Without a shadow of a doubt, Flicker should rest every first team regular at the Etihad and play the youngsters and/or those we could class as 'reserves'. This is a meaningless fixture in which we will undoubtedly ship a shedload of goals. The Championship is what's important. We need to get back on track in the league, hopefully starting tonight with a 110% effort at Burnley. Rest tonight's squad on Saturday - then concentrate on the real job.
No we hire professional footballers who train rigorously so should be able to keep up with the modern game so should play 110% Tuesday and Saturday! Get a result today and try hard on Saturday no days of I'm afraid I work mon-Fri and some Saturdays I don't have a reserve to support me if I'm tired or concentrating on the next task not the one I'm doing atm!
Don't be daft. I would go mental if I turned up on Saturday to watch our development squad get tanked 30-0, and I'm sure everyone else would. As If that's ever going to happen. We are one match from wembley. Brighton have a game Saturday too you know. It's not like they're sat on a beach getting milked by page 3 girls.
Its a really good way to build team spirit and togetherness in the camp to drop the players that have won through to this stage of the cup. Those that have won the cup games should have the chance to play on what is, in many cases, the biggest stage of their careers...
Amazing isn't it! With that mentality it would be better if we cancel the whole season and just stay where we are in the Championship. That way we can keep our status and you don't need to go to any games. (I take it you aren't going on Saturday!)
What a load of nonsense! Not only would it be unfair on our fans in attendance & everyone watching on the tele, imagine been one of Dagnall, Perkins, Harewood, Steele, Cranie, Foster & Kennedy, all players who've been performing week in week out for us and been told you're getting dropped for an FA Cup quarter final away at the champions of England. That would do wonders for morale wouldn't it? You'd be fuming, it should be treated like any other game, we should play our best available team. Watching likes of Alnwick, Jones, Cywka, Etuhu, Noble Lazarus & Rose be part of a team that gets a right hammering won't help us stay up at all.
What we don't need is for anyone to get sent off and incur an immediate ban. So if Dawson does laik I hope he comes back with a wimper rather than a bang.
Disagree with the OP, but there's a point in there about the hype this fixture is getting. I'm convinced it's affecting the league performances, and I for one can't wait to get it over with
Of course its affecting them, they do not want to miss possibly the biggest game a lot of them have ever played in through a silly booking or injury, it only natural that it would be on their minds, it will also be on flickers mind as well, but they will all deny it. Flicker will want want to field his best side and pit himself against the most expensively assembled team in the league, against probably one of the best managers. So yes it will be affecting them, they all want to b e part of what could be a great day.
There's always someone who thinks that the FA Cup is responsible for a defeat in the league. One does not come at the expense of the other otherwise you wouldn't get teams doing the double. When we beat Liverpool and Chelsea a few years back there were people blaming that on our league position. It's all ******, who's to say that we wouldn't have got relegated that year without a good Cup run to perk up the spirits. The wins against Hull, Burnley and MK gave us the confidence to win the league games around those fixtures so what makes you think that league form will suffer because of the Cup game against City?
While I agree that the championship is far more important I don’t agree that we should play a weakened side and effectively concede the game. A good team try to win every game and we should be trying to do just that.
I think you're right. Tonight's team will be more or less what Flicker has in mind for City. They'd better have their scouts out!!
I think only O'Grady is ineligible, and Flitcroft stated yesterday that Mad Dog will start at Arab Stadium. David Platt... bet he's excited about Turf Moor tonight. Bless him. Reight goal in Sardinia 1990 against the Belgians. And his forehead is like mine.