives the first XI a chance to have a week off in between the West Ham (h) game on the Wednesday and the Villa (a) SF on the Tuesday.

 

No one is saying throw the FA Cup but our squad team is more than capable of not getting beat at Brentford. Playing the first team against Brentford could see us blowing out of our arses in the Villa and Chelsea games. Our priority should be securing CL football as the club can move forwards long term and then throwing everything at the Villa match as we'll then be 90 mins away from a major trophy.

 

We're rated about a 7% chance of winning the FA Cup at this stage so to risk CL football and a Carabao Cup final is not optimal strategy. Some people are going on like the Brentford match is an FA Cup SF rather than a 4th round. Risks can be afforded to be taken as we try and fight on three fronts and this is the least important competition at this stage for us.

[Fox92]

13 minutes ago, Freeman's Wharfer said:

The point is we don’t get the chance to make the top 4 every season. Every season we have the chance to win the FA Cup.

 

I think we’d all agree that this squad with a couple of additions would have the chance to be contenders in each of the cup competitions. But if we don’t get Champions League then the Maddison to Man United, Chilwell to Chelsea and Ricardo to Spurs links start to sound less and less ridiculous.

 

This season is a point of reckoning for our club. Either we get top 4, add to what we have and potentially build a golden period. Or we miss it, players want to leave when the Champions League clubs come calling and it’s back to being happy shooting for 7th.

 

Brendan has to prioritise top 4 and I’d even take it now at the price of a defeat at Villa Park. It’s the choice between wanting a trophy this season or giving ourselves a strong chance at a trophy for the next 5 or 6 in my opinion (with the bonus of a European tour). 

We ain't winning the Champions League though. Yes it'd be an unbelievable achievement to finish top 4 and everything with it is fantastic but the FA Cup should also be taken seriously. If we're good enough to finish top 4 then we're good enough to seriously go far in the FA Cup just like we have in the League Cup this season. In my opinion nothing should be prioritised over another unless we were in Liverpool's position and going for the league (as that's that hardest thing to win). We have the resources and squad to go for top 4, FA Cup and League Cup. 

 

As for players leaving, well, they'll leave us with or without the Champions League. We won the league, literally the best team in England, and Kante opted to join a side that had just finished 10th. We'll never compete with bigger clubs than us, even if they're having a "bad season" like Man Utd are now, just like they can't stop their best players wanting to go to Real Madrid and Barca.

[Father Ted]

As much of a traditionalist as I am, why concentrate so highly on this game when we have a League Cup semi final 3 days later? 

 

For me, it's not a case of prioritising between league and FA Cup but prioritising between a Wembley visit and the FA Cup. 

 

I'm not saying wholesale changes but I am sure our sports science and medical staff will have plenty of input over those 14 days and for me Villa Away should be the main priority for them and if that means sacrificing the Brentford game to some extent then so be it.

[Gerard]

2 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

We ain't winning the Champions League though. Yes it'd be an unbelievable achievement to finish top 4 and everything with it is fantastic but the FA Cup should also be taken seriously. If we're good enough to finish top 4 then we're good enough to seriously go far in the FA Cup just like we have in the League Cup this season. In my opinion nothing should be prioritised over another unless we were in Liverpool's position and going for the league (as that's that hardest thing to win). We have the resources and squad to go for top 4, FA Cup and League Cup. 

 

As for players leaving, well, they'll leave us with or without the Champions League. We won the league, literally the best team in England, and Kante opted to join a side that had just finished 10th. We'll never compete with bigger clubs than us, even if they're having a "bad season" like Man Utd are now, just like they can't stop their best players wanting to go to Real Madrid and Barca.

 

Actually the chances of winning the FA Cup and CL are't a million miles apart nowadays. Both European trophies were all English affairs last season and with the big three European super clubs on the wane and Liverpool and Man City considered the best club teams in the world then we actually have a squeak at winning the CL. Ajax got to a SF and Tottenham to a final last season. 

 

Champions League football means we push on as a club and can keep our best players and acquire better ones. 

 

The way your summarising this Brentford match is if we're almost guaranteed to win the cup if we get past them. If Liverpool and Man City had already been knocked out I would put more priority on it but at this moment I'm happy to see us rest our first XI and focus on a top four finish and a Wembley final by beating Villa. 

[Fox92]

37 minutes ago, Gerard said:

 

Actually the chances of winning the FA Cup and CL are't a million miles apart nowadays. Both European trophies were all English affairs last season and with the big three European super clubs on the wane and Liverpool and Man City considered the best club teams in the world then we actually have a squeak at winning the CL. Ajax got to a SF and Tottenham to a final last season. 

 

Champions League football means we push on as a club and can keep our best players and acquire better ones. 

 

The way your summarising this Brentford match is if we're almost guaranteed to win the cup if we get past them. If Liverpool and Man City had already been knocked out I would put more priority on it but at this moment I'm happy to see us rest our first XI and focus on a top four finish and a Wembley final by beating Villa. 

I literally said nothing should be prioritised over anything, we're in a position to have a good go at everything. Not sure how that's summarising we're gonna beat Brentford. TBH they are a good side, play decent football and this time next year I hope we're playing them in a league fixture and I'm not taking the game lightly at all. A draw and another game (replay) could happen.

[Deeg67]

1 hour ago, Gerard said:

 

We play five games in 14 days. By playing a squad team against Brentford it gives the first XI a chance to have a week off in between the West Ham (h) game on the Wednesday and the Villa (a) SF on the Tuesday.

 

No one is saying throw the FA Cup but our squad team is more than capable of not getting beat at Brentford. Playing the first team against Brentford could see us blowing out of our arses in the Villa and Chelsea games. Our priority should be securing CL football as the club can move forwards long term and then throwing everything at the Villa match as we'll then be 90 mins away from a major trophy.

 

We're rated about a 7% chance of winning the FA Cup at this stage so to risk CL football and a Carabao Cup final is not optimal strategy. Some people are going on like the Brentford match is an FA Cup SF rather than a 4th round. Risks can be afforded to be taken as we try and fight on three fronts and this is the least important competition at this stage for us.

Nice post but I admit I ROFL'd a bit at "major trophy".

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, Desabafar said:

No if we were 10th we wouldnt have a chance of Champions League so it wouldn't apply and winning Cup would probably be our best route to Europe. 

 

But then the argument would be "well lose a couple and we could easily slip into a relegation battle". You see it on here every season, no matter where we are in the league, people arguing we shouldn't go for the Cup "this year".

 

1 minute ago, Deeg67 said:

Nice post but I admit I ROFL'd a bit at "major trophy".

Before 2016 it was the most major trophy we'd ever won. A trophy we were proud to win three times. Honestly mental how short some folks' memories are. The attitude among some in our fanbase these days defies belief.

[st albans fox]

Good to see Leeds lose .... let’s see Brentford win to to keep them well in the hunt and lessen the importance of next week’s tie ....

[Kopfkino]

Our wholesale changes should be good enough to beat their wholesale changes. The Villa game is a bigger inconvenience for the league tbh. 

 

But I don't get how some people are incapable of accepting that others are more interested in Top 4 than the cups. Give me a binary choice and it's Top 4 all day long but I can understand why winning the FA Cup in particular is an attractive proposition for some.

[KingsX]

2 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

Before 2016 it was the most major trophy we'd ever won. A trophy we were proud to win three times. Honestly mental how short some folks' memories are. The attitude among some in our fanbase these days defies belief.

 

The League/Carabao Cup is no older than the median City away fan, has a joke sponsor, and returns joke prize money and European rights.  Its history is meaningful, but nearly done.  Supporters who have more forward- than backward-looking views don’t need lectures on how to think.

 

Bigger clubs today want no part of expending playing resources on matches in tiny grounds against third division clubs.  Even Championship clubs rotate.  This is why, by the end of this decade, PL clubs will no longer contest the League Cup.  And in a generation, it will be likely be thought of more like the Full Members/ZDS Cup than the FA Cup.

 

It means that much to you and others, fine, we all understand why.  What defies belief is this inability to understand the other side of the coin.

[Voll Blau]

45 minutes ago, KingsX said:

 

The League/Carabao Cup is no older than the median City away fan, has a joke sponsor, and returns joke prize money and European rights.  Its history is meaningful, but nearly done.  Supporters who have more forward- than backward-looking views don’t need lectures on how to think.

 

Bigger clubs today want no part of expending playing resources on matches in tiny grounds against third division clubs.  Even Championship clubs rotate.  This is why, by the end of this decade, PL clubs will no longer contest the League Cup.  And in a generation, it will be likely be thought of more like the Full Members/ZDS Cup than the FA Cup.

 

It means that much to you and others, fine, we all understand why.  What defies belief is this inability to understand the other side of the coin.

I could see the other side of the coin if I was some marketing bod, rather than a Leicester supporter.

 

But it's just ever so slightly dismaying to see my fellow fans trash a trophy which brought happiness to tens of thousands of us.

 

If wanting to make memories with friends and family that will last a lifetime somehow make me "backward looking", rather than a normal human being, then I'll proudly wear that as a badge of honour.

 

Oh, and bigger clubs can fvck off. If such snobbery towards the rest of the football pyramid is what's expected of us as fans to be part of their club then I'd rather Leicester City were outside the tent pissing in.

[tylesta]

Top 4 all day long!!! HAve a good summer in the transfer window and try to progress as a club 

[KingsX]

6 minutes ago, Voll Blau said:

If wanting to make memories with friends and family that will last a lifetime somehow make me "backward looking", rather than a normal human being, then I'll proudly wear that as a badge of honour.

 

Oh, and bigger clubs can fvck off. If such snobbery towards the rest of the football pyramid is what's expected of us as fans to be part of their club then I'd rather Leicester City were outside the tent pissing in.

 

It has nothing to do with snobbery.  It's business.  Outside of the FA Cup, cup competitions have always come and gone.  The League Cup has meant more than the others, but less and less lately, and I doubt it can be saved in the current environment.

 

And “forward-looking” has nothing to do with denigrating memories.  It means prioritizing the club’s ability to strengthen to achieve a future position to create memory after memory.  Rather than a present-day opportunity to create one.

[Voll Blau]

7 minutes ago, KingsX said:

 

It has nothing to do with snobbery.  It's business.  Outside of the FA Cup, cup competitions have always come and gone.  The League Cup has meant more than the others, but less and less lately, and I doubt it can be saved in the current environment.

 

And “forward-looking” has nothing to do with denigrating memories.  It means prioritizing the club’s ability to strengthen to achieve a future position to create memory after memory.  Rather than a present-day opportunity to create one.

"It's business." Yeah, exactly. We're football supporters, not businessmen?

 

I'll happily eat my words on this, but no matter what Leicester do they're never going to be a club who are consistently at the top. When they are, like at present, they should be embracing any chance they can to get their hands on silverware. We have that chance with this squad and manager right now. Let's not spurn it.