Idea to revitalise the cups

I'd like to see each league have a knockout in some form. Finalists of each league end up in a quarter finals.

A quarter finals of

Man City v Arsenal
Leeds v Leicester
Barnsley v Derby
Wrexham v Stockport

A semis of:

Man City v Leeds
Barnsley vs Wrexham

A final of Man City v Barnsley. (Winners Barnsley obv!)

Would be a lot of fun

 

True but sadly it’s another part of history that won’t return.

 

True but seeing I do like a moan every now and then, I don't know if anyone had noticed? Here goes.
We've got a cartload of young lads. Some of them, like Jalo, highly rated prospects. They play nearly all their football against 17 and 18 year olds like themselves. We're then told they're not ready for first team football because they've no experience of playing against seasoned pros. So we use the League Cup and the EFL cup as opportunities to blood them which, given that we barely try and win the games, is usually a maximum of about four games and one of them is against a Prem u21 team.
Alternatively with a reserve league like there used to be they could be playing regularly against Wednesday, Blades, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Leeds, Donny sides full of fringe first teamers, first eleven players coming back from injury etc. Week in week out.
Look at our squad. If we were all fit we'd have a reserve team regularly featuring Cundy, McCarthy, Shephard, Killip, Cotter, Benson, possibly Russell if it were last season and Dallas or Shaw.
Clubs from higher leagues would have even better quality players in their squad. Games full of players trying to earn a first team place.
That has to be better for our kids than tepid EFL games against teams who may or may not have sides that are full of kids themselves.
I think it's barmy.

 

Yeah too many players sat idle. (turn of phrase).

 

Personal opinion.. and something i think the FA could go for.. winner of the FA cup and 4th have a "play off" with the winner getting the champions league spot. Another Wembley money spinner for the FA plus encourages team to take it seriously.

League Cup.. applicable to team who arent in europe with winner playing 6th/7th for place in wuropa conference league.

If team winning FA cup has already qualified game is held between fq cup runner up or not held at all.

Paint trophy/pizza cup thingy.. do away with u23's they have their own league and cups.. return to how it used to be.. mqybe add in national league clubs to help give some national league players experience of playing football league players.. therefore better development of none league players.

If clubs want their u23's to gain meaningful experience in "real mens" football they have to send them out on loan.

 

Great ideas, there mate, logical and sensible - it'll never happen....

 

How about a League cup competition just for U23s ?.

Remember in season '92 I think, when they scrapped the old Full members cup (it was also called the Simod and the Zenith etc), and they brought back the Anglo Italian cup ?.
This seemed like a good idea, but I think clubs and fans thought it was a disaster, especially in the first round group stages.

 

i remember reserves playing, it was a bonus for season ticket holders who gained entry for free there would be plenty of players getting fit after injuries, anyone remember us playin man ure reserves, bryan robson was coming back frm injury, it made local news and if am not mistaken drew a crowd almost double figures, it wa a lot anyway for a reserve game,met brian clough,a wa sat upstairs in west stand had mi feet up on back of wooden chairs,put your feet down young man,i did,and he politely said thankyou,took a penalty against andy rhodes, missed he saved it,didnt even have to try,would av been great to av scored at oakwell.me me me me.

 

I would do away with the league cup completely and give a Europa Conf league place to the FA Cup winner or runner up if the winner already qualifies.

I would also remove the PL u23s from the pizza cup.

 

Little bit left field but what about bonus league points?
Last 4 get varying extra league points, I know a lot would say not fair etc but at least would make nearly all teams take it serious, especially in the earlier rounds.

 

Imagine missing out on promotion because of that.

 

Keep it really interesting though.
Imagine a Liverpool v Man City FA Cup Final and if Liverpool won Utd would win the PL.
Imagine we had a cup run to the FA semi final and the extra points nudged a local rival out.
Fans wouldn’t accept weakened teams then and clubs would deffo take serious.

 

It certainly wouldn't be dull, but the phrase "can of worms" springs to mind!

 

Not actually that much different to what happens now.
If a top 4 team wins the FA cup the next highest league place gets a European spot, just using a numerical version instead and of course could affect other leagues.
Another arguable benefit is it could help break some dominance in the top teams by having a mid table Prem team leap frog into contention which can only be good for the greater game.
Ultimately everyone knows rules at start of season.

 

What about if they pumped more money into it?