Carabao Cup

[MikeO]

Drawn Lincoln away, not that it matters greatly as we'll win the thing some time after hell freezes over.

[Bailey]

Never confident away from home!

[MikeO]

9 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Never confident away from home!

Odd that we've drawn them twice in a year after the FA Cup in Jan, should be comfortable but an accident waiting to happen most likely.

[Romey 1878]

I’m glad it’s not a home draw or I’d have to go  

[Btay]

Need a good cup run this year

[markjazzbassist]

Great!  I have faith and optimism every year that this will be the year we bring home hardware and a Europa spot!  COYB

[Gwlad]

I've always remembered the name of their stadium, Sincil Bank.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Note to self. Don’t get drawn in the club don’t want to win a trophy 

[Finn balor]

Be on tv good for them. Probably get beat 

[Cornish Steve]

Here we go again: The distraction of the Mickey Mouse cup. Focus, focus, focus. Do we want to break into the top six or not?

[Zoo 2.0]

25 minutes ago, Cornish Steve said:

Here we go again: The distraction of the Mickey Mouse cup. Focus, focus, focus. Do we want to break into the top six or not?

When you haven't won anything since 1995 I don't think you can have the privilege of calling any trophy "Mickey Mouse". I get what you are saying don't get me wrong but as someone who was 2 years of age the last time we lifted something I'll take whatever I can get. A Carabao Cup would be fantastic and let's not forget that going all the way guarantees the Europa League, albeit from the qualifying rounds. 

[Finn balor]

One game extra a week? Hardly going to kill them. I’d love to win the league cup 

[Shukes]

They don’t make men like they used to haha.

I used to play Saturday, Sunday, train twice in the week, and a few times played two matches a day to catch up fixtures.

These Fanny’s can’t handle two matches a week these days.

[Matt]

42 minutes ago, Finn balor said:

One game extra a week? Hardly going to kill them. I’d love to win the league cup 

That and we’ve got much better depth of squad for the most part and where we haven’t we can give chances to the youth. I’m not worried about it at all. 

That said, I’m pretty sure Steve is being sarcastic 

[Bailey]

We have a big squad and if we want to keep everyone happy then we need to play as many games as we can. It would also be quite nice to at least think we have a chance of winning a trophy!

[JimmytheJimster]

Would love a good cup run be it in this or the fa, it's been too long since I went Wembley with Everton. A good cup run would breed confidence and if we aspire to play European football we better get use to playing twice a week. 

[Romey 1878]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

That and we’ve got much better depth of squad for the most part and where we haven’t we can give chances to the youth. I’m not worried about it at all. 

That said, I’m pretty sure Steve is being sarcastic 

Pretty sure he’s not. 

[Cornish Steve]

2 hours ago, JimmytheJimster said:

Would love a good cup run be it in this or the fa, it's been too long since I went Wembley with Everton. A good cup run would breed confidence and if we aspire to play European football we better get use to playing twice a week. 

Maybe we’ll get to play Leyton Orient or Accrington Stanley in the final.

[Elston Gunnn]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

That and we’ve got much better depth of squad for the most part and where we haven’t we can give chances to the youth.

 

3 hours ago, Bailey said:

We have a big squad and if we want to keep everyone happy then we need to play as many games as we can.

I agree with these comments, but In past seasons there’s been significant disagreement on TT about whether to rely on depth/big squad or stick with our “top 11” in cup matches.  I expect such a debate to begin immediately at the conclusion of the Aston Villa match, or by the next morning at the latest.

Granted, it may not be absolutely clear which players constitute our “top 11” only 3 matches into the season.

[StevO]

I always think it’s a good chance to give others a run out, as long as the team is still strong enough and motivated to win. 

If we’re talking specifically about the Lincoln game; bringing in players like Baines, Sidibe, Davies, Walcott and Tosun, we should still be strong enough to win the game. 

Changing the whole starting 11 can be a bit too risky for me though. 

[Sibdane]

1 minute ago, StevO said:

I always think it’s a good chance to give others a run out, as long as the team is still strong enough and motivated to win. 

If we’re talking specifically about the Lincoln game; bringing in players like Baines, Sidibe, Davies, Walcott and Tosun, we should still be strong enough to win the game. 

Changing the whole starting 11 can be a bit too risky for me though. 

Agreed. We could play those players and still have a very strong squad -- the main benefit of having depth. I really want us to go for the cups this year. It's been too long without a trophy.

[Cornish Steve]

3 hours ago, Matt said:

That said, I’m pretty sure Steve is being sarcastic 

Tongue in cheek maybe since virtually no-one will agree with me. 

There’s a business simulation game that’s popular when teaching graduate business students. The class is divided into teams, and each team manages their resources in order to maximize success. Every team starts out with the same products, cash in hand, factories, and so on. The winning team, therefore, succeeds on its own merits and decisions. 

Without meaning to give away secrets to any aspiring business student here :), the biggest factor in success is having a strategy, sticking to it, and not getting distracted. In particular, teams must be decisive by immediately selling factories making a product inconsistent with their strategy, even if that product is profitable. The temptation, of course, is to try to succeed with everything, but that rarely works. You have to decide upfront and then ignore all the distractions and temptations. How many real companies have struggled because they won a big contract that, in truth, they should have avoided?

This goes against the grain. Won’t a big win breed success? Not if it distracts from the main goal. Resources get tied up on the wrong thing, and the team loses sight of its real goal. The key to any strategy is not so much what you will do but what you won’t do. Ask any experienced CEO. 

Our real goal is to participate in the Champions League every year, which means becoming once again a top four club. It helps that the real money comes from a top four finish, the added TV money that comes from it, and the new marketing cash awarded to the big clubs. The Carabao Cup gains us nothing (anyone who believes the Europa is worth it, let me point you to Roberto’s second season). The prize money is pitiful. Reaching the final rounds would cause us to drop points in the league, the financial cost of which would far outweigh any prize money from the cup. 

Again, the key to success is strategy, deciding what NOT to do, and sticking to it. If our strategy is to become a Champions League regular, then forget about all else. 

(Other top teams know this, which is why Bradford, Burton, and the rest make it to the semis or even the final.)

Apologies for harping on about this, but it’s about time we started wearing big boy pants. 

[Cornish Steve]

4 minutes ago, StevO said:

I always think it’s a good chance to give others a run out, as long as the team is still strong enough and motivated to win. 

If we’re talking specifically about the Lincoln game; bringing in players like Baines, Sidibe, Davies, Walcott and Tosun, we should still be strong enough to win the game. 

Changing the whole starting 11 can be a bit too risky for me though. 

If playing our second team bolsters our chances of finishing in the top four, go for it. We won’t reach the semis, but that’s no loss. 

[Sibdane]

40 minutes ago, Cornish Steve said:

Tongue in cheek maybe since virtually no-one will agree with me. 

There’s a business simulation game that’s popular when teaching graduate business students. The class is divided into teams, and each team manages their resources in order to maximize success. Every team starts out with the same products, cash in hand, factories, and so on. The winning team, therefore, succeeds on its own merits and decisions. 

Without meaning to give away secrets to any aspiring business student here :), the biggest factor in success is having a strategy, sticking to it, and not getting distracted. In particular, teams must be decisive by immediately selling factories making a product inconsistent with their strategy, even if that product is profitable. The temptation, of course, is to try to succeed with everything, but that rarely works. You have to decide upfront and then ignore all the distractions and temptations. How many real companies have struggled because they won a big contract that, in truth, they should have avoided?

This goes against the grain. Won’t a big win breed success? Not if it distracts from the main goal. Resources get tied up on the wrong thing, and the team loses sight of its real goal. The key to any strategy is not so much what you will do but what you won’t do. Ask any experienced CEO. 

Our real goal is to participate in the Champions League every year, which means becoming once again a top four club. It helps that the real money comes from a top four finish, the added TV money that comes from it, and the new marketing cash awarded to the big clubs. The Carabao Cup gains us nothing. The prize money is pitiful. Reaching the final rounds would cause us to drop points in the league, the financial cost of which would far outweigh any prize money from the cup. 

Again, the key to success is strategy, deciding what NOT to do, and sticking to it. If our strategy is to become a Champions League regular, then forget about all else. 

(Other top teams know this, which is why Bradford, Burton, and the rest make it to the semis or even the final.)

Apologies for harping on about this, but it’s about time we started wearing big boy pants. 

Steve, as you know with business, there are both long-term and short-term goals. Being consistent participants in the Champions League is one of the long-term visions. On the short term front, I'd be highly surprised if we would completely ignore the benefits of winning a seasonal cup.

There are financial gains, and then there is pride and reputation with being a football club. A club is a business at the end of the day, but there's more to it than just financial return.

 

[StevO]

37 minutes ago, Cornish Steve said:

If playing our second team bolsters our chances of finishing in the top four, go for it. We won’t reach the semis, but that’s no loss. 

That’s not what it’s about for me. It’s another game to go to, another day out, another trip to Wembley. 

If we get to Europa, it’s a chance for a trip away with the lads or my dad to watch the blues. 

I’d love nothing more than a trophy, that’s what the game is about, and making memories while you’re there. 

We might never make the top four, so enjoy the ride trying to get there.

Picking up any trophy helps the club grow, and enjoying playing European football is a good thing regardless of which tier for me. 

[Sibdane]

6 minutes ago, StevO said:

That’s not what it’s about for me. It’s another game to go to, another day out, another trip to Wembley. 

If we get to Europa, it’s a chance for a trip away with the lads or my dad to watch the blues. 

I’d love nothing more than a trophy, that’s what the game is about, and making memories while you’re there. 

We might never make the top four, so enjoy the ride trying to get there.

Picking up any trophy helps the club grow, and enjoying playing European football is a good thing regardless of which tier for me. 

Well said.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

This competition , or more so the clubs and some fans attitude towards it pisses me off every season

If you listen to Marcel, Marco and the players they are all saying we need European football, and as this is by far the easiest route to achieving that goal , why the flying fuck would you not want us to go all out to try and win it?

Maybe it’s because I’m an older Evertonian who watched football way before the Premier League/ Sky era but I really don’t understand why anybody would want to finish top 6 ahead of winning a trophy, especially as this is the clubs longest run in its history without one

 

 

[Palfy]

6 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

Here we go again: The distraction of the Mickey Mouse cup. Focus, focus, focus. Do we want to break into the top six or not?

There’s nothing Mickey Mouse here Steve, I think you’ll find he’s from you neck of the woods

I’d love a trip to Wembley to see us lift the league cup, I expect most would want that rather than to finish 5th or 6th, and those that don’t are Goofy and need to get a one way ticket to Pluto. 

[Aidan]

I'd like to see us go far but it's still a great oppertunity for others to come in to rest some players and prove their worth.

 

[Aidan]

27 minutes ago, duncanmckenzieismagic said:

especially as this is the clubs longest run in its history without one

Thats a horrible way to put it. Really hits home, we need to win something soon!